Press Release – 2nd Annual “Great Fox Brew Ha Ha Ha”
From a Clear Channel press release…
The 2nd Annual “Great Fox Brew Ha Ha!” Serves Up Beer and Laughs by the Barrel!
(Grand Rapids, MI) – With more beer, more entertainment, and more fun than last year, the Second Annual “Great FOX Brew Ha Ha!” is a can’t miss weekend!
Presented and organized by Rock Station 101.3 The FOX, WBFX, the “Great FOX Brew Ha Ha!” will take place on Friday, January 15th and Saturday, January 16th at the Deltaplex Conference Center, 2500 Turner Northwest in Walker, Michigan. Hours are 3 p.m. – 11 p.m. on Friday, January 15th and from 1 p.m. – 11 p.m. on Saturday, January 16th.
“We’ve tried to make everything bigger and better than last year so The ‘FOX Brew Ha Ha!’ is two days of twice as many laughs and more craft beers then last year,” said Rich Berry, Event Coordinator for 101.3 The FOX, WBFX. “There is no better combination than great Craft Beer and hilarious comedians. Everyone had a blast last January so we wanted to build off of that success and make things great.”
Three different categories of Craft Beer will be showcased – Michigan Craft Beer, Regional/National Craft Beer, and National Imports. With nearly 200 different beers to sample, there’s enough to keep even the biggest Craft Beer lover satisfied.
“The Craft Beers are really the stars of the weekend and they continue to grow in this area – and with it being in the dead of winter, who doesn’t want a fun-filled day inside” explained Berry.
Patrons can try a number of different three ounce samples of Craft Beers and purchase their favorite 12 ounce beers.
Craft beer isn’t the only thing being served by the barrel however. Four nationally recognized comedians are on the “Great FOX Brew Ha Ha!” bill including award winning comedian Auggie Smith and 2007 HBO Comedy Festival “Best Stand-Up” award winner Kirk Fox. Additionally comedians Chris D’Elia and Lord Carrett will be performing both Friday and Saturday, January 15th and 16th.
“Kirk Fox was booked on Jay Leno’s last night of hosting the ‘Tonight Show’ said Berry, “so you know he is good. We booked the ‘Brew Ha Ha! comedians based on how much they made us laugh. We found the funniest people that were out there and said ‘Want to come to Grand Rapids?’”
“Since we will have plenty of beer available, they said ‘Sure!” laughed Berry.
Admission to the “Great FOX Brew Ha Ha!” is $15 per person in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets may be purchased at the Deltaplex box and through Ticket Master. Souvenir glass will also be available while supplies last. All patrons must be 21 years of age or older to attend.
Here’s a list of the breweries involved:
Michigan Craft:
Bell’s
Founders
New Holland
Wolverine
Keweenaw
Uncle John’s
Saugatuck Brewing
Arcadia
Dragonmead
Mt. Pleasant
National/Regional Craft:
Sam Adams
Sierra Nevada
Goose Island
Steven’s Point
Magic Hat
Brooklyn Brewing
Flying Dog Brewery
Lilja’s
Dundee’s Beer / Genesee
Green Mountain Beverage
Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.
National Imports:
Blue Moon
Leinenkugal
Anheuser Busch / InBev
Michelob Craft
Guinness
Stawski Imports
Big Boy Restaurant – Knollwood
4700 Stadium DriveYesterday, as we were driving around Portage looking for something to eat, my brother mentioned that he really wanted to eat at someplace that they don’t have back home in Illinois. When he says that, he means a chain they don’t have back home, not a local mom and pop shop. Most of the chains along Westnedge he had eaten at before, so we ended up at Red Robin again. There isn’t one near him, his wife had never eaten at one, and he really liked it last time we were there.
As we were driving back to US 131 last night after eating at Bilbo’s, we came across a Big Boy. I never even gave Big Boy a thought, but it’s a restaurant I had never seen before moving to Michigan so I knew he hadn’t eaten at one before. We debated back and forth on lunch. Should we go out again? Should I just make something? J and I ate out quite a bit this weekend, so I was looking for a break, but with four people who all eat different things, eating out is just easier.
