Maggie’s Campus Cafe
2715 W. Michigan AvenueIt’s Sunday. You know what that means. It’s OK to eat breakfast all day and that’s just what J and I did.
When I got up at noon (yes, I’m a late sleeper), right away J wanted to go out for lunch. Hell, she drug me out of bed so we could go eat lunch. Since I was still groggy and waking up, my mind went right to breakfast food.
Maggie’s Campus Cafe is on Michigan Avenue just west of Howard Avenue and the Western Michigan University campus. It’s a really small building with parking in the rear. While there is an entrance in front, there’s also a back door. We walked around front not even seeing the back door.
Right away, we could tell this was a joint that catered to the college crowd. You know that smell that permeates from your body the morning after drinking a little too much? Yeah, everyone in the place had the smell. It reminded me of college and my first job in TV. So many Sunday mornings where we struggled to make it to a diner for breakfast. J went to college in the city and didn’t live on campus. She missed out.
The small diner was packed. There were a few people waiting in line in front of us and to make things even more crowded, you paid at a cash register right next to the front door. There was a mix of people trying to get in and out and we had no clue who was trying to do what. Read more…
Conrad’s College Town Grill
101 E. Grand River Ave.Well, it only took three months. For three months, I’ve been trying to stop in to the place that used to be Johnny’s Lunch in downtown East Lansing. Their open hours always seem to elude me. They say they’re open at 11:00 AM during the week, but I’ve tried to stop on several occasions and found the doors locked.
Anyway, Conrad’s College Town Grill is right on the corner of Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road. When J and I first moved to Lansing, it was the 50’s-Style diner Johnny’s Lunch. That closed up some time ago and we never did stop in to try it out, so I have no idea if much has changed since Conrad’s moved in.
I never could figure out from the street if it was a fast food place or a sit down restaurant. It’s kind of a cross between the two. There is a fast-food style order counter near the back of the space with a giant menu board hanging from the ceiling.
I found burgers on the menu, so I put in an order for the BBQ Cheese Burger and added on an order of fries for a buck. I didn’t go for a pop because they had Coke and if I’m going to drink a no calorie Coke, I’ll just stop at gas station and get a bottle of Coke Zero (which I did after I left). The sandwich and fries only cost little over six bucks. I opted to just eat it there. Read more…
Chicken Coop – Portage
109 W. Centre StreetJ and I were planning on going out for dinner tonight, but when I looked over at her laying on the couch around 7:00, she had a hard time keeping her eyes opened. Instead, I opted to go get dinner and we’d just veg on the couch.
Since I had pizza for lunch, I didn’t really want that again. I turned to my other go-to, fried chicken.
A month or so ago, we did carry-out from the Chicken Coop on Westnedge in Kalamazoo. We really liked the chicken we had that night, but I had a coupon that was good at the Portage Chicken Coop. I could get more chicken for five bucks less than I paid last time, so I went that way.
The Chicken Coop in Portage is on Centre Street at Westnedge. It’s one of four locations owned by the same person. The others are the Kalamazoo Sprinkle Road location, Paw Paw, and Watervliet. The Chicken Coop on South Westnedge is not part of the group. I point that out for a reason which you will see in a little bit.
The store is a small building in a huge parking lot. It sits a little way off both Centre and Westnedge. When you enter, you come in to the order counter. It’s a very small area that was packed with people waiting for carry-out orders. Since I had a coupon, I knew what I wanted and handed it to the cashier. My order was for 10 pieces mixed, two sides, and six rolls. I got fries for myself and baked beans for J. The total cost was a little over $15. Read more…
The Coffee Bar – Downtown
601 S. Burdick StreetWell, we’ve been good all week, but it’s Friday, so you know we’re gonna start eating out again. I think we’ve done pretty well this week. I’ve made dinner every night and we’ve been getting by for lunch, so when J got home from work a little later than usual, the first thing out of her mouth was, “Let’s go eat.” She beat me to it.
Like I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t drink coffee, so when we drove by The Coffee Bar, I figured it was a place I would never go. It looked cool, but I’m not a coffee drinker. On a whim, I decided to see if they had a website and when I found out they served food, I made plans to stop in.
