Big Time Burgers + Brew
2454 Promenade WayLiving so far away from where I grew up, we don’t get to see my nieces very often. The kids, of course, want to see their cousins but it’s hard to get together. We’re only about three hours away (before the time change) but life gets in the way. My kids are really in to ice skating. My brother’s girls are really in to travel softball.
I went to a White Sox game with my brother a couple of weeks ago. At one point he said his youngest daughter was playing a tournament that weekend in Portage, IN. We didn’t have plans on Saturday so I asked J if she wanted to go. I have never gotten to watch that niece play softball so I was excited that J said it was a good idea.
The trip to Portage, IN is only about an hour and a half. The team played at the Portage Jr. Miss Softball fields. They won their first game which meant they got to play a second a little later that day.
We stuck around for both games. The second game was done around 4:30 CT. We hung out in the parking lot and said our goodbyes. The niece we were there to watch was shocked we showed up. No one told her it was a possibility so when she looked over and saw us, it was a nice surprise.
We left the softball fields and started heading home. We had gotten snacks at the concession stand but hadn’t really eaten. I asked if anyone was hungry. J said yes. The kids grumbled…but that’s what they do when we eat out.
I found a place not too far away that was right up our alley.
Big Time Burgers + Brew is on Founders Square near Central Avenue in Portage, IN. The restaurant is part of a newer looking mixed used residential building with businesses on the ground floor. Founders Square is a park in Portage, IN (yes, I’m going to write “,IN” every time I write Portage (,IN) so there’s no confusion) with a large playground, a splash pad and a lot of open space. We found a spot right in front of the building to park which is across the street from the park.
Read more…Luke’s Italian Beef
215 W. Jackson BoulevardOne of my favorite days of the year. I meet my dad, my brother, and one my friends from my childhood every year for a White Sox game.
As we get older and all have kids more involved with sports, it gets hard to find an open Saturday. When the Sox schedule came out this year we went through every Saturday home game and couldn’t find one where all four of us were free.
We had to turn our attention to Thursday afternoon games.
We usually go pretty early in the year just to avoid families vacation and travel sports. Otherwise, we have to wait until August or September and by then, the Sox are usually out of the race and it’s just not as fun.
We picked a Thursday a couple of weeks ago. My brother works from home, my friend runs his own business and my dad is retired. So really, they just have to worry about me being able to take the day off.
I had a little bit of a problem this year. My truck was in the shop getting a new fuel pump so I didn’t have a car. I thought about taking the Amtrak but we usually go out for pizza after the game and I wouldn’t be able to do that. I ended up just renting a car for the day and driving in.
I got my car pretty early and headed towards Chicago. I always like to find an Italian beef before we get to the park. In the past, we’ve tailgated most years. Some years we walk down to Morrie O’Malley’s Hot Dogs but most years, we order wings from somewhere but this year, since the game was at 1:10 CT, we didn’t have any plans. We just met in the parking lot and drank a few beers before going in.
I got to Chicago around 10:00. That gave me plenty of time to find a sandwich shop. I had a couple I had bookmarked in Google maps so it was just picking the one I wanted to go to.
I ended up picking Luke’s Italian Beef on Jackson Boulevard near South Wells Street in Chicago’s Loop downtown. The restaurant is on the ground floor of 209 West Jackson. It has it’s own entrance street side.
Useless Creatures Brewing Company
41 N. Main StreetL had a birthday party at a friend’s house in Texas Township a couple of Saturday’s ago. The rest of us didn’t have plans. I did some yard work and cleaned up around the house but that was about it. J was just going to drop L off and come home.
I asked if she’d want to go to dinner. She was driving south anyway and there’s a brewery in Three Rivers we haven’t been to yet. The menu looked solid so why not.
J had to get something from her mom who lives near Centreville. I suggested just seeing if they wanted to join us for dinner. I don’t think they had been to this brewery yet either so I assumed they’d be interested.
Useless Creatures Brewing Company is on Main Street in downtown Three Rivers. We had been to this building before when Kelsey Block Brewing Company occupied the space. The building is a large three story brick building claimed to be the oldest in Three Rivers. The street level space is divided in to three storefronts. Kelsey Block only took up the middle but Useless Creatures makes use of on of the spaces as well.
Read more…BC Pizza (Plainwell)
396 Oaks CrossingFriday night is pizza night. You’ve heard that from me before, right?
I was working in Grand Rapids and J had the kids at the ice rink. Normally, she would text me to order from Cottage Inn for delivery. The kids like and I’ve usually got points for free stuff.
