Big T Restaurant
155 N. Main StreetHow funny is it that we get a Southwest Michigan restaurant recommendation from a friend back in Chicago? For quite some time now, he mentions this place every time we hang out with him and his wife. I think he has family or something in the area or they have a cabin nearby. Not sure on specifics, but I know he says it’s one of his favorite places.
J and I had to make the trip home for a family emergency. J got off work around dinner time and we just decided to eat on the way. I had originally wanted to go to a place in Benton Harbor, but I happened to look at the website and see they had a special event tonight so that was out. I started looking for someplace else along I-94, but nothing jumped out. I had a few ideas, but J mentioned Big T Restaurant. She couldn’t remember what town it was in, but knew it was somewhere between Kalamazoo and Chicago.
Big T Restaurant is in downtown Lawton on North Main Street. It is a huge building that takes up what looks to have been three store fronts at one time. The drive from I-94 is less than ten minutes and in no time, we were looking for a parking spot. Not as easy as it sounds. To my surprise, Big T is THE restaurant in this part of the state. It seemed like the whole county was in downtown Lawton tonight.
There were no available street spots in front of the building, but there are a couple really large lots on the backside of the building. We found a spot about a block away and headed back . There was an entrance off the back alley, but we walked around front. I assumed once inside we would have to find a hostess station which would probably require a walk through the entire restaurant to the front. Read more…
Press Release – Aunt Millie’s To Donate to Battle Creek Food Bank
I like to make this blog more than just reviews and when I get press releases that are food related, I’ll post them as is. So, if you’re a communications person for an organization and would like to get your message out, add swmichdining@charter.net to your e-mail list.
From an Aunt Millie’s press release……
Aunt Millie’s to donate 2,400 loaves of bread to Battle Creek’s Food Bank of South Central Michigan
Fort Wayne, Indiana: Aunt Millie’s will donate 2,400 loaves of Butter Top Wheat Bread to the Food Bank of South Central Michigan on November 16, 2009.* The bread will be delivered fresh to the Food Bank in Battle Creek, Michigan for distribution to those in need this holiday season.
“This time of year we have a lot of food going out our doors to people in need,” says Bob Randels, executive director of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan. “This generous donation from Aunt Millie’s will go a long way to help during the busy holiday season.”
Established in 1983, the Food Bank of South Central Michigan is a member of Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest), the Nation’s Food Bank Network and the Food Bank Council of Michigan. The Food Bank is headquartered in Battle Creek and serves nearly 100,000 individuals through a 272 member agency network covering eight counties in south central Michigan.
With unemployment rates as high as 15.1% throughout the area, south central Michigan is struggling in the current economy, and local food pantries are feeling that pressure. At the end of September, the Food Bank has distributed 5.1 million pounds of food, a 25% increase from the same period last year. Nearly 40% of its clients are children and 10% are senior citizens.
In all, Aunt Millie’s will donate 57,600 loaves of bread this holiday season – over 1,000 loaves per day – to foodbanks throughout the Midwest. The retail value of the donation is $7,656 in south central Michigan and $183,744 total for the Midwest.
Aunt Millie’s Bakeries is a family-owned company headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana since 1901. The company produces Aunt Millie’s bread and bakery products and other brands, which are distributed throughout the Midwest.
Harding’s Friendly Market- Milwood
1000 E. Cork Street- Kalamazoo, MI 49001
- (269) 342-8633
- Website
Everyone needs choices. With me, I need more than one supermarket. Sure, we do most of our shopping at Meijer. It’s always been that way with J and I. I pick a hyper-market where we can get everything we need and do the bulk of our shopping there, but there’s always been a second grocery store that I go to when I just have to pick up one or two things. For several years, that supermarket has been Kroger. There always seems to be both a Meijer or Walmart and a Kroger near my place. Not in Kalamazoo.
Since I have to find a new #2, I figured I’d check out a grocery store that I had never heard of before moving to Southwest Michigan. I’ve seen at least three locations somewhat near my house, but a trip to the Aunt Millie’s Bakery Outlet takes me right by the Harding’s Friendly Market on Cork Street near Lover’s Lane in the Milwood Neighborhood.
The store is in a small strip mall and it looks like it’s been there for quite a while. It’s not the newest store in town and it looks a little bit smaller than the other Harding’s I have driven by.
The layout of the store is a little wierd when you first walk in. Right away to the right they start with coolers and the first thing you see is cheese. The store feels a little cramped. The aisles are probably just barely big enough to let two carts pass each other. The outer walls are lined with the coolers and the organization of products really has no rhyme or reason. Read more…
Subway – Westnedge & Gladys, Portage
6425 S. Westnedge AvenueOh, happy day at SW Michigan Dining World Headquarters. We finally got a new computer! We kept saying, we’d get a new couch and a new computer after the wedding. A monkey wrench was thrown into those plans when J was transferred to Kalamazoo. Now, we had unexpected moving expenses. We got the couch, but I was still holding out on the computer.
