Jaspare’s Pizza and Fine Italian Food – Stadium Drive
3262 Stadium DriveLast week, while driving east on Stadium Drive, I happened to notice something different at the shopping center next to Wayside West on Kalamazoo’s west side. A familiar pizza joint popped up in the place of a so-so one.
This afternoon, Daddy Daycare got extended by a few hours. J had some errands to run that kept her out of the house pretty much all afternoon. On her way home around 4:00, she called and asked if I wanted to do pizza for dinner. She was already pretty close to home, so there was no need for her to delay. I said I’d take care of it.
Our go-to when it comes to pizza is Cottage Inn. The online ordering makes it too easy and we really like the pizza. I think she was expecting me to just order from there, but I never pass up an opportunity to try out something new.
This new pizza place should already be familiar to most in the Kalamazoo area. Jaspare’s Pizza and Fine Italian Food already has four successful stores in the area.
The newest Jaspare’s location is on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo’s Knollwood Neighborhood. It’s in the same small store front that, until recently, was Gumby’s Pizza (or did they change their name to Goomba’s?).
We have eaten at Jaspare’s in the past. The first time was the old Portage location on the corner of Sprinkle and Kilgore not long after we moved to Kalamazoo from Lansing. The most recent time, we ordered from the Gull Road location. Read more…
Press Release – Rare Beer Dinner at Burdick’s
From an Old Burdick’s tweet…
The five beers are
Dogfish Head – Noble Rot
Rogue – Dead Guy Ale
B.Nektar – Evil Genius
Ommegang – Art of Darkness
Brewery Vivant – Hubris Belgian Quadrupel Anniversary Ale
Press Release – Eat. Drink. Give. Tonight!
From a Volunteer Kalamazoo press release….
Giving back never tasted so good.
Volunteer Kalamazoo’s annual fundraising party in full swing!KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The menu is set, the lights are dimmed and the volunteers are ready! Eat Drink Give, Volunteer Kalamazoo’s annual fundraising party, is happening on Friday, March 22nd at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo.
Formerly known as Grape Expectations, this party brings out more than 350 guests to enjoy a unique and memorable evening of food, drinks, music, fun and giving back. “We’re really excited for this year’s party. There are lots of fun additions for our guests,” says Carrie Vanderbush, executive director of Volunteer Kalamazoo. “This party proves to be a successful fundraising and friend-raiser for Volunteer Kalamazoo and generates about ten percent of our annual operating revenue. It’s incredible to live in a community that values volunteerism and giving back.”Date: Friday, March 22, 2013 Time: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm Location: Radisson Plaza Hotel, Ballroom Tickets: $60 online or at the door (21+)
EAT | Giving back never tasted so good! Participating restaurants will be serving up their tastiest culinary creations at Eat Drink Give. Restaurant sponsors include: BOLD Restaurant & Catering, Bravo!, Central City Tap House, Food Dance, Full City Cafe, Garden Gate Café, Martell’s, Old Dog Tavern, The Organic Gypsy, Pistachios Catering, People’s Food Co-op, Rustica, The Cheese Lady, Tiffany’s Wine and Spirits, The Cupcake Zoo, Water Street Coffee Joint, Webster’s PRIME, Zazios and Zeb’s Trading Co.
DRINK | Guests will find an impressive selection of beverages to sip and taste, including over fifty wines from the portfolio of Imperial Beverage and local wineries Tempo Vino Winery, Cody Kresta Vineyard & Winery and Lawton Ridge Winery; sangria from The Sangria Shop in Portage; and beer from New Holland, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Arcadia Ales and Greenbush Brewing Company. In addition, New Holland Artisan Spirits has been working with local bartenders and mixologists to offer our guests a wide variety of Signature Cocktails, while Old Dog Tavern will be sharing the spotlight with their resident mixologist The Traveling Elixir Fixer.
