Chicago Taste
3321 Stadium Drive- Kalamazoo, MI 49006
- (269) 903-2788
- No Known Website
- Menu
There has been a big box truck in a parking lot on Stadium Drive that has been taunting me for weeks. Seriously. Taunting me for weeks! How can you put a sign on a building with the words Chicago, Taste, Coming, and Soon and not expect me to drive by often hoping to see the “Now Open” sign.
That day finally came. Earlier this week, we were driving by on our way to downtown and I finally saw the sign I was looking for. The “Now Open” sign was finally there and the lights were on inside. Unfortunately, we already had lunch plans. We had a gift certificate to Honeybaked Ham that had to be used before the end of the year and I was already in the mood for some delicious smoked turkey.
A couple days later, J had an early doctor’s appointment. Since I had to get up anyway, I asked if she wanted to go check the place out for lunch. We had some time to kill between the appointment and the restaurant’s opening so we did the Meijer thing while we were waiting.
At 11:00 sharp, we pulled in to the parking lot of the new Chicago Taste. It’s in the strip mall on Stadium Drive which is also home to Jet’s Pizza. As long as we’ve been on this side of town, that space has been empty so I’m not really sure if there has ever been anything else there or not. The surprising thing to me was the size. It looks like the restaurant actually takes up two spaces in the building. There’s a rather large dining room off to the east side of the space. Read more…
Blackhawk Bar & Grill
8940 32nd StreetSince we had another Sunday with no real big plans, I decided to take an emailer’s advice and try to find a lunch spot on the east side of the area. Neither one of us have been feeling well lately so we both kind of slept in missing breakfast. That was fine with me as I kind of wanted a burger anyway.
Our choice for lunch took us to Richland to a place we almost went to our first New Year’s Eve in Kalamazoo. The Blackhawk Bar & Grill is right on the corner of 32nd Street and C Avenue (or M-89 and M-43) on the north side of Richland just past the city limits. The building looks like an old farmhouse from the road and it sort of carries that charm throughout the interior as well.
The parking lot is in the back between the Bar and the Stagecoach Barn which serves as a concert venue. We headed up the stairs to the porch where we found the entrance. There’s a hostess station right inside the door and a small hallway that separates the dining room from the lounge. There’s also a set of stairs that leads to an upstairs banquet facility.
We were given the choice between the lounge and the dining room and I chose the lounge. I’m just more comfortable sitting in the bar area for some reason and I was kind of hoping they would have NFL Sunday Ticket so I could watch the Bears game. They didn’t, but the lounge turned out to be quieter as the only other group in this space was leaving as we were ordering. Read more…
Hardee’s
18720 Partello RoadGrowing up in Eastern Illinois, one of the fast food restaurants in our regular rotation was Hardee’s. Over time and after a sale, Hardee’s started to disappear from our area to the point that there aren’t actually any in the area I grew up in. In fact, Hardee’s seem to be few and far between now. In the whole state of Michigan, there are only nine left at Wendy’s and Tim Horton’s bought out most of the restaurants in 1998. Five in the U.P. and four in the L.P.
The four Lower Peninsula stores are kind of spread out yet two are in Southwest Michigan. One is Niles. The other, right off I-94 at the Love’s Travel Stop in Marshall.
I was sent over to far eastern Calhoun County for work and on my way home at 10:00 at night, I was hungry. We’ve passed this exit several times on the way to Detroit or Ann Arbor and even stopped for gas, but never food. I always want to, but it seems like we’ve always just come back from a big meal somewhere.
So once again, I pull off on the Partello Road exit to get gas and notice the Hardee’s is open 24 hours. Score.
Hardee’s has undergone several transformation over the years. My first memory of Hardee’s is getting a roast beef sandwich similar to what you would get at Arby’s. After that, they tried chicken. It was good, but I still thought of Hardee’s as a roast beef place. Read more…
Papa Pete’s
502 S. Burdick StreetI had my pick of anything I wanted to eat for dinner and of course, I went with pizza. J was going out to dinner with some of her friends at Old Burdick’s downtown. Since parking can be kind of tough in that part of downtown, I decided to take her drop her off. Since I was heading downtown, I called in an order to a pizza place that I still haven’t been able to check out.
