Torti Taco
5275 Beckley RoadMy knowledge of Battle Creek restaurants is limited to what I run across when I happen to be in town. I’ve always got a small list of places in the back of my mind, but I don’t always remember those when I’m in Battle Creek and I have time to eat. It’s like…if only someone would invent a device that would let me write notes and keep them in my pocket….
Anywho. I was in Battle Creek one day early last week. My plan was to finish my job assignment then go to a restaurant in Bedford Township that I’ve been wanting to try. Plans changed when I was needed back in Grand Rapids much sooner than I thought. I didn’t think I was going to get dinner at all until I noticed a sign as I was driving east on I-94 near the Capitol Avenue exit. A sign for a new restaurant in the spot of an old restaurant that I really miss on days I don’t have much time as I’m driving on I-94 through town.
That new restaurant is called Torti Taco and it’s in the space formerly used by Redline BBQ on Beckley Road between Lakeview Square Mall and Capitol Avenue. The backside of the building is visible from I-94 and that’s where I noticed the sign.
I was hoping it would be a counter service restaurant where I could order some tacos and get back on the road. As luck would have it, it totally is. In fact, the layout hasn’t really changed at all from Redline BBQ right down to the chalkboard on the wall with the menu. They’ve gotten rid of the red and white checkered decorations that make up a typical BBQ roadhouse, but that’s about the only real change in decor. Read more…
Tropical Smoothie Cafe – Kalamazoo Township
4315 W. Main StreetAlright. Here we go. Back to Southwest Michigan stuff. I know it’s been a few weeks and I appreciate everyone humoring me as I basically journaled our vacation for myself.
Once back in town, we had a little shopping to do to get ready for a family photo shoot. One of J’s friends started doing photography, we needed six month pictures of B, and we needed a new family shot of the four of us. We’re not the kind of people that all sorts of matchy-matchy clothes, so J wanted to find something for me and her to wear that look good against outfits we already had for the kids.
We ended up going to Kohls because…well, coupons…and we knew we’d have luck finding something that looked good on us. L had asked for something to drink while we were there and we kind of blew her off until we started heading home. She then said something about being hungry. J said we should pick something up, but we were already back to Drake and KL and there’s not much between that and our house. Remembering that L had said something about being thirsty earlier, I asked about the new smoothie place back in the direction we just came from.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is on West Main in Kalamazoo Township in the space that used to be Smashburger. I didn’t really know what I was getting in to when I suggested it, but I knew they had sandwiches and I can usually find something on a sandwich menu even if I have to pick off veggies. Read more…
Maxwell Street Depot – Bridgeport
411 W. 31st Street- Chicago, IL 60616
- (312) 326-3514
- No Known Website
- Menu
The end is near. I know most of you haven’t cared, but here it is. The last of my vacation blogs. The last (for a while anyway) of non-Michigan blogs. I spent a great 10 days away from Kalamazoo. I got to spend time with my wife and kids, my parents, brother, nieces, nephews, aunts, in-laws and my best friend from elementary school. It was nice to get away. It was nice to check out new cities and places from my past.
The vacation wrapped up with a yearly tradition. My dad, my brother, my childhood friend, and I get together once a year to go to a White Sox game. This year, we also got together for a game in St. Louis, but that was an add on, not a replacement. I don’t think the other three really liked it, but I pushed to have the two games on back-to-back weekends. I wanted to bookend a vacation with baseball.
The game isn’t the only part of the tradition. Tailgating is a big part too. This actually started in 2009. I wanted my bachelor party at a ballgame. My brother got tickets and I found an amazing wing place. After that, the group was cut down to four guys, but the wings stayed. We had to find something else for a couple of years when our go-to wing place went out of business then came back with a different owner, but it was always wings from somewhere.
I wasn’t thinking when I pushed the back-to-back weeks the first week in June. Our White Sox game was going to be a 1:00 start. Our wing place doesn’t open until noon. Parking lots open at 11:00. We had a little bit of a conundrum. Where to get wings?!
J had a good idea. Get the wings on Friday night and just heat them up in the oven Saturday morning. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good option and the only way we were going to get the wings we wanted.
L and I were still at my parents about an hour south of Chicago until late in the evening. My nieces had a softball game at 6:00 PM and I wanted to see them play. We left for Chicago at a little after 7:00…getting to L’s parents around 8:30. By the time I got L in bed, settled down, and asleep, it was after 9:30. The wing place is open until 4:00 AM, so I had time, but it’s not in a great neighborhood. Still, I wanted wings.
