Grand Rapids Brewing Company
1 Ionia Avenue SWMy parents don’t get to spend a whole lot of time with L on the account of them living three hours away. My brother, on the other hand, lives five minutes from them, so they get to spend a lot of time with my nieces.
The winter has been really rough on us. It’s been really hard for either them or us to travel along the Lake, so we haven’t seen much of each other.
Since my mom gets to spend a lot of time with my nieces, she’s more in tune to what they’re in to. Like most little girls, they’re really in to Disney princesses.
This past weekend, the Disney on Ice: Princesses and Heroes was at the Van Andel Arena and my mom asked if she could buy tickets to take L to the show. L’s not really in to Disney, but I didn’t really care. There would be music, lights, dancing, and over-the-top characters. I knew she’d have a blast and I knew my mom would love taking her.
We got tickets for the 1:00 PM show on Sunday. The plan was to hit up someplace in Grand Rapids for breakfast before the show, but that plan sort of failed. We tried going to Real Food Cafe, but the wait was ridiculous. Even without a somewhat cranky, tired toddler and needing to get somewhere, there’s no way I was going to wait in that line.
I don’t really know a lot about Grand Rapids breakfast places since I work nights, so I was stumped. I was trying to come up with something, but J said we should just go downtown where just a block from the arena, is another brewery that we’ve been wanting to get to.
Grand Rapids Brewing Company opened up at 1 Ionia Ave SW at the end of 2012 reviving the name after the previous incarnation closed it’s doors a few years ago on 28th Street. Read more…
Midtown Brewing Company
402 Washington Square SouthTwo nights of eating dinner in a row?! What the heck. That really never happens. I’m not exaggerating. I got two nights in a row where I had enough time to eat dinner at work.
A couple co-workers and I were in Lansing for the night and we were downtown near dinner time. There are plenty of options in downtown Lansing, but we were really close to one of my old favorites.
Well, it used to be something different, but the spirit of the place is still the same.
I’m talking about the Midtown Brewing Company which used to be MBC…which stood for Michigan Brewing Company ….before the parent brewery went bankrupt. The brewery and the restaurant were separate entities so the restaurant survived. After they ran out of MBC beer, they had to get a new liquor license and now they have several Michigan crafts on tap. They changed the name to Midtown Brewing Company (0r maybe it’s Midtown Beer Company…I’ve seen it both ways, but the sign says brewing) to keep the MBC initials.
My two co-workers grabbed a table while I put some things back in the car. When I got in, they had already found a table near the bar and ordered drinks. Since we were on the clock, there was no beer in our future, so we all had Cokes. Read more…
Hennessy’s Irish Pub
885 Jefferson StreetIt’s usually a pretty good night when I get assigned to the work with the Co-Worker who is aware that I write this blog. She knows I like seeking out new restaurants, so we do our best to carve out time for some sort of dinner….which is a rarity in the business we work in.
This past week brought us to Muskegon. We had a couple hours between our assignments and actually had time to sit down and enjoy a good meal. Unfortunately, neither of us are really familiar with the restaurants in Muskegon and we needed to stay close to downtown, so I turned to Urbanspoon to help us out.
It wasn’t the first restaurant on the list, but it met our criteria of being close to downtown and having a large enough menu we could both find something to eat….the choice? Hennessy’s Irish Pub.
I’ve seen billboards around town for Hennessy’s, so I assumed it had to be pretty popular. The small Irish Pub sits on the north side of downtown Muskegon on Jefferson Street just off Seaway Drive. The building looks a little out of place with the updated facade in the style of a traditional Irish pub.
We walked in to find a hostess station right at the front door. The dining room is rather open with several tables spread around the large bar and a handfull of booths with high privacy backs along the wall. Read more…
bd’s Mongolian Grill – Portage
5311 S. Westnedge AvenueIt’s hard for me to try new things. Things that aren’t burgers or pizza. Things like stir-fry.
When I think of stir-fry, I think of veggies. I’m not a super huge veggie person. I’m more in the Ron Swanson meat-eater category.
