Morrie O’Malley’s Hot Dogs
3501 S. Union AvenueWhite Sox games are always an event in my family. It’s not just about baseball. It’s about friends, family, food, and so much more. My brother, dad, and my best friend from high school get together for a trip every year where we order 100 chicken wings, pack as much beer as we can drink in the parking lot, and tailgate until they kick us out. It’s not even really about the game as much as it is about the experience.
This past weekend was not that trip. It was just my dad and I, but that didn’t stop us from having a few parking lot beers and needing food. We talked about bringing a grill, but we ended up deciding just to walk someplace and get sandwiches.
Our travels down 35th Street took us to Morrie O’Mally’s Hot Dogs. The small Chicago-style hot dog shack is on the corner of 35th and Union four blocks from U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.
Like so many of the great hot dog shops in Chicago, Morrie O’Malley’s isn’t much more than a kitchen and an order counter. They have the traditional chest high counter that you can stand at to eat while looking out on to the street plus a patio with a few tables, but that’s about it.
Morrie O’Malley’s has a huge menu of Chicago favorites. Yes, there’s the Chicago Hot Dog, but neither my dad nor I even really like hot dogs. They also have a Strip Steak Sandwich served on Garlic Toast that they are quickly becoming known for. That sounded good, but what do I always get when I go to Chicago? An Italian beef. Dipped and with hot giardiniera. Read more…
Burgers and Beer Bar & Grill
756 W. Jeffery StreetBurgers and beer. Seriously, could a place be more perfect for me? If I played that stupid game where I was stranded on a dessert island and I had to choose a limited amount of things to take with me, burgers and beer would be two of those things.
We weren’t planning on making a trip to the Chicago area this past weekend, but my brother needed to bail on a trip he had scheduled with my dad. They had tickets for the White Sox game on Saturday and a series of events made it difficult for my brother to keep his commitment. Not wanting to disappoint my dad, he called and asked if I would go with him instead….and it’s hard for me to turn down free baseball.
The night before, my mom asked if we’d come to their house for a little bit. It’s easier for us to stay at J’s parents because they’re in the Chicago suburbs and therefore, closer to Kalamazoo. My parents live about another hour or so south, so we don’t get there as much as anyone would like us to.
When J got off work at noon on Friday, we packed up the car and headed south. We got to my parents fairly early in the afternoon, so J took a nap while L and I went to the park with my parents. We let J sleep a little while longer after we got back, but then it started creeping towards dinner time and L and I were getting hungry.
My aunt had given me a gift card for Burgers & Beer in Kankakee for Christmas. We don’t get back that way often anymore, so I had still had it in my wallet. I asked if that’s where everyone wanted to go for dinner and no one objected.
Burgers & Beer is kind of an oddity in the Kankakee area. The places I grew up were not and still aren’t really craft beer minded. They prefer their 30 pack of Busch Light and drinking a Budweiser is what separates the boys from the men. Burgers & Beer is trying to break that mold and so far, is succeeding where other places haven’t.
The unassuming restaurant on Kankakee’s south side looks more like a warehouse than a dining establishment. It’s a large Morton type building with no windows. It actually used to be a VFW Hall. From the outside, it looks awfully big, but once you get inside the actual dining room, you’ll see looks can be deceiving.
My brother and aunt decided to join the five of us for dinner, so our total party was seven. We got there about 30 seconds too late. There were two tables open that could have been pushed together when we got there, but one of those tables was being seated as we walked to the hostess stand. It turned out, we had to wait about 35 minutes for two more tables to open up together so we could all be seated together. Read more…
Spanky’s Pizza – Ludington
5784 US-10I hate trips to Ludington. Not because I don’t Ludington. It’s actually a really nice town with a great waterfront. It’s just so darn far away…..even from Grand Rapids where I’m stationed for work.
Early last week a co-worker and I got sent to Ludington for an assignment. The actual assignment didn’t take long at all. The drive there and back seemed to take forever.
Before leaving town, we wanted to grab something to eat. We didn’t have time to sit down and we didn’t really want fast food either. On our way in to town, we drove past a pizza place. I suggested we just head there and see if they have sandwiches….or, just get a pizza.
Spanky’s Pizza is on US-10 just to the east of Ludington proper. It’s still in a highly commercialized area between US-31 and the City of Ludington.
