Subs-N-More (South Haven)
529 Phoenix Street- South Haven, MI 49090
- (269) 637-5533
- No Known Website
- Menu
I seem to always run in to the same problem when I’m in South Haven. I just never have enough time to sit down and enjoy some of the great restaurants the city has to offer.
My co-worker and I headed out to the lake shore last week for an assignment. We spent a couple hours completing our task but then had to get back to Kalamazoo. I needed to make a stop near the pavilion downtown before we got on the road which got me thinking about lunch. I looked across the street and saw one of the few grab and go places in downtown.
Subs-N-More is on Phoenix Street on the east end of the downtown business district. It’s one of the first stores you see when you’re heading towards South Beach using Phoenix Avenue right next to the traffic calming sign at the entrance to downtown. Read more…
Big Willy’s Italian Beef
1450 Wealthy Street SEI don’t spend much time in Grand Rapids anymore since my company opened an office in Kalamazoo. I, of course, don’t miss the drive everyday but there are some things I do miss about not going to Grand Rapids.
I miss the alone time in the car where I could just slip in my earbuds and listen to a podcast. My phone memory is perpetually full because I know have podcasts waiting for me to find time to listen to.
I also miss finding new restaurants. If you haven’t noticed from this blog, I like to eat out and I like to track down as many new places as possible.
One of those places I’ve missed out on is Big Willy’s Italian Beef. I’ve gone on and on and on about my love of the classic Chicago sandwich and my quest for places up here in Michigan that try their hand and bringing the sandwich here. I had been looking forward to getting back to Grand Rapids ever since I heard about this place opening.
Big Willy’s Italian Beef is located in Grand Rapid’s Eastown Neighborhood. It’s right on the corner of Wealthy Street and Ethel Avenue on the Southeast Side near the Lake and Wealthy intersection. The building had been home to the Pita House for many years. The building has undergone some clean up and a new coat of paint on the exterior. Read more…
Brix Corner Oven
402 Eagle StreetSouth Haven has kind of become our go-to for Labor Day weekend. We like to go a little later in the afternoon when things to start to thin out on the beach and wait for the sunset.
We actually got to South Beach much earlier this year than we had planned. We were just kind of sitting around the house waiting for the time to go so we said, “screw it.” We left for South Haven just after 2:00.
We saw in Lake Michigan for almost three hours. J was starting to get hungry but wasn’t ready to go home. Everyone was being good so we really wanted to stick it out and try to make it to sunset. She suggested just eating at the South Beach Cafe Snack Bar. That really didn’t do anything for me. I wanted more than ice cream and nachos.
We still went to the snack and got ice cream and nachos but as we were sitting there, J suggested putting in an order for pizza. She offered to watch the kids if I’d walk up the hill to pick it up. We found a place just at the top of the hill and surprisingly, they were actually taking carry-out orders on an incredibly busy holiday weekend.
Brix Corner Oven is on the corner of Eagle Street and Kalamazoo Street just a block of the busy Phoenix Street thoroughfare that leads down to the beach. The building is the old Niffenegger’s Service Station that has seen several different types of businesses in it’s day. Before this place was a pizza restaurant, it was Sea Glass Home Decor. The building itself hasn’t changed much, but how that space is used has undergone a drastic transformation.
The Strand Brewery & Grill
93415 County Road 690J and I don’t typically get long holiday weekends off together. One of usually ends up having to work the holiday, but this Labor Day, we actually did get to spend the whole weekend together.
We made the most of it. On Saturday, we went to the Binder Park Zoo for the first time since the Lion exhibit opened. We were disappointed at first because they lions appeared to not be out but we eventually found them sleeping at the back of the exhibit.
We did the zoo pretty early and B fell asleep as soon as we got in the car so we didn’t go to lunch while we were in Battle Creek.
When we got home, I asked J if she wanted to road trip for an early dinner. The kids were being good and we haven’t really done that in a while, so she said yes.
About a month ago, some friends from Chicago vacationed at the Sister Lakes in Cass County. They put pictures up from a restaurant in that area that looked fantastic that neither J or I had ever heard of. Dowagiac isn’t too far of a drive from Kalamazoo, so we decided to see if this place was as our good as our friends made it look.
The Strand Brewery & Grill has only been open for a couple months in the unincorporated area of Keeler Township in Cass County known as Sister Lakes near Dowagiac. The restaurant is new construction built on County Road 690 just across the street from Round Lake. Read more…
One Well Brewing
4213 Portage StreetI’ve been writing this blog for so long that recently, I’ve been writing blog posts for restaurants I’ve already written blog posts for. Some of the time it’s just because the last time I blogged about a place it has been close to ten years. Some of the time, I do it because a place has undergone a major change in menu or space.
This particular post is about a place that has undergone a major change in both space and menu.
I first blogged about One Well Brewing not long after they opened their kitchen in 2015. At that time, they had a pretty limited food menu. We enjoyed our visit, but we typically only visit breweries a second time if they have a good food menu and something for the kids.
Things have changed pretty drastically in the last two years.
One Well Brewing is on Portage Road near the interchange with I-94. It’s in a strip mall that sits a little ways off the road between Bloomfield and Dorchester Avenues. The space that One Well was a different brewery that didn’t last very long in the neighborhood because they thought there was too much crime. At least, that’s the space they were in last time we were there….I mean, they’re still in that space, but they’ve also expanded into the space next door which was a 24/7 gym….and this is the space that you really need to check out as you’ll see in a little bit.