GIVE | This is Volunteer Kalamazoo’s annual fundraising party. Volunteer Kalamazoo has been successful in raising about ten percent of their total annual revenue from sponsorships, ticket sales, restaurants and beverage sponsors, silent auction and raffle ticket sales. Major sponsors for this year’s party are Fifth Third Bank, Imperial Beverage, New Holland Artisan Spirits, Big Lyle’s Big Events and the Radisson Plaza Hotel at Kalamazoo Center. Supporting sponsors are Armstrong International, Administrative Systems, Inc., Forensic Fluids, Mlive Media Group/Kalamazoo Gazette, ServPro of E. & W. Kalamazoo County and Zhang Financial. A complete list of sponsors is available online.
Back by popular demand, Volunteer Kalamazoo will host an official After Party called Eat Drink Dance sponsored by Alpha Omega Events. Dance the night away with Scott “The Hurricane” Herriman from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am. $15 cover includes: DJ, dancing and cash bar. (21+) Proceeds benefit Volunteer Kalamazoo. New downtown shop Pop City Popcorn will be there serving up samples of their tasty popcorn.
Press Release – Fair Food Matters Blind Pig Dinner….
I got this yesterday, so there may be less than the seven tickets left. From a Fair Food Matters email….
Blind Pig SupperThere are only 7 tickets left…6 courses, only 7 tickets remainThe menu is still a mystery. You’re at the mercy of Chefs Robb Hammond and Matt Millar.Saturday, March 23rd at 7:00pmLocation will be disclosed only to ticket-holders. Learn more and become a ticket-holder.All proceeds benefit Fair Food Matters
Peppino’s Pizzeria & Sports Grille – Downtown
130 Ionia Avenue SWAnother one of those nights I wasn’t planning on getting dinner, but I was parked out in front of a pizza place that I’ve been wanting to get to for quite a while.
After finishing up my business downtown, I pulled open the web browser on my phone. I have actually had Peppino’s Pizza before, but it was always delivered to work. I had never been in the building or really even looked at their menu.
Peppino’s Pizza has several locations in the Grand Rapids area. The downtown location is in the Arena District at the corner of Ionia and Cherry. I didn’t know this ahead of time, but there’s actually a carry out entrance on the Cherry Street side of the building. I walked in to the main entrance off of Ionia Avenue and found a large hostess area. The hostess led me out a side door and pointed down to the carry out area after promising me she wasn’t kicking me out.
About twenty minutes before getting there, I had called in an order for a 14″ pepperoni and bacon pizza. I was told it would be about ten minutes so I was a little surprised when I got there and it wasn’t done yet. The guy working the take out area was in the process of taking a $100+ order and he didn’t acknowledge I was even standing there for several minutes. Read more…
Press Release – Girl Scout Donut Day at Sweetwater’s
From a Sweetwater’s Donut Mill email blast
To learn more about the Heart of Michigan Girl Scout’ Council, please click on the word: Girl Scouts
Watch you email box next Monday for a detailed reminder!
We thank you in advance for your support and look forward to seeing you at Sweetwater’s for a truly great cause.
Open 24/7!
Samuel Mancino’s Italian Eatery – Mattawan
52360 N. Main StreetOK. I think it’s fairly official. I think I’m going to eat at every Mancino’s in the state before all is said and done.
Actually, this time, it wasn’t really on my radar. J, L, and I met my mom and aunt in Union Pier for lunch before heading to Michigan City for some shopping. Now, normally we’d go to Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets, but it was a little rainy and we wanted to go somewhere we could let L just run around.
Instead, we went to Marquette Mall. Now, there’s not much left in Marquette Mall other than the three anchor stores, but that turned out to be perfect. J wanted to do some shopping at Carson’s and JC Penny and the empty mall was actually a really good place to let L run around and let my mom chase her.
We actually spent almost two hours in the almost abandoned space. L was exhausted. My mom still wanted to run over to Lighthouse Place, but we thought it better that we just get on the road. We were right, L passed out in her car seat before we even made it back to I-94.
J didn’t really have much to eat at lunch and she was already hungry. She asked if there was anything we could hit up on the way home without having to get out of the car hoping that L would stay asleep until we got back to Kalamazoo.
