Windy City Grille
5751 Byron Center Avenue SW #FThere are very few things, food wise, that get me as excited as Italian beef. Everyone knows about Chicago-style hot dogs and pizza, but most don’t realize that Chicago has another specialty that’s better, when done right, pizza and hot dogs combined.
Windy City Grille is in Wyoming on Byron Center Avenue SW near Metro Hospital in the Bayberry Plaza. I really have no idea how I even heard of the place because this is not an area of Wyoming that I’ve ever been to. It’s not too far from US-6 so it’s pretty easy to get to from Grand Rapids.
Chicago-style food is something that can either be done right or it’s a total failure. Being a native Illinoisan who grew up close enough to Chicago to have been immersed in the food since a young age, I tend to find failure’s more so than true, authentic Chicago-style food.
Windy City Grille is a pretty typical strip mall restaurant. The small order counter is in the back and the remaining space is filled with tables and chairs. There is a large menu board behind the counter and they also have paper menus on the counter. Specials are written on a dry erase board next to the cash register. Read more…
La Pinata Mexican Food & Bar
475 N. Drake Road- Kalamazoo, MI 49009
- (269) 382-6642
- No Known Website
- Menu
Earlier this week, one of J’s co-workers raved about a new Mexican joint in Battle Creek. Somehow, that made her hungry for Mexican. She came home from work today and said we should go out for lunch. I think she was hinting to me that she wanted to go to Battle Creek, but I started heading for a place a little closer to home.
La Pinata Mexican Food & Bar is on Drake Road near the corner of Main Street in Oshtemo Township. It’s in the Maple Hill Mall development that sits right next to Drake Road, but like everything on that corner, it can be hard to find.
J had actually went looking for it one other time when her mom was in town, but there are so many strip malls on that corner that if you don’t know exactly where something is, you have to drive through all of them and that’s not an easy thing to do.
I do a lot of shopping at the Hardings on Drake Road and have been a frequent customer at the Lowes since we bought a house, so I’m a little more familiar with that area than I was just a few months ago. Read more…
Wally’s Subs
6477 Stadium DriveOn my own for dinner tonight. Have to admit. I’m really jealous of J right now. She went to dinner with some co-workers at Rustica. I’ve been wanting to go there since it opened, but haven’t found the right special occasion. I guess J can scout it out and decide if she wants to go back or not.
Before dinner, I had to make a grocery store run to pick up a few things. I was thinking about what I was going to do for dinner and I really didn’t want to cook. My first thought was pizza, but I didn’t really want to wait that long. My next thought was Subway. I was going to stop at the one inside Walmart, but I had too much stuff in my hands, so I figured I’d just hit the one on Stadium near 9th.
On my way to that location, I had to pass a local sub shop right on the corner of 9th and Stadium. Until we moved to this part of town, I had never heard of Wally’s Subs. It’s a fairly inconspicuous building…well, other than the three large signs. The building is a small brick building with a parking lot just big enough for no more than a few cars. Read more…
Erbelli’s Gourmet Pizza, Italian Bistro & Pub – Oshtemo Twp.
6214 Stadium DriveSo, it’s been a year since we last tried Erbelli’s. We keep hearing from almost anyone we ask that the best pizza in Kalamazoo is Erbelli’s. We ate at the Portage location last year for New Year’s Eve and weren’t really impressed. Now, we do have a ridiculously high standard when it comes to pizza so finding the right pizza is never an easy task. I can honestly say I’ve lived in Michigan for almost three years now and have never found a “craveable” pizza. That doesn’t mean we haven’t found any good pizza. It just means that when it comes time to order out, there’s always a decision.
J sent me an e-mail from work asking if I wanted to go to Erbelli’s for lunch. She was looking at the website and saw a coupon for the lunch buffet. Sounded good to me and the price was right so as soon as she walked in the door, we were heading back out for some pizza.
The Kalamazoo location of Erbelli’s is on Stadium Drive in Oshtemo Township between US-131 and 9th Street. It’s in a strip mall that sort of sits in a valley. The portion of the building that Erbelli’s takes up is decorated with Italian scenes on the windows. These are actually pretty interesting window treatments because they still let light in and you can see outside, but from the outside, you can’t see in. Read more…
Culver’s – Texas Township
5143 S. 9th StreetWho doesn’t like ice cream for dinner? Seriously. Who doesn’t?
I was feeling really uninspired when it came time to talk about dinner. I pulled my fat butt off the couch to go grill up some chicken but before I got too far, J said she wanted to go to Culver’s. I didn’t really feel like cooking anyway so instead of heading to the freezer to get chicken, I headed to the bedroom to get my jeans.
There are three Culver’s locations in the Greater Kalamazoo area. We used to go to the Portage location all the time for Concrete Mixer’s, but it’s actually been a while since we’ve actually eaten real food there. When we lived in Morton, IL, we were within walking distance of one and ate there quite often. It was the closest fast food and we’ve always liked it, so it worked out well.
The second Kalamazoo location is right off I-94 on 9th Street in Texas Township (the third is on Gull Road). We were coming from Stadium Drive so the restaurant was on our left. Not usually a problem, but this very snowy Tuesday made the trek treacherous, but not treacherous enough that we’d pass up frozen custard. Read more…
Salt of the Earth
114 E. Main StreetNew Year’s Eve was going to be short at the World Headquarters of SW Michigan Dining. J worked her normal shift that has her getting up at 1:30 AM and I had get up to go to work at 5:30 AM on New Year’s Day. Chances are, neither of us were going to see midnight and it turns out, neither of us did.
Even though we weren’t going to party like it was 2010. we still wanted to go for a good meal. Last year’s New Year’s was pretty similar and we had a so-so experience at Erbelli’s in Portage. We really wanted something memorable this year…and boy did we ever.
