Fieldstone Grill
3970 W. Centre AvenueThis weekend, I put a question on Twitter asking for someplace with good outdoor dining. I got a couple replies telling me to go to Fieldstone Grill. I had considered it, but I actually had other plans for that particular restaurant.
Last Friday, I got an e-mail from Millennium Restaurants with a coupon for “Millennium Memorial Day.” It’s a promotion that is similar to the Millennium Monday’s that they did in March. 40% off your purchase.
J got off work around 12:30 and we headed down US-131 to the Centre Avenue exit. Fieldstone Grill is in the Woodbridge Shopping Village not far from the highway. Since it was a Monday and a holiday, not much else in the center was open. Parking is in a huge lot right in front of the entrance and there was no shortage of space.
We were a little after the lunch rush, but not the only people enjoying the space. We were met by a hostess who took us through the dining room to a table near the large picture windows overlooking a field. J said the decor reminded her of the hunting lodges they used to eat at when they took vacations to northern Wisconsin….minus the dead animals on the wall. Fieldstone does have the feel of a lodge with it’s high vaulted ceilings and exposed wood beam frame.
Like all of the Millennium restaurants, Fieldstone is a little more upscale than the typical bar. The furniture is all solid wood. The napkins are actual cloth and drinks aren’t served in pint glasses. The hostess filled our water glasses while we waited on our server. When he got there, we put in our order for Coke’s and continued to look over the menu. Read more…
Homer Stryker Field
251 Mills Street- Kalamazoo, MI 49048
- (269) 388-8326
- Website
No better way to spend a Saturday night than at the ballpark. I was lucky last year. I worked for the Lansing Lugnuts as a game day employee in the marketing department. I had a seat in the first base dugout for 95% of the ‘Nuts home games last year. It was awesome. I thought about buying season tickets before the season started then I got an opportunity to get paid to go to the games. It was a lot of long, hot days for a team that wasn’t very good, but it was fun.
Kalamazoo will be the first time since I’ve moved out on my own that I haven’t lived in a town that had a Midwest League ball club. I really like the MWL. Sure, it’s low-A ball, but the games are a lot of fun. It’s always fun to watch kids trying to make it in the bigs. This spring, I turned on a spring training game between the Tigers and Blue Jays and thought, hey, that short stop looks really familiar. Turns out, it was Tyler Pastornicky. The name probably means nothing to you, but to me, it’s a name I knew well. Tyler had a pregame ritual last season that included giving me a fist bump before every home game.
Still, baseball is baseball and J and I have been excited to check out a game at Homer Stryker Field. The park is home to the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League which is independent baseball. None of the teams are affiliated with Major League teams. Most of the kids finish their career in the Frontier League, not start it although some do make into the MiLB system.
Homer Stryker Field is part of the Mayor’s Riverfront Park on Mills Street and King Highway southeast side of Kalamazoo. We were pretty early to the game and had no problem parking in the large lot near the entrance of the stadium. Read more…
Shakespeare’s Pub
241 E. Kalamazoo AvenueSuch a nice night. It would be a waste to spend it indoors, eh? We decided to go to a Kings game, but before that, wanted to find a restaurant with an outdoor patio. I checked Yelp and came across Shakespeare’s. It’s a place I’ve wanted to go to for a while, but always been somewhat hesitant because I’ve heard it was very, very smokey. Since I don’t have to worry about that anymore, it became our choice for dinner.
Shakespeare’s Pub is on Kalamazoo Avenue and Edwards Street. It’s in the old Shakespeare Rod and Reel building. Not being a Kalamazoo native, I always assumed it was named after the playwright. I actually thought the building was an old theater that had been converted. There’s a good story on the pub’s website about how the owner’s knew most people would think like I did and they incorporated both the fishing reel and the poet into the logo.
Unlike most downtown businesses, parking is not an issue. There’s a huge parking lot on the west side of the building. When you enter underneath the marquee, you’re faced with a choice. Upstairs or downstairs. It’s not a difficult choice. The pub is upstairs. The Globe Theater is downstairs. We headed upstairs into the large, open pub space. Read more…
Jet’s Pizza – Portage
631 Romence RoadOne of my favorite things about Michigan, food wise, is Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit. Buddy’s isn’t just one of my favorite Michigan pizzas, it’s one of my all time favorite pizzas. I took my family there before a Tigers game last summer. While the neighborhood was more than a little scary, the pizza made the trip worth it.
I always wished I could find something like Buddy’s somewhere else. The place that was always mentioned was Jet’s. Well, J and I had tried Jet’s before we knew about Buddy’s and neither of us were impressed, but we didn’t really order the right thing. We were actually in the mood for sandwiches that day, but a late delivery left the store we went to without a lot of ingredients. I still ordered a sandwich, but J got a small round pizza. It was ok, but nothing special. We didn’t give it a second thought after that.
Still, some more prodding got me to reconsider Jet’s. J wasn’t super hungry and I just had a hankering for pizza. They have one of my favorite features, online ordering, so I put in an order at the Jet’s on Romence Road in the shopping center that is anchored by D & W across from the mall. Read more…
Big Moe’s BBQ & Catering
1317 Waverly DriveBBQ from a roadside stand. Nothing gets me more excited.
When I was running a few errands this morning, I noticed a tent going up in the parking lot in front of Big Lots on Kilgore Road near Westnedge. I did a quick U-Turn and doubled back through the parking lot to see what it was. I could see the big grill, so I knew it had to be something good.
Big Moe’s BBQ set up shop in the parking lot with a grill, some warming pans and a couple coolers. I’ve heard good things about Big Moe’s sauce and always wished they had a restaurant somewhere in Kalamazoo. Since they don’t, I haven’t been able to try the sauce everyone raves about.