Chicago Munchies Fried & Grilled
790 N. Westnedge Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49007
- (269) 888-2266
- No Known Website
- Menu
You know whenever I see the word “Chicago” on a restaurant I take that as a challenge. Having grown up near Chicago, I’m a little overprotective of places trying to replicate Chicago style food without actually knowing what it is. You native Michiganders know what I’m talking about…Coney Dogs…right? A hot dog with chili on is not necessarily a Coney Dog. That’s how I feel about “Chicago” food.
A few weeks ago, I noticed new signs go up on the corner storefront of the North Point Community Retail Park in Kalamazoo’s Northside Neighborhood. Not only did they use the word Chicago but they stole the Chicago Bears “C” logo to drive home the point.
The store is called Chicago Munchies Fried & Grilled. It’s on North Westnedge near West Frank Street. The small corner shop has been many things over the years. It was Sailors Fish & Chicken at one time. It was TNT – A Touch of Soul a few years back. Most recently, it was called Pharaoh’s Valley.
Sand Bar & Grill
11368 M-179We left Boulder Ridge Wild Animal park a little after 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon. We had spent a little under two hours there and since they’re such a small zoo, they don’t have any restaurants or concessions.
We started heading back towards Kalamazoo and before we got too far, I asked J if she wanted to go get lunch. What she decided would change how the route I took home. I had a place in mind near Gun Lake so we’d be taking country roads the whole way if she said yes. If not, we’d head back to US-131 and go home that way.
The kids were both in pretty good moods despite it being past nap time and we had been out in the hot sun for a while. J was hungry. I was hungry. Heck, even L said she was hungry, so country roads back towards Gun Lake it was.
I drove back to M-179 on the north side of Gun Lake. I had picked the Sand Bar and Grill for lunch which is just north of Yankee Springs Rec Area on M-179 (or Chief Noonday Road) and Briggs Road in Barry County. The physical address is Middleville but it’s pretty far south of the Village.
Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park
8313 Pratt Lake Avenue SE- Alto, MI 49302
- (616) 868-6711
- Website
Did you know we like zoos? Have I mentioned that recently? I mean, I guess it has been a few weeks since my last zoo post when we went to the Columbus Zoo.
Our summer has finally settled down. We’re not on the road every weekend so we’re getting to relax. We can only relax so much home before we realize, we gotta get out of the house.
All summer we’ve been talking about a private zoo in south east Kent County. We’ve both had friends who have raved about the place so we made plans before going to bed Saturday night to take a little road trip Sunday morning.
Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park is a private zoo that sits on 80 acres of land with an address in the unincorporated community of Alto in Bowne Township. The park is near the corner of Pratt Lake Avenue and 84th Street. Boulder Ridge wasn’t initially built as a commercial enterprise, so location wasn’t of the utmost importance. The closest highway access is the Alden Nash Road exit of I-96 which is about ten minutes away. From Kalamazoo, it’s quicker to take US-131 to 84th Street. That’s about a 17 mile drive through southern Kent County.
Bella Creamery
10098 Shaver Road- Portage, MI 49024
- (269) 327-4057
- No Known Website
- No Online Menu
I love it when my wife suggests ice cream for dinner.
We were having another lazy Saturday. J had taken a late nap because she had to work a rare Saturday morning. When she woke up, she was hungry but not for dinner. She was hungry for ice cream.
It was already pretty late in the day so the kids weren’t going to bed anytime soon. We decided to take them for ice cream then we’d go play at the park for a while. The ice cream didn’t have to be near the park and J suggested going to “that place we always see the billboard for.”
That billboard is on US-131 just south of Schoolcraft. It’s for a Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders and Bella Creamery in Portage.
Bella Creamery shares a building with Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders on Shaver Road and Beethoven Road in the far southern tip of Portage. The ice cream shop and the pizza place appear to be under the same ownership. The name Bella Creamery appears to come from Bellacino’s which is what this Mancino’s in Portage used to be.
Cold Stone Creamery (Kalamazoo)
4540 W. Main StreetI’ve always had the romanticized idea of walking to the corner ice cream shop to get ice cream to end the day with our kids. I say “romanticized” because I’ve never actually lived anywhere that had an ice cream shop within walking distance and, as I’ve mentioned before, Kalamazoo is kinda missing that walk up seasonal shop where half the neighborhood gathers for ice cream on a Saturday night.
We have been somewhat lazy the last two weekends after an awfully busy summer. We’ve spent time just lounging around the house and taking care of some housekeeping things.
One of those nights, we needed to make a trip to Walgreens to pick up some pictures we wanted to frame. I had sent them to the Walgreens on Drake and Main. J suggested we all go and get ice cream.
I was stumped as to where she wanted to get ice cream from. We usually go to Culver’s because, again, there isn’t many options and it’s easy to hit the drive through. She said we could go to Cold Stone Creamery but I couldn’t picture one on that side of town.
Of course, she was right, there is a Cold Stone Creamery on West Main in the Westwood Plaza just to the east of Drake Road. It’s right next to the Biggby Coffee almost straight back from the main entrance to the shopping plaza.
SW Michigan Dining 