Wolfgang’s Restaurant
1530 Wealthy Street SEWe moved to Kalamazoo 15 years ago and I started this blog right away. I had a similar blog when we lived in Lansing so I just kept doing what I was already doing.
About a year after that, I took a job that required me to be in Grand Rapids three days a week (then eventually five days a week until I got transferred to the Kalamazoo office in 2017). I asked for recommendations for places I need to try in Grand Rapids and the very first one I got was a breakfast joint in Eastown.
I never really had time for a sit down meal when I was working in Grand Rapids so I never got to it.
Last week, I had to pick a colleague up at the Grand Rapids office before driving to Detroit. I didn’t have to be there until 12:00 but I was already awake and I figured if I laid back down, I’d have a hard time getting back up.
So, I decided to, after 14 years, finally go to that breakfast place.
Wolfgang’s Restaurant is an Eastown staple located on Wealthy Street and Lake Drive. The restaurant is kind of unassuming. It’s a grey brick building with a green awning. There’s a neon sign in the window that says Wolfgang’s but that’s really the only signage. It’s kind of those IYKYK places that doesn’t’ really need to advertise because everyone already knows about it.
Read more…Papa Johns (Portage)
2003 W. Centre AvenueFriday was a long day. It started at 6 AM and ended just before 11 PM. There wasn’t a lot of time for breaks either.
Right after I started my day, I had some time after checking in at the job site to go get breakfast. I hit The Crew Family Restaurant and Bakery and I’m glad I did. I didn’t really have time again until after the shift ended.
I finished my day in Portage. Once I wrapped up, I figured I would just order a pizza. It seems like all the local pizza places close by 9 so I just went easy and hit up the national chain.
I decided on Papa John’s on Centre Street near Oakland Drive. I put my order in online then headed over there to pick it up. The restaurant is in the Oak Centre near the Paris Cleaners. I was almost certain this is where it was but when I drove by, I never saw a sign. I double checked the address and turned around. Sure enough, that’s where it is but the sign on the building wasn’t lit up making it hard to find.
The Crew Family Restaurant & Bakery
5200 Portage RoadEarly morning and long days. That’s been my life for the past couple of months.
Last Friday was one of those days. My work day started at 6 AM and ended a little before 11 PM. The check is always nice but doing this pretty regularly for the last few months has been draining.
I had to start my day around 6 AM but I got a little bit of a break after checking in at my job site. I was hungry and knew that I was going to have to go long stretches of the day without.
I was near the airport so I had some options.
I chose The Crew Family Restaurant and Bakery on Portage Road and Fairfield Road just to the south of the I-94 interchange in Portage. This building has been several breakfast joints over the years including Cafe Meli and Callahan’s Family Restaurant. The Crew is new to this building but it’s not new to Kalamazoo. The restaurant operated for a little over 10 years on Sprinkle Road and Cork Street after the Perkins closed and “The Crew” of that chain restaurant went out on their own and kept the space a restaurant.
Read more…Dairy Queen Grill & Chill (Hastings)
1025 Michigan 43It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to Hastings.
I had to meet a co-worker in the Delton area late last week. We ended up in Hastings around lunch time before we had to head back to Grand Rapids to finish the project we were working on.
We were in separate cars so I told her I was going to grab lunch and I’d meet her back at the office.
I needed something I could pick up quickly and I kind of had fast food on the brain anyway. I didn’t want to spend a lot and I needed it to be quick.
On the way out of town, I spotted a fast food joint that immediately brings back memories of my childhood growing up in East Central Illinois.
Dairy Queen Grill & Chill is on M-43 and Cook Road just outside of Hastings on the west side of town in Rutland Charter Township. The restaurant looks like the typical fast food joint with a small building footprint but a large parking lot that makes accessing the drive through easy.
Taco, Set, Go
FOOD TRUCKYup. I did it again. No Friday night pizza night for me this fall.
I’m actually kind of disappointed in myself.
My Friday night overtime shift took me to Paw Paw. There’s still a pizza place there I haven’t been to but I saw a Facebook post for a taco truck that’s nearing the end of their season. The pizza place isn’t going anywhere so I decided to go with tacos.
Taco, Set, Go was set up on this Friday night at the corner of Red Arrow Highway and Main Street just outside of Mattawan at the Citgo gas station. I had never heard of this truck before I saw the Facebook post but I love tacos and I love taco trucks so I decided to give it a go. It looks like they’ve been around since the spring making this corner kind of a home base operation. They typically post a weekly schedule on their Facebook page.
Read more…Fredi The PizzaMan
17900 Allen RoadThe thing about traveling alone is that I get to eat where I want without worrying about whether someone else will like my pick or not.
I was in Dearborn for my kids’ synchronized skating competition at the Dearborn Ice Skating Center. The kids and J had rode a team bus to the competition and they had to stay later in the day for a critique.
I had to get home to work one of my other jobs outside of my Monday-Friday so I didn’t stick around for that.