There are two Big Boy locations in Kalamazoo. We decided to order from the location in the Knollwood neighborhood on Stadium Drive at Drake Road. I say “ordered from” because we did carry-out. My niece was still sleeping when started talking about this and even though she woke up before we ordered, no one was in the mood for another sit down restaurant.
This is by far one of the nicer exteriors I’ve seen at a Big Boy. I don’t have a lot of experience with the chain. We ate at the Okemos location before it shut down and we ate once at the Mason location. The thing that surprised me on our first visit to Big Boy was that it wasn’t fast food. That surprised my brother as well. He couldn’t figure out why we were phoning in an order. Like me, he always assumed it was a fast food place. He didn’t realize it was a sit down family restaurant until we walked in the door. Read more…
Bilbo’s Pizza In A Pan – Kalamazoo
3307 Stadium DriveMy brother and his family made the short trip from his in-laws in Mattawan to hang out with J and I for a day or so. First order of business, hitting Kohl’s to get my niece a pair of shoes. They forgot them when they left on Friday and we wanted to go outside tonight, so she needed shoes. After that, we ate lunch at Red Robin. My brother really liked it last time we were in town, so we went again.
Later in the evening, my brother wanted to find Christmas lights. My niece is 14 months and this is really the first Christmas she’s somewhat aware of what’s going on. You should have seen how excited she was opening presents. It was so cute.
I suggested going to Portage to see the lights in the park in front of the library, but when we got there, we noticed you couldn’t really walk through it. I should have just listened to J who said we should go to downtown Kalamazoo. I gave in and told her she was absolutely correct and we turned around and headed back towards downtown Kalamazoo.
After some absolutely adorable photo ops, we headed off to dinner. The original plan was Bilbo’s in Portage, but since we were out near the University, we picked the Bilbo’s in Kalamazoo instead.
Bilbo’s Pizza In A Pan’s Kalamazoo location is on Stadium Drive near Adios Drive in the Knollwood neighborhood. It’s a large free-standing building that is also a micro brewery. It was snowing pretty good, but the parking lot was still pretty full. Read more…
Chicken Coop – Southside
1801 S. Westnedge Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49008
- (269) 382-0808
- No Known Website
- Menu
Chicken! One of the all time comfort foods. I love fried chicken more than I should. The bad thing about chicken is that it’s so hard to find a good local place. In most places I have lived, Popeye’s was the best choice (and is still by far my favorite chain).
On my way home not long after moving to Lansing, I pulled off the highway for gas. Across the street was a restaurant called the Chicken Coop. I stopped and picked up some popcorn chicken for the drive home. Not long after that, the Chicken Coop was torn down and replaced by a Walgreens. The restaurant relocated around the corner. Again, on a trip home, I stopped for gas and picked up some popcorn chicken to eat in the car.
I didn’t realize at the time that the Chicken Coop was a local chain with stores in Kalamazoo and Portage. I drive by a couple of the stores all the time and when I got the chicken craving, that’s where I headed.
The Chicken Coop on South Westnedge is on the corner at Howard Street in Kalamazoo’s Southside neighborhood. If you’re heading north, you’ll have to turn on to Howard from Park Street. If you’re heading south, it’ll be on your left.
It’s a small building that only does take out. The are no tables inside. There’s only an order counter and a Pepsi machine. There aren’t even any chairs while you’re waiting. Read more…
Kazoopy’s
24050 Front AvenueOne of the people most excited about J and I moving to Kalamazoo was my brother. He has in-laws that live in Mattawan, so he was happy that he would be able to visit both of us in the same weekend.
This weekend, his in-laws were hosting Christmas at their house, so he loaded up the van and headed north. The plan was to spend Saturday with them, drive to Kalamazoo on Sunday and stay with us until Monday night.
