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…
South Beach Concession Stand
4 Water Street- South Haven, MI 49090
- (269) Unknown
- No Known Website
- Menu
The unofficial end of summer. As a kid, I always knew what that day was. As an adult. All days kind of run together. Now, with a job that doesn’t take days off, even long weekends mean nothing and this Labor Day weekend, I barely had a weekend at all.
In an unusual twist, J had to work both Saturday and Sunday mornings. I had to work Monday, so the only time off we had together was Sunday afternoon/evening. J had Monday off, so she didn’t have to worry about going to bed at her usual time. She asked if I wanted to take one last beach trip before the weather go too cold.
After late afternoon naps (for all three of us), we took a drive over to South Haven. The beach was a little packed, but with a little patience, we found a parking spot at South Beach and enjoyed the sun setting over Lake Michigan.
We actually got to South Haven at about 6:30. We played in the water for a while with the intent of watch the sunset. After letting L splash in the waves for about an hour and a half, we were starting to get hungry. We didn’t really want to leave and come back, so I suggested we walk up to the concession stand to see what they have.
The concession stand on South Beach sits on the boardwalk right at about the part of Water Street where it turns into a parking lot. The structure is semi permanent. The front section is a fair-type trailer, but it’s hooked up to a building behind it which provides more storage and some permanent services. Read more…
Pronto Pup
313 S. Harbor DriveIf I have to be at work on a holiday weekend, I can’t complain too much about going to the beach.
A co-worker and I got the unenviable task of going to Grand Haven for the afternoon. Once we were all wrapped up at Grand Haven Start Park, we headed downtown for a few minutes. Before leaving town, I asked if it would be ok if I picked up a few Pronto Pups before leaving. Actually, no wait. I didn’t ask. I told him that was happening.
Pronto Pup is a Grand Haven institution. The small stand serving nothing but Pronto Pups has been on the harbor in downtown Grand Haven since 1947. It’s a seasonal business only open during the summer months and on peak beach-going days, the line can end up pretty far down the sidewalk.
Pronto Pups themselves are not unique to Grand Haven. They were actually invented in 1941 in Portland, Oregon. The name “Pronto Pup” actually refers to a specific brand and not a generic item.
At first glance, you’d say that the Pronto Pup is nothing more than a corn dog. Close, but not quite. The Pronto Pup is made with a wheat flour pancake batter instead of a traditional cornmeal batter. It is actually possible to buy Pronto Pup batter mix…however, I have no idea if that’s what Pronto Pup in Grand Haven does or if they make their own. Read more…
Grillin Wings & More
4022 Alpine Avenue NWWings. Seriously. One of the absolute most perfect foods. It’s one of the foods that I’m always craving. It doesn’t matter what’s going on that day, if someone offers me wings, I’m going to eat them.
I was sent to Muskegon County the other day via Alpine Avenue. On the way out, I noticed a wing place tucked in to a strip mall in Comstock Park. I made a mental note and hoped I would be coming back that way when it was time to return to Grand Rapids.
My plan worked out and I ended up coming back down Alpine Avenue a little after 6:00. I pulled in to the parking lot at Alpine and Alpenhorn Drive to find Grillin Wings & More.
I was expecting a carry-out place when I walked in, so I was a little surprised to find a full service restaurant. There was a hostess counter/cash register station right inside the door. I asked the lady if I could put in a carry-out order. She said of course, so I grabbed a paper menu off the counter to find my wing selection.
I didn’t even look at anything else on the menu at the time. It wouldn’t have changed my decision, but they also have Coney Dogs, salads, wraps, subs, and burgers….but if a place as “Wings” in the name, I’m gonna get the wings. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 