My initial thought was to order a couple pizzas from Silver Beach Pizza in St. Joseph, but J thought that was still too close to Michigan City. She didn’t want to risk it. My next thought? Mancino’s.
I wasn’t 100% sure, but I thought I remembered seeing a Mancino’s logo on one of those blue MDOT signs along the highway. J said she was pretty certain there was one there too, so that’s where we pointed the car.
Samuel Mancino’s Italian Eatery does, in fact, have a Mattawan. It’s on Main Street just north of the Interstate. It’s a stand alone restaurant with a pretty large parking lot. I’m always nervous when we go looking for food on Sunday because it seems there are so many West Michigan restaurants that don’t open on Sunday. Needless to say, I was very happy to see several cars in the parking lot as we were pulling in. Read more…
Red Arrow Roadhouse
15710 Red Arrow HighwayWell. The plan for this weekend was for my parents to come stay for a couple of days to see their granddaughter. Earlier this week, that changed. My dad wasn’t paying attention as he was going down the stairs and he fell down the last couple of steps breaking his ankle and tearing his rotater cuff. He’s now pretty much confined to his La-Z-Boy with my brother’s lap top and his TV remote.
My mom still wanted to see L, but she didn’t want to drive all the way to Kalamazoo by herself. She asked if we could meet in the Michigan City area for lunch then find someplace to run around for a while so she could still spend the time with her granddaughter.
I asked my mom if she wouldn’t mind coming a little bit farther for lunch. There’s a place in Union Pier I’ve been hearing good things about for years. Best of all, they were open for lunch on Sunday.
The Red Arrow Roadhouse is on the north side of Union Pier on Red Arrow Highway. It’s a real easy drive from Exit 6 on I-94. I actually had my mom and aunt (who decided to come along for the ride) meet us at the St. Julian Winery Retail Outlet just off the highway. That worked out pretty well because neither of them had been to a tasting room before and they had to kill about a half hour before we got there.
The Roadhouse sits right along the highway with only enough room between the busy highway and the building to park a car. We pulled in to a small parking area between the restaurant and a grocery store to park alongside the building. J always gets a little worried when we go places on Sunday wondering whether or not they were open. She had just questioned me a few minutes earlier and those fears were for naught. The place was pretty packed.
We were met right inside the door by a hostess who took us to a six top. We put a high chair along the wall for L, but resisted putting her in it right away hoping we could keep her in a good mood. My mom actually ended up walking her around the small dining room for a bit to keep her happy. Read more…
Press Release- Happy Hour App Comes To Kalamazoo
From a Moveable Bytes press release….
HAPPY HOUR APP RELEASED BY MOVEABLE BYTES
Find great deals on your favorite drink, near you, right nowKALAMAZOO, MI, March 5, 2013 – Moveable Bytes, a leading app developer in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
has today announced the launch of its mobile app Happy Hour for iOS. This fun, easy-to-use app helps
people find a great deal on their favorite drink at a nearby establishment. Finding and comparing happy
hours can be difficult. Trying to find one that is going on now, near you, with your favorite drink is nearly
impossible. Happy Hour solves that problem.Are you planning your date night on Friday and want to find a place to have a drink before the show?
Enter the address, the day & time, and your favorite drink and the app will show you the best deals
nearby. Do you want a beer and an appetizer after a long day of work? Tell the app you want all the
deals on beer near you now. Whether you’re visiting a new city or looking for a new place to visit, Happy
Hour can help.Beyond search, Happy Hour provides instant results sorted the way you want, and works online or
offline. The results can be viewed easily in a list or on a map. It also allows you to share the happy hour
information with your friends via e-Mail, SMS/Text, Facebook, or Twitter.Cities include the downtown areas of Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Detroit, East Lansing, Ferndale,
Kalamazoo, Lansing, Royal Oak, and Ypsilanti, Michigan with more cities soon to follow. For more
information , go to http://www.moveablebytes.com/happyhour or to download the app now, go to
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/happy-hour-deals/id600017744?mt=8.
From an Old Burdick’s email blast….
SW Michigan Dining 