We really didn’t think we were going to order a pizza when we walked in to the small restaurant. There’s an order counter right as you enter and a small dining room just past the waiting area. We both grabbed a menu off the counter and started looking it over. They do actually have subs, but as we were looking at the menu, the lady behind the counter filled us in on the specials. One of which was a buy one, get one for a dollar deal on pizzas. Money really isn’t an issue when we’re burning company dollars, but the pizza did look good, so we both decided to do that. Read more…
Maggie’s Cafe & Catering
3290 Stadium DriveWhen we first moved to town six years ago, one of the first breakfast places people really recommended was Maggie’s Campus Cafe. It took a few months, but we finally made it one Sunday morning and joined the hungover college crowd for delicious, hearty breakfast food.
That location closed due to a dispute with the property own and it’s now Breakfast at Tiffiny’s.
It’s taken a better part of five years, but Maggie’s is back. The new Maggie’s Cafe & Kitchen is on Stadium Drive where Lenny’s Sub Shop used to be in the Stadium Shoppes development.
The first thing we noticed about the Maggie’s is that it’s small. A good portion of the building is taken up by the kitchen which wasn’t needed in the old sub shop. The tables are packed in pretty tightly and there’s not many of them.
We were lucky enough to find one table open on a Sunday just before noon. We sat down and a waitress brought over menus and got us drinks. J and I were still in breakfast mode, but L had already moved on to lunch. Both menus were available, so everyone got what they wanted. Read more…
Territorial Brewing Company
256 Helmer Road NorthOne of our favorite things to do with L in the summer is go to zoo’s. The summer after she was born, we signed up for a membership at Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. In addition to the multiple trips there every summer, our membership gets us half off at a number of zoos around the country.
We hadn’t been able to get over to the zoo yet this year and all three of us were missing the giraffes. I only had one day off last week and I had a lot to fit in to that one day, but when J said, “Let’s go to the zoo” there was no way I could say no.
After a couple of hours of doing all of L’s favorite things, we were ready to head home. I asked J if she wanted to pick up a pizza or stop at a brewery for dinner. She picked brewery. Man, I love her.
We made the short trip back to Springfield where Territorial Brewing Company has set up shop across the street from the WMU College of Aviation and the W.K. Kellogg Airport.
The brewery took over the building that used to be Bill’s Pizza Factory on Helmer Road at 6th Avenue. I was never in Bill’s, but I’m guessing they had to do some work to turn it in to a German pub.
The small dining room and small bar were both pretty full when we dropped in just before 5:00 on a Friday night. We were met by a waiter who took us to a table and left drink and food menus.
I wanted to stop to check out the beer and what better way to do that than to order a flight. Most of the beers are of German inspiration so there’s no IPA’s or Pale Ale’s on the menu right now. Read more…
Angelo’s Italian Eatery – Texas Corners
6997 W. Q AvenueIt’s not often that I get to spend my entire shift in Kalamazoo. I end up in Kalamazoo a lot, but most of the time, I still have to go to Grand Rapids to pick up equipment and a co-worker. This time, I had everything I needed already at home and the co-worker just met me.
We spent the day in Portage not too far from Texas Township. At dinner time, C.W. was very adamant that he was hungry and we needed an actual break. We still didn’t have time for a meal at a full service, sit-down restaurant, but my goal was to find a place we could have a hearty, delicious meal and actually take a little time to enjoy it.
We weren’t too far away from Texas Corners and as much as I would have loved to have taken him to Texas Corners Brewing, we didn’t have that much time. Instead, grinders sounded good to me and he had no idea what a grinder was, so I took the opportunity to teach him about delicious sandwiches.
Angelo’s Italian Eatery opened up their third location in the former Asiago Bakery and Deli in the small strip mall on the corner of Q Avenue and 8th Street in Texas Township. They didn’t really change anything when they moved in. The layout is the same and like their Ravine Road location, they have an ice cream counter for a sweet treat if you have any room left.
The only odd thing about the space was they didn’t have a menu above the counter. I didn’t need one. I’ve eaten at Angelo’s different locations (Ravine – Portage), so I put in my typical order of a 16″ Pizza Grinder. Since we were eating in, I also added a Pepsi which brought my total to just under $10. Read more…
Texas Corners Brewing Company
6970 Texas DriveHave I mentioned how much I love the brewery scene in Kalamazoo. What’s that? I have? Good. Now I’m going to tell you again. I freakin’ love the brewery scene in Kalamazoo. So many great breweries and more popping up all the time.
The newest addition is Texas Corners Brewing Company. As the name implies, the brewery is in Texas corners, on Texas Drive, near the corner of Q Avenue and 8th Street.
It’s really hard to miss as you pull in to the business center of Texas Township. The brewery took up residence in t-51 he old church on the corner of Texas Drive and 8th Street.