There were several places within a short distance from The DISC that I have been wanting to eat at. Some of them legendary. And a couple Michigan bucket list restaurants.
I decided I was in the mood for pizza.
Fredi The PizzaMan is one of those Michigan bucket list restaurants. The small red brick building sits on the corner of Allen Road and Clarence Street in Melvindale. The restaurant has been around since the early 1980’s but it has really blown up in the last few years thanks to (person I’m not a big fan of) Dave Portnoy and his Barstool Pizza Reviews. It was always a staple of the Detroit pizza scene but it’s now a place that people travel all over Michigan (and beyond) for. And while I don’t like Portnoy or anything he stands for, he is 100% right about how great this place is.
Read more…Dearborn Ice Skating Center
14900 Ford Road- Dearborn, MI 48126
- (313) 943-4098
- Website
Figure skating doesn’t take a break in our house.
The solo season is almost done (B has one more competition in Midland in a couple of weeks) but now the synchronized skating season is starting up.
Our club decided to go to a competition before the one we host at the end of November so our teams will hopefully be more prepared on “home ice.”
That competition was the 3rd Annual Chuck Cope Synchronized Skating Competition in Dearborn this past weekend.
This competition was held at the Dearborn Ice Skating Center….or DISC…on Ford Road to the east of Greenfield Road in Dearborn. The Dearborn Parks and Rec owned arena was built in the early 1970’s as the single rink Ford Woods Ice Arena. It was added on to in the mid-90′ with a second smaller rink. The building is on the very busy Ford Road which makes it a little difficult to get in to but the Michigan lefts make it a bit easier. Parking was an issue this weekend because part of the lot was tore up and unusable. On top of that, once you would go down an aisle, you had to back all the way up if there was no room because the other end was blocked off by construction. Annoying but not the end of the world.
Detroit Bagel Factory
18760 Middlebelt RoadIt’s synchronized skating season again.
I get asked all the time. What’s the off season for figure skating? With my kids, there is no off season. We just go, go, go all year round.
The season is starting about a month sooner than usual. Our first competition is usually our own competition, Kalamazoo Kick-Off Classic, at Wings Event Center the week before Thanksgiving.
The decision was made this year to do a competition before Kick-Off so the teams could get a judges critique in and hopefully be at their best in Kalamazoo (and oh boy did they need those critiques….).
The first competition became the Chuck Cope Synchronized Skating Competition at the Dearborn Ice Skating Center.
The kids and J took a bus to the competition which left me to make my way to Dearborn on my own.
B’s team was the first to go at about 9:30 so I had a little bit of time in the morning. I got up around 5:30 then started heading east. I had to stop and get gas once. Stopped at rest area once. And of course, I had plans to stop and get breakfast.
I’ve really been on a bagel sandwich kick lately. I love a good bagel and I love it in breakfast sandwich form. I did a search to see what was somewhat near the rink and came up with a few options.
I ended up going with Detroit Bagel Factory in Livonia. The shop is part of the Middlebelt Plaza on the corner of Middlebelt Road and Clarita Street a couple of miles north of I-96. The business has been around for close to 60 years but they’ve been at this location in Livonia for just over a decade.
Read more…Jet’s Pizza (Gull Road)
5151 Gull RoadFinally got back to the whole Friday night pizza thing.
My Friday overtime shift was on the Eastside of Kalamazoo. I didn’t have time to eat between my normal day time shift and the overtime shift so I grabbed a pop and a snack from the Speedway and hoped I could make it through the night.
I got done with my work around 9:45. I was in the Parchment area at the time and I was hungry for a pizza. There are some good local places on that side of town (Kazoopy’s and Jaspare’s come to mind) but they close pretty early. I knew it was going to have to be a chain pizza shop.
I looked at my options and found one that I haven’t ordered from in quite a while. Made my decision a little bit easier.
Jet’s Pizza in Comstock Township is on Gull Road near Jennings Drive. The small, take out only shop is in a four store shopping plaza across the street from the Menards. The Michigan based pizza chain has had a shop in this location for well over a decade.
Read more…Town Fryer
130 Broad StreetStill not opting for the Friday night pizza.
My overtime shift took me to southern St. Joseph County a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been to Constantine many times and have pretty much hit all the eateries in the small town.
There are a couple left including the one right on the edge of town. For some reason, I always thought this was a full service sit down restaurant so I never took the time to look at it. If I was going to do that, I really like both Meeks Mills Cafe and The Harvey House.
For whatever reason, I clicked on the Google link to the Town Fryer and noticed, no, it wasn’t a full service restaurant….and they had the kind of food I really like.
Town Fryer is right on the corner of Broad Street and Washington Street (both are US-131 BL) on the north side of Constantine. The small building has been a staple in the small village for decades. It’s for sale at the moment but until then, it’s still cranking out the quick service staples as well as scooping up ice cream.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 