Pastrami Joe’s – Battle Creek
80 Michigan Avenue WEven on my days off, I seem to end up working. J and I were starting to wind down for the evening when I got a phone call from work asking if I could meet a co-worker in Battle Creek. I really wasn’t doing anything else and I can always use the overtime, so I agreed to a couple hours of work.
Actually, it was only about fifteen minutes of work once I got to Battle Creek, but with the drive and the inevitable lunch break, it became a couple of hours.
After helping the co-worker that needed my help, I figured I could just pick up dinner. I was already close to downtown and there’s a sandwich shop that I really like and don’t get to enough.
Pastrami Joe’s isn’t a new restaurant for me, but the location it is now is. The original Battle Creek restaurant (they also have one in Marshall) used to be in McCamly Plaza.
The new location is not too far from the old one. It’s right across the street from Arcadia Ales on Michigan Avenue just south of the river.
On a typical night, there is street parking in addition to a parking ramp attached to the structure. This wasn’t quite a typical night though as the Back to the Bricks Classic Car Show was just starting, so I had to park quite a few blocks away and walk to the restaurant. Read more…
Airway Lanes
5626 Portage Road- Portage, MI 49002
- (269) 327-7061
- Website
- Snack Bar Menu
What to do on a rainy day? L has been so cooped up lately due to the awful weather we’ve had lately. It’s either been oppressively humid or raining so she hasn’t gotten out of the house much. She just stands at the window looking for her friends.
When J got home from work on Monday, she pushed to get out of the house. L and I were still in pajamas and we just needed something to do.
A few months ago, L participated in a bowling fundraiser for work. She took L along with her for a couple of hours and they had the ramps set up for the kids to play. L loved pushing the ball down the lane so we thought we would give her another shot at bowling to see how she liked it.
We decided to go to Airway Lanes in Portage. The bowling area is part of the larger Airway Fun Center, but for the purpose of this blog, we didn’t stray from the bowling alley.
The Fun Center is on Portage Road across from the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport. The bowling area is towards to back of the building and it has it’s own entrance so you don’t have to walk through the front of the space that includes the rest of the indoor attractions and a Quiznos. Read more…
Food Street
6384 S. Westnedge AvenueEvery now and then, I’ll stumble on new restaurants while browsing Urbanspoon. Recently, I clicked on the “Recent Restaurants” link and was taken totally by surprise. The location is what grabbed my attention more than anything until I clicked the link to the Facebook page.
The restaurant is called Food Street and at first, it appeared to be in the Vine Neighborhood. The pictures really caught my attention because it had one of my favorite phrases on it. Italian beef.
Upon further inspection, whomever added the restaurant to Urbanspoon got the address a little wrong. This new restaurant is actually in Portage.
Food Street moved in to the space that was most recently State Burger on Westnedge at Mall Drive. The location is actually on the Mall Drive side of the little strip mall and it’s kind of hard to see at first.
The store hasn’t changed much since State Burger left. The large map of Michigan is still painted on the wall as you walk in and the kitchen/order area is still set up exactly the same way. It even has the somewhat awkward ordering system where you put in your order, they cook it, then ask you what you want on it at a condiment bar next to the cashier.
The menu has three big options. There’s Philly Cheesesteaks, Italian beef, and something called a Jim Shoe. Read more…
Lark’s Bar-B-Que
174 W. Main Street- Benton Harbor, MI 49022
- (269)926-9833
- No Known Website
- Menu
In what’s started to become an annual thing, my brother has brought his family to camp with his in-laws at a campground just outside of Covert the last two summers. It’s great that they come up here for a visit, but I don’t want to crash the whole thing because it’s a weekend where Grandma and Papa B get to spend some time with their granddaughters.
They have invited us up for a couple hours each year though so his daughters can play with L. Last year we spent a morning at the beach in South Haven and that was the plan again this year, but the weather wasn’t great and when I got up that morning, I texted to see what the plan was.
He suggested we just meet in St. Joseph instead. We could go to the Curious Kids’ Discovery Zone and Silver Beach Carousel.
We drove to St. Joe with the idea of meeting them when the Discovery Zone opened at 10 AM. We spent a little over an hour and a half playing and riding the carousel before we had to get back home.
We said our goodbyes and started to head back to I-94 through Benton Harbor. I had promised L that we would stop and get some lunch if we got off the carousel and, of course, I had a place on the way I have been itching to try. Read more…
The Grill House
1071 32nd StreetI’ve never really gotten in to Father’s Day much. I always make sure to have plans for Mother’s Day, but Father’s Day is usually just me firing up the grill and drinking a beer.
A few months ago, I sort of said in passing to J that I wanted a steak on Father’s Day. I sort of took the long way to Saugatuck a few weeks ago and took M-43 to M-40 to M-89 due to construction on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo. Instead of just going to Main Street to get on the highway, I just drove two lane roads to get to our destination.
On the way north on M-40, we passed The Grill House. I was hoping if I pointed it out, J would get the idea that I wanted to go there for Father’s Day.
I actually first heard about The Grill House several years ago….while we were still living in Lansing. I was watching the 101 Tastiest Places to Chowdown on the Travel Channel when a place in the faraway town of Allegan popped up. I had no idea where Allegan was at that time….but I sure do now.
On the Saturday before Father’s Day, J had told me she had gotten a reservation for noon on Sunday. I was excited…almost to the point I didn’t want to eat at all the day before because I just wanted to fill up on yummy, delicious steak.
The Grill House is on M-40 (132nd Street) just south of the City of Allegan. The restaurant is an old boarding house built in the 1830’s for lumberjacks. It’s been many things in the years since, but a little over a decade ago, the house transformed in to what is now a fairly unique steak house. Read more…
Rico’s Deli
820 Monroe Avenue NWIt’s been a while since Foursquare has actually been relevant, but every now and then, something surprises me.
