Taqueria El Texano
104 US-131I always look forward to Friday’s in the summer. It means Lunchtime Live at Bronson Park.
And almost every Friday in the summer, I get pulled out of town for work.
I really thought I was going to make it to 11:30 this past Friday. I was already eyeing a few trucks that I had seen pull in to the parking spots on South Street next to the park.
I didn’t make it however. About 11:00, I had to hop in the car and drive to a job site down in Three Rivers.
Nothing to worry about though. There’s a taco food truck turned restaurant I’ve been wanting to get to…so I did.
Taqueria El Texano is on US-131 near the intersection with Michigan Avenue. The taco joint is on the west side of the road and accessible from the Southbound lanes. It shares a building and a parking lot with Confluence Cannabis. There’s a little bit of parking in front of the building right off US-131 but there is a much bigger parking lot in the back with access to the restaurant if you’re dining in or the parking is full.
Read more…The Parlor
62160 M-66Saturday night was fireworks night at my in-laws lake near Sturgis. It was just us this year. The last few years we’ve had friends join us but we kept it low-key this time.
The weather was alright. The kids got a little swimming in. We cooked dinner on the grill then everyone kind of went to relax until fireworks time.
J and I wanted ice cream though so we called the kids back up from their screens and asked if they wanted to go get some.
We went to The Parlor on M-66 just south of Findley Road in Sherman Township north of Sturgis. The small ice cream shop is kind of on an island. All of the surrounding properties are farm houses and fields with the exception of M-66 Grocery just to the south. The small ice cream shop was built on the family’s old dairy farm to have a “fresh, farmhouse feel.”
Read more…My Freakin’ Pizza
1015 W. Chicago RoadThe Friday after the 4th was a pretty long day….for me anyway.
I volunteered to work an overnight shift in Grand Rapid so I could be off by noon and at the lake by 2:00. My mother-in-law had set out some meat to grill dinner but I was too tired to really too tired to deal with and the meat wasn’t thawed completely anyway.
We decided to just wait to grill Saturday night and order pizza for Friday’s dinner.
J’s parents have a Sturgis address but they’re closer to Centreville. The Local was always our go-to pizza place when we were at the lake but they closed…then reopened with a new owner…then closed again….all since last summer.
We’re all kind of pizza snobs. Chicago tavern thin-crust is the only way a pizza should be made according to all of us so finding a good pizza place that we all agree on is a little tricky.
J’s mom has been wanting to try My Freakin’ Pizza in Sturgis. No one had any objections to that idea.
My Freakin’ Pizza is on Chicago Street in downtown Sturgis near the intersection with Nottawa Street right next to Wings Etc. The pizza joint, owned by the same people who own Freakin’ Sweets just down the street, had to go through some renovations to transform it from what has been an empty store front for the better part of the last decade to the hottest new pizza place in town.
Read more…Terra Bagels (Eastown)
1413 Lake Drive SEUsually, I will complain a little bit when I have to work an overnight shift. It’s annoying having to get up at 2 AM when I’m used to going to bed at 1 AM.
I wasn’t going to complain too loud last week when the situation popped up though. It was a Friday, the day after the 4th holiday, and my family was already at the lake waiting for me. I figured I could take the early AM shift and be done with work in Grand Rapids around noon and at the lake by 2:00.
It was a fairly easy morning. A co-worker and I had some things to do before 8:00 then I got a “lunch” break. I was hungry and wanted something other than McDonalds breakfast. I knew there were some bagel shops in the area and a bagel sounded really good at that point.
I picked Terra Bagels Eastown location on Lake Drive and Robinson Road in Grand Rapids. The small bagel shop is part of the historic Kingsley Building. There are several business along the front facing lower level and several floors of apartments and offices above it. Terra Bagels space is on the northwest end of the building along Lake Drive. There are street parking spaces on both sides of the road. I found one right in front of the shop I was going to so I pulled in and paid for a quick 20 minutes.
Read more…131 Sportsbar & Lounge
1123 129th AvenueEveryone has to work a couple of holiday’s every year.
My work is pretty good about dividing up the holiday shifts. At minimum, everyone has to work at least one of the “summer” holidays and one of the “winter” holidays.
I put my first preference to work July 4th. It was the middle of the week this year and I’d rather have the long weekends at Memorial Day and Labor Day.
I had a pretty simple day working out of the Grand Rapids office on the 4th. I had a quick turnaround though due a sick call for the overnight shift on the 5th. I offered to take it so I could get off by about noon on Friday and spend the rest of the weekend at the lake.
I didn’t want to put a lot of thought in to dinner because I was pretty much going to have to drive back to Kalamazoo, go to bed, and then drive back to Grand Rapids at 2:30 in the morning.
I knew there wasn’t going to be a lot open and I didn’t want to put much effort in to it. But I knew Gun Lake Casino would be open so I decided to eat at one of their restaurants.
My pick was 131 Sportsbar & Lounge inside the Gun Lake Casino on 129th near the US-131 interchange near Wayland Township. The casino itself is actually on the Match-E-Be-Nash-She Wish Band of Potawatomie Reservation but that reservation is surrounded by Wayland Township. The restaurants are all off the casino floors but there are signs on the side of the building facing 129th Avenue advertising what’s hiding inside. There is a small parking lot in front of the building and I got pretty lucky finding a spot open right in front of the main entrance. Otherwise, there are valet and parking ramp options.
