Biggby (Saginaw Road)
957 S. Saginaw RoadTime for the road trip for my *favorite* figure skating competition of the year. Skate Midland.
It’s not that I don’t like the competition. It’s actually great for the younger skaters and the kids always have so much fun. There’s a lot of friends that go to this competition because it’s the last Basic Skills competition of the year. Some want to finish on a high note while others, like my kids, get a head start on debuting new programs for the next year.
I just hate the drive.
There’s no easy way to get to Midland and once you get past St. Johns, there’s not even a place to stop and use a bathroom. We run in to that problem every year and have to frantically try to detour to some small town hoping they have a gas station with a public restroom.
We were only taking B this year. L has leveled out of the basic skills dance levels and she didn’t want to do free skate because she’s been battling a knee injury and hasn’t worked much on jumps.
We got super lucky in that all of B’s events were within about two hours of each other and we didn’t have to be there until late morning.
We ended up cancelling our hotel and just making it a day trip.
B’s first event at the Midland Civic Arena was a little after 11. He didn’t place as well as he wanted to (again, new level, new program for this competition) so he started complaining that he didn’t do well because he was hungry. By hungry, he meant he wanted candy from the vending machine. T
That wasn’t going to happen. Not while he was still competing.
J asked if wanted a bagel or something. The concession stand at the arena was closed by I was given the name “Dad Dash” by L for nothing.
He begrudgingly agreed to the bagel so I got sent out to get one.
I haven’t been to or blogged about a Biggby in a long time. That wasn’t the reason I chose Biggby…it was fairly close and there was a drink I could get B as well that wasn’t coffee so that’s where I went.
The closest Biggby that came up on Google maps to the ice arena was on Saginaw Road near Eastlawn Drive. It’s in a shopping plaza called Food Court as there are several other food establishments in the complex as well. The Biggby is in the back building that’s actually closer to the intersection of Eastlawn and Washington Street.
Read more…La Finca Mexican Restaurant
10412 Portage RoadIt seems like this fall has become taco Friday instead of pizza Friday.
I always work a lot of overtime on Friday nights in the fall. I usually go out of my way to find new pizza places in whatever town I’m going to work in but I seem to be running out of new pizza places.
I’ve been finding a lot of Mexican places instead. I have a love for tacos so I’m not bothered by the surprising revelation at all.
This past Friday night I was working in the southern part of Kalamazoo County. Whenever that happens, I tend to find dinner in Portage as I’ve tapped out places like Schoolcraft and Vicksburg.
I drove down Portage Road to get to where I was going because there’s a Mexican restaurant in the very southern part of Portage that I’ve never been to. I’ve driven by many times but never when I could stop in for a meal.
La Finca Mexican Restaurant is on Portage Road just north of Osterhout Avenue. The small stand alone building is right next to what used to be Chicago Style Pizza (which is becoming Kalako Pizza soon) and Great Skate Roller Rink.
Benito’s Pizza Cafe (Novi)
24270 Novi RoadI’ve worked a lot of extra hours the last few months. It’s just the nature of the beast.
Some relief came last week as some of the work winds down for the season. I still had one really long (almost 24 straight hours) of work left before a big chunk of it would be over.
I knew it was going to be a long day with little time to eat so I made sure to eat a big breakfast at Wolfgang’s Restaurant in Grand Rapids before I picked up a colleague to drive to the Detroit area for the night.
It was another one of those days that we had to be there early to get all of our equipment set up but then we’d have some down time. My colleague ordered Chipotle from Door Dash but we had some time so I decided to go with pizza. I could eat some now and then eat the rest when I got back to my hotel room long after most restaurants have closed.
We were in Novi and I’m not really familiar with restaurants there. I loved Primanti Bros. but it has closed since the last time I was in Novi a couple of years ago. I started looking for pizzas near me and a couple of good looking options popped up.
I went with Benito’s Pizza Cafe on Novi Road just north of 10 Mile Road in Novi. The restaurant is part of a small shopping center on the east side of the road that also has Penn Station East Coast Subs and a gym. The Novi location, part of the Benito’s chain that started with a single shop in Belleville in the late 1970’s has been in this location since the Mid-2000’s.
Read more…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.
SW Michigan Dining 