Duck Inn-Waddle Out Lounge
3214 Brookfield AvenueI love a good dive bar. I grew up in a small town going to the bar with my dad on Friday nights. All of his friends with kids my age would get together at the bar on Main Street. They’d drink some Old Style’s and Strohs’ while the kids would play shuffle board, pool, darts, and get pop from the bar fountain dispenser that looks like some kind of toy gun.
When I moved away from my hometown, I started leaning more towards sports bars. The food was more important than the atmosphere because I didn’t have a group of friends like my dad does. I didn’t care to hang out with many people and the ones I did hang out with were all city dwellers and not used to the dank and darkness of a good dive.
I’m still kind of that guy. I don’t have a group of friends I hang out with and I still prefer to go places with good food.
There are some really great dive bars in Kalamazoo though and some that have some really good food. Over the last couple of years, I’ve blogged about CJ’s Pub, The Sugar Bowl, Waldo’s Campus Tavern, and Nob Hill to name a few. All which had that laid back atmosphere with a group of regulars but also had some pretty tasty food.
There was still one more place I’ve really wanted to get to over the last 15 years. It has the best name. I knew they had food but I didn’t really know what. The Facebook page was sporadic and there wasn’t really a good menu I could find online.
Then Mlive did a story on it a few weeks ago. The food looked good in the pictures so I decided I needed to give it a try.
The Duck Inn-Waddle Out (great name, BTW) is on Brookfield Avenue at Olmstead Road kind of across the street from the Kalamazoo County Expo Center in Kalamazoo Township. The small, metal building doesn’t really look like a bar. There are no window, the metal siding is pretty beat up and dirty, and the entry door looks like it was put there as an afterthought. There’s an old Metro bus stop shed right outside the door so people have a place to smoke and get out of the elements.
Read more…Gumps BBQ
1105 River StreetI’ve talked about it a lot recently. I’ve lost my colleague in Kalamazoo and until a new one is hired, I’m kind of on my own.
That means I’m eating out a lot more because I don’t have to worry about someone else complaining about where I want to eat.
I ended up in Lansing a few days ago for a morning assignment. I met a co-worker from Grand Rapids. Once we were done, he headed back to Grand Rapids while I headed back to Kalamazoo. We both had work yet to do but we didn’t need to be in the same building to do it.
We were leaving Lansing just before 11:00. I was hungry and, of course, I had some place nearby I wanted to eat.
I made my way to Gumps BBQ. The small restaurant is not one you would likely find unless you were looking for it. It’s on River Street. which dead-ends just past the restaurant at the Red Cedar River, and Elm Street just a couple of blocks south of I-496. The BBQ joint is tucked in between a number of commercials buildings that make up fabric of this area.
Read more…Clutch Time Grill
1219 King Highway I’ve been eating out way too much lately.
I’ve been without a colleague in the Kalamazoo office for a few weeks so I’ve kind of been on my own when it comes to work. I feel like I’m not as rushed and I can try to stop at new places since I don’t have to worry about if someone else is going to like my choice for lunch.
I was coming back from Battle Creek earlier this week and had no intention of stopping to grab something to eat.
But then, I saw an open sign on a restaurant that had recently opened along my way and couldn’t pass it up.
Clutch Time Grill is on King Highway just past Crosstown Parkway in Kalamazoo’s Edison Neighborhood. The restaurant is at the longtime home of Papa’s Italian Sausage in a fairly industrial area of Kalamazoo near the river. The building was painted in the transition from Papa’s green and red to Clutch Time’s blue and white.
Zingerman’s Delicatessen
422 Detroit StreetWe’ve been spending a lot of time in Ann Arbor. Well, my family has anyway. Not so much me.
L goes to work with a figure skating coach at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube Ann Arbor every so often. Those trips are usually week days so I don’t go with. It’s typically just J and L or a even just L with her Kalamazoo coach.
We also go to a couple of competitions a year there now. One for synchronized skating and one for dance/free skate.
I always say someone needs to make a Zingerman’s run when we’re there but it’s actually pretty far away from the rink so we never do.
I was in town last week for work near the University of Michigan. It still wasn’t close but I had time and it has been years since I had been to Zingerman’s and I really, really wanted to go.
Zingerman’s Delicatessen is synonymous with Ann Arbor. The large deli, which has grown in to more of a complex, is on the corner of Detroit Street and Kingsley Street in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown District. Zingerman’s pretty much rules the block with Zingerman’s Next Door and Zingerman’s Loft across the street taking up the majority of the block. The main building is the deli and it sits proudly on the corner. Parking is kind of hassle in this area of town. I got really lucky and found a street spot right across the building but I actually drove around the block twice trying to remember how to get to Detroit Street.
Read more…Nina’s Taqueria (Augusta)
111 E. Michigan AvenueI’ve lived in Kalamazoo for 15 years. One of the first places I got a recommendation for when we moved her was for a little taco shop in a small town I still hadn’t heard of.
Over the years, I think I’ve eaten at every restaurant in Augusta except that taco shop.
I took the long way home from Battle Creek one day last week and was trying to think what I would pass on the drive. The taco shop popped in my head.
Nina’s Taqueria is on East Michigan Avenue/M-96 in downtown Augusta. The small yellow building sits on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Canal Street next to Augusta Creek. It’s hard to miss as you’re driving through town. This is one of two Nina’s location. The other is in Battle Creek. I actually ate at that one a little over ten years ago with a co-worker and we both really liked it, so I have no excuse for the dozens of times I’ve driven by this location without stopping.
Read more…McGonigles Deli West
842 Gougac Street WI met a colleague in Battle Creek last week to do some work downtown. We started talking lunch spots almost immediately since he wasn’t super familiar with the area.