Read more…Chick and Chill
2550 Capital Avenue SW, Suite 150It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to Battle Creek for work and even longer since I’ve been to Battle Creek and had time and the funds to grab lunch.
I got that opportunity earlier this week. I met a colleague in Battle Creek for a job assignment. We were done around 12:30 and headed back to Grand Rapids to finish up. I wasn’t in a super big hurry to get back to Kalamazoo and there is a place that opened recently I’ve been reading good things about.
And I was close enough to it to grab something to eat before hopping back on I-94
Chick and Chill opened in the Capital Centre Shoppes on the corner Capital Avenue SW and Mason Road near the end of May. The small restaurant is in the same shopping plaza as the Marco’s Pizza just north of the Capital Avenue interchange with I-94.
Read more…The Outpouring Cafe
507 W. Michigan AvenueBeing in Paw Paw early on a Tuesday morning was not on my plans for this week but that’s what happened.
I got up and started a normal day of work but then had to make a run to Paw Paw almost as soon as I got in the office. I was there about 45 minutes and then started to head back to Kalamazoo.
I wasn’t super hungry yet but there’s a coffee shop I pass all the time on my way to football games at Falan Field. It’s never open on Friday nights but since it was still morning, I noticed the open sign on and made a quick turn in to the parking lot.
The Outpouring Cafe is on Michigan Avenue at Johnson Road right across the street from Paw Paw Middle School. The cafe is part of the larger Outpouring of Hope ministry in the large cinder block building that used to be an interior design office. The cafe takes up space on the north side of the building and is easily identifiable from the awning over the door.
Read more…Dani’s Kitchen and Pancake House
3501 Stadium Drive, Suite AWorking overnights is the worst. There’s really no way to sleep before the shift if it’s not something you do often so you then have to waste the entire next day sleeping.
It’s the worst.
But it happens from time to time and I just deal with it.
We had a last minute call off at work this past weekend and I was the on-call guy, so I got stuck with it. I did my midnight to 9 AM shift then headed home…exhausted but also hungry.
I had actually asked J on Saturday if she wanted to get up and go to breakfast when I got home. The kids had skating in the morning but we could do breakfast, I could go back to bed, and J could take L to the rink. Perfect plan.
I wanted to stay close to home and there is a fairly new breakfast joint not too far from home.
Dani’s Kitchen & Pancake House is on Stadium Drive near Adios Drive. The restaurant is in the duplex building with Wild Bill’s Tobacco Shop next to Sweetwater’s Donuts. This space was most recently Little Mexico and before that Menna’s Joint.
Read more…Big Fish Wings & Things
817 Martin Luther KingF Jr. Street SEFriday nights in Grand Rapids.
We’re a little short staffed right now and to fill the Friday night slot, it automatically goes to the person on call for the weekend. Last weekend was my weekend so I got the Friday night slot.
I didn’t have much to do. In fact, I didn’t really do anything all other than sit in the office just in case a problem arose that I would have to deal with.
No such problem arose so I essentially sat there and collected my paycheck.
Around 5:00 I told my supervisor I was hungry and I was going to clock out for my meal break and go outside of the building to find something to eat. I had passed a spot on the Southeast side of Grand Rapids a few times that jumped out to me but I didn’t have time to stop those nights. I had the time on this night.
Big Fish Wings & Things is a small, mostly take out restaurant near the corner of MLK Jr Street (formerly Franklin Street) and Eastern Avenue. The white building is very distinct looking with large columns out front that make it look like this used to be a bank or something. The last restaurant I remember being in here was a version of Sandmanns that I never stopped at. Most of the time I worked in Grand Rapids (2010-2017) the building was empty. It was always a noticeable building so I was always surprised there was nothing in there.
Zingerman’s Roadhouse
2501 Jackson AvenueAlright…so I fibbed a little bit. I got one Southwest Michigan blog post in then, of course, I’m back on the road.
It’s only to Ann Arbor though so at least I’m still in the right state.
I had a little bit of a drive last Thursday. I had to meet a co-worker in Alto for an assignment then we had to rush over to Ann Arbor for an afternoon assignment. There was hope that we’d have time for lunch once we got to Ann Arbor but we didn’t leave the Grand Rapids area as early as we thought we would. We just barely made it to Ann Arbor in time.
We spent about two hours at our job assignment in Ann Arbor then I had to drive my colleague back to Grand Rapids. We didn’t have time to figure out where to leave a car so I just said screw it and offered to take the extra long day so we weren’t in two cars to Ann Arbor.
We were both really hungry when we got done and my colleague suggested Zingerman’s. My question to him was Deli or Roadhouse? He had never heard of the Roadhouse before and I think I sold it to him because it’s a full service sit down restaurant.
Zingerman’s Roadhouse is on the corner of Jackson and Maple Road on the west side of Ann Arbor near the Jackson Avenue interchange with I-94. The Roadhouse opened about 20 years ago on this corner and just like the Deli, focuses a lot of attention on high quality ingredients and experiences.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 