Union Woodshop
18 Main StreetPretty much anyplace we go, there is going to be a restaurant I want to go to. Our recent trip to Detroit was no exception. After seeing a show at the Fox Theatre, we decided to stay the night in the Detroit area. I found a nice place pretty cheap in Madison Heights, so that’s where we booked.
After relaxing at the Hampton Inn for a while, J suggested we go to dinner. For the longest time, I’ve wanted to go to the Union Woodship in Clarkston and we were only about 20 minutes away.
We assumed…and assumed wrong, that Sunday night would be a pretty low key at this BBQ joint in downtown Clarkston. I started to get a little worried as we drove in to the downtown business district. There were a lot of cars in the parking lots and on the streets. I didn’t see a lot of other places open as we drove by the Woodshop, so I had a fear that everyone had the same idea for BBQ that J and I did.
We found a parking spot about a block from the Union Woodshop on Washington Street. We made the walk back to the restaurant and saw people sitting outside with buzzers in their hands. Crap…we really didn’t want to wait.
J made her way in to the shop and found the hostess station right up front. She was told the wait would probably be an hour and fifteen minutes. With a 20 month old, there was no way we could do that.
Dejected, we started walking back to the car and J asked if they did carry-out. I had no idea, so we looked up a phone number and called. The bartender that answered the said they did and the wait would be less than a half hour. Read more…
Fox Theatre – Detroit
2211 Woodward Avenue- Detroit, MI 48201
- (313) 471-3200
- Website
Two years ago, you never would have convinced me that I’d be going to see a concert that involved four Australians singing children’s songs. They’re not kidding when they say “Everything changes.”
About a year ago, J accidentally stumbled upon The Wiggles on a Saturday morning when she just turned the TV on for noise. L loved it from the get-go and it immediately became her favorite thing to watch. One of the first things she was able to communicate to us was that she wanted Wiggles. She would shake her hands just like they do and make a grunt that sort of sounded like “Wiggle.” It’s evolved now in to “party” because we have WIggle Dance Parties with her in the living room. J and I keep joking we’re “Sweatin’ To The Wiggles” we do it so often.
Earlier this year, the group was reformed with three new cast members as three of the originals retired. The new group launched an Australian tour in the spring and we waited patiently for the announcement of a US/Canada so we could take L.
In May, they finally announced that tour and somehow we got lucky. The show in Detroit was on a Sunday…my day off. We could take L there and not have to burn any vacation days…we gladly would have, but this worked out well.
The show was this past Sunday at The Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit. I was excited because I couldn’t wait to see L’s face light up but also because I’ve been wanting to check out the theater itself. I’ve always heard it was a really neat place and I love that we were going to get to experience it in person. Read more…
Hockeytown Cafe
2301 Woodward AvenueThis is a day we’ve been looking forward to all summer. L somehow became a huge fan of The Wiggles and has enjoyed WIggly Dance Parties in our living since she’s learned how to walk. Last Spring, The Wiggles announced a North American Tour with a stop in Detroit. Of course, we snatched up tickets as soon as they went on sale.
We made it to Detroit about an hour before the show started at the Fox Theatre. It was easiest to just park in the Fox Theatre ramp because there was also a Tigers game going on at the same time. Once parked, we walked around front to Woodward and decided we should probably eat before the show.
Out of convenience, we chose Hockeytown Cafe right on the corner of Woodward and Montcalm Street. The building is connected to the parking ramp and right across Montcalm Street from the Fox Theatre. It’s actually owned by Olympia Entertainment which also owns the theater.
As you would assume from the name, Hockeytown is a large sports bar. It’s location right near both Comerica Park and Ford Field draws big crowds before and after games. The Tigers game was already in progress when we got there, so we didn’t run in to much of a sports crowd. Nope. We ran in to a children’s band crowd.
The three level sports bar is covered with LCD TV’s and hockey memorabilia. There’s a lot of red and white in the decor but they do have hockey items from other teams in the form of autographed jersey’s and the like. Read more…
Boston Square Fried Chicken
1559 Kalamazoo Avenue SE- Grand Rapids, MI 49507
- (616) 248-0285
- No Known Website
- Menu
I always like finding new chicken places, so when I saw a place go in to an abandoned building a few months ago in Grand Rapids’ Boston Square, I knew I’d be back someday.