This past weekend, our old laptop finally kicked the bucket. We had problems with it turning off on it’s own and it picked a bad time to do so. I was right in the middle of connecting to a new network and McAfee was processing the info. It corrupted the disk and now I can’t get it to start. I don’t have a recovery disk anymore, so until I can borrow one to pull a couple files, that computer is completely dead.
I had been pricing computers on Dell.com, HP.com, etc., and wasn’t happy with the prices. Yesterday, we were at Walmart and found a Dell for $600 that I priced for almost $900. I almost picked it up, but ended up waiting. We went home and J scoured the Sunday ads and found an HP at Best Buy for $430. It had what I wanted, so we put the order in and picked it up today.
After taking care of that, we figured we’d just stop for lunch since we were already out. We really wanted to get home and break open the box with our computer, so fast food it was. I had been eating junk all weekend, so when J noticed a Subway, I was more than happy to oblige.
There are many Subways in Portage, but the first one we saw was on the corner of Westnedge and Gladys. It’s an older building with the older yellow awning out front. Unlike most Subway restaurants, this is a stand-alone store. It doesn’t share space and it’s not part of a strip mall. Read more…
7-Eleven – Knollwood
2627 W. Michigan Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49006
- (269) 343-8688
- Website
I love Slurpees. It’s bad. I know. Growing up in Central Illinois, I never saw a 7-Eleven. J, on the other hand, grew up in suburban Chicago where there’s a 7-Eleven on every corner.
When we moved to Lansing, we both got hooked on Speedy Freezes from Speedway. I got a craving one night for a Speedy Freeze so I started towards the Speedway just down the street from our place. When I got close, traffic was ridiculous. Not sure if you remember this one, but it was the day everyone was freaked out that gas was going to jump to $5 or $6 and they crowded gas stations trying to fill up before this event that never happened. It wasn’t worth trying to make my way into the small, overcrowd gas station.
I remembered passing a 7-Eleven in Holt which wasn’t all that far from our South Lansing apartment. I did a U-Turn and went for my first Slurpee. From that point on, I was hooked. Slurpees were soooo much better than Speedy Freezes.
When we moved to Kalamazoo, we started looking for a 7-Eleven. There wasn’t one close to our house, but there was a Speedway, so we fell back in to old habits. Speedway was more convenient, so when the cravings hit, it was down the street to the Speedway.
J and I spent Sunday driving around the Kalamazoo area. We’re still getting used to where everything is, so a lot of times, we don’t plan our routes out very well. We started with lunch at University Roadhouse near WMU. After that, we headed out to Walmart in Portage. As we were finishing up there, J said she wanted a Slurpee. A real Slurpee, not a Speedy Freeze. Turns out, the closest 7-Eleven was back near Western. Read more…
University Roadhouse Bar & Grill
1332 W. Michigan AvenueI never know what to do on Sunday’s. For some reason, it feels like I have to eat breakfast no matter what time I actually decide to eat my first meal on Sunday. This particular Sunday, J and I left the house closer to 1:00 in search of some grub.
We actually struck out at our first stop. Their website said they were open and serving breakfast, but that’s not the case. I didn’t have a back up plan right away. We started to head towards WMU because there was a tavern there I’ve been wanting to try. We pulled up, J thought it looked close, but on the way, we passed a place that was definitely open.
University Roadhouse is on Michigan Avenue just a stones throw from Waldo Stadium on the campus of Western Michigan University. It’s owned by the same group that owns Main Street Pub (among others) so we had a good feeling as we walked through the doors.
We were met by a hostess and shown to a booth near the bar. It’s actually a multi-level building with an open-air outdoor patio upstairs. The bottom floor has the dining room and bar. J called the decor “cute.” It didn’t really scream road house to me, but it was still interesting. There was a room that was sectioned off from the main dining room that was painted English phone booth red. The walls were covered with interesting quotes from famous people. My favorite was “If I’d asked the people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” (Henry Ford) The whole feel of the place was more upscale bar. We’ve only been to one other restaurant in the group, but it had a similar style.
The menu felt a little different to me though. We started with a Pepsi and a Diet Pepsi. I knew right away what I wanted, but J needed a little more time. Even though I was in a breakfast mood when we left the house, I was quickly converted to burger mood. Read more…
Pappy’s Mexican Restaurant
5303 S. Westnedge Avenue- Portage, MI 49002
- (269)382-0540
- Website
- Menu
Like most people, I’m exhausted when I get home from work. What I do can be physically demanding and no matter what, it’s going to be at least a ten-hour day. By the time I made it back to Kalamazoo after my most recent trip to East Lansing, I was exhausted, hungry, and not in the mood to cook.
