Chicken Coop (Portage)
109 E. Centre AvenueSkipping out on the Friday night pizza once again.
A few weeks ago I ordered a pizza from Franco’s Italian Pizzeria in Portage for something to eat between my normal work shift and my Friday night overtime shift. I hadn’t eaten there in a really long time so I figured it was time to go back.
When I went to pick that pizza up, I realized there was another restaurant right next to it that I haven’t been to in a really long time. The thing about writing this blog, I’ve been doing it so long, some of my observations and opinions have become dated. Going back and revisiting some of these places seems like a good idea sometimes.
I was in the same boat this past Friday night. I had a little bit of time between my normal shift and my overtime shift. I was in Portage again. I remembered I made a mental note about that place next to Franco’s and this night seemed like as good as any.
That business is the Chicken Coop on the corner of Centre Avenue and South Westnedge Avenue. The small chicken joint has been a consistent presence on this corner for many years. It used to be part of a large chain that included restaurants owned by the same people in Paw Paw, Plainwell, Kalamazoo Township, and Watervliet but it appears this location in Portage is the only one left.
Read more…Sidestreets Deli & Bakery
116 S. Cochran RoadWednesday afternoon I got a text message from one of my supervisors asking if I could meet a colleague in East Lansing on Thursday.
If it was early in the morning, that was going to be a challenge because I have to get B to school. It wasn’t early in the morning though. It was a job at 12:30 near Michigan State University.
That gave me plenty of time to get B off to school, finish up a few things in my office, then pack up and head to East Lansing.
I always try to find some place to eat when I’m in the Lansing area. This blog started 17 years ago when J and I lived on Lansing’s east side as midmichigandining.com. It started as a hobby because I moved to Michigan with J without a job.
Since then, it’s kind of turned in to a journal so I keep going.
I don’t always like finding places to eat in East Lansing because we spend time there every spring for a figure skating competition. That’s when I usually try to find new places.
Instead of looking for places in East Lansing proper, I looked for places on my drive. I’m not sure how I eventually found it but a while ago I found a deli in Charlotte that looked really good. This was my chance to take a little detour off the highway and grab a sandwich.
Sidestreets Deli & Bakery is on Cochran Street south of Lawrence Avenue in downtown Charlotte. This space downtown is actually a relocation and growth from the original deli which was about a block away in a very tiny 456 sq-foot space. The move in to a building which house a market and a cabinet making shop prior to becoming a deli gave them a lot of space to expand.
Jimmy John’s (Downtown Battle Creek)
25 Capital Avenue SWWednesday was another one of those days I really wasn’t planning on spending money on lunch. I say that a lot, don’t I?
My co-worker and I were in Downtown Battle Creek working on a couple of jobs. We were wrapping up around 2:00 with the intention of heading back to Kalamazoo after that.
I was sitting in the car waiting for my colleague and decided to check my personal e-mail. When I opened it up, I found I had a rewards for Jimmy John’s that was expiring that day.
Again, I wasn’t planning on buying lunch but I couldn’t let a cheap sandwich go to waste.
The closest Jimmy John’s to us at that time was the one in downtown Battle Creek on the corner of Capital Avenue and Beacon Street across from the Double Tree Hotel. The building was a Bank of America/Old National Bank location and it definitely looks like a bank. Jimmy John’s is in the front part of the building facing the street. They, unfortunately, don’t use the pneumatic tubes to deliver subs to the old drive through portion of the building.
Read more…Long John Silvers (Oshtemo Township)
5481 W. Main StreetSometimes I make decisions that even surprise me.
Monday night was a fairly slow day at work. We had a lot of office stuff to do and didn’t really leave for the entire eight hour shift. That’s really unusual for us.
I was hungry and I figured since we weren’t really doing a lot outside of the office, I’d take my lunch break and go find something to eat.
I have never eaten at a Long John Silvers before. I don’t like fish so why would I?
Somehow, I found myself on Long John Silvers website, noticed they had chicken, and ended up putting in an order.
