TNT – A Touch of Soul
790 N. Westnedge Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49007
- (269) 377-7692
- No Known Website
- Menu
I think I’ve been pretty clear that I really like good BBQ. I mean really like good BBQ. Whenever I pass a BBQ joint or roadside stand, I want to stop. I don’t always do it, but I always want to.
I never really had much of a reason to drive to the north side of Kalamazoo until I started working in Grand Rapids. Some days, just to do something different, I take US-131 Business instead of going around town. On one of these trips, I passed a BBQ joint just north of downtown and have been looking for an excuse to go back since.
The BBQ joint in question is TNT – A Touch of Soul. Don’t go looking for a sign though. When you drive by, the sign actually reads Miller’s Smokehouse. I have no idea why that sign is there or why it hasn’t been changed because from what I can tell TNT has been open at least a year if not longer.
The restaurant is on North Westnedge just south of Frank Street in Kalamazoo’s Northside Neighborhood. The restaurant takes up the corner of a strip mall that looks like it was built fairly recently. Read more…
Schnauzers Bar & Grill
205 N. Grand StreetWhen J got off work tomorrow, we had to head out to Schoolcraft for an appointment. We decided to take a look at our auto insurance and found out we were paying way too much. After switching insurance and saving $1000/year (not a typo), we headed downtown for lunch.
I was looking up places last night because I have only been to Schoolcraft one other time and I ate at a BBQ place that is now closed. I found a bar that looked good, but I didn’t write down the address. I figured I could just find it, but didn’t have any luck, so we had to pull over and look it up…but I couldn’t remember the name.
After a few minutes, I found it on my phone and started driving the wrong direction. I finally figured that out and turned around to head back to the same spot where we pulled over. Stupid me. We were sitting right in front of it and didn’t even realize it.
Schnauzers Bar & Grill is in downtown Schoolcraft on a very busy US-131 which goes by the name Grand Street through town. It’s an old building that shares walls with the buildings on either side. From the street, all you see if a red awning with the name on it. I actually missed it on the second drive by, but J noticed, so I went up to the next block to turn around and park in front of the building on the street. Read more…
Adobe In & Out – Fulton Street
617 W. Fulton Street- Grand Rapids, MI 49504
- (616) 454-0279
- No Known Website
- Menu
I have a strange relationship with Mexican food. For a good portion of my live (27 years out of 30), my only experience was Taco Bell or Taco Johns. The debate in our house was which fast food taco joint we were going to go to.
A few years ago, I got brave and took J to a Mexican place in Lansing. I instantly fell in love with the bold flavors and spicy sauces. I still like my imitation Mexican food though and always look for good alternatives to Taco Bell since we don’t have any Taco Johns here in West Michigan.
The first place I’ve found in Grand Rapids is a local chain called Adobe In & Out. They have four stores in the Grand Rapids area. The one I drove by as I was driving around town was the location on the corner of Fulton and Lexington just west of Grand Valley State’s downtown campus. Read more…
Chamois Restaurant & Car Wash
55040 N. Main Street- Mattawan, MI 49071
- (269) 668-7668
- Website
- No Online Menu
I wish I could take credit for finding this one. There’s nothing I like more than finding these out of the way, hidden restaurants that serve up great food, but I can’t take credit for this. I read an article for the place in the Gazette last month and tucked it away in the old memory bank for the next trip home.
The next trip home was last Thursday. I had tickets for a “guy’s night” at US Cellular Field on Friday and J took the day off so we could go home Thursday afternoon and see our nieces.
When she got off work at noon on Thursday, we loaded up the car and started heading south. Before we left the house, she said she was hungry and I asked if stopping at a car wash was ok. She thought I was a little crazy.
Chamois Restaurant & Car Wash is on Main Street right as you come in to Mattawan from I-94. Just like you’d expect, it’s a car wash. It looks like a car wash from the highway and if you didn’t know there was a restaurant tucked in the building between the bays, you’d drive right by. They do have some signage out on the road, but seriously, are you really going to pull in to the car wash thinking that sign went with that building? Read more…
Jersey Giant Subs – Portage
5228 S. Westnedge Avenue, Suite CKeeping my streak of checking out new restaurants on opening day. Today’s stop is the new Jersey Giant Subs in Portage.
Jersey Giant isn’t new to me. It’s actually a Lansing area restaurant that has a few restaurants in that market. As far as I know, the venture to the Kalamazoo area is the first out of the Lansing area.
The new Portage Store is on South Westnedge in the shopping center where The Mole Hole Outlet used to be. It’s kind of hidden back in the corner and kind of hard to find if you’re not looking for. J and I have been watching on Twitter to see when they were opening and last week, we finally a noticed a date.