It took me longer than I wanted to to finally get there, but Boston Square Fried Chicken sits on the weird corner of Kalamazoo Avenue and Boston Street. The building sits back off the road a little bit, but there’s no parking in front. There appeared to be a lot in the back, but I just pulled up next to the curb on Boston Street which is the closest place I could see to the front.
The small restaurant is mostly kitchen. There are two tables that each have a booth type seat next to them, but I would venture to guess almost all of the business is done via carry out.
I went to the cash register and the lone employee came up from around the fryer to take my order. He had the radio up pretty loud, so he had a hard time hearing my order for #2 on the menu.
The meal consisted of five pieces of fried chicken, fries, and a Pepsi. The cost was just a little under eight bucks and the cook told me it would be about ten minutes. It didn’t take nearly that long. It was less than five minutes before I was handed a plastic bag with deep fried chicken. Read more…
Twisted Tail
Various Locations (Food Truck)- Battle Creek, MI 49017
- (269) 963-9690
- Website
- Sample Menu
More food trucks rolling in to Kalamazoo. There’s no way that can be a bad thing. The funny thing about this one is that it’s home base is Battle Creek which is in the midst of fighting over food trucks at the City Commission level. I’ll just go ahead and stay out that conversation…because, you know…Battle Creek is like the first city that has tried to do this or something.
Anyway, yesterday I saw a tweet from Arcadia Ales announcing their new food truck would be at the Kalamazoo Farmers’ Market this weekend. I pointed it out to J and she made sure to wake me up so we could get to the Farmers’ Market before all the good food was gone.
The Twisted Tail made it’s debut at the Farmers’ Market this weekend. The trailer from Arcadia Ales specializes in “smoked meats, handcrafted sausages, and farm fresh meats in distinctive BBQ flavors.” J and I both took that to mean BBQ and we love Arcadia’s BBQ, so we couldn’t get to Bank Street fast enough.
We found the truck parked right out in front of the Market on Bank Street. We walked around to the front and were a little taken aback by the menu. It’s not the kind of BBQ we were expecting. It’s not really BBQ at all. There were three items on the menu which was written on the side of the truck. We kind of looked at each other for a minute seeing if there was something each of us wanted to try. After a few seconds we decided to give it a go and never looked back. Read more…
Cleary’s Irish Pub
117 E. Grand River AvenueAnother road trip. I’ve been on the road a lot for work lately and my latest adventure took me to Howell. When J and I lived in Lansing, we actually spent a lot of time in Howell at the Tanger Outlets. Since moving to Kalamazoo, I think we’ve only been back once or maybe twice.
A co-worker and I finished up the main part of our task for the day then went looking for dinner. We asked around town and were pointed in the direction of either a steak house or an Irish Pub. We chose the pub.
Cleary’s Irish Pub is in downtown Howell on Grand River Avenue just to the east of Michigan Avenue. There’s a great old neon side hanging off the side of the row building above a small outdoor seating area.
C.W. and I headed inside and found a packed restaurant on a Thursday night around 7:00. There was a large party of people dressed in Halloween costumes taking up most of the space, but we noticed a two top along the wall.
We both looked longingly at the beer menu, but being still on the clock, we had to pass. I ordered a Pepsi while C.W. took an Iced Tea.
Our waitress brought our drinks, but didn’t take our order even though both of us were obviously ready. We waited another 5-10 minutes before she came back. Read more…
Michelle’s – Portage
677 Romence RoadSunday breakfast. One of my favorite times to eat breakfast. Pretty sure I’ve said that before.
This past Sunday, J wanted to run to Portage to do some shopping once we got up. Like most days, we were slow to actually get moving so it was after 11 before we left, but I knew we could find a breakfast place still serving breakfast on a Sunday.
We headed straight for Michelle’s on Romence Road in Portage in the space that used to be a CiCi’s Pizza right across from the entrance to the Crossroads Mall. The restaurant name should sound familiar. There is also a Michelle’s on Gull Road. Both are owned by EMA Enterprises which owns several breakfast/lunch places in the Kalamazoo area.