That being said, bd’s Mongolian Grill has always scared me. I don’t know why. It shouldn’t scare me. It’s just a restaurant….right?
Anyway, bd’s has never been on our radar when it comes to picking a restaurant. It still wasn’t last weekend when a co-worker of J’s asked if we’d like to go out to lunch for his girlfriend’s birthday.
We talked about it for a while and eventually decided to just give it a shot. We were sure that there would be something on the menu that we would like.
The Kalamazoo area location of bd’s Mongolian Grill is on South Westnedge just to the north of I-94 in Portage. It shares a small strip building with IHOP and is right next door to Grand Traverse Pie Company.
We were meeting a pretty large group so the organizer called ahead the day before to give them a heads up. Didn’t matter. They weren’t ready for us when the group started showing up. J, L, and I were the fourth of fifth party to arrive and we still waited about ten minutes while a large table was set up for us. Read more…
Bucky’s Cafe
8675 Portage Road- Portage, MI 49002
- (269) 329-3255
- No Known Website
- Menu
Last fall, J got L in to a really neat little program for toddlers on Friday’s. Since it’s in the morning, I have to get my butt out of bed to take her. It’s really been great for her since she doesn’t go to daycare. It gives her a chance to interact with other kids her age without J or I there.
Usually I drop her off then go back home and take a two hour nap. This past Friday, I had a couple of errands that I really needed to take care of, including grocery shopping, so, against my better judgement, I decided to just stay out and get done what I needed to get done while L was at “school.”
I dropped L off then started driving towards Westnedge Avenue in Portage. I was going to head to the Shaver Road Meijer, but damn,I was hungry. Since I was forgoing a nap, I might as well get myself some breakfast.
I started heading east on Centre and drove right past Shaver Road. I knew there was a little cafe on Portage Road that I have really never had any reason to go to because I’m not on that side of town very often. This day, I was on that side of town and decided to check out a new breakfast spot.
Bucky’s Cafe is in a small strip mall on Portage Road just north of Austin Lake. It’s a deceivingly large restaurant inside a pretty bland strip mall. Read more…
Louie’s Bar and Rocket Lounge BBQ
608 Bridge StreetAnother rough week at work. The bright spot is always when I get a few minutes to actually go out for dinner.
Earlier this week, I was working with the co-worker who likes to find new restaurants with me. We were sitting in the lounge just sort of looking at each sorta bored and really hungry. She wasn’t offering up anything, so I asked about BBQ. There’s a place on the Northwest Side of Grand Rapids that I’ve been itchin’ to get to.
Louie’s Bar and Rocket Lounge BBQ is just off downtown Grand Rapids on Bridge Street just west of Seward. It’s actually two separate spaces connected on the inside. The bar is where the main entrance is, but on busy nights, it’s easy to walk between the two buildings.
C.W and I actually called in a to-go order instead of going out to eat. While I didn’t have anything to do, she still had some work that needed to be taken care of. She handed me some cash and asked if I’d take care of dinner.
I called in the order for our two meals. She ordered the BBQ Pulled Chicken which comes with two sides and cornbread. She chose the mac & cheese and potato salad. I had asked for the Pulled Pork Sandwich, but the lady taking my order said they had run out of pulled pork and were waiting on another one that was in the smoker. Instead I ordered the Texas Beef Brisket Sandwich. That comes with potato chips and hottie pickles. Read more…
Park Street Market Deli
512 N. Park StreetIt’s been quite a while since I’ve actually blogged about a place in the Kalamazoo area. I’ve been on a drought recently trying to find new places.
It’s not that there aren’t still some places I haven’t been to. There definitely are. They just don’t always fit within my schedule or it’s not convenient to take a two year old.
This past weekend, J and I were sitting on the couch watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood with L when J asked if I wanted to grab something for lunch before I went to work. We sat there for twenty minutes shooting down each others ideas before we finally gave up. I went to work while J and L went to take a nap.
I still needed something to eat though. I was really hungry.