Even though he’s from Illinois, a state that still gets its fair share of snow, he was really excited about the amount of snow we still had on the ground. He wanted to go sledding. He packed his snow pants and all his cold weather gear…..except his snow boots. I got a call at 11:00 (early for me) asking if I had a pair of boots and if I’d mind meeting him somewhere.
We decided just to drive to Mattawan and meet him at the Speedway right off the Interstate. A month ago, J was in Mattawan for work and ate at a pizza place that she thought I would like. Since we were heading that way anyway, we headed to lunch.
Kazoopy’s Pizza & Grinders is one of the few businesses left in what looks like a downtown that used to have a lot of cute storefronts. The store is on Front Avenue just to the west of Main Street. The store really sticks out. It’s not very big, but it’s got a bright, vibrant sign on a well-maintained red brick building. It’s not a huge store, but there is enough room for a few tables. During the summer, they also have an outdoor patio that will hold a few more. Read more…
Waldo’s Campus Tavern
1408 W. Michigan AvenueNothing like a little “pre-gaming” before going out with friends. Well, co-workers actually. J’s co-workers. One of the ladies she works with is leaving, so there was a going away party at the University Roadhouse. We’ve already eaten at theRoadhouse (and really enjoyed it), so we thought before we headed over to meet up with everyone, we’d check out the bar next door.
Waldo’s Campus Tavern is on Michigan Avenue pretty much on the campus of Western Michigan University. From the front door, you can look out and see Waldo Stadium. It’s a pretty old-looking, two-story building that doesn’t really have any parking. That kind of screwed us. We parked on Monroe Street thinking we’d be ok. I mean, there were no signs or anything saying we couldn’t park there, but when we got back to the car at 1:00, there was a ticket stuck in my door. Apparently, you can’t park there after 11. So, I really have no idea where you would park if you want to enjoy a night out.
After parking, we walked back the half block or so to the front door. It’s a very inconspicuous door. When we got there, J turned to me and asked if it was the right entrance. I told her to pull on it and see if it opened. It did, so we went in. Immediately, we were nailed with the smell of smoke. I was pretty sure I read on their website they were smoke free, so that was surprising.
When you walk in, you have two choices. There’s a room off to the left with a bar. I figured out later that downstairs area is the smoking area. To your right is a staircase that leads you up to a bigger room which is non-smoking. Read more…
A Comment on the Smoking Ban
On Mid-Michigan Dining, I lobbied very hard for a smoking ban and I got spammed with a lot of anti-ban folks. While the increased hits were nice, it raised my blood pressure, so I haven’t really said much about it on SW Michigan Dining.
Today, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the bill into law at MBC in downtown Lansing.
Michigan has become the 38th state to limit smoking in public places.
[snip]
It applies to all bars, restaurants and work places, except for the Detroit casinos, cigar bars, tobacco specialty stores, home offices and motor vehicles.
All I can say is “thank you!” I’m not a smoker. Never was a smoker. Never tried a cigarette. It’s never appealed to me. If you want to smoke, that’s you’re prerogative, but the deal with smoking is, your smoke affects me. It’s always amazed me just how rude most (not all) smokers are. It’s a sad commentary on society when smoking actually has to be banned in public places because people think their personal enjoyment is more important than the enjoyment of those around them. It’s the “me, me, me” attitude that America is most famous for.
I expect a few people to get upset by this and try to convince me it’s infringing on their rights. To that, I say, you should feel fortunate that governments try to balance the budget on your backs. If it wasn’t for the income, cigarettes would most likely be illegal all together.
Now, as for the bars going out of business. I don’t buy it. Never have. I lived in Illinois where smoking was banned. Never did I hear of a bar going out of business after the ban….including after some local bans before the statewide ban was passed. Bars that served food actually saw an increase in business immediately following the ban. Taverns tend to ignore the smoking ban, and for the most part, get away with it. In Illinois, it takes a complaint for any action to be taken.