J and I are kind of tired of the same thing every week.
We switched it up last week and got Pizza Hut.
I was in Grand Rapids so J asked me to bring something home with me. I didn’t really want to order pizza in Grand Rapids and bring home cold pizza so I thought of something halfway.
BC Pizza has one of it’s 35 locations in Plainwell in the Oaks Crossing shopping plaza off M-89. The restaurant is kind of tucked in to the building between the M-89 Cinema and walkway between the buildings. The spot used to be a Samuel Mancino’s Italian Eatery but not it’s a pretty large BC Pizza.
Read more…Black Napkin
966 Fulton Street EastLike I said, I spent a few days in Grand Rapids while my Kalamazoo colleague was on vacation.
I had a pretty easy day on Friday. I didn’t really leave the office. Since I was stuck inside all day, I wanted to get out for lunch. I did my usual Google searching to see what’s new and instantly found something right up my alley.
Burgers.
I had just had a pretty amazing burger the previous day when I was in Muskegon. I finally got to try Hamburger Mikey which has been on my list for years. I can never have to many burgers though, so Friday was going to be a burger day.
My lunch pick was Black Napkin.
The takeout restaurant is on the corner of Fulton and Diamond in Grand Rapid’s East Hills Neighborhood. The building used to be a very unassuming pizza joint called Rinaldi’s Pizza & Subs. Black Napkin upped the art game on the outside to make it stand out on this fairly busy corner.
Read more…Hamburger Mikey
1129 3rd StreetIt’s been a long time since I’ve been to Muskegon for work. I used to do it quite regularly when I worked out of the Grand Rapids office but now that I’m in Kalamazoo, it’s pretty rare.
My usual co-worker was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and I got pulled to the Grand Rapids office a few times. We ended up in Muskegon for the afternoon and I was determined to find a place to eat.
There didn’t used to be much to eat in downtown Muskegon. We typically ate at the Burger King because it was the only thing open past 6 when I was usually there.
Things have changed. There are quite a few options for food in downtown Muskegon now.
I chose the place that I thought would be quick. Counter service is always a plus for me.
Hamburger Mikey is on 3rd Street just south of Houston Avenue near downtown Muskegon. The restaurant is part of a small neighborhood business district. There are several one and two story buildings connected to each other on one side of the street and a parking lot on the other.
Read more…Kum & Go (Wyoming)
5437 S Division AvenueI remember my first trip to Iowa several years ago. I was driving to Iowa City with a buddy for a basketball game. He had made the trip several times before so it was not quite of a shock to him when we stopped at a gas station called Kum & Go.
Yeah…I couldn’t stop laughing. Nor could I believe they could get away with that name spelled that way. Of course I bought a t-shirt.
A few years ago, I went back to Iowa with a different group of guys. We stayed in Ankley, IA just just outside of Des Moines. And sure enough, there was a Kum & Go near our AirbNb. Like me all those years ago, the guys I was with couldn’t believe that was actually the name plastered on signs of a gas station.
Now, Kum & Go has come to Michigan.
The first few stores opened in the Grand Rapids area. I had to work up that way quite a bit last week and noticed the billboard for one not too far from US-131. I needed gas anyway and they were advertising food so I swung off the highway to check out the new gas station.
They Wyoming location for Kum & Go is on Division Avenue at 54th Street. The gas station is on the corner lot on the southwest side of the road. The building really isn’t all that flashy. It’s a kind of a generic looking building with the Kum & Go logo over the doors. This spot is only about half a mile from US-131 as are most of the gas stations in this area so it’s fairly easy to get to and get back to the highway.
Read more…Pizza Hut (Westwood)
1930 W. Main StreetFriday night is pizza night. It was always that way for J growing up and it’s pretty much become our way of life too.
J had a fantastic pizza place growing up. Palermo’s 95th in Oak Lawn was her family’s go to. J introduced me to it when we first started dating and it quickly became my all-time favorite pizza place too. It’s sooooo good.
We don’t quite have a Palermo’s by our place in Oshtemo. There are several good places but nothing like that.
Our go to is usually Cottage Inn. The pizza is good and it’s usually the quickest for delivery. Even on a busy Friday night, we can get pizza in under an hour.
The problem with eating the same pizza every week…unless it’s Palermo’s…is that eventually you grow tired of routine. It’s not that we all of a sudden don’t