I called in my order in the driveway of my in-laws then headed in to the city to pick them up. I had a little bit of a wait when I got there so they gave me some fries and a pop for my troubles. That would have been enough for dinner…if I didn’t have other plans.
After picking up the wings, I headed over to the area near U.S. Cellular Field. I was in the mood for some good, greasy Chicago food and there’s a spot over there that I’ve been wanting to get to for a long time.
Maxwell Street Depot on the corner of 31st and Canal in Bridgeport is one of a couple Maxwell Street Depots in the city and part of the larger Maxwell Street Polish. The building is all kitchen with a walk up window right on the sidewalk on 31st Street. There also appears to be a small inside space with an order counter, but the outside window was open and that’s where the line was. This is also one of the rare places in Chicago that has a parking lot. There’s a big lot right next to the building actually on the corner of 31st and Canal. You don’t have to try to find street parking to find good food. There’s a long window looking into the kitchen and a counter that you can use to eat on if you either don’t want to take it home or eat in your car. There’s no seating at this location and that’s what makes it uniquely Chicago. Read more…
Exploration Station…a Children’s Museum
1095 Perry Street- Bourbonnais, IL 60914
- (815) 933-9905
- Website
In 2008, my mom became a grandma for the first time. My brother and his wife had the first of what would be three granddaughters (plus one grandson) for my parents. I can’t complain at all about the things I did with my parents growing up. From the time I was 8, both of my parents worked full time, but we still lots of great things together. We took several trips to Wisconsin Dells, Indiana Beach, Kings Island, Six Flags Great America, Rockome Gardens, and several other smaller vacations and trips to see the White Sox play at new Comiskey Park.
As my brother and I got older, we got in to sports. Our summers were filled with baseball and the vacations dropped off. All we did was play baseball. We traveled to play baseball and we traveled to practice baseball. My mom was always athletic, but I think she started to miss the family trips we took as kids as my brother and I grew up.
Then….grandkids. My mom gets to do a lot of that stuff again and do stuff that wasn’t around when we were kids. As I’ve mentioned a few times, we grew up in a pretty small town. There’s not much to do there. The entertainment and shopping center of the area was 30 miles to the north in the Kankakee/Bradley/Bourbonnais area. There’s not a lot to do there either.
One of the big recreations areas in the tri-cities is Perry Farm Park. This 170 acre recreation area has a small, hands-on farm, trails, a playground, picnic areas, and a fruit orchard just to name a few. The big attraction for my mom at Perry Farm though is the Exploration Station.
The Exploration Station…a Children’s Museum was sort of around when we were kids. The original museum was started in 1990 in a much, much smaller building just up the road from Perry Farm. I don’t ever remember going there as a kid. I don’t think at the time, my parents knew what it was. Children’s museums weren’t super popular in our area and without the Internet, there was no way to really here about all the great ones in the Midwest to even have a clue as to what a children’s museum could offer.
Eventually, the Bourbonnais Park District was able to raise money to move the Exploration Station to the Perry Farm Park in to a much bigger building. That happened in 1997 and that’s the same building the museum is in today.
The Exploration Station is one of the first things you come across once you enter Perry Farm Park from Kennedy Drive. You actually first see the backside of the building. You have to drive around the building to the front where there’s a large parking lot. Unfortunately, the day we were there, they were re-doing their lot and we had to park behind the building in a field. We just assumed we should still use the front door, so we walked around the building in the grass to the front to find the doors locked. Luckily, someone was standing near by and let us in. They were actually using a side door through a conference room as the entrance, but we weren’t aware of that. Read more…
Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders – Route 50
1240 N. Kinzie RoadSo many times I’ve written about Mancino’s…too many to even try to link back to all of them….and pretty much every time, I tell the story about how I got hooked on the sandwiches when I was in high school back in Illinois. We had a Mancino’s open near the big shopping area near me and ate there all the time.
Well, guess what? Since I’m making you read about my vacation, at least here’s a tie in. That Mancino’s is still there…..and I went there with my family for lunch while I was home. Lucky you….
Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders has two locations in Bradley. How are they related to all the other Mancino’s stores? I have no freakin’ clue. Just like I have no freakin’ clue how all the Mancino’s in this part of the country are related either.
