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.
Quaker Steak & Lube – Kentwood
4515 28th Street SEPizza, burgers, and wings. The three perfect foods. Finding good pizza and burgers is pretty easy. Finding good wings, not always as easy.
Last year after a the trip home for Christmas, J and I packed up all new stuff and started heading back towards Kalamazoo. Along the way in Portage, IN, there’s a chain restaurant just off the Interstate that I had been wanting to stop at ever since we moved to Lansing in the spring of 2008.
We finally did make the stop and loved the meal. Great wings. Great fries. Just great food. Imagine my excitement when I saw the same chain opening a store in Kentwood.
Quaker Steak and Lube opened up on the very commercial 28th Street in Kentwood just to the west of Patterson Avenue. This store is the only Michigan location for the small chain of under 50 locations. The original store was in Sharon, PA in a converted gas station during the oil crisis of the 1970’s. The name comes from the fact they were originally a cook your own steak place, but the chain is now known for their award winning chicken wings. Read more…
The Hangar Bar and Grill
4301 W. Main Street- Kalamazoo, MI 49006
- (269) 344-9663
- Website
- No Online Menu
A couple weeks ago, J’s mom was in town and when J’s mom comes to town, we usually eat pretty well. One day while I was at work, J and her mom went out for lunch and ended up at a place we always forget about it. They found something that J couldn’t wait to take me back to.
The Hangar Bar and Grill is on West Main Street right next to Smashburger. That’s the problem. The only time we ever remember the place is when we’re already set on going to Smashburger. It’s a place I don’t think I’ve ever read anything about. No one has ever recommended it to me and I’ve never seen anything on social media or in the press about what a unique place this actually is.
As you can probably guess, The Hangar runs with an aviation theme. The building is a stand alone building that shares a parking lot with a small strip mall. The design of the building is pretty unique itself. It’s a large boxy building that has a couple bay doors that make it look like an airplane hanger. Both on the sign near the street and above the door, there are neon lights to let you know when the kitchen is open. Read more…
Georgio’s Gourmet Pizza – Grand Rapids
15 Ionia Avenue SWWhen we lived in Lansing, I loved the option of pizza-by-the-slice places. It seems like you can almost always find a place that caters to the college crowd in the big college towns.
In Lansing, there were two big places that each had two locations within a mile of each other. One of those places, Georgio’s Gourmet Pizza (locations on Grand River Avenue and Charles Street in East Lansing) expanded over to Grand Rapids.
Georgio’s Gourmet Pizza is on Ionia Avenue Southwest just off Fulton Street near the Van Andel Arena. It’s on a pretty heavily traveled street that also has a number of other dining options. In Lansing, the Georgio’s buildings are both kind of run down. The Grand Rapids locations is obviously newer and looks like it gets a little more TLC.
The store is part of a row of buildings that fronts the streets, so there is no parking lot. You have to find someplace on the street and when there’s an event at Van Andel, that can be kind of tough. Read more…
Kalamazoo Beer Exchange
211 E. Water StreetA little snow isn’t going to keep us in the house now, is it? Of course not. J’s schedule has been wacky this week and tonight was pretty much the last opportunity we would have to eat out until next week.
I had already started prepping dinner when I got an e-mail from J asking about dinner. She said she’d rather go out and yesterday, I saw a tweet from Sarah Lee that the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange was open. I knew they had been open for lunch for a couple weeks, but the didn’t have their liquor license yet, so they were only doing lunch. I asked about beer and she said they were a go. I called before J got home just to double check they were open so we didn’t waste a trip through Death Storm 2010.
The Kalamazoo Beer Exchange is in the Globe Building in downtown Kalamazoo. It takes up the space that was formerly Charlie Foster’s which was closed before J and I even moved to Kalamazoo, so I have no idea how much work was done inside before the Beer Exchange opened. Read more…
Groupon Coming To Kalamazoo
I heard about this a few weeks ago when I got a follow on Twitter from @Pcon_Groupon. If you have no idea what Groupon is, you’re going to love it. Groupon has been in Grand Rapids for a while and the deals are pretty incredible. I do know the exact date of the launch here in Kalamazoo, but don’t know if it’s supposed to be publicized yet, so I’ll just say it’s supposed to launch very soon. The web address will be http://www.groupon.com/kalamazoo, but there are also apps for smart phones which make it really easy. I have the app for the Android on my phone and check the GR and Chicago deals everyday. It’s not always restaurants, but they do have a lot of good restaurant deals and I know they’re working on some places here in Kalamazoo.
Press Release – Crow’s Nest Wins Golden Ladle
From a Fair Food Matters press release…
Crow’s Nest Restaurant (816 S. Westnedge Ave.) won the inaugural “Golden Ladle” Award at the recent Fair Food Food Fair by garnering the most votes from people who attended.
For the event, a fundraiser for Fair Food Matters held November 20 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 16 local chefs were invited to create a “small plate” item using local ingredients. Nearly 450 people who attended the event voted for their favorite dish, and Crow’s Nest and chef Grace Dorer won for a creation made of pulled pork from Lake Village Homestead baked into locally purchased cornmeal, plus spicy butter, sweet onions and cilantro sour cream.
Like the Stanley Cup, the award now stays with Crow’s Nest until a new winner is named at next year’s event.
In addition to food, the Fair Food Food Fair featured Michigan-made beverages, local musicians and other performers, and a silent auction featuring the work of dozens of local artists.
The event was the first large fundraiser for Fair Food Matters, and raised more than $15,000 for the organization’s general fund.
Bangor Tavern Bar & Grill
233 W. Monroe StreetIt’s been a long time since I’ve had a Friday off. My schedule is about to change so I will now be off on Friday which means J and I will actually have a date night. With her schedule, it’s hard to go out during the week unless there is a lot of advance planning and with me working weekends, that’s out of the questions.
On my first Friday off in a three months, we decided to actually go out for dinner. Sure, we’ve been going out for lunch, but it’s just not the same.
I had some work to do around the house so when J got home from work, she headed to the basement to nap. I woke her up around 4:30 and we both realized we were hungry. Like the old folks we tend to act like, we left Kalamazoo for an early dinner. Read more…
Thanksgiving Day Options
Edit 11/9/15: I should probably point out this post is from 2010. It’s been getting a lot of clicks recently as it comes up in Google searches. If I get time, I will try to update it with who’s doing what this year.
Edit 11/12/15: Here’s a link to my 2015 post.
Edit 11/20/2016: And for those of you finding this post in 2016, here’s the link to the 2016 Thanksgiving Day Options post.
Alright, so who’s open on Thanksgiving Day? I’m gonna get a post going…if you know of any place I don’t have, add it in the comments and I’ll add it to the post. If I notice any place, I’ll add as well.
Martell’s
– Open 11 AM to 6 PM – Serving limited menu as well as traditional Thanksgiving meal
Epic Bistro
– Open 11 AM to 6 PM – Serving 3 Thanksgiving Courses.
Fieldstone Grill
-Open 11 AM to 7 PM – Serving Thanksgiving Meal and a limited menu
Sweetwater’s Donut Mill
-Open 24 Hours
Bravo!
-Open 11 AM to 5 PM – Serving Thanksgiving Buffet. (I’ve heard they’re booked, but taking waiting list reservations)
SW Michigan Dining 