When J got home from work, we decided to walk to Big Lots and get some BBQ. Well, I decided. I don’t think she was in the mood for it, but she went along anyway.
They have a pretty simple menu at this roadside stand. Ribs, rib tips, sausage, pulled pork and BBQ chicken. J was thinking about the BBQ chicken, but we both ended up with the pulled pork like we always do. For $5, you get a sandwich and a side. I took a bag of chips. J got the potato salad. Read more…
Blog Free Weekend?
So, Food Network/Cooking Channel wants me to make this weekend a “blog free weekend” and just promote their new channel which launches on Memorial Day. I don’t know if I can do that…..I like to eat..and when I eat, I like to write.
Tell ya what, I will plug the new channel because I think it’s a good idea. The Cooking Channel launches Monday. It will replace Fine Living Network which is only available on Digital Cable on Charter and Comcast. I have digital cable, but not the tier which includes FLN/CC. Trying to decided if I want buy that package now….. they’re going to be playing reruns of the Galloping Gourmet…if they add the Frugal Gourmet, I’m there….
The idea is that the network will do what Food Network originally did. It will be mostly if not all instructional cooking shows whereas FN only shows those programs during the day opting for reality television in prime time (I think..even though launch day has a reality prime time lineup). You know, it’s like MTV/MTV2 was for a while.
Anyway, click on the picture for a link to their kick off day cooking show marathon.
New Pizza Joints Coming to Kalamazoo
Saw this story in the Kalamazoo Gazette today….
Farmington Hills-based Happy’s expects to open a Kalamazoo franchise, at the corner of South Westnedge Avenue and Crosstown Parkway, in the next four months, Master said.
[snip]
Meanwhile, a Wisconsin-based pizza franchising company, Toppers Pizza, says it plans to expand throughout Michigan in the coming years.
Both places have locations in Lansing/East Lansing and I ate at both when I lived there. Both were fine, but neither stood out. At the time, I called Happy’s the best chain pizza in Lansing, but not the best pizza. Happy’s does offer sandwiches and ribs…I didn’t try either. I did try the wings and thought they were alright…not great. The thing I remember about Topper’s was their cinnamon pizza.
Here’s my reviews from both places from Mid-Michigan Dining. You can see in the comments section of Happy’s just how mixed opinions were of the Lansing store.
Happy’s Pizza – Cedar Street, Lansing
More options. I’m sure I’ll order from both once they move in.
Fat Tony’s Grill & Sports Bar
5222 Portage Road- Portage, MI 49002
- (269) 342-9200
- No Known Website
- Menu
After a really long day at work, I came home looking for food. I wasn’t in the mood to cook and J said she wanted a wrap or something. I pulled up menus for three or four places and let her choose.
The place she chose was Fat Tony’s Grill & Sports Bar on Portage Road just south of the I-94 interchange in Portage. It’s a place we’ve driven by often, but never remembered when it came time to find dinner. I didn’t know it then, but we were missing out on something.
We were met by a hostess when we walked in and she took us to a pub table in the back of the space. There is a pretty large dining room and a nice big bar. For some reason, she took us to a four top back near the gaming area. It wasn’t a big deal because there was no one playing darts or Golden Tee, but it seemed like an odd choice when there were two top pub tables in the dining room.
The menu is pretty typical pub fare, but with a twist. It took J a little while to decide between a couple different sandwiches, so the waitress got me a Coke and J an Iced Tea while she figured it out. Read more…
Cascarelli’s Pizza
103 E. Main StreetAll of a sudden, I’m getting more work. I spent the day in rural Calhoun County again today at a couple different job sites. When lunch rolled around, we were in Homer. The task we were working on was taking longer than we thought and it started to push into our lunch break. Still, we asked around to see where in town we should go. Everyone we asked gave us the same answer. The unfortunate part was they all said while it was a fabulous restaurant, service was slow and we were really crunched for time.
Cascarelli’s Pizza is on the corner of Main and Sophia Streets in downtown Homer. We called in our order so it would be ready when we got there. The down side is none of us had seen a menu, so I had no idea it was a pizza joint when we left the job site. The good thing is, it’s more than a pizza joint. It’s a full service bar with a pretty outstanding menu.
The interior is set up with two rooms. The kitchen is in the front actually in the window. It’s a throwback to the old fashioned nature of the place. You can watch them toss pizza dough as you’re walking around downtown. The bar is right next to the kitchen and there are a couple tables and a booth. Read more…
Press Release – Michigan Family Farms
From Michigan Family Farms….cool idea….
New website helps Michigan find food…and more!
May 25, 2010 – You’d have to be living under a bale of hay not to have heard the buzz about fresh local food these days. But many people are wondering just how to find it.
A new website, www.michiganfamilyfarms.com , is helping consumers do just that. This gathering place for farms, families and foodies offers a one-stop, simple way to find anything farm and food related.
“There are so many farms in Michigan offering the freshest produce, all-natural meat and dairy, as well as great classes, tours and fun for all,” said Jena Van Wagner, Executive Director. “This site helps farmers market their wares and allows shoppers an easy way to locate fresh farm products.”
Visitors to the site can search by specific product, look up farms in their zip code, check out the range of farmers’ markets and even visit an event calendar featuring farm related happenings statewide. A newsletter and Facebook fan page offer unique profiles of farm partners.
A growing “Retailers” section offers information on restaurants that are sourcing local ingredients, and stores that stock products grown in our state. Rounding out the site is a “Resources” section that features non-profits, museums and support agencies.
“The response has been great,” says Van Wagner. “We want it to be fun, free and easy to use. It’s great for planning everything from grocery lists to family vacations.”
More farm partners are being added weekly, and everyone selling or using Michigan grown products is invited to join.
SW Michigan Dining 