Taco Bob’s – Centre Avenue
126 E. Centre AvenueIt’s the time of week where we really need to go grocery shopping. J started looking through the cabinets trying to find something for lunch, but came up empty-handed. She laid back down on the couch defeated and hungry. I, again, brought up tacos. I was just going to go to a Taco Bell, but J asked about Taco Bob’s. I have eaten at the Milwood location, but she’s didn’t eat lunch with me that day. We walked right by the Vine location last night on our way to Martini’s, so it was fresh in her mind.
Initially, I drove down Westnedge to go to the location in the Vine Neighborhood, but it was closed, so I backtracked all the way to Centre Street in Portage. The Taco Bob’s there is a small building just to the east of Westnedge. Parking is a little wierd. There’s an entrance on the west side of the building, but there’s no parking there. There are some spots in the back and if you go all the way around the building near the drive through, there are spots on the east side as well.
The building itself doesn’t look like much. It really doesn’t even look like a restaurant. It’s a bland, boxy building with a large Taco Bob’s sign out front. Inside, there is a very small order counter and maybe a half-dozen tables. There were two other couples dining in while I was there, but J didn’t come with me, so I was in line for a to go order. Read more…
Martini’s Pizza
832 S. Westnedge AvenueJust like with burgers, I can be real hard to please with pizza. Being from the Chicago area, I have a mental image of what pizza should be. It can be hard to go somewhere and not compare their pizza with our favorite pizza from back home. Still, we try to put all that aside and seek out the best pizza joint wherever it is we’re living.
Our quest took us to Martini’s Pizza on Westnedge and Village Street in Kalamazoo’s Vine Neighborhood. It was one of the first pizza joints other than Bilbo’s that was recommended to us, but it was recommended with a warning. The service sucks, but the pizza is delicious.
I knew Martini’s was on Westnedge but I just couldn’t picture the place. When I looked it up on Google Maps, I was even more confused. We drive that stretch of Westnedge all the time. How could I miss a restaurant?
We headed down Westnedge just past Vine and I started looking. There was no sign anywhere to be found. There is a really nice looking building on the corner with an Italian mural painted on one side, so that must be it.
I went around the block and found a parking spot along Westnedge. Martini’s is pretty heavily entrenched in a neighborhood so there really aren’t any surface parking lots. You’re going to have to find street parking and I’m fine with that. Parking lots don’t belong in neighborhoods. You can walk a couple blocks. It’s good for you.
We walked up to the building and still no signs. I looked all over the building thinking there must be something, but nope. Not even on the entry door. They have the hours of operation, but no logo or any indication that we were walking in to the right place.
The “front” of the building actually faces Village Street. There’s a small patio area right in the corner. The entrance is more towards the back of the building.
We went in and figured out we were in the right place when we could see the pizza ovens working in the kitchen. There’s a hostess station right up front and a dining room directly to the right. The front part of the dining room is the main area. The back part near the kitchen has the bar and a handful of pub tables. That’s where we were seated. Read more…
Required Tipping?
Interesting article on WZZM13.com tonight out of Winston-Salem, NC. It brings up the question about what exactly the tip is.
A North Carolina woman has started a petition against her favorite Japanese restaurant.
She’s upset because the restaurant put a tip on her bill without her consent. The restaurant says they’re just trying to deal with a habitually-bad tipper.
Of course, there’s a lot more to this story. The restaurant says they told her they were going to do it and she said it was ok with it, but my question is, is it really ok to require a tip? Isn’t a tip supposed to be a reflection on service?
Now, before you lay into me, my mom is a waitress and makes more money waitressing three nights a week than she does from her 9 to 5 job. I would never dream of walking away from a table without tipping. While I think people that do are pretty awful people, I don’t feel a restaurant should add a tip on to the bill….even for big parties. At that point, you’re not tipping based on your experience, you’re just being charged more for the food.
Opinions?