Papa Pete’s is on South Burdick Street in the same building as The Blue Dolphin. The entrance to Papa Pete’s is actually on Cedar Street. There’s a blue awning with a few letters missing, but you get the idea.
Around 6:00, I called in my order for a 16″ pepperoni pizza. The guy on the other end said it would be fifteen minutes so we went there to pick up the pizza before I dropped J off at Burdick’s at 6:30.
Papa Pete’s is a pretty typical dive bar. Being a Monday night, there weren’t a lot of people in the joint, but there were a few drinking cheap beer and playing pool. In the back of the space is a large stage and open area. I’ve heard there have been some pretty wicked concerts, but the bands that play Papa Pete’s aren’t really my thing. Read more…
Michelle’s
4010 Gull Road- Kalamazoo, MI 49048
- (269) 344-1415
- Website
- No Online Menu
Last week I got an e-mail that pointed out we don’t eat on the East side of town very often. It’s not that there’s nothing on that side of town, it’s just that we live on the West side and there’s no easy way to get there without driving all the way through town.
I set my alarm to get up for breakfast this morning with the intention of checking out one of the places the e-mailer recommended to me on Gull Road.
It took us a little while to get moving. I actually got up before J and when I realized she was still sound asleep, I rolled over with the intention of sleeping until she got up. My stirring woke her and we were out of bed and getting ready to leave the house fifteen minutes later.
The restaurant we made the cross town trek to was Michelle’s. It’s on Gull Road in Kalamazoo Township just to the Southwest of Rockingham Avenue.
The building is not quite what I was expecting. It’s rather large and divided in to three rooms. There is a large, kind of awkward lobby area. There’s a lot of wasted space which I guess would be put to good use on nights when they are very busy. Otherwise, it’s a wide open area leading to the two restaurants and banquet room near the back. Read more…
Five Guys Burgers & Fries – Gurnee, IL
6310 Grand AvenueOur last meal in Gurnee before coming home was yet another chain restaurant. In way, I’m really disappointed in myself for not seeking out anything local in Gurnee, but Gurnee is such a tourist town and they had the chains I really like and can’t get here in Southwest Michigan.
After we ate at Rainforest Cafe on Sunday, I noticed a sign for a Five Guys in an outlying shopping center near Gurnee Mills. The shops address is on Grand Avenue, but the front door faces the mall and Prairie Creek Drive.
I always seek out Five Guys when I’m on my own. J’s not a beef eater although she will occasionally go for a fast food burger. I don’t really consider Five Guys a fast food burger, so I was nervous she wouldn’t really like it.
We made our way past the sacks of potatoes to the order counter. I pointed out to J that the stores advertise which town in Idaho the potatoes come from and since she lived in Idaho Falls for two years, she actually knew exactly where the town was that the potatoes came from on this particular day.
I stuck with my typical order of a Bacon Cheeseburger while J got the Little Bacon Cheeseburger. I never add any toppings to my burgers because they’re so good on their own. J added on BBQ sauce, pickles, and lettuce. We decided to split an order of regular fries instead of each getting one. The fries are so large, we both would have been overstuffed for the three hour drive home. Read more…
Giordanos Pizza – Gurnee, IL
7105 Grand AvenueAfter an exhausting day at the water park at Key Lime Cove, my brother brought up the idea of ordering a pizza. Now, I know I’m usually the type of guy that will scout out a local place to order from, but when I searched for pizza, one of my Chicago favorites came up.
The Gurnee location of Giordanos Pizza is in a strip mall on Grand Avenue a few miles from the resort we were staying at. My brother had called in the order, but he and I decided to go pick it up instead of having it delivered.
We were told the pizzas would take about a half hour and we pulled in to the parking lot at almost exactly a half hour after the order was placed. Most of the Giordanos I’ve been to have been stand alone buildings. This is actually the first one I’ve been to that has been in a shopping center.
