Holland Farmers Market
150 W. 8th Street- Holland, MI 49423
- (616) 355-1130
- Website
Our first full day of vacation started like most Saturday’s in the summer do for J and I. We made a trip to the Farmers Market. Only instead of our usual haunt, we found a big one along the lake shore to check out.
The Holland Farmers Market is right in downtown Holland on 8th Street between Pine and Maple Avenue. As we drove down 8th Street, I think everyone in the car was shocked at just how big the Holland market is. We could see huge crowds a block away and had no idea what we were getting ourselves in to.
Parking looked like it might be an issue at first as we were looking for a spot on 8th Street, but when we didn’t find anything there, we noticed cars coming out of a large parking lot in front of the Civic Center. We could see from the street a few cars pulling out right near the front and we whipped in that lot to take one of the open spots.
When I said a few sentences earlier that the market runs between two streets, I wasn’t kidding…in fact, there’s some spillover into a parking area on the north side of 8th Street. There are a lot of vendors…A LOT and the great thing is, because the aisle is actually a street, there’s a lot of room to walk and push a stroller. We’re usually anti-stroller at markets because there’s so many people packed into small spaces, but at this market, we didn’t have the Boba carrier and there was plenty of room to push a sroller
We weren’t really looking for anything specific. We just sort went with the intention of getting out in the fresh summer air and seeing what we could find. Read more…
Lakeshore Convenience
155 Blue Star HighwayWork always seems to get in the way of fun. Am I right, people? Ah, hell, it ain’t so bad, but on the first night of vacation, my family did have a blast while I was at work.
As I was sitting there watching the clock count down until I got a few days off to relax, J sent me a text message that they had picked up pizza and there would be some left for me when I got home. It’s like she read my mind or something. I was already looking for a pizza place that would be open when I got to the cabin.
Our cabin came with a book with menus for a number of restaurants in the area. My family picked the plainest looking menu and decided to order from a convenience store…sounds just like something I would do.
They chose to order pizza from the Lakeshore Convenience store on Blue Star Highway in Douglas. The small shop sits near the corner with Center Street just to the west of the downtown business district. The store has all the things you would expect a convenience store in a tourist town to have…but they also have really good pizza. Read more…
Mug Shots Coffeehouse
404 Water StreetI hate the word “Staycation.” I don’t know who actually coined the phrase, but seriously, someone kick them in the shins for me.
That being said, J, L and I took a staycation this last weekend. Because of work schedules, this will probably be the closest we actually get to a real vacation this year. J’s parents rented a cabin at Kingfisher Cove in Saugatuck this past week and invited us to stay with them. J was fortunate enough to have the entire week off. I only had Saturday and Sunday off then I would be traveling back and forth to work each day from Saugatuck so I’d still have the mornings. J’s step-dad had Friday-Monday off, so he also had to bail early.
The plan was for me to go to work on Friday then just drive straight over from Grand Rapids, but J got off work early, so we decided to head towards the cabin when she got home. I was hungry and wanted to take care of that problem first and there just happened to be a place on the way that has been on my short list for a while.
Mug Shots Coffeehouse is in downtown Allegan on Water Street near just south of Cutler Street. It’s a great old row building with a large public parking lot next to it.
Mug Shots has one of those great coffeehouse feels. The floors are dark wood. Most of the tables are the higher pub type tables. You know what I’m talking about. Just a great, cozy feel. Read more…
Mancino’s Pizza and Grinders – Allendale
4639 Lake Michigan DriveI hate being wrong. I’m such a guy when it comes to that. A co-worker and I headed out to the Allendale area for a job at Grand Valley State University. This is the same co-worker who obsessed with grinders. She kept saying there was a Mancino’s near GVSU and we had to go for dinner. I kept telling her no there wasn’t and I finally Googled it to appease her. She was right. There is.
Mancino’s Pizza and Grinders is on Lake Michigan Drive about a mile or so west of GVSU’s main entrance. The multi-business sits along the busy Lake Michigan Drive just east of 48th Avenue in Allendale Charter Township.
There we actually three of us today as we had an intern with us, so after finding out I was wrong, I asked the two ladies I was with if they wanted to grab a sandwich for dinner. Before I even got the words out of my mouth, co-worker said yes. We weren’t leaving the area with out grinders.
This Mancino’s is pretty close to campus, so it has a little more than just the typical Mancino’s fare. Sure, they have the pizza, grinders, and sandwiches you expect from Mancino’s, but they also have beer…..including a couple Michigan crafts.