My travels were taking me to the north side of Kalamazoo before heading to Grand Rapids and as I was driving down Park Street towards US-131, I got an idea.
Several months ago, I read an article in the Kalamazoo Gazette about the Deli at the Park Street Market. I knew they had tasty ribs after sampling them at RibFest last year, but I was unaware just how great of food they had.
The thing that makes the North Park Market deli so unique is that they have real soul food. This was before my time in Kalamazoo, but there apparently used to be a pretty popular soul food place called Dips Restaurant and the masterminds behind that Read more…
Dorothy & Tony’s Gourmet Popcorn Shop
435 Ionia Avenue SWCupcakes on their own would have been a great Valentine’s Day present for J, but I had one more idea at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market.
J is a really big fan of Garrett’s Chicago Style popcorn. The unique mix of carmel and cheddar cheese popcorn is often imitated, but nothing compares to Garrett’s.
I had actually considered ordering her some from Chicago, but, as I like to do, I decided to give a local place a try and see how their popcorn stacks up to the beloved Garrett’s.
The shop at the Downtown Market is Dorothy and Tony’s Gourmet Popcorn Shop (sometimes also see as Dorothy and Tony’s Gourmet Kettle Corn.) Their stand is actually right around the corner from Sweetie-licious, so after picking up my cupcakes, I headed down the aisle to get some popcorn.
The bags of popcorn are pre-stuffed and you have the option of Kettle Corn, Chicago Style, Cheddar, Carmel, and White Cheddar. All of the flavors come in four sizes from a small personal bag to a large shareable bag.
I ordered a bag of the large Chicago Style for J. The cost was $12 which I again paid cash for so J wouldn’t see the charge show up on our bank account before I got home. Read more…
Sweetie-licious Bake Shoppe
435 Ionia Avenue SWNeeded an idea for Valentine’s Day. No, it was not a last minute idea. I just wasn’t thinking very clearly. Finally, about a week ago, I got an idea. Stupid me..I drive by the Downtown Market in Grand Rapids everyday. Why not take advantage of some of the goodies.
The first opportunity that I got a break on Thursday, I headed down to the Market to pick up some treats for J. I had a couple ideas in mind when I walked in the door
The first stop I made was at the first place you see when you walk in northeast doors. Sweetie-licious Bake Shop takes up some pretty prime real estate in the new indoor market right up front.
The name, while new to Grand Rapids, should be familiar to fans of the Food Network. Sweetie-licious has had a cafe and bakery in DeWitt for many years and they’ve appeared on the Food Network multiple times and won the Amazing Pie Challenge on Food Network Challenge in 2009.
The Grand Rapids bake shop has an incredibly big display case filled with all sorts of baked goodies including pies, muffins, quiches, cookies, cakes, and cupcakes.
I headed straight for the cupcake section. Who doesn’t love an awesome gourmet cupcake? I knew J would love it. Read more…
Boston Market – Holland
638 E. 16th StreetSo, this was a weird one. A co-worker and I were on our way to Holland for an assignment when she got all excited about dinner. I’ve written about this C.W. in the past. She’s the one who loves Mancino’s and we actively seek them out when we work together. Now, there is a Mancino’s in Holland, but that’s not what she was excited about. No. She was excited about a different restaurant we were going to pass.
I was totally unaware that Boston Market even still existed but this co-worker used to go to church fairly close to the corner of 16th Street and U.S. 31 near Holland. She and her family would eat here often because it’s the only one on this side of the state. There are several in the Detroit area and one in the Lansing area, but this Holland location is the only one on the west side.
We were sort of in a hurry when we pulled in the parking lot, so we had to take our dinners to go. C.W. knew what she wanted, but I can’t tell you the last time I was in a Boston Market. I had no idea even what they had.
I assumed when I started looking at the menu I was just going to order a sandwich, but then I kept walking and noticed whole chicken meals and even ribs. Sounded yummy, but a whole chicken was too much, so I ordered the half chicken. I got two sides with the meal so I chose the macaroni and cheese and the garlic dill potatoes. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 