Press Release – 5th Annual Charity Gumbo Cook-Off
Found a flyer for this. Info is from http://www.gotokra.com
Fifth Annual Charity Gumbo Cook-Off
Our annual fundraising extravaganza to help support Ministry With CommunityFeaturing Kalamazoo’s best chefs in a heated competition!
March 7th, 2010
3pm-7pmLouie’s Trophy House Grill
440 E North St
Kalamazoo, MI 49007Admission: $15 in advance | $20 at door
Featuring chefs from: A Food Affair Café Bennucci’s Chicago Oven & Grill BOLD Restaurant & Catering Bravo! Café 237 Fandango Food Dance Hangar Bar & Grill Louie’s Trophy House Grill Mangia Mangia Martell’s Old Burdick’s Pasche’s Seafood Kitchen Radisson Zazios Zeb’s
Just Good Foods
303 N. Rose Street- Kalamazoo, MI 49007
- (269) 383-1033
- No Known Website
- No Online Menu
A few weeks ago, J and I drove by the Rose Street Market. We both thought it was actually a market and we should check it out sometime. When I got home, I searched Google only to find it wasn’t actually a market but a reception hall. An interesting find though was that there is a deli inside the building.
Just Good Foods is on the bottom floor of the Rose Street Market on Rose Street south of Kalamazoo Avenue. When you come in to the building at street level, there are signs pointing you downstairs. There’s an elevator and a set of stairs before you get to the banquet hall which lead right down to where you need to go.
The basement level is just that. It’s a wide open space that has been filled with tables on one side and a full service deli and catering operation that takes up the back area. When you walk through the doors, there is a deli case in front of you with a number of salads and other sides. The menu is on little cards on top of the deli case. Each card has a different sandwich or salad selection with an ingredient list. There are no paper menus or one big menu board anywhere in the place. It can be kind of daunting to walk down the whole row reading every card to find what you’re looking for.
You place your order at the counter then you are handed a ticket to take to the cash register. On the way to pay, we picked up a couple bottles of pop out of a cooler on the way. After paying, you find a seat and wait for your food to be brought out. Lucky for us, Just Good Food has a free WiFi connection, so, once again, we were that couple who sat on our iPod and iPhone checking e-mail and twitter while we were talking. Read more…
Niskers Char-Broiled Foods – Portage
6384 S. Westnedge AvenueToday was an exciting day for me. I finally bought new socks. Sounds stupid, I know, but I was really getting tired of the holes and stretched out elastic on my old ones. When J got off work at noon, we headed to Target.
When we left, J said she was hungry and asked if there was any place quick to eat. I thought of Niskers Char-Broiled Foods. Not long ago, Kalamazoo Cheap Eats asked a question on Twitter about Kalamazoo’s best burger. I like to think of myself as a burger guru and I didn’t have an answer for her. I’ve eaten a lot of burgers since moving to Kalamazoo and not one of them stands out as Kalamazoo’s best burger. One of J’s co-workers chimed in with Niskers, so I thought we’d give it a shot to see how it stacks up.
Niskers Char-Broiled Foods has two Kalamazoo locations. One is on Riverview Drive. The other is in Portage. Since we were in Portage we hit that one. The address is South Westnedge, but the store front is actually on Milham. It’s part of the Crossroads Galleria.
The store is set up sort of like a fast food joint. There is an order counter in the front of the store with the menu board above it. You order your sandwich, sides, drinks, etc at this point, but you don’t customize the burger until after you pay. Right next to the cash register is an area that sort of resembles a sub shop. They have condiments spread out in to little trays. While the meat is cooking, an employee pulls out a bun, puts it on wax paper then they load up bun with condiments, cheese, and veggies. After taking care of that step, you sit down and wait for your name to be called. Read more…
Chili’s Grill & Bar – Portage
6195 S. Westnedge AvenueIt’s not very often that we get visitors here in Kalamazoo other than family. Today, one of my friends from Peoria was driving through on his way to Ann Arbor for work tomorrow. Since we didn’t get hit by as much snow as we thought we were going to, he decided to tak I-94 instead of the long route (I-80). He was coming through about dinner time, so we decided to get together for dinner.