The Long John Silvers in Oshtemo Township is on West Main Street just to the east of Maple Hill Drive. The business has been there for quite a while but the building is fairly new. The old style building was tore down a couple of years ago and this newer, sleeker build was erected in it’s place.
Franco’s Italian Pizzeria
8022 S. Westnedge AvenueIt seems like it’s been a while since I’ve actually had pizza on a Friday night. It’s a staple most of the year but Friday’s in the fall are overtime opportunities for me at work. I’m not home for dinner and I don’t usually want cold pizza after working a 12 hour day so I find something else to eat when I get time.
I actually had a bit of time last Friday between my regular shift and my overtime shift. I was heading to Portage so I figured I could just pick something up on Westnedge on my way.
I got an idea when I stopped at the Meijer for gas. I have time to order a pizza and there’s a longstanding pizzeria under new ownership that I have had in a long time.
Franco’s’ Italian Pizzeria is on South Westnedge just to the south of Centre Street near Portage Central High School. The small, family owned pizzeria was owned by the same family for the first forty years of it’s existence under the name Franco’s Sub Station and Italian Pizzeria. The restaurant’s namesake retired last year and sold the business to another family who altered the name a bit but kept a lot of the recipes and menu items that people have come to know over the years.
Read more…Bates Burgers (Livonia)
33406 Five Mile RoadThree days in a row I had to drive to the Detroit area for work.
I was a little surprised when I got in to work on Thursday and was told we were heading to Wayne County. I was going with my co-worker from Kalamazoo this time so I didn’t have to meet anyone in Lansing like I had the previous two nights.
I, of course, was tired after a couple of long days of work knowing that this one was also going to be a long day.
I wasn’t planning on buying lunch but sometimes you pass a building and it just strikes you. You have to eat there. That happened to me as we were driving through Livonia.
We came to the intersection of Five Mile and Farmington Roads and right across from me I saw a little white building on the corner. I knew I had to stop.
Bates Burgers has been on that corner of Five Mile and Farmington in Livonia since the late 1950’s. It kind of looks like a White Castle and serves a similar menu of sliders. Everything in the building is original and it’s still owned by the Bates family. I have actually heard of this place before but had never sought it out. The fact that it was right in front of me as I was driving through Livonia was a happy accident.
Read more…IHOP (Grand Ledge)
7800 W. Grand River Highway Wednesday was a long day in the middle of a long week. I had to go to Detroit three times for work last week which all but guarantees me at least a 10 hour work day.
We got a little bit of a later start on Wednesday. I didn’t meet my co-worker in Lansing until 11:30. That gave my time to stop at Horrocks for a couple of slices of pizza.
I didn’t eat the rest of the day. We were so busy from the time we left Lansing until the time we got back, I didn’t have time to stop to get anything to eat.
I was planning on just grabbing a Pepsi from a gas station and eating when I got home but then I realized, we didn’t really have anything at home either.
If I was going to eat, I was going to have to grab something.
I meet co-workers from Lansing at the Carpool lot on Grand River Highway right off I-96. That area is technically Grand Ledge and there are couple of truck stops there. It was after 9:00 by the time we got back so I figured my best options would be something from one of those truck stops.
I chose the IHOP at the Flying J Truck Stop on Grand River Highway west of the interchange with I-96. The restaurant is part of the trucks stop but you can really only see it from the east side of the building. I had to get gas and when I pulled up to the pumps, I actually didn’t even see it. I knew it was there because of the signage. I just assumed it was totally inside but once I drove around the building, I saw the entrance on the side of the building.
Horrocks Farm Market (Lansing)
7420 Saginaw HighwayJ and I first moved to Michigan in 2008. J had gotten a job in Lansing and I was disgruntled enough at my job that I decided to move with her. We had only been dating a few months but I think we saw where this was going.
I didn’t work for quite a while after moving to Lansing. I was able to pick up freelance work and made enough money to cover bills and have a little extra for spending.