I rattled off a few downtown places and he seemed intrigued. He didn’t invite me to lunch though so I hopped in my car and started heading back to Kalamazoo.
It wasn’t that big of a deal. You know I had someplace I wanted to stop anyway.
I kind of took the long way back to I-94 because I did….of course…have someplace I wanted to stop.
I ended up at McGonigles Deli West on Gougac Street near 21st Street in Springfield. The shop bills itself as a deli, market, and pizzeria. This is the second McGonigles deli location in Battle Creek. The other is on the northeast side of town on Capitol Avenue in Pennfield Township. This location used to be Kim & Lynn’s Meat and Cheese Market and a pizzeria before that.
Read more…Country Table Restaurant
714 W. Chicago RoadTuesday was a wild day. I’m without a colleague in the Kalamazoo office for a while so I’m running around Southwest Michigan by myself at the moment. Some days, that’s great. They’re easy days. Some days, it’s a lot of driving and a lot of work by myself.
I started my day on Tuesday in White Pigeon at about 9:00. By the time I clocked out at 9 PM, I had been to White Pigeon, Coldwater, Kalamazoo, Otsego, Emmett Township and Oshtemo Township. It was a long but productive day.
I didn’t realize I was going to be so much driving as I was wrapping up my assignment in White Pigeon. It was also lunch time and I wasn’t in the mood for gas station food so I decided to put an order in at one of the restaurants in town.
I picked Country Table Restaurant on West Chicago Road (US-12) to the east of US-131 on the west side of White Pigeon. The restaurant, which is designed to look like a barn has been a staple in White Pigeon for years.
Read more…Studio C! Meridian Mall
1999 Central Park DriveWe knew Saturday was going to be a really long day in East Lansing.
The kids were competing in the Howard E. Van Camp Invitational figure skating competition at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube. All of B’s events were on Friday so he had nothing to do on Saturday.
L had a really long day. She and J left the hotel at 7:30 AM to get to the rink and warmed up for a 9:30 AM practice. She then had events at 11:45, 4:40, and 7:45. I knew it was going to be hard to keep B entertained for that long. None of his friends were at this competition so he was kind of on his own and there’s only so much YouTube you can watch in a day.
My parents stuck around for L’s first skate but then they headed back to Illinois before it got dark. Since it was just us, I asked B if he wanted to see a movie. There really wasn’t much out that either of us wanted to see but it was a way to kill a couple of hours.
The only movie really appropriate for him was Kung Fu Panda 4. I don’t know if he’s seen the first four movies or not but it didn’t really matter. It was something to do.
I chose Studio C! Meridan Mall because they had an early enough show time that we could get back for L’s skate just before 5:00.
Studio C! is part of the same theater chain as Celebration Cinema. The location in Okemos is on Central Park Drive. It’s on the northwest side of the Meridian Mall in a building just past the main parking lot for the shopping center. The building does have it’s own parking lot to the west but I drove past that and just parked in the mall lot across the street.
Read more…Groovy Donuts (East Lansing)
3054 E. Lake Lansing RoadDay two of competition at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube East Lansing.
B was not competing on Saturday. He had all of his skates on Friday. L had a really long day starting with 9:30 AM practice and ending with her last skate of the day scheduled for 7:40 PM.
I knew it was going to be hard for B to sit at the rink all day. My parents had come to town to watch the kids skate and stayed at the same hotel we did.
J and L left for the rink about 7:30 AM while B and I stayed at the hotel. Around 10:00, I texted my mom and asked if they were ready to head over. We checked out of the hotel and headed to the rink with them.
I got a little lazier than I meant to. I went back to sleep when J and L left. B just put his headphones on and watched his iPad all morning. I got up about 9:30 and started packing hoping we could get downstairs for breakfast before we left.
Breakfast was supposed to end at 10:00 but they had already picked most stuff up. B said he didn’t want anything from there anyway which is why he didn’t wake me up.
On our way to the hotel on Friday night, we passed a donut shop. We were going to have to pass that shop on the way back to the rink so I just made plans to pick up donuts on the way.
Groovy Donuts in East Lansing is the brand’s second location. The original is in nearby Williamston. This shop is on Lake Lansing Road just to the west of Hagadorn Road just barely outside of the East Lansing city limits in Meridian Charter Township. The building, at one time, was a Benjamin Moore paint store then a bakery but now it’s turned in to a Groovy donut shop.
Read more…BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse (Lansing)
2515 Lake Lansing RoadWe didn’t necessarily need to stay in Lansing for this year’s Van Camp Invitational but we decided to do it anyway.
We spent most of the day Friday at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube for the kids’ figure skating competition. My parents drove in from the Chicago area so they were going to have to get a hotel somewhere. L wants to spend the entire day at the ice rink and watch all of her friends while B is ready to go as soon as he’s done. Instead of driving back to Kalamazoo, we decided to stay in Lansing.
I got a hotel out near Eastwood Towne Center on Lake Lansing Road. I figured it was close enough to the ice rink but far enough away it was a little cheaper and there was plenty of places to eat and shop (if we wanted to) in that area.
We left the ice rink after both kids were done for the day. L wanted to go back and watch some of the evening skates but everyone was hungry. There are a lot of restaurants *I* would go to in East Lansing but I tried picking something a little safer in hopes that everyone would find something to eat.
I picked BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse on Lake Lansing Road. The restaurant is a standalone building in front of the Eastwood Towne Center west of the US-127 interchange. I thought the restaurant location looked familiar when we pulled up. J and I lived in Lansing for a couple of years and we shopped at Eastwood occasionally. We had actually eaten at this spot before when it was a Max & Erma’s. There’s been a little work done to the facade to update the look a little bit.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 