Wing Heaven – 44th St. SW
1500 44th Street SWAs I was sitting at work, I got a Facebook message from J that she had got me a Concrete Mixer and some chicken strips from Culvers that would be waiting for me when I got home. As good as that sounded, getting home was still five hours away and it just so happened, I got this message just as I was trying to find some place for dinner.
The lure of chicken strips made me hungry for chicken. More specifically chicken wings.
My first thought for chicken wings in Grand Rapids is Wing Heaven. The problem with Wing Heaven is I never know if any of their stores are still in business. It seems like a new Wing Heaven will open and a few weeks later, it will be closed or renamed something else. Case in point, I called what I thought was the Wing Heaven on Division and the guy that answered the phone called the place Wing Kingz. I was taken by surprise so I hung up the phone. Did I call the right number? Well, I found out later, when I drove by the Original Wing Heaven on Monroe, that they too have been rebranded Wing Kingz. I’m so confused.
I decided to just take a drive. I had seen a Wing Heaven on 44th Street near Burlingame not too long ago, so I headed there.
In somewhat of a surprise, this store is actually still a Wing Heaven. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but they all seemed to be waiting for take out orders. The dining area at this store is actually pretty nice. There are a couple dozen tables in a large, clean dining room with a couple of LCD TV’s turned to ESPN.
I stepped up to order a 12 wing basket which comes with fries and a drink. I decided to break up the 12 wings in to two flavors. I got six in my all time favorite wing flavor, Garlic Parmesan and six Caribbean Jerk. The drink is Coke products. I was handed a Styrofoam cup with ice already in and found the pop machine on the other side of the Kool-Aid machine. Read more…
Teapot East
30163 Red Arrow Highway- Paw Paw, MI 49079
- (269) 657-2838
- No Known Website
- Menu
I don’t know how we ended up in Paw Paw today. I really don’t. Our day started at the Kalamazoo Farmers’ Market. After picking up a whole bag of goodies, J wanted to get something to eat. I suggested BBQ at the Rib Cage, but when we got over there, the cart was gone and they fence was locked up.
As we drove away, I asked J what she wanted. She was indecisive. I was indecisive. We were both hungry, but didn’t have a taste for anything. I started driving towards home when J casually mentioned breakfast. It was 11:30, well past breakfast time, but it is a weekend, so anytime is breakfast time.
I was already heading west on Stadium Drive and I just kept going. I don’t think J was really happy with a drive to Paw Paw considering we had a baby who was about ready to take a nap. I was playing with fire.
The restaurant I was heading towards was Teapot East on Red Arrow Highway just to the east of Paw Paw High School. By the time we made the drive to Paw Paw, we were pushing it on time. They are only open until 1:00 on Saturday it was already 12:15.
The four of us walked in to a restaurant that was busy, but was starting to clear out. The small restaurant has only about a dozen or so tables. Most of them were either being used or still dirty from previous customers. I spotted a booth in the back of the restaurant and headed that way. Read more…
From a Fair Food Matters press release….
Award-winning food activist Malik Yakini to speak at 2012 Harvest Fest
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the annual Southwest Michigan Community Harvest Fest will present award-winning food activist Malik Yakini as its keynote speaker.
Harvest Fest, a program of Fair Food Matters, is an annual, community-wide celebration of food, farming and sustainable living. It will take place Sunday, September 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Tillers International, 10515 East OP Avenue, Scotts, Michigan. Yakini will speak at 2 p.m.
Malik Kenyatta Yakini is a founder and the executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates the D-Town Farm, a seven-acre farm in Detroit, and led efforts to establish the Detroit Food Policy Council.
He served as a member of the Michigan Food Policy Council (2008-2010), and currently serves on the steering committee of Undoing Racism in the Detroit Food System. From 1990-2011, he was executive director of Nsoroma Institute Public School Academy, one of Detroit’s leading African-centered schools.
Yakini is a Food and Community Fellow for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and was recently named one of five recipients of the 2012 James Beard Foundation Leadership Award.
He is dedicated to working to identify and alleviate the impact of racism in the food system, and in contributing to the development of an international food sovereignty movement that embraces black farmers in the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa.