Today was a weird work schedule. We both had to be at work long before the sun came up, but that also meant we’d be home just after lunch time. After a little unwinding. We got back in the car and headed a few blocks to pick up lunch. Read more…
Redamak’s Tavern
616 E. Buffalo StreetLabor Day is not the time to try travel in Southwest Michigan. On a normal day, I would have no reason to even be heading south on I-94 on a Monday, but since my mom had the day off, she wanted to meet for lunch. Neither of us even thought about how brutal traffic would be.
When my parents brought up the idea of meeting for lunch, they originally mentioned The Stray Dog Bar & Grill. We met them there back in March for J’s birthday and everyone really enjoyed. I thought that was a good idea, but I had a better one.
Redamak’s Tavern on Buffalo Street east of downtown New Buffalo is a legend. They’ve been in business since the 40’s as a seasonal restaurant. They open in March and close up for the winter in October. Their claim to fame is their burger. They probably boast it as “The burger that made New Buffalo, Michigan famous.”
Like every other restaurant, gas station, beach, and touristy spot in town, Redamak’s was packed. We pulled in to find a large line waiting outside the building. We pulled into the back parking lot and found a couple spots. By this point, we figured it would do no good to try anywhere else. J and I had already drove around town and found long waits every place we passed by. Read more…
St. Julian Winery Retail Outlet – Union Pier
9145 Union Pier Road- Union Pier, MI 49129
- (269) 469-3150
- Website
Oh, detours. For some reason, my mom got the idea to meet halfway for lunch on Labor Day. Since she wanted to do it, I agreed even though J and I are driving to her house just three days from now.
As you would expect, the trip didn’t go very smoothly. For some reason, my parents prefer to travel out of their way and take I-65 to I-94 instead of I-57 to I-94 (seriously, look at map). When they did that, they got stuck in a Labor Day parade in Lowell, IN and it set them way back.
J and I were already pretty close to our final destination of New Buffalo so we needed a time killer. J actually wanted to stop at St. Julian in Paw Paw on the way home and pick up a couple bottles of wine for this weekend when she goes to dinner with some high school. Since we were going to pass one of their tasting rooms on our way to New Buffalo and we had time to kill, she suggested just pulling off. Read more…
El Dorado Country Maid Bakery & Cafe
8204 Portage RoadI had a rare Sunday afternoon shift which meant J and I had time for breakfast. I have a few places on the west side of town I really would like to get to, but I’m saving those. I’ll fill you in on why sometime over the next month or so. Let’s just say SW Michigan Dining isn’t going anywhere for a while….
Anyway, back to today. I wanted to find someplace on the south side of town to eat. The place that popped in to my head was a little building on Portage Road. I couldn’t even tell J what the name of it was because I couldn’t remember. I’ve passed it several times and there are always cars there. I made a mental note that we really need to try the place. If the parking lot is always full, they must be doing something right.
Turns out, the name of the place is El Dorado Country Maid Bakery & Cafe. I don’t know too much about this history, but I’m told it used to just be a bakery. That makes sense because the place is very small. Read more…
Wealthy Street Station
1157 Wealthy Street SEYou know by now how I have an obsession with places that supposedly have the “Best Burger.” Since I’m working in Grand Rapids, I get to try to hunt down the best one there too.
Dinner couldn’t come fast enough on this particular work day. I was hungry and really needed something to eat. I actually headed to a deli in East Grand Rapids only to find them closed. Since I was running out of time and didn’t really have a back up plan, I started heading back down Wealthy Street. At some point on the drive, I remembered a place a website I had found quite some time ago.
Wealthy Street Station is a very unassuming building on the corner of Wealthy Street and Fuller in Grand Rapids’ East Hills neighborhood. It’s actually a building I have driven past many times and never realized there was a restaurant there. It looks like an old service station (makes sense with the name) and it really looks unoccupied. There are signs on the building, but no free standing signage. In a rarity in this neighborhood, they actually have a small parking lot. The building doesn’t sit right up next to the street, so it’s sort of easy to pass by.
I did notice the “open” sign lit up in the window and pulled into the parking lot to see what I could find. Read more…
Mr. Burger – Hudsonville
5835 Balsam DriveOn a couple different occasions now, I’ve driven past what looks to be a local burger joint. The first time I saw it, I thought I needed to find time to go back. Then, I noticed another location. Then today, another. Not two hours after seeing the third location, I was heading through Hudsonville and found yet another. I actually had time for dinner so I did a u-turn and made my way back.
Mr. Burger is a local chain in the Grand Rapids area. There are six locations with the original being on Lake Michigan Drive NW in Grand Rapids. They’ve been around since 1967.
The store I stopped at today was the one in Hudsonville on Balsam Drive just to the northeast of Chicago Drive. The building looks fairly new and it’s hard to tell from the outside whether it’s a fast food joint or a sit-down family restaurant. There was a sign for a drive thru, so I assumed it was going to be some kind of quick service joint which played a part in my decision to stop. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 