The restaurant we chose was Salt of the Earth in Fennville. J called on Monday to get reservations and by the time she did that, all that was left were a few early slots. That was fine because we didn’t want to be there when they started the live music.
Salt of the Earth: Rustic American Eatery & Bakery is in downtown Fennville on Main Street which is also M-89. The surprising thing about the restaurant is that if you’re not looking for it, it’s very easy to drive right by. In fact, J’s done just that many times. She’s passed through town on M-89 several times and has never noticed the place. I spotted in and started looking for a parking spot. When I told J we just passed it, she said, “Where?”
The building is an older street front building with only a few parallel parking spots out front. We were able to find more spots on the street around the corner. Since it was a nice night, walking half a block wasn’t a big deal. Read more…
Perkins Family Restaurant & Bakery – Kalamazoo
3810 E. Cork StreetThank you, Perkins, for being open Christmas Day. I know that sounds bad of me. Why didn’t I cook? Why didn’t I spend the day with family? Why am I going out to eat on Christmas? Well, let me answer those questions.
I’m lazy. Our families are snowed in at home in Illinois. I’m lazy and didn’t feel like cooking. There. Does that answer those questions?
We knew our choices were going to be limited on Christmas Day and I hadn’t heard of any local places being open. Of the chains that were open, Perkins sounded the best to me.
The Kalamazoo location of Perkins Family Restaurant & Bakery is on the corner of Sprinkle and Cork in Kalamazoo’s Milwood Neighborhood right near the I-94 Exit.
I wasn’t 100% sure that the restaurant was actually open, so I was really happy to see quite a few cars in the parking lot. Looks like I wasn’t the only one who didn’t feel like cooking today. Read more…
D’Nicio’s Parlour Restaurant
6880 W. Main StreetToday starts the recovery period. J and I have been go, go, go for the last five days. It started with a quick trip home to celebrate Christmas with my family because we’re not going to be able to make it home on Christmas day due to our work schedules.
After that, my brother and his family came to visit us. They have a two-year-old and a six-month-old. The two-year-old kept us going for the two days they were here.
We got up this morning and contemplated going out for breakfast, but my brother wanted to get on the road to avoid any snow that we were going to get today. With the little ones in the house, J and I got up much earlier than we normally would so were both tired. We sat on the couch and watched a few more episodes of Billy The Exterminator and The Price is Right then got moving so we could go get lunch.
We decided on a simple lunch and went to D’Nicio’s Parlour Restaurant on West Main Street near 9th Street in Oshtemo Township. The restaurant is owned by the same family that owns D’Nicio’s Coney Island in Battle Creek. They took over the former Parlour Restaurant and added the D’Nicio’s name to it. Read more…
Brann’s Sizzling Steaks & Sports Grille – Portage
700 Martin Luther King DriveUgh. I hate oil changes. The two choices are either go to the dealership and wait forever or go to one of those quick lube places and have to deal with a barrage of up-sells. Neither ever sounds fun and I put it off as long as I can.
J’s car was due for an oil change. Actually, overdue and we’re driving home for Christmas soon, so we thought it’s probably time to get it done. Since we had to leave the house anyway, J said we should just go out for lunch.
A few days ago, I saw a commercial for Brann’s Sizzling Steaks & Sports Grille that advertised a two complete meals for $14.99 special. Most of the casual dining chains have been offering this for a while and since Brann’s is a local competitor for the national chains, they probably felt that had to start offering one too.
We have never been to the Brann’s in Portage because we always forget that it’s there. We did eat with my family at the Brann’s on Leonard Street in Grand Rapids after a trip to the John Ball Zoo and everyone really enjoyed.
The Portage location is one of seven in West Michigan and one of nine statewide. It’s really not easy to find the place unless you know it’s there or you’re going to a movie. In fact, that area is so well hidden, we didn’t even know there was a Menards in Portage until today and Brann’s shares a parking lot with it.
The store is on Martin Luther King Drive behind the Crossroads Mall. From the parking lot, you’re looking at the food court entrance to the mall. The only other time we had ever been back there was to see a movie at Celebration Cinema and that was at night, so we weren’t really looking around too much. Read more…
Press Release – Kalamazoo Foods Market Opens
From a Kalamazoo Foods Market Press Release…..
New Farmers’ and Baker’s Market Offers Another Option for Locally Produced Food
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo has a new place to shop for local foods and baked goods during the winter months. The Kalamazoo Foods Market, located at 1156 South Burdick St. (southwest corner Crosstown and Burdick) runs Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The market will be open every Saturday excluding major holidays. Parking is available adjacent to the building.
“As supporters of locally grown food, we wanted to create a venue where the public can connect with vendors to buy food products produced in or near Kalamazoo,” says Kavan Geary, owner and operator of the Kalamazoo Foods Market. “With the closing of the Bank Street Market for the season, we offer a convenient downtown location for people to get products from many of the vendors they already know. Market vendors include producers of baked goods, produce, meats and handcrafted foods.”
Kalamazoo foods market features more than 25 food entrepreneurs with unique, freshly created products. Products represented include: ice cream; chocolates; greenhouse raspberries; specialty breads and muffins; gourmet cupcakes; regular and gluten-free cookies; granola; cakes; pies; biscotti; grass-fed, chemical free beef and pork; buffalo; goat; chicken; lamb; chicken and duck eggs; tamales; salsa; honey; preserves; vegetables; fruit; and more.
At the Kalamazoo Foods Market, vendors bake, grow, assemble and sell their own food products. Resale of commercially available products and the sale of non-food items are prohibited.
For more information, please visit www.kzoofoods.com.
SW Michigan Dining 