Yakini has presented at numerous local meetings and national conferences on food justice and community food security. He is featured in the book Blacks Living Green, and the movie “Urban Roots.” He is a vegan and an avid organic grower.
In addition to Yakini’s presentation, Harvest Fest will offer music, food, demonstrations and family activities throughout the day.
Admission is $10 per carload, $1 per person for busloads of 10 or more, and free for bicyclists.
The 2012 Harvest Fest is sponsored by Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine; The Audubon Society of Kalamazoo; Better World Builders; Four Elements Energy; Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones; Michigan Land Trustees; Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems; Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance; Natural Health Center; Sawall; Van Buren Conservation District; and Wiltse Kitchens.
For the latest information on Harvest Fest, please visit www.fairfoodmatters.org/harvestfest.
BC Cupcake Factory
503 Military AvenueFound them! It took me a couple trips working on the vague recollection of some Grand Rapids co-workers, but I finally found the gourmet cupcakes I was looking for a couple weeks ago.
Turns out, there is no kiosk or shop at the Lakeview Square Mall. Nope. The cupcakes are actually at the Springfield Farmers’ Market.
The BC Cupcake Factory is part of Bill’s Hot Dog Factory. The yummy looking cupcakes sit on the order counter in glass display cases. I ended up getting lunch and four cupcakes on my journey to the Cupcake Factory.
There were only a dozen or so on display, but there were so many that looked good, I didn’t know where to start.
Well, not totally true. There was one that just jumped out of the glass dome at me. It was the Chocolate Dream. This simple cupcake is dark chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and chocolate chips. I had a really hard time waiting until lunch was over to dive in.
I don’t know if my mouth has stopped working or what, but getting a large cupcake like this in my mouth has become a challenge. Either my mouth is getting smaller or the cupcakes keep getting bigger…I’m leaning towards bigger cupcakes. Read more…
Bill’s Hot Dog Factory
503 Military StreetRemember a week or so ago when I was talking about cupcakes in Battle Creek? Well, I had to go back to Battle Creek to pick up my 4-Month Old Mower that wouldn’t start from Sears. Before another trip to B.C., I asked the two co-workers who told me about these elusive cupcakes exactly where they found them.
They both knew it was a pizza place across from the ANG Base, but didn’t know what the name of the place was. Co-Worker #2 and I got on The Google and figured it out. It was Bill’s Pizza Factory. Before I went, I got on to the Facebook page for Bill’s and found the cupcakes were actually at Bill’s Hot Dog Factory.
The hot dog restaurant used to be out on B Avenue North in a Shell Station next to Harper Creek High School. That closed back in January and they’ve been selling the dogs out of the pizza place on Helmer Road. A couple months ago, the hot dog place got a new place.
Bill’s Hot Dog Factory recently opened a new shop inside the Springfield Farmer’s Market which is in Begg Park off of Military Street just west of Dickman Road in Springfield.
The Hot Dog stand is open 6 days a week even if nothing else in the building is open along with them. The restaurant isn’t much more than a cutout order window and some tables set up in the common space of the Farmers’ Market. Read more…
Press Release – Julia Child 100 Year Birthday Dinner at Bravo!
From a Bravo! Restaurant & Cafe email….
Happy Birthday
In honor of what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday,
Bravo! will be serving recipes by the famous
cookbook author and television personality.
The Julia Child 100 Year Birthday Dinner Menu
*****
Vichyssoise
Chilled Potato and Leek Soup with Cream
$5.00
*****
Filet Of Sole Bonne Femme
Fresh Filets of Lemon Sole Simmered with Mushrooms,
White Wine and Cream and Served with French Green Beans
$24.00
*****
Chicken Coq au Vin
Chicken Simmered in Red Wine with Mushrooms, Pearl Onions,
and Bacon and Served with Fresh Vegetables
$22.00
*****
Dark Chocolate Mousse with Grand Marnier
Dark Chocolate folded with Meringue, Whipped Cream and Grand Mariner
$7.00The birthday celebration will be available
Weds. August 15 through Sunday August 19, 2012.