The decor was similar to the others with dark wood furniture and Chicago themed posters on the wall. We walked passed the hostess station to the back of the dining room where the cash register was. The waiter who noticed us there said there was a few more minutes so we headed over to the bar. The bartender saw us there and came over to see if we wanted drinks, but we passed hoping it would only be a few more minutes. Read more…
Key Lime Cove
1700 Nations Drive- Gurnee, IL 60031
- (877) 360-0403
- Website
I think we may have started a new Christmas tradition. My brother and his family took a trip to an indoor water park last winter between Chicago and Wisconsin. This year, he noticed a Groupon type deal in the Lake County Journal. My dad, my brother and all I bought the deal and made plans to meet in Gurnee, IL the first weekend in December.
Our meeting place was Key Lime Cove just off I-94 on Nations Drive in Gurnee. The day started with a trip to Gurnee Mills Mall and lunch at Rain Forest Cafe. Our check-in time at the resort technically wasn’t until 4:00, but we were ready to head over there at about 2:00. My dad and brother went ahead of J and I. We wanted to check out a few more things at the mall. When I called my brother to say we were heading over, he said he wasn’t sure if our room was going to be ready. Theirs was, but the lady at the registration desk must have said something about ours.
It only takes about five minutes to make the short drive from the mall to the resort. We followed the sign to the registration desk after parking in the large circle drive. Just walking through the door, we could feel right away that this was not a typical hotel. Besides the tropical thing that was noticeable right away, the size of the resort was almost overwhelming.
The five minute drive must have been enough. When I walked to the desk to check-in, I gave the lady my name and she made a comment about me being the third and final check-in from my family. Read more…
Rainforest Cafe – Gurnee, IL
6170 W. Grand AvenueThe main reason J and I were in Illinois this weekend was to do Christmas with my family. A few months ago, my brother had gotten a Groupon-like deal for Key Lime Cove Indoor Waterpark Resort. He asked me if we wanted to go as well as my parents. We all said yes and since J is going to be just a few weeks from her due date at Christmas, we decided it’d be better to do it now than travel on Christmas.
Before heading to the hotel, my brother wanted to get lunch. Last time his family did this trip, they ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe. His two girls loved it, so they wanted to make that part of the trip this year as well.
Rainforest Cafe is located inside the Gurnee Mills Mall just off I-94 on Grand Avenue. There’s a large outside entrance for Rainforest which doesn’t actually lead directly in to the restaurant. It’s just a mall entrance, but it’s the closest to the restaurant and they have it done up with the same jungle theme that adorns the restaurant.
The rest of my family actually got to the mall about twenty minutes before J and I did. To kill time, they walked down to Bass Pro Shop, so that’s where we met them. Read more…
Stacked
5273 W. 95th Street- Oak Lawn, IL 60453
- (708) 422-5555
- No Known Website
- No Online Menu
J and I aren’t the only ones that get excited about new restaurants. Her mom gets that way too. Earlier this week, J’s mom was reading the paper and there was an article about a new breakfast/lunch restaurant opening not too far from their home in Oak Lawn, IL. J’s step-dad worked some overtime on Saturday which means we didn’t get to see him before heading to hang out with some of J’s high school friends. Since we didn’t get to do dinner with her parents, her mom asked if we’d be interested in getting up for breakfast and checking out the newest addition to downtown Oak Lawn.
Stacked is on 95th Street and 53rd Avenue on the very busy stretch of road Oak Lawn calls downtown. The restaurant moved in to space formerly occupied by Baja Fresh. According to the Orland Park Patch, this restaurant has a pretty unique story of their own. The owners operated a diner in Orland Park, IL for several years when the city came in and used eminent domain to tear down the shopping center they were located in. As the owners wife was driving their son to hockey practice in Oak Lawn, she drove by the recently empty Baja Fresh and that’s where the couple decided to relocate their business.
Stacked had only been open four days when J’s parents took us their for breakfast. The area of downtown that this development is located in is somewhat walkable and near the Metra Station. 95th is a five lane road with a 45 mph speed limit so parking for all the businesses is either on side streets or behind in parking lots. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 