My buddy is not the adventurous eater than I am, so when we meet up, it’s better if we just go to a chain. I threw a couple suggestions out there near I-94 and Westnedge, but J thought Chili’s would be the best option.
The Portage Chili’s is on Westnedge just south of Milham Road in front of Toys R Us. Somehow, it’s almost hidden. We drive by there all the time and when I brought up Chili’s to J, she had no idea where it was at and couldn’t picture it. It’s a typical Chili’s building, but parking is pretty tight. There’s one row in front of the building then a row along the south side. Between Chili’s and Dashworks is another couple rows, but it’s not a huge parking lot. If it was full, you could always go behind the building.
My buddy was already sitting down when we got there. He was shown to a booth back near the kitchen. When J and I showed up, there were already menus on the table waiting for us. We squeezed into the booth which felt really tight.
The waitress came back to the table when she saw J and I sit down. We put in drinks orderes. I got a Coke. J got a Strawberry Lemonade. We also ready to order, so we put that in right away too. Read more…
Free Pancakes At IHOP Tomorrow
Saturday it was free pretzels…..Tuesday it’s free pancakes.
IHOP is giving away a free short stack of pancakes from 7 AM to 10 PM tomorrow morning (Feb. 23). All they ask in return is that you consider giving a donation to the Children’s Miracle Network or other local charities.
SW Michigan Locations
Portage – 5325 S. Westnedge
Benton Harbor – 1981 Pipestone Road
West Michigan Locations
Grandville – 4767 Wilson Avenue SW
Holland – 3110 Beeline Road
Grand Rapids – 5039 28th Street SE
2071 E. Beltline Avenue NE
Comstock Park – 3769 Alpine Avenue NW
Culver’s of Portage
7262 S. Westnedge AvenueCall it a guilty pleasure. Ever since I was introduced to Culver’s Frozen Custard when they opened the first store in Central Illinois, I’ve always had to find one near where we lived. In fact, when J and I lived in Morton, IL, there was a Culver’s within walking distance and yes, we did walk a few times to get custard.
We laid around today watching the both the US Men’s and Women’s Curling team lose then flipped over to NASCAR to watch the race. Before the race though, I told J I was going to Culver’s. I just got the craving.
Culver’s of Portage is on South Westnedge south of Romence Road. Getting into the parking lot is a lot harder than it looks. If you’re traveling south on Westnedge, you have to pass the store then make a really tight 90 degree turn into the parking lot. I couldn’t make the turn tight enough with cars trying to exit the same way, so I had to sit and wait for them to move. Seems like a really odd design for no reason.
Since J was with me, we hit the drive thru. On my own, I never go to drive thru’s unless it’s the only option. I hate them. I can never understand the person on the other end and my order is usually wrong. Even if I drive, J does all the ordering from the passenger seat…that’s how much I hate the drive thru. Any drive thru…not just Culver’s. Read more…
D & W Fresh Market – Oakwood
2103 Parkview Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49008
- (269) 344-9338
- Website
It never fails. J and I will make a grocery run. I’ll plan dinner. We’ll get home. I’ll start to cook and realize I didn’t get something I needed. That happened AGAIN today.
Since we’ve eaten out the last three meals, we decided to stay in tonight, watch some curling on TV and make pizza. I pulled out the stand mixer to make the dough and realized I didn’t have any yeast. Off to the store again.
Usually, I’d just run to Meijer, but no way I was doing that on a Saturday. This is not Meijer bashing. We do most of our grocery shopping there, but going on a weekend is suicide.
Instead, I headed to D & W Fresh Market on the corner of Parkview Avenue and Oakland Drive. It’s a store we’ve drove by many times, but never stopped at.
From the road, it doesn’t look like a very big market. The parking lot makes it feel even smaller. There’s only enough room for two rows of cars and almost all of them were full. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 