I didn’t even really need to look at the menu, so I stepped up to the counter first and ordered the whole pizza grinder like I always do. The whole 16″ sandwich set me back a little over $11.
My co-worker actually ordered two half sandwiches. She had no intention of eating both halves, but wanted one for later. She also got a pizza grinder in addition to the Steak and Cheese grinder which comes with steak, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.
Our intern ordered a half pizza grinder….so really, not a whole lot of variety in our group.
The sandwiches took about 10 minutes to cook and we all grabbed them to go because we had more work to do. The two ladies ate theirs in the car, but mine was placed on the floor of the back seat until I could get some place to eat and not make a huge mess.
The sandwich, as always, was toastedly delicious. The two, long slices of white bread had a nice toasty crust to it and the pizza in sandwich form is hard to beat.
I’m very happy co-worker proved me wrong tonight. I never like passing up an opportunity to get a grinder and there was no way we were going to do that tonight.
Taqueria Los Brother’s
2035 Portage Street- Kalamazoo, MI 49001
- (269) 373-2963
- No Known Website
- Menu
L and I got up this morning and decided to head down to the Farmers’ Market. We didn’t find what we were looking for….or much of anything really, but I didn’t want to waste the trip out. Pizza Vera was out at the market as was Papa’s and a place serving up tacos, but just down the street is another food truck that came highly recommended.
Now I’m not really sure on the name, but I’m going with what I saw on the t-shirts the employees were wearing and the newest looking sign. I believe the name of the joint is Taqueria Los Brother’s (or Los Brother’s Mexican Food…saw it written both ways). There’s also some older signage and I’ve seen it other places called Taqueria Fiesta Mexicana.
Whatever you call, the little food truck is parked in an empty lot just to the south of Portage Street and Bryant Street in Kalamazoo’s Edison Neighborhood. The truck appears to be an old party bus that has been modified. They have a pop up tent just in front of the order window to keep you out of the elements while placing an order.
The menu is pretty small and what you’d expect from a Taqueria. I ordered four Asada tacos without the onions. It took about five minutes for the tortillas to be warmed and the steak and cilantro to be piled in. The cost was exactly seven bucks and I was handed a small container of green hot sauce to go with the tacos on my way out. There is no place to eat on site, so everything has to be taken somewhere else. I guess I could have just dropped the tailgate on my truck and went at it that way, but L was getting impatient and wanted to get home. Read more…
From an Olympia Entertainment press release….tickets on sale today (at 10 AM)!
ALTON BROWN IS COMING TO THE FOX THEATRE WITH
“ALTON BROWN LIVE! THE EDIBLE INEVITABLE TOUR” NOVEMBER 2Tickets Go On Sale Friday, June 7 at 10 a.m.(DETROIT–May 24, 2013) — Alton Brown, Iron Chef host and renowned television personality, is taking his brand of quirky humor and culinary science on the road with the “Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour.” Brown will appear at the Fox Theatre on Saturday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets ($35, $45, $65 and $100 VIP) go on sale Friday, June 7 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at OlympiaEntertainment.com, The Fox Theatre and Joe Louis Arena box offices, Hockeytown Authentics in Troy (without service charge) at all Ticketmaster locations and Ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets by phone, call (800) 745-3000. Groups, of 10 or more, receive up to a 10% discount for select seats. For more information, call (313) 471-3099.Recently named Best Food TV Personality at The Munchies, Brown’s tour promises to be an eventful evening of stand-up comedy, talk show antics, multimedia lecture, live music and food experimentation. Be prepared. Ponchos will be involved. The show will offer an interactive component in which audience members will have the opportunity to serve as Brown’s trusted assistants on stage. For those hoping to sip at the pure source of Brownian wit and wisdom, this is a must-see extravaganza for the whole family.
Brown said, “I’ve been cultivating material for this show for about a decade so it’ll feel pretty darned good to finally get it out of my head and onto a stage. I feel we’ve come up with some pretty amazing food demos, and the multimedia segments are solid….but I do have to say I’m a bit nervous about the singing parts.”
For complete info on when and where the tour is scheduled to stop, you can visit AltonBrownTour.com.
Bagger Dave’s Legendary Burger Tavern – Grandville
4553 Canal Avenue SWWasn’t planning on being in Grandville tonight, but since I was, I thought I’d take advantage of it and find someplace in the area to eat.
