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….
The Den Deli
2917 Howard StreetA few weeks ago, I stopped at Insomnia Cookies for some late night cookies. As I was getting in the car, I noticed a sign in the window of the Den Party Store. It appeared there was some sort of deli inside and they make their sandwiches with MacKenzie Bread.
This afternoon, J and L laid down for a nap not long after J got home from work. I was a little hungry and I’ve been wanting to look for some Greenbush Brewing bottles now that they’ve started bottling one of my favorite Black IPA’s.
The Den Deli is in the back corner of The Den Party store in the Campus Pointe Mall. I noticed it right away when I walked in the door, but first, I headed over to the beer coolers to see if they had the beer I was looking for. To my surprise, there was even a sign on the cooler door advertising that they now sell Greenbush beer. I picked a six pack up to see the price, but wanted to go get a couple sandwiches before carrying a six pack around the store.
The deli isn’t much more than a couple portable sandwich carts and a fridge. However, it seems to be pretty popular on campus. Even though most of the students are on spring break, there was still a line four people deep.
Like a lot of college town sandwich places, the Den has a process laid out for ordering. All of the sandwiches are custom made and there are no pre-set options. Read more…
Firehouse Subs – Grand Rapids Township
2090 Celebreation Drive NEI’ve been eating a lot less burgers lately. Maybe it was overkill for a while or something, but when I’m at work, I really don’t feel much like getting a burger. Finding sandwich shops isn’t quite as easy as finding a burger joint. I have a couple deli’s in Grand Rapids that I really like but they can be really expensive.
Finding a good sub shop can be hard. As far as local sub shops go, there are very few good ones. The bit national sub shops are alright, but I feel like them like I feel about most fast food burger joints. They do in a pinch, but not when I have time to actually do something for lunch.
Last week I read an article about a new sub shop opening in Grand Rapids Township. My initial reaction was to run out there right away, but I waited until I actually had time for a dinner break.
Firehouse Subs is a chain of sub shops with almost 600 locations nationwide. The Grand Rapids location is one of two open right now in Michigan, but there are several more planned including one in Muskegon (but none in the Kalamazoo area). The chain was founded in the early 90’s in Jacksonville, FL.
The Grand Rapids location is just off the East Beltline on Celebration Drive. If you’re familiar with the area, it’s in the little shopping area of Knapp’s corner that is anchored by Celebration Cinemas. Read more…
Press Release – A Pint With the Past
From a Promote Michigan press release…
Tim Horton’s Cafe & Bake Shop – Westwood
4328 W. Main StreetA year ago, I made a doctor’s appointment. Stupid me. I made that appointment for 8:15 AM. Most days, that’s before even the baby gets up. When I called last week to see if I could push it back, they were booked up, so I had to keep the 8:15 appointment because I really needed to get the prescription refilled.
I had to actually wake L up and get her dressed so I could go to this appointment. I know she’s too little to understand, but I told her we could stop and get donuts on the way home.
I was just going to stop at Sweetwater’s, but I took West Main home so I could drop my prescription off at Walgreens. As I got closer to Drake Road, I remembered that Tim Horton’s recently opened a second Kalamazoo location…and I’ve never had Tim Horton’s breakfast.
The newest Tim Horton’s in the Kalamazoo area is on West Main Street near North Sage Street. The new building is kind of wedged into the busy commercial area in Kalamazoo’s Westwood neighborhood.
I’ve always liked Tim Horton’s as a less pretentious way of doing the coffee shop. They offer free Wi-Fi and some lounge chairs for those needed to sip a little coffee while doing some work.
I walked in to the shop and found a small case of donuts near the cash register. I was really hoping they would have what seems to be the elusive vanilla long john. Like Dunkin Donuts, they did not. They have some pretty delicious cinnamon sugar donuts, so I got two of them. One for me. One for L. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 