Last week, I was near downtown Grand Rapids when I checked in to something (I don’t even remember what). On one of the more recent updates to the app, they have started putting recommendations near you on the front page. What popped up was a tip from a friend of mine left on a deli I had never heard of. I clicked on it and saw there were quite a few positive tips, so I went looking for a website and liked what I saw.
Rico’s Deli was the restaurant that popped up. It’s on Monroe Avenue just north of 6th Street across from the park. It’s in the space that used to be the Riverfront Deli in one of those old factories that has been turned in to mixed use buildings in recent years.
There is parking on the street as well as the public lot across the street next to the park, but it was pretty late on a Friday night, so street parking was an easy option.
There were a few people inside when I walked in and the lone employee, who someone else called Rico, was chatting with some guys who had just come from the National Homebrewers Conference at Devos Place. Read more…
Salt and Pepper Savory Grill & Pub
11539 E. Lakewood Blvd. #50We weren’t planning on going to Holland for the day….but we did. We weren’t planning on spending the morning at Nelis’ Dutch Village….but we did. J kind of hooked me with, “we can go to New Holland for lunch,” but I wasn’t really in a drinking mood at 11:00 AM. I mean, one sounded alright, but if we were going to New Holland, I would have wanted to do a flight.
As usual, I have a bank of places in Holland I want to try. Some are just not quick enough for me to try at work, so on the rare occasion we go over there, I pull one out and run it by J. The one I pulled out on this day, she seemed excited to try.
Salt and Pepper Savory Grill and Pub is on Lakewood Boulevard just east of 112th Avenue. It turned out to only be a couple minutes from Dutch Village. I knew it was close, but I wasn’t aware of how close it was until I put it in the GPS.
The restaurant is in The Crossings Mall, but once you walk inside, you don’t get that feeling. The vibe of that place is more upscale with dimmed lighting and darker woods. There’s also a pretty large patio out back that most of the lunch patrons were taking advantage of. Read more…
Nelis’ Dutch Village
12350 James Street- Holland, MI 49424
- (616) 396-1475
- Website
Our plan was just to go to the Gap Outlet. We left Saugatuck pretty early on our last day of vacation and J suggested we head to Holland to do a little shopping. We got to Holland before Gap opened and L looked across the pond from the parking lot and saw a carousel. We were screwed at that point. She saw a carousel and wouldn’t let it go until she got to ride it.
Nelis’ Dutch Village is a small theme park on the corner of US 31 and James Street in Holland. The park got it’s start in the 1950’s as a retail outlet for the Nelis family and it just sort of grew over time.
Like Gap, Dutch Village didn’t open until 10 and we were a little early. The lady working the admission counter suggested we check out some of the shops which open at 9:00.
Just outside the gates of Dutch Village is a small row of shops selling wooden shoes and other classic Dutch wares. You don’t need to pay admission to the park if you’re just going to shop. The shops are accessible from outside and there is parking right in front of them.
After almost buying L a pair of wooden shoes, we headed back to the park entrance. The admission is $10 for adults and there were three of us. L was still free due to her age, so it cost us $30 to get in. Read more…
Back Alley Pizza Joint
22 Main StreetAfter a couple weeks on the road for work and a family emergency, I made it home for a day and a half before we left again. We had a vacation planned and it’s something we had been looking forward to for months.
Once again this year, we rented a cabin at Kingfisher Cove in Saugatuck. We invited my parents and J’s parents to join us to spend time with their granddaughter and to split the cost a three ways.
J, L, and I made it to Saugatuck first. Makes sense seeing as we’re the closest. Next up was my parents. J’s parents were pretty late because J’s dad needed to work a full day before heading north.
We decided to order pizza the first night. We were hanging out on the porch playing with L and waiting for J’s parents. Those of us that were there were hungry and pizza would stay pretty good so J’s parents could eat when they get there.
J suggested we order from the same place we did last. Lakeshore Convenience Store. I pulled open the book of menus the cabin leaves to pull it out, but I found another one. J and my mom wanted some breadsticks and a salad too and Lakeshore doesn’t do those. I pulled out a menu for Back Alley Pizza Joint and we started looking over that.
We decided the pizza from Back Alley looked good plus they had the extra stuff we were looking for.
I put in an order for a large BBQ Pork Pizza, a large cheese and sausage pizza, a large traditional salad, and a whole order of garlic cheese bread. The order taker told me it would take about twenty minutes. Read more…
Tavern in the Green
3422 W. 95th StreetOK, last out-of-state blog for the time being. We spent one more night at J’s parents before heading back to mine for my grandma’s funeral. When her step-dad got home from work, we started discussing dinner. J’s mom brought up a fairly new place that I drove by earlier in the day when I made a beer run to Binny’s Beverage Depot on 95th Steet.
That restaurant is Tavern in the Green in Evergreen Park, IL. The sports bar/pub sits on 95th Street west of Kedzie Avenue in the south suburb. The space used to be a family restaurant, so I’m guessing the new place was a total overhaul.
It was a Tuesday night when we walked in for dinner and the place was fairly empty. The first thing you notice is the abundance of TV’s hanging from the ceiling. There are TV’s spaced every few feet hanging from the rafters so it’s impossible to sit anywhere in the space and not see a TV.
We were all pretty hungry when the waitress came over to take our orders, but first, we had to start with drinks. We all got some kind of alcohol with my mother-in-law and I both ordering Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA’s, J’s dad ordered a Miller Lite and J ordered a Raspberry Twisted Tea. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 