We’ll see how the Michigan ban plays out. I, for one, am excited about it. It’s a good step for a state that seems so far behind the rest of the country at times.
7-Eleven – KL Avenue
5034 W. KL Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49009
- (269) 372-9311
- Website
I got the craving again. I hadn’t left the house all day which means I hadn’t had a full flavored Pepsi or Coke. I’ve got a pretty bad addiction to pop, so we only keep Diet or Zero pop in the house. When I lived on my own, it was nothing for me to drink the equivalent of 8-10 cans of Pepsi a day. Yup, you guessed. I put on a lot of extra weight for no good reason.
J finally got me drinking Coke Zero which is funny because I prefer Pepsi over Coke….but I prefer Coke Zero to Diet Pepsi which is odd. Anyway, no Pepsi in the house. Only when we go out to eat or if I go grocery shopping and pick up a bottle.
Since I had been in the house all day, I really just wanted to get out, so I decide to make a run to 7-Eleven. J was getting ready to go to bed, so she didn’t go with me.
There are three 7-Eleven’s in the Kalamazoo area. I chose to go to the location on KL Avenue just west of Drake Road which is technically Oshtemo Township. I was coming from Main Street, so as I was coming up to the intersection, I noticed the sign and a turn in off of Drake Road. The 7-Eleven actually shares the small strip mall with Cottage Inn Pizza and Big Burrito. The light was either burned out or not turned on because it looked dark, but the lights inside were on and I knew 7-Eleven is always open. Read more…
People’s Food Co-Op
436 S. Burdick Street- Kalamazoo, MI 49007
- (269) 342-5686
- Website
Never in my life have I been in a co-op. Until I lived in Lansing, I had never really been close to one. I never made it to the East Lansing Co-Op mostly because it was on the other side of town. We did check them out at the Lansing Market the few times we went there though.
One of the things I really liked about Lansing was how close I was to a bulk spice store. I don’t cook with quality spices. I just cook with a lot of spices. I’m not a chef, so I don’t pretend that I need expensive, high-end spices. I just really like the taste of dried thyme in just about everything.
Since moving to Kalamazoo, I’ve been looking for someplace similar, but with no luck. The one place I thought maybe I would be able to find bulk spices was the People’s Food Co-Op on South Burdick Street in downtown Kalamazoo.
I headed downtown for no reason at all. I took Burdick Street all the way from Portage just to see what kind of businesses were along that corridor. I wanted to snap a few pictures at night of the Kalamazoo Mall, so I parked, quite accidently, right in front of the People’s Food Co-Op. Since I was in the area, I decided to check it out. Read more…
Lo Do Company
153 W. Center AvenueWith the hours J works, I’m never sure when we’ll actually have a meal together. Sometimes, she’ll nap in the afternoon and I’ll have dinner ready at a normal time. Sometimes, she gets really hungry and wants to eat earlier. I thought today we were going to go out for lunch, but I looked over on the couch and she was passed out. Not wanting to wake her, I had a turkey sandwich and started watching a movie.
When she did wake up, she wanted to make a run to Gander Mountain for cold weather gear. She laid on the couch, under blankets, with the heat cranked for a couple hours this afternoon before her legs finally warmed up after being outside all morning. It was only a little after four, but since we were going out, I suggested dinner.
I started heading south on Westnedge. I told her the two choices were a bar or chicken. She chose the bar.
The Lo Do Company is in a shopping center on Center Avenue in Portage. It’s in the part of town where Westnedge becomes Shaver and Westnedge kind of splits off forming a triangle. The bottom side of that triangle is Center Street. During the summer, they have a pretty large outdoor patio right in front of the entrance. It was way too cold for that.
Immediately upon entering, you find a hostess station. To the right is a dining room. To the left is a bar. The bar was fairly packed for the middle of the afternoon. There were a couple booths being used in the dining room and one large group of pretty obnoxious teenage boys. Fortunately, they left about ten minutes after we got there. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 