Saturday’s were our shopping days. J worked second shift so most days were us sleeping in late, lounging around until lunch time then she’d head off to work in the afternoon. I’d do some small runs to the nearby Meijer but our big shopping trips were always on Saturday’s.
We lived on the Lansing/Holt border but we liked to do our shopping in Delta Township. We’d first go to Horrocks then whatever we couldn’t get there, we’d go to Walmart and finish up.
We moved to Kalamazoo about a year and a half later and our shopping habits changed. There was no Horrocks in Kalamazoo. There was one in Battle Creek but it was too far for a weekly shopping trip. We just started shopping at Meijer.
Needless to say, we really missed Horrocks.
We don’t get back to Delta Township anymore so it has been years since I’ve been there. When I meet colleagues for work trips to Detroit, we always meet at the carpool lot on Grand River Avenue in Grand Ledge so I drive by this Horrocks quite a bit.
I had to go to Detroit two days earlier this week and had to meet a colleague at that carpool lot both days.
Wednesday morning, we didn’t have to meet until 11:30 AM. I had to get up to get B to school and the longer I laid around the house, the more I wanted to go back to sleep. I couldn’t do that so I decided to just get up and head to Lansing with the idea of getting lunch before I met my colleague.
I didn’t know what I was going to eat until I got to Saginaw Highway. I figured I’d go check out Horrocks. If it’s anything like the new Battle Creek location, there would be something for me to grab.
Horrocks Farm Market in Delta Township is the OG Horrocks. It’s on the corner of Saginaw Highway and Canal Road just to the east of the I-96 interchange. The business has a long history in Lansing first getting started at the Lansing Farmer’s Market in the late 1960’s then moving to this spot out in Delta Township. The building is kind of landlocked but it’s undergone quite a bit of expansion over the years and quite a bit since I was last there 15 years ago.
Read more…Mark’s Diner
677 Romence RoadLast Friday was one of them early days. I had to be to work at 4 AM.
Usually when I do those really early morning shifts, I have to go to Grand Rapids. This time, I just had to go to Portage.
I met my co-workers down here and we had about three hours of work to do before the sun came up.
We wrapped up around 7:30 AM and then the plan was to finish my shift with my usual Kalamazoo colleague. We’d work on things until noon and then I’d clock out and he’d finish the day by himself.
I had a couple of hours until he came in though. I texted J to see if she wanted me to come home for a while and get B to school. When I work early in the morning, she starts her day working from home to get him to school. She said she was good and I didn’t need to come home.
I figured I might as well just go to breakfast then.
I was still in Portage near the mall. There’s a breakfast spot over there that I haven’t been to yet and since I had the time, now was the time to knock that place off the list.
Mark’s Diner is on Romence Road and Village Shoppes Boulevard in Portage. It’s a stand alone building in the Shoppes at Romence Village across the street from the entrance to the Crossroads Mall. The restaurant is one of the old EMA Enterprises restaurants that operated under the Michelle’s name. Like all the other former EMA restaurants (Butler’s, Roxies, etc.) the restaurant was sold to a former employee and rebranded.
The OCB
5581 S. 9th StreetI know it’s not Friday but I was hungry and there’s a new pizza place I really wanted to try.
I texted J as I was about to leave work last Thursday to see if she had any dinner plans. She said no so I asked if it would be ok if I brought home pizza on a Thursday night.
I get a little excited when new pizza places open in Kalamazoo. There really isn’t a place that I love and that we order from every week. We have places that we like but there just isn’t anything like our favorite Chicago pizza place.
This new place that opened is The OCB on 9th Street and Cracker Barrel Drive in Texas Township. The restaurant location is already known to most people in the area. It’s the old Cracker Barrel Restaurant right off the I-94 interchange. The address is 9th Street but you have to turn on to Cracker Barrel Drive and go past the two hotels to get to it. Obviously, there has been a lot that has happened at this site. After that night in 2016, Cracker Barrel tried to forge on but a salmonella issue shut them down for good in 2018. The site has sat pretty vacant since then briefly becoming a storage facility until The OCB opened up a couple of months ago.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 