After a quick shower and some relaxing time on the couch with J, we got moving again and decided if we were going to eat, we were going to have to go out. I wasn’t really sure what I was hungry for, but I knew I didn’t want pizza. J suggested Mexican and there’s a place pretty close to home that seems to have quite a few cars in the parking lot when we drive by.
Pappy’s Place is at the corner of South Westnedge and Andy Avenues right next to Meijer. From the outside, it looks Mexican and they boast the best wet burritos’ in town. We had no reason to suspect that it was anything but a Mexican joint.
Once inside, I was a little lost. When you enter the door, there’s a very bland dining room immediately to your right. If you keep going down the hallway, you come to a cash register. I assumed this was a hostess stand. It was not, but a waitress told us to sit where we’d like. She mentioned the bland dining room behind us was non-smoking, so naturally, that’s where we headed. Had we kept going down the hallway, we’d have hit the bar and right next to that was another dining room. Beyond those two rooms looked to be a game room with some pinball machines and pool tables. I never made it back that far.
We took a booth in the non-smoking dining room. The menus were already on the table in the form of place mats. There was also a card with appetizers they call “Pappetizers.” The menu was not like the menus at most Mexican restaurants. They had some traditional American salads, a handful of Mexican entree’s, pizza, and traditional American sandwiches. I was a little dumbfounded when I looked at the menu. It was not what either of us were expecting. Read more…
Dolly’s Pizza – Lansing
719 Brookside DriveAnother weekend on the road back in East Lansing for work. I was on my own for a hotel, so I was on the look out for the cheapest I could find. That’s not an easy task on a football weekend, but I was able to find one for under $50/night. It was the Motel 6 on Saginaw Highway. Not a five-star hotel by any stretch of the imagination..hell, lucky if it was one, but all I really needed was a bed for a few hours and it did serve that purpose and I’m sure I’ll be staying there a lot this winter.
Before bed though, I needed food. There aren’t many places in Delta Township where J and I didn’t eat. That area of Lansing is one of the major shopping districts and we made trips out that way once a week. We almost never did pizza on that side of town though, so I pretty much had my pick. There was only one chain out there that wasn’t on the south side where we lived. Even though I read a so-so review a year or so ago, I decided to give it a shot.
Dolly’s Pizza is a chain out of White Lake, Michigan and most of their stores are in the Detroit area. They were voted Best Pizza in Michigan at some point by the Michigan Restaurant Association yet they never say what year that was. Read more…
Brewsters Fine Foods & Spirits
5135 Portage RoadThursday’s aren’t traditionally a dining out night for us, but I have some work this weekend that would cut into our normal date nights. After a quick trip to Meijer, I suggested going out for dinner. I didn’t really have a plan when I brought it up, but I figured I could find something.
We live fairly close to the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport and the other day, I decided to drive down Portage Road just to see what was around. I assumed there had to be a couple restaurants and I found more than one.
The first restaurant we ran into after passing I-94 was Brewsters Fine Foods & Spirits. It’s on the corner of Portage and Fairfield Roads. When I did a Google search for the place, an address down the street in Portage comes up, but the address on the receipt is a Kalamazoo address and matches the cross street for the actual location.
We actually went for an early dinner…what some would call the “Blue Haired Special.” It was 4:30. Still, the parking lot was packed. I like to see that. People just getting off work stopping in for a few beers. It’s a good sign.
We were met at the door by a waiter who showed us to a seat in the dining room. We were offered either the dining room or the bar, but J noticed a lot of smoke in the bar area and chose the dining room. We were the only ones who had chosen that option, so we had our choice of seats.
The waiter showed us to a booth just past the door. He set down a couple menus and the specialty menu then left us for a few minutes to get our drinks. I got a Pepsi while J got an Iced Tea. Read more…
Circle K – Milham Rd
1800 W. Milham Road- Portage, MI 49002
- (269) 349-7037
- Website
Another one of my guilty pleasures. This one has roots from my time in Peoria, IL. My job in Peoria had me driving around Central Illinois everyday. Every now and then, I would just need a break and since I have an unhealthy Pepsi addiction, my preferred stop was someplace where I could get cheap Pepsi.
When J and I moved to Lansing, I really missed Circle K. The closest was either here in Kalamazoo or Ann Arbor. Everytime I’d go to U of M for work, I’d hit up the Circle K on Stadium Drive…whether I was going that way or not.
There are four Circle K locations in the Kalamazoo/Portage area. Some of them are just convenience stores. Some are also gas stations. Up until now, I had never seen a Circle K that wasn’t a gas station, but the one we stopped at on Milham Road in Portage is just that.
The store shares a building with a Domino’s Pizza. It’s not much different from any other convenience store except for one major thing. Polar Pops. Man, I love Polar Pops. Not because there’s anything special about them. Hell, it’s just Pepsi in a styrofoam cup. But, it’s Pepsi in a Styrofoam cup for just $.69 Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 