Paw Paw Brewing Company
929 E. Michigan AvenueWhen J’s told me her mom was coming this week, I was told we had to hit up a brewery one night. Like me, J’s mom has gotten in to craft brews pretty recently and loves coming to Michigan to not only see her grand child, but it seems like no matter where we go to eat, we can always find great craft beers on tap.
After J and L went to bed, J’s Mother-In-Law and I decided to head to Paw Paw. I was under the impression Paw Paw Brewing Company didn’t serve food so J and I never made the stop. The place opened right around the time J got pregnant, so she couldn’t drink and now that we have a little one, we don’t really go to breweries where we can’t eat.
The Paw Paw Brewing Company is on the east side of town on Michigan Avenue. We just take Red Arrow Highway from Oshtemo and not long after entering the Paw Paw city limits, the white building with the word “Brewery” on top sits on the north side of the road.
The parking lot is pretty small and I wasn’t sure if I should use the lot for the neighboring business that I initially turned in to. I sort of went around the block and found a spot on the east side of the building near the beer garden. Read more…
Frankie’s
56951 N. Main StreetI used to watch a lot of Food Network. A lot. J and I used to plan trips based around what restaurants were featured on the various shows. Then, I got a full time job and work nights. I don’t watch a whole lot of Food Network anymore. That’s too bad because it seems like there are a lot of Michigan and Chicago restaurants being featured recently…the two places I eat the most.
While I don’t watch a whole anymore, I did see in the local media that Robert Irvine’s show Restaurant: Impossible taped a show in Three Rivers. It hasn’t aired yet (airs September 5), but I still would like to check the place out to see what Mr. Irvine came up with….and it’s kind of a better idea to do it before the show actually airs.
I had never been to Frankie’s before today so I have no idea what it looked like before. The restaurant is on Business 131 or North Main Main Street to the south of US-131 on the north side of Three Rivers. There is somewhat of a train theme to the place as it sits right next to the railroad tracks.
When you walk in the door, there’s actually a choice of two doors from there. One leads in to the bar area while the other leads in to the dining room. It doesn’t really matter because once inside it’s actually one big space, but we chose the dining room door anyway.
The dining room and bar area have somewhat of a modern barn feel to it. Again, no idea what the restaurant used to look like so I can’t compare. I’ll have to watch the show to determine how much actually changed. Read more…
Angelo’s Italian Eatery – Portage
5401 Portage Road #4The last several months, I have blogged a lot about a co-workers new found love of Mancino’s grinders. After reading these posts, my mother-in-law got curious. She had never had a grinder.
Said Mother-In-Law came to town this week to bring us some new car seats that she got a good deal on. After she got to town, J said we should go find grinders for lunch. How could I argue with that.
I found out a few months ago that Angelo’s Italian Eatery does a pretty good grinder. Usually, I go to the Ravine Road location, but there really isn’t a dining room there. There’s another location by the airport so that’s where we went.
Angelo’s Italian Eatery is on Portage Road. It’s just to the north of the main entrance to the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport. The restaurant is in a strip mall, but the space is actually quite large. The order counter is in the back near the kitchen and the rest of the space is filled with tables.
I didn’t have much to think about as we looked at the large menu hanging on the wall. As I usually do, I ordered the 16″ Pizza grinder and a large Pepsi. My Mother-In-Law followed my lead with an 8″ Pizza Grinder while J ordered an 8″ Turkey Club. Both of the ladies got a regular drink which brought the total to just over $31. Read more…
Big Bob’s Pizza
661 Croswell Avenue SEAnother long day at the office on Saturday. When my dinner break finally popped up, I was hungry. Sure, I had eaten at Five Guys earlier in the day, but one meal, even a big one, is nowhere near enough for this growing boy.
It just seemed like a pizza night, so I pulled up a menu for Big Bob’s Pizza in East Grand Rapids. I had heard really good things about the place.
Right away, the BBQ Chicken pizza jumped out at me as something I had to have. I put in an order for a 14″ thin crust. The guy on the other end of the phone told me it’d be about 20 minutes.
Big Bob’s Pizza is in Gaslight Village near the intersection of Croswell and Wealthy in East Grand Rapids. The building looks more like a house than a business. A large parking lot out front eliminates any doubt that this is a pizza joint. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 