The Coffee Bar in downtown Kalamazoo is on the corner of Burdick and Walnut Streets. It doesn’t really look like a restaurant. It looks like an old house which is exactly what it is.
There’s a huge awning out front that leads up to the heavy wooden front doors. Before you get that far though, there’s a really nice patio area that would be a great place to enjoy lunch once it gets warm out. Read more…
Bud & Stanley’s Pub & Grub
1701 4 Mile Road NortheastI hate downtown Grand Rapids on Sundays. I love it the rest of the week. Beautiful downtown…but on Sunday’s it sucks.
My dad bought J and I tickets to the Brad Paisley concert at Van Andel Arena on Saturday night for Christmas. Just a few hours after he told me he bought them, I got offered a job in Big Rapids. It’s really hard for me to turn down work, so I told my dad I would buy the tickets off him and sell them on Stubhub. Whatever I didn’t make back, I would eat. He said he would just keep the tickets, dive the three and a half hours, and he and my mom would go to the concert. They got a room at the Courtyard By Marriott and just made a weekend of it.
Since J and I were coming back through Grand Rapids on Sunday morning, we decided to meet up for lunch before they went home. I tried three different places downtown for lunch. All closed…just like everything downtown on Sunday. The only option was TGIFriday’s which I would have been fine with, but my parents ate dinner there the night before. Now, I had no idea where to go. I picked out a couple places that had pretty good on-line reviews, but my dad was hoping to stay close to the hotel so they could get on the road fairly quickly. I tried my best, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I could have wasted another 15 minutes driving around looking for something open or I could put an address in the GPS and just drive away from the downtown area.
We ended up on the northeast side of town at Bud & Stanley’s Pub & Grub on 4 Mile Road near Plainfield Avenue. J confided in me later she was a little nervous because she recognized a few places we passed from the news….not good news either, but when we pulled into the parking lot, her fears were eased a little bit. Read more…
Ewigleben Ice Arena
210 Sports Drive- Big Rapids, MI 49307
- (231) 591-2880
- Website
When I got the call to go to Ferris State for hockey, I had no idea what I was getting in to. I have never been to Big Rapids. I have never watched Ferris State play hockey and I had no idea they were the number eight team in the country. J was talking to a co-worker who went to Ferris State and he said the place got loud. Really loud. That got me a little excited because I love venues where a ton of students show up and they don’t sit on their hands.
Ewigleben Ice Arena (pronouced AY-VAH-glave-in) is on the campus of Ferris State Univerisity. It’s part of the sports complex on the corner of Sports Drive and State Street in the middle of the campus. The arena is name for former president Jack Ewigleben who is responsible for Division I hockey at FSU and for building the arena.
The arena not huge by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s exactly why it’s so great. There’s a pretty spacious lobby area when you walk in with a pro shop and a couple concession stands. This area is level with the ice.
To enter the arena, you have to walk up a few steps. The seating area is actually level with the top of the dasher boards. When you standing next to the glass, you are actually looking down on the ice. Read more…
Press Release – Men Who Cook
From the Music Center of South Central Michigan’s website….
Reserve your place at the table of one or more of our area’s finest male
cooks, who will serve you a delectable five-course gourmet dinner featuring
their favorite cuisine in the fireside coziness of the Lodge. Cocktail hour
6pm. Dinner 7pm. Cash bar. $75 per person ($50 of this is a tax-deductible
contribution to the Music Center). Call (269) 565-2199.David Brown/David Lucas/Paul Yettaw – French Cuisine Shay Chamberlain –
Thai/Lao Brian Coleman/Tom Ott – Sustainable Cooking Alan Elliott – Spanish
Sonata Andy Helmboldt – Rustic Italian Steve Johnkoski/Chris Fuld –
Mediterranean Rod Kroes – Latin/Asian Fusion David Long – Tex Mex Mark
Richardson – American Grille Joshua Sherk/Matthew Pampalone – Southern
Comfort Justin Straube – Regional CuisineYarrow Golf and Convention Resort is located at 10499 N. 48th Street,
Augusta, 49012
The event is Saturday, January 30
Rosie’s Diner
4500 14 Mile Road NWYeah. I’m one of those dorks. You know, those dorks that want to travel the country following in Guy Fieri’s footsteps. That’s me. J and I have done pretty well getting to the ones close to where we live or where we’re going. There have only been two three others in Michigan (Krazy Jim’s Blimpie Burger, Joe’s Gizzard City & The Fly Trap). We’ve been to both all three of those as well as a number in the Chicagoland area and two in Indiana. Most have been outstanding. One has been a huge disappointment (White Palace Grill, Chicago).