The original Mancino’s in Bradley is on (Illinois) Route 50 or Kinzie Road. This used to be a great location in front of a Walmart in what is one of the most trafficked roads in Kankakee County. Walmart bailed a few years ago opting to build two Supercenters on opposite ends of town to replace the one regular Walmart store that had been in Bradley for as long as I can remember.
This still isn’t a bad location. It’s still on one of the most trafficked roads in Kankakee County. It’s in front of a Hobby Lobby now and the next parcel over Meijer is tearing down an old Super K-Mart and building it’s first area store. Plus, one of Kankakee County’s big employers CSL Behring is right across the street.
L and I were still at my parents house for one more day and my mom wanted to take her to a children’s museum in Bradley. We timed it so we could meet my brother on his lunch break too. He works in Kankakee….not far from where this Mancino’s is.
Once again, my parents asked me what I wanted for lunch. Me. The guy who hasn’t lived there in 18 years. At first, we had decided on Arby’s because it was close to my brother and quick. As we were leaving, I asked if Mancino’s was still open. They said it was and said they haven’t been there in a long time. I asked if we could do that instead and since my brother was on board, no one had a problem with it. Read more…
Poor Boy Too
1515 W. Court StreetWell, I’m getting a little bit farther north with these blogs. J’s vacation got cut a little short as she had to go back to work Thursday and Friday. She took B and her mom back to Kalamazoo with her so L and I could go to my parents for a couple of days.
If you follow along at all, I’ve said in the past that I grew up in a small town not near anything. The closest McDonalds is 20 minutes away and the closest grocery store is the next town over. There’s a family restaurant, a pizza place, and a Subway when it comes to meal choices in my hometown. Those don’t always work great for kids.
The first day that I was in town with my parents, my mom wanted to take L shopping. She had some coupons for JC Penny which got L a couple of dresses for next to nothing. We had a couple of other errands to run and eventually ended up on the west side of Kankakee. I haven’t lived in that area for well over ten years so I hate when my parents ask me what I want to do for lunch. I finally told them they had to decide and out came a familiar name in a unfamiliar location.
Poor Boy Restaurant has been in Kankakee for as long as I can remember (1985 to be exact…I was 5…so yeah, as long as I can remember). The location on East Court Street is nothing fancy. but it is full of delicious food.
The second location of Poor Boy Restaurant, titled Poor Boy Too, is on West Court Street in Kankakee near South Curtis Avenue. When I was growing up, this was a Hardees….and one of the good Hardees too that was operation during the whole Roy Rogers fried chicken and Rax Roast Beef days. I know in between the Hardees days and Poor Boy Too, a Mexican place was in the building for a while and I seem to remember an Asian buffet of some sort.
Poor Boy took over the building in 2011 and really….it doesn’t look a whole lot different than when it was Hardees. The order counter is the same with the large menu boards hanging over heard. The furniture all looks the same just with a fresh paint job. This space is much bigger than the original location and has more of a fast food feel to it as compared to the (and I know we’re splitting hairs here) counter service neighborhood joint the original has. Read more…
Avanti’s Ristorante – Main Street
1301 W. Main StreetSo many restaurants we wanted to get to. Unfortunately, we weren’t spending as much time in Peoria as we would have liked to. There are so many old favorites and so many new places that look amazing, but we only ended up eating two meals in town, so we had to narrow it down…by a lot.
We left the Peoria Zoo and headed over to the playground at Glen Oak Park so L could play for a little bit. I told her she had 20 minutes while J fed B. She got her 20 minutes and left without a fight. In an unusual move recently, she told us she was hungry and wanted pizza. That actually worked out really well for what we hand planned.
One of our favorite restaurants when we lived in or visited Central Illinois was Avanti’s. J used to walk from Bradley University Speech Camp to pick up dinner with her friends and my first experience was when an older cousin who graduated from Bradley took me to a Peoria Riverman game when I was in junior high.
The small chain of Italian restaurants has been around in Peoria since the 1960’s. The original location was just across the street on the south side of Main Street adjacent to Bradley University until the space was needed by the city to widen West Main in 1989. The restaurant moved to the north side of Main Street at the corner of College Avenue and has been there ever since.
We had had a couple of disastrous meals over the previous couple of days in restaurants and neither J or I were in the mood for that again. While we were sitting at the park, J called in an order for carry-out and with evening drive traffic on College Ave., it took us about 20 minutes to get to the restaurant. They do have the option for online ordering, but we always find that a little difficult to do on a smart phone, so calling was easy in this case.