J and I had been wanting to stop in for dinner for quite some time, but we’ve been so busy recently, we couldn’t find time. Last week, J’s mom came to visit and she really the enjoys craft beer scene in Michigan, so we thought this would be a great time to finally check out this new hot spot.
We pulled in to the parking lot at 5:30 on Friday night. We hadn’t planned on going so late, but other things came up, so by the time we decided to go to dinner, it was after 5:00. There were a few spots in the parking lot, but once we walked up the steps and could see in to the brewery, we knew there was going to be a wait.
We ended up waiting a little over 35 minutes for a table. There’s really not a waiting room, so I took L back outside so she wasn’t running in to people waiting in the little hallway connecting the door with the dining room. Read more…
Pizza King of Galesburg
92 E. Michigan AvenueI don’t end up in Galesburg too often, but a co-worker and I spent a significant amount of time there not too long ago. It was kind of a relaxed day of work with not much going on, but we were stuck in town waiting something out.
When dinner time rolled around, neither of us really knew what to do. Most of my Galesburg dining experiences are at the McDonalds out by the Interstate. Yeah…didn’t want McDonalds, but we were pretty close to a pizza joint. Pizza sounded good.
Pizza King of Galesburg is on Michigan Avenue just to the east of the main downtown intersection. It shares a building with an Auto Value store and shares it’s space with a small ice cream shop called Frostee Queen.
I could have just walked in and placed my order, but I found a menu online, so I took the lazy route and called the order in from the parking lot. C.W. wasn’t super hungry, so I went with what I wanted and offered him a couple slices. He’d just have to eat whatever I got.
I ordered a large Extra Thin crust with pepperoni and ground beef. They actually have four crust options, but thin crust is always my preferred choice. There was nothing too out of the ordinary on the toppings list and I went for ground beef instead of my usual bacon. Read more…
O’Toole’s Public House
448 Bridge Street NWIt’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to have a nice, sit-down restaurant in Grand Rapids on my dinner break. One day last week, I finally got that. A colleague and I were on the west side of town and had some time to spare. We were both hungry and I suggested that little Irish pub we drove past earlier.
O’Toole’s Public House sits right in the epicenter of a redeveloping West Side neighborhood on Bridge Street just to the west of US 131 and downtown Grand Rapids. The small Irish pub sits on the corner of Bridge Street and Winter Avenue. At first glance, the pub looks a little out of place, but they’re actually just ahead of the curve.
Parking can always be a little tricky in this area. We got lucky and found street parking just a few storefronts down which is surprising because the bar was pretty packed. We just missed happy hour and there were obvious groups of co-workers from the hospitals just down the street.
C.W. noticed a table up against the wall that was empty near the front entrance, so we grabbed that then tracked down a waitress for a couple of menus. We had time to eat dinner, but there was still a little bit of a rush to it.
I actually felt a little at home inside the pub. It had a very lively atmosphere with baskets of peanuts on the table and empty shells on the floor. The decor is traditional Irish pub with hardwood floors. The decibel level at dinner time was probably pretty close to dangerous. It was loud. On more than one occasion, I had to ask my co-worker to repeat herself while we were trying to have a conversation. Read more…
One Well Brewing
4213 Portage StreetI love the boom of breweries in Kalamazoo. It is seriously awesome to have so many options. When a new brewery opens, I typically give it a little time if they don’t open with a food menu. I don’t really like drinking alone, so I’d rather be able to take my wife and daughter along for lunch.
When One Well Brewing opened up last fall, they didn’t have a food menu. It was in the works, but they wanted to get the whole beer thing going first. Many Friday nights I’ve thought heading down there after the ladies go to bed and many a Friday night I ended up in bed myself before 9:00.
A little over a month ago, the food situation changed. They added a small menu which is mostly appetizer type food and pizzas, but there was enough for the three of us to eat, so we finally decided to stop in for a quick lunch on a Saturday afternoon.
One Well Brewing is on Portage Street just to the north of the I-94 Interchange and Kilgore Road. The building actually used to be the home of Sunset Boulevard Brewing Company before they decided the neighborhood was too rough for them and they bailed.
Not much has changed with the set up of the restaurant. There’s still a huge horseshoe bar right as you walk in and a pretty large dining room with a variety of seating options. They’ve also installed a couple of classic video game and pinball machines along the back wall.
The three of us made our way towards the back of the space and sat at a table that shares a bench on one side with a number of other tables in the dining room. There was a food menu and a drink menu already on the table, so we started looking it over. The bartender came over and asked if we had been there before. We had not and he pointed out they “work like Bell’s” and food and drinks are ordered at the bar. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 