The parking lot was packed even at just a little before noon. We walked in to find a pretty full restaurant. We hung out near the hostess station as a couple of waitresses cleaned an separated a large table in to two smaller ones. Once that was complete, a hostess came over to us and showed us to one of these newly formed four tops.
We got settled and looked over the breakfast side of the menu before the waitress could get to us. When we put in our drink orders, we asked to put in our breakfast order as well. Read more…
Fat Johnny’s Cheesesteak Company
122 Division Avenue S.I have to admit, I’ve never had an authentic cheesesteak before. I’ve never been to Philadelphia. I’ve never been to New Jersey. Like my coveted Italian beef, I know there are going to be restaurants outside of those areas that claim to be “authentic” but don’t even come close.
Fat Johnny’s Cheesesteak Company in downtown Grand Rapids is one of those places. The simple restaurant on Division Avenue serves only three sandwiches. They have the Original Cheesesteak, a Chicken Cheesesteak and Roast Pork With Broccoli Rabe. That’s it.
I’ve drove by this place quite a few times in the few months it’s been open. I always forget about it at dinner time even though every time I drive by, I say to myself, “I need to stop in for dinner some time.”
I walked in just before closing time on a Friday night. There were a couple other groups of people in the smaller part of the restaurant, but there’s another huge dining room sort of in the back of the restaurant. Up front, there are a handful of pub tables and a counter overlooking the street.
I ordered The Original Fat Johnny’s Cheesesteak Jersey Style. I sort of screwed up because I actually wanted Philly style, but I got the two confused. The difference is Philly Style is made with Cheez Whiz while Jersey is White American cheese. I opted for the whole sandwich and added on an order of Roast Garlic Fries which brought the total bill to just a hair under $13. Read more…
Crazy Beaver Grub & Pub
510 S. Oak StreetYay, for long weekends. While most people got a long holiday weekend, I had to work. I only got one day off while everyone else I knew was having cookouts and drinking beers.
My reward for for the shortened holiday weekend was a long weekend this past weekend. J took a vacation day on Monday which gave us three days off together.
When I got off work on Friday night, we packed up the car and headed to my parents house south of Chicago. We spent a day and a half playing with my parents, my brother and his wife, and my nieces.
Sunday we needed to head back to the Chicago area to spend some time with J’s parents. We decided to sleep at my parents house so I could hang out with a couple of high school friends that I haven’t seen in a while. When we got up Sunday morning, I suggested we all go out for lunch before J, L, and I took off.
Where my parents live, there’s not a lot of choices for dining out. The town has a whopping 800 people and two restaurants. One is a family restaurant near the highway outside of town and one is a pizza place. Both are good, but I wanted to try a place that just opened a little bit farther north that I’ve heard a lot of people talking about.
The Crazy Beaver Grub & Pub opened just a few months ago in the small town of Chebanse about 45 minutes south of Chicago. The large Morton building looks pretty generic from the outside although there is a giant carved beaver out front. Other than that, there isn’t much signage. Read more…
Olivera’s Pizzeria and Restaurant
119 N. Dexter StreetYou know how you never know where you’re going to end up for work? You don’t? It’s just me? Weird. Anyway, a co-worker and I ended up in Ionia for a couple hours. I had packed a lunch that I had planned on eating, but she was hungry. We started driving around looking for a place to eat when she noticed a restaurant just off the downtown business district that was packed.
Olivera’s Restaurant is on Dexter Street (M-66) in Ionia where it intersects with Main Street. The building and parking lot are shared with a Marathon gas station.
The restaurant was pretty full for 6:00 on a Wednesday night. When we walked in, Co-Worker asked if we could do carry-out and the hostess pointed us to a window just inside the main door that opens in to the kitchen.
We were greeted by one of the cooks. He handed C.W. a carry-out menu and a list of the specials. It took her a while to decided, but she eventually ordered the Philly French Dipped Oven Baked Sub. We were paying separately, so I let the cook take care of her order and get her cashed out before I put in mine.
I wasn’t even going to order anything, but I went inside anyway just to check the place out and if I saw something on the menu I couldn’t resist, then I’d get dinner. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 