The building, which was built to look like an Italian villa, sits pretty close to the intersection which leaves only a back lot for parking. The entrance is off College and the Friday night dinner rush was just starting so the parking lot was filling up fast.
Peoria Zoo
2320 N. Prospect Drive- Peoria, IL 61603
- (309) 686-3365
- Website
Zoo’s are always a go to when we’re in a new town. As I’ve mentioned many, many times, we’re members at Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek and that membership gets us in to a number of AZA zoo’s across the country.
We were only spending one full day in Peoria and we had already visited the Caterpillar Visitor’s Center and met up with an old friend for lunch. L would have been happy just spending the rest of the day in the pool, but there’s a zoo in Peoria and where there’s a zoo, you’ll probably find us.
The Peoria Zoo is in Glen Oak Park on the east side of Peoria. The entrance the the park is at the intersection of Prospect and McClure, but the entrance to the zoo is a long, winding, one-way road on the north side. Things have changed just a bit since we moved. There is a new entrance area with a small parking lot. On busy days I guess you’d have to park at the playground and walk to get to the main entrance, but we were getting there pretty late in the day on Tuesday and were able to find the one open spot that was there.
The Peoria Zoo has an interesting history. The zoo was built in the park in 1956 with help from Marlin Perkins. In 1989, when the Zoo was still known as Glen Oak zoo, Parade Magazine called it one of the ten worst zoo’s in America. Obviously, the zoo didn’t like that an invited the author to visit. He walked back the criticism a little bit and from there, the Peoria Park District looked to make improvements for the future. In the late ’90’s, a master plan was developed to expand the zoo and keep it in it’s current location. After ten years of planning and fundraising, the first major upgrade Africa! opened.
The zoo closes at 5:00 and we were walking in the door to the Barton Pavilion just a little after 3:30. We knew we didn’t have much time, but we also knew it was a small zoo, so it wouldn’t take long. Couple that with the fact L was much more interested in the playground we passed on the way to the zoo. Ticket prices are $9 for adults and $6 for kids 2-12. With our Binder Park membership, we got half off that and got in to the zoo for $ for all four of us (B was free being under the age of 1.) Read more…
Kelleher’s Irish Pub & Eatery
619 SW Water StreetThings were different when I lived in Peoria. For the majority of my five years there I was single. I was a lot younger. It was my first time really living on my own (outside of a college dorm room). All of my friends were young and single too. That meant Friday and Saturday nights (and a lot of weeks Wednesday and Thursday as well) were spent at a bar somewhere.
One of our favorite hangouts in Peoria was a little Irish pub down by the river. A lot of the people I worked with knew the owner and it was just a great spot to meet up on a Friday night and have a few beers.
When J and I decided we were going to stop in Peoria, we asked if any of our friends still living there wanted to meet up for lunch. Only one person took us up on the offer and asked to meet for lunch. She works right down the street from the bar we spent so much time at as 20-somethings, so I suggested meeting there for lunch. Read more…
Caterpillar Visitors Center
110 SW Washington Street- Peoria, IL 61602
- (309) 675-0606
- Website
Once we left St. Louis, the plan was to head back to Peoria, IL for a couple of nights. J and I met in Peoria eleven years ago and moved away in 2008. Neither of us had been back since.
Some things change and some things stay the same. One of the big things that has changed since we left is the riverfront. When I moved to Peoria in 2002, there was a huge block of land a block off the river that was abandoned. It was known then as the “Sears Block” because the long abandoned building was a Sears store before they moved out to the Northwoods Mall. The block sat empty for many years while money was raised to build The Peoria Riverfront Museum. As a companion to that museum, Caterpillar pledged to build a visitors center on the east side of that property across from the parking garage of their World Headquarters.
The hold up with Caterpillar was they said from the time they announced the project they weren’t going to build if the Riverfront Museum wasn’t going to get built. It took almost 15 years to fund and build the Museum and while it was a hot topic while we were there, it was almost four years after we left that the block was finally redeveloped.
Our first night in Peoria was straight to the hotel and to bed. It wasn’t really late, but we were tired and we had plans to meet a friend for lunch at noon the next day. Our plan was to visit the museum before that.
Without the use of GPS, I found my way back to downtown Peoria for the first time over eight years. The museum block is definitely not what I remember (duh, it was a hole in the ground with a chain link fence around it when I left.) Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 