There are a lot of chain restaurants in the area of Rivertown Crossings, so I actually had my pick of what chain I was going to eat at. Sure, I could have went deeper in to town or even Wyoming and found something local, but there is one place in Grandville that is slowly expanding across the state and a place that I have liked in the past.
Bagger Dave’s Legendary Burger Tavern is fairly new to the Grand Rapids Metro area. The first restaurant opened in Cascade Township at the end of 2011. Since then, they’ve added restaurants in downtown Grand Rapids, Holland, and this location in Grandville.
The restaurant sits in a little shopping center on Canal just south of Rivertown Parkway near Grandville High School. The store is part of a larger multi-use building but it carries the theme of Bagger Dave’s upscale tavern.
I really like Bagger Dave’s due to their online ordering. I used it in the past when I’ve ordered from the Cascade Township store and I decided to do it again. My plan was to order a burger, but for whatever reason, the order wouldn’t go through no matter how many different burger combinations I tried. It never gave me an explanation as to why, but instead of being a normal person and picking up a phone, I just changed my order. Read more…
Mangia Pizza and Pasta Company
3112 S. 9th StreetFor several weeks, J and I have been waiting for the new pizza place down the street from us to open for lunch. We don’t go out for dinner to often anymore, but we do still enjoy going out for lunch.
After afternoon naps and some yard work, I went in the house and asked J if she wanted to order dinner. It’s funny because we’ve been waiting for lunch and now that this place is open for lunch, we order dinner. Funny, right?
Anyway, the place is Mangia Pizza and Pasta Company on 9th Street just to the north of Stadium Drive. It takes over the space that was previously Mi Ranchito which closed in late December after the owners decided to retire.
As the name suggests, Mangia Pizza and Pasta is a sister restaurant to Mangia Mangia which is downtown on the Kalamazoo Mall. The new space still has the old look of Mi Ranchito, but with more of an Italian theme (read that as exterior red walls instead of Earth tones there previously). The inside has changed quite a bit from what I remember. There are two distinct dining areas that have a the more intimate feel of a fine Italian restaurant.
We actually chose to call in a carry-out order instead of dining in, so I only spent enough time in the restaurant to walk to the bar and pick up our meals.
We decided to run the gamut and order three different things for the three of us. Read more…
Putters Family Fun Center
7206 S. Westnedge AvenueThis is odd. It’s Saturday night and I’m not at work. That hasn’t happened in a couple years. Somehow, I got tonight off because I worked on Monday. Usually when that happens I get a random Wednesday or Thursday off in the middle of my work week, but this time, my employer decided to be nice and give me a long weekend instead.
A couple weeks ago, my parents had asked about coming up to Kalamazoo with my brother and his family. The plan was to stay at the Holiday Inn on 11th Street and hang out on Sunday. We didn’t do it because J had plans the night they were talking about coming. Once I realized I had a rare Saturday off, I asked if they wanted to come hang with us this weekend.
After a day of playing at the Oshtemo Township Park and swimming at the Holiday Inn, we headed to Burdick’s West for dinner. We played in the Holidome for a little while longer before J and L needed to go to bed, so we headed back home.
Once I got home, I got a text from my brother asking if there was anything we could do. His girls were wide awake.
My mom, sister-in-law, and two nieces ended up going bowling at Holiday Lanes, but my dad wanted to play mini golf. I haven’t done that in years and didn’t even know a place in Kalamazoo…..good thing there’s Google. Read more…
Taste of Tennessee BBQ
2921A Eastern Avenue SEI sort of pride myself on always being able to find new places in the area to eat. Sometimes I stumble upon them while driving at work. Sometimes I get tipped off.
This afternoon, I got a message on my Facebook page about a new BBQ place that just opened in Grand Rapids. I had some time while at work tonight and decided to go check it out. You know me and BBQ……
Taste of Tennessee BBQ is on Eastern Avenue just south of 28th Street on Grand Rapids southeast side. It’s a small brick building, but if you’re not looking for it, you apt to pass right by and never realize what you just missed out on.
The small BBQ joint has only been open about a month. They’re strictly carry out as there is no seating in the small space. There is a pretty good sized area next to the counter that could eventually be used for a couple tables, but at this time, that hasn’t happened.
I found a couple laminated menus on the counter when I walked in. The menu is about what you would expect for a southern style BBQ place. For once, I actually skipped over the pulled pork sandwich and went for something else. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 