I had to head up to Big Rapids for a hockey game and J decided to tag along. Since we were both going, I suggested we get up early and hit the third, and to this point, final Triple D stop in Michigan.
Rosie’s Diner is just off US-131 in Rockford. It’s on 14 Mile Road about half way between Northland Drive and Summit Avenue. Now, I’ve already told you it was on Triple D, but even faithful viewers may not realize it. Why, you ask? Because it was on the very first episode…and yes, I remember the night it premiered. I am that much of a dork.
The diner is a classic 50’s New Jersey diner. How authentic is it? The original location was actually in Little Ferry, NJ. Long before the Food Network, Rosie’s (then known as The Silver Dollar Diner) was featured in Bounty commercials. According to Rosie’s website, the diner was purchased in 1991 and moved to Michigan to it’s current location just outside Rockford.
The diner is actually part of a “diner complex.” There are three classic diner’s on the property with Rosie’s being the center of attention. Connected to Rosie’s to the south is another classic diner that serves as a sports bar. To the north is another classic diner that looks like it has seen better days. It’s not connected to the other two diners yet. Read more…
B’Wiched Deli & Microcatering
5051 W. Main StreetWe did it again…but in fairness, Friday is usually a night we make it a point to eat out. It’s like a little celebration that we made it through the week. Since we had a pretty heavy lunch, neither of us was in the mood for typical pub grub like we usually go for. Instead, I picked a place that we would usually reserve for lunch.
B’Wiched Deli & Microcatering is on the corner of Drake Road and Main Street in a shopping center that is in-freaki-possible to get in to. Whoever designed this thing should be drug outside and beat with a wet noodle. If you turn in at the street before it, you would assume there would be an entrance. You’d assume wrong. You can drive all the way around it from Main to Drake and there’s not one accessible entrance. I had to exit out to Drake Road and turn around and head back. When I did that, I found what I thought was an entrance until two cars doubled up to exit. It was an exit only so I swerved back in to traffic and found the entrance which is pretty much only accessible from the turn lane from Drake to West Main.
Once we did finally get in, we were surprised to find the place packed. We got there around 7:00 and they were only open until 8:00. I figured we’d be interrupting closing, but I was wrong. They only have six tables, but five of them was full and a couple of those were pushed together for a large group.
Ordering is done at a counter that backs up to the kitchen. I had read their chicken strips were good, but they only have them on Friday. We were there on Friday. Neither of us ordered the chicken strips. Bad move. We saw another table with them and three chicken strip took up a whole plate. They were HUGE. Probably could have fed a family of three. Read more…
Zeb’s Trading Company
7990 S. 8th StreetAs good as we were last week when it came to eating home, we were as bad this week. I had to work Wednesday and Thursday so I was in Lansing. I got home really late Thursday night and when J got home from work at noon, I was still in bed. She got me up and talked me in to going out for lunch.
For a couple weeks now, I’ve been pitching a place in Texas Corners that I thought looked good. Once again, we picked a place based on their website and menu. No word of mouth or even reviews. I just thought the place sounded good.
Zeb’s Trading Company is in the part of Texas Township known as Texas Corners. It’s right on the corner at 8th Street and Q Avenue. Since I didn’t get up until noon, we went for a little bit later lunch, but the parking lot was still packed.
There are two entrances to the building, but they are both on the same side. One leads you right into the bar. The other brings you in between the bar and the dining room.
A hostess met us and showed us to a booth along the back wall. The space isn’t really all that big, but they pack the tables in. The hostess started going one way, but we had to double back because there was no room for us to squeeze through two tables to the booth we were going to.
Zeb’s was hoping this Friday afternoon. Almost all the tables in the dining room were full as were many in the bar. The decor is sort of old west. The interior walls are faux log cabin and many of the decorations are of an old west/Tex-Mex nature. Read more…
