Chick-fil-A – Chicago Ridge
9600 Ridgeland AvenueI’m a little shocked. I didn’t think I’d ever be writing another blog about a Chick-fil-A. The only time J and I have ever eaten at one was on our honeymoon. We were traveling from Indianapolis to Kalamazoo to check out an apartment. We made a quick stop in South Bend, IN because we saw a sign for one right off the highway. Neither of us were super impressed and J isn’t a very big fan of their corporate stance on social issues.
We still don’t have a Chick-fil-A near us here in Southwest Michigan, but one did recently open up near J’s parents. After spending a couple days at my parents, we decided to go to J’s parents for a few days before having to head back south to my parents again. If you haven’t been paying attention or haven’t put two and two together yet, this trip home was because my grandma was in bad shape and Sunday morning, she passed away. J, L and I had to stay in town a few extra days for the wake and funeral, but we didn’t bring clothes for that with us. We could have just drove back to Michigan to pick them up and head back, but we decided it was more important to spend as much time with family as possible, so J and her mom went on an emergency shopping trip to buy some dress clothes for three of us.
We were taking advantage of coupons my mom and her mom had from various credit cards, so J and her mom went to the Chicago Ridge Mall while L and I stayed home and played with grandpa.
Just outside Chicago Ridge is where the Chick-fil-A popped up in Chicago Ridge. It’s on the Ridgeland Avenue side of the parking lot just south of West 96th Street. It’s a stand alone building in the mall parking lot right near the mall entrance. Read more…
Ale House Pub and Eatery
135 N. Kinzie AvenueAfter saying goodbye to my grandma, we headed back to my parents house for the night. We were sort of talking about heading to J’s parents, but my mom asked if she could have a sleepover with L and my brother’s two girls. We both thought it would be good for my mom to spend some time laughing with a 2,3, and 5 year old.
Since my brother and sister-in-law were now free for the evening as well, we asked if they wanted to go out for dinner. When they get nights out without the kids, they usually go to Texas Roadhouse or TGIFriday’s. J and I like to be a little more adventurous and my brother knows that so he brought up a new craft beer bar that opened about 20 miles away.
The Ale House Pub and Eatery is on Kinzie Avenue (also known as Illinois 50) just north of Broadway Avenue in Bradley, Illinois. My parents and brother all referred to it as something else that I should have known when they were trying to explain where it was at, but I still have no idea what they were talking about. Kinzie and Broadway is a pretty busy intersection, so it really wasn’t that hard to find.
The parking lot was packed when we pulled in just before 7:00 on a Saturday night. We both sort of made up parking spots in available spaces around the building. When we walked in, we were told there would be about a 45 minute wait. We all figured what the hell and just told the hostess we’d head to the bar which was pretty empty to wait.
The space is surprisingly huge. There’s a large bar area with tables when you walk in plus another dining room farther to the back and a second large bar area with a stage for live shows beyond that. That space was being used for a bachelerotte party and they were setting up the band for the night so that area wasn’t being used for general seating at the time. Read more…
Miller Park Zoo
1020 S. Morris Avenue- Bloomington, IL 61701
- (309) 434-2250
- Website
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, we had to make an emergency trip to Bloomington, IL last weekend. My grandma wasn’t doing well and we wanted to get there to see her and be with my mom.
I was working on Mackinac Island when all of this went down, so as soon as I got back to West Michigan, we packed up and made the five hour drive south.
That’s a lot of driving for a two year old and she did incredibly well. She also did incredibly well at the hospital and provided some much needed smiles for my mom.
My mom wanted to stay the night at the hospital Friday night, so J, L, and I Pricelined a cheap hotel and went to get some sleep. I fully expected to get woken up in the middle of the night by my mom giving me the bad news and asking me to come pick her up.
That didn’t happen that night, so when we woke up Saturday morning, we wanted to do something with L before heading back to the hospital to sit with my mom.
If you follow this blog, you know that L likes animals. We have been to several zoos already this summer and we were close to a zoo that J and I hadn’t been to in quite a while.
The Miller Park Zoo is on a small plot of land inside Miller Park in the City of Bloomington. The physical address is on South Morris Street but the entrance is actually on Wood Street. You have to kind of wind your way through the park to get to the parking lot for the zoo. Read more…
Zorba’s Restaurant
603 Dale StreetAfter a night in a cheap hotel, what’s better than a cheap and greasy breakfast? We were in a college town, so I knew it shouldn’t be too hard to find a place like that and it only took a quick Google search to come up with a restaurant that fit the bill.
Zorba’s Restaurant is near Illinois State University on Dale Street between the one-way streets of Kingsley and South Main Street. It’s a little hard to find because you can’t really see it from either Kingsley or Main which is probably how you will be getting to the restaurant. There are a couple new development buildings which is where I was looking, but Zorba’s was there long before those buildings were thought of.
We found a parking spot in the small lot behind the restaurant and went inside. We were told we could sit wherever we liked and a waitress followed us with menus. The restaurant is a pretty typical greasy spoon Greek diner. The color scheme is blue and white and the booths are hard and uncomfortable. Perfect after a night of drinking. Read more…
Monical’s Pizza of Bloomington – Veterans Parkway
2103 N. Veterans ParkwayFriday was a pretty tough day for me. I started out in Mackinaw City, MI at 7:00 AM and by 6:00 PM, I was 520 miles further south in Bloomington, IL. I’ll just give you the short story here. My grandma was in the hospital at OSF St. Joseph in Bloomington and her prospect of recovery was very, very slim.
I picked J and L up on my way south then we picked my mom up for the last leg of the trip. After spending a couple hours with my grandma, we left my mom at the hospital then we headed to find food and a hotel.
Well, the hotel part was easy. I Pricelined a craptastic hotel not too far away in Normal, but food was the option we still had to figure out for ourselves.
Bloomington/Normal is not uncharted territory for J and I. We worked in the area for several years and spent many days in the Twin Cities. Still, it’s been over five years and things change…and we sort of drew a blank.
I drew a blank anyway, J popped in right away with her choice. She noticed a Monical’s Pizza on the way in to town and that’s where she wanted to eat.
I’ve blogged about Monical’s Pizza in the past. Most recently was their shop in Kankakee, IL. It’s the pizza I grew up on and I introduced to J several years ago. Read more…
Blue Water Grill and Bar
918 S. Huron AvenueLast night in Mackinaw City and I had just worked a 14 hour day on the Island. I was exhausted. My co-worker was exhausted. He chose to go to the hotel and go to bed. I had to find something for dinner though. I was hungry.
I used Yelp to look at what was around me. As I found out in a hurry, Mackinaw City really isn’t that big. There are plenty of restaurants though, so it came down to who had a menu online and who was closest to my hotel.
I chose Blue Water Grill and Bar on Huron Avenue which is also M-23 on the south side of Mackinaw City as you’re leaving town. It’s right near the long row of hotels that line this portion of M-23.
The restaurant has a nautical theme as you would expect. There is some connection to Arnold Mackinaw Island Ferry Line, but I’m not sure what it is. There was a lot of memorabilia from the ferry. There is a fairly large parking lot on one side of the building and you walk through a patio to get to the front door.
The inside of the restaurant seemed a little small to me. There is a dining room and a bar area. I had the hostess seat me in the bar area so I could watch the end of a baseball game and just be out of the way. They were getting pretty close to closing time when I wandered in, so the bar was empty when I sat down. I took a booth just because it would be more comfortable than sitting at the bar. Read more…
MaMa Mia’s Pizza
231 E. Central AvenueThe first day on Mackinac Island was a long one. We caught the 7:30 AM ferry from Shepler’s in Mackinaw City and didn’t catch the return ferry until 8:00 PM. By the time we got back, C.W. was exhausted and just wanted to smoke a cigar and go to bed. I still needed food and ordering a pizza so I could sit in my room and watch the Blackhawks game seemed like a good idea.
I used Yelp on my phone to try to find a pizza place. It’s kind of amazing that so many places in a tourist town don’t have websites. Finding a menu for a pizza place was incredibly difficult. I finally found a Facebook page for a place with pretty good reviews and, after much scrolling through pictures, finally found a menu.
I called in an order to Mama Mia’s Pizza at about 8:40. I kept it simple and just ordered a large pepperoni. They told me it would be about 20 minutes so I relaxed for a little while in my room before heading back downtown to pick up my dinner.
Mama Mia’s Pizza is in the main business portion of Mackinaw City on Central Avenue right on the corner of Henry Street. There is a plethora of on street parking and since we were in town during the week, finding a spot was not an issue.
The building actually serves a dual purpose. In addition to Mama Mia’s, it’s also home to the Mackinac Bridge Museum. The museum is in the upstairs portion of the building and it’s open when the restaurant is open. As a bonus, admission is free.
This is actually the second incarnation of the museum and pizzeria. Almost ten years ago, they suffered a fire that destroyed the building. They rebuilt and reopened two years later. Despite being fairly new, the pizzeria has the feel that it has been in town for a while. Read more…
Original Murdick’s Fudge
7363 Main StreetThere’s no such thing as a trip to Mackinac Island without a stop for fudge. I mean, seriously, there are more fudge shops on the Island than there are Starbucks in the hipster portion of any major American city.
We spent the majority of our first day on the Island at the Grand Hotel. When it came time to head back down to Main Street to catch the ferry, we had some time to kill. We missed the 7:00 and had to wait for the 8:00. I didn’t know what the next day was going to be like, so I wanted to do a little shopping before heading back to Mackinaw City.
The first stop I made was at a fudge shop. There are so many to choose from, so I chose the one that I haven’t been to before…either on or off the Island.
Original Murdick’s Fudge has two sh0ps on Main Street right across the street from each other. I guess on busy days this is probably a smart idea, but it just seems weird even though most of the fudge shops do this.
The shop was getting ready to close up for the night when I walked in, so there was no more fudge being made in the window. The lone employee was working with a couple of ladies who were tasting several different flavors while deciding what to buy.
The quaint little shop looks like most fudge shops. There is a large display case with all of the different flavors on one side and there’s a big kitchen area on the other where, during the day, you can watch a candy maker making the delicious Mackinac Island fudge. Read more…
Dixie Saloon
401 E. Central AvenueThere is no way I’m going to turn down a job assignment on Mackinac Island. A free trip to the Island….even if it does involve 14 hours of work a day, seems like a no-brainer to me.
Last Tuesday, I met a co-worker in Mackinaw City for the first part of our assignment. We had something to do in the City before heading out to the Island Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, our work decided it was cheaper to just pay the ferry fees each day, so we were staying in Mackinaw City and commuting each morning. Still can’t complain though.
Once we finished our short assignment for Tuesday, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel then went looking for dinner. My co-worker in this case has been to the area several times over the years so I deferred to him when it came to picking a restaurant.
We headed to downtown Mackinaw City and he gave me a couple choices. I picked the one that looked the best from the outside.
Our first night in Mackinaw City we hit up the Dixie Saloon for dinner. The restaurant is right in front of the Shepler’s Ferry dock at the corner of Central and Huron Avenues. The large building has more of a log cabin style lodge feel to it both inside and out.
A waiter showed us to a booth along the backside windows that overlook the ferry dock. We were of the clock for the night, so we both started with drinks. C.W. took a bottle of Budweiser while I asked for the taplist and found a Diabolical IPA from nearby North Peak Brewing Company in Traverse City. Read more…
Arcadia Ales – Kalamazoo
701 E. Michigan Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49007
- (269) 343-1925
- Website
- Sample Menu
When I was in fifth grade, my teacher was very excited about the new shopping mall being built near her house. She used to tell us all the time how she would drive by on her way home from work and yell out the car window at the workers telling them to hurry up. She couldn’t wait for the mall to open.
I always thought that was a little weird. That is, until Arcadia Ales broke ground for a new brewery in downtown Kalamazoo.
It’s been a long year or so driving by the site anxious for the new brewery and pub to open. We love Arcadia in Battle Creek, but we don’t go over there nearly enough to eat. We’ve had really great snacks from the Twisted Tail food truck at the Kalamazoo Farmer’s Market, but it’s the BBQ we really love from Arcadia.
Finally, in early April, we saw the announcement that Arcadia was opening their doors in Kalamazoo at the beginning of May. Unfortunately, they’re not open on Sunday or Monday…which are my days off, but I did notice they are open Saturday for lunch and the lunch is served inside and not at the food truck that is parked outside for lunch during the week.
Arcadia Ales in Kalamazoo is on Michigan Avenue just to the west of the Kalamazoo River near downtown. The building is huge because it’s also their new production facility. The restaurant takes up the side of the building that is closest to the river.
The pub is large. It’s divided in to three distinct spaces with the bar area being the first thing you walk in to. There is a huge bar with all of Arcadia’s delicious beers on tap and a number of pub tables in the space. There’s also a wall that opens up that leads to the outdoor seating area which overlooks the river. The third space is in the back of the restaurant and that’s where you pick up food. There’s sort of a deli counter with the day’s offerings. There are also some communal tables which are much lower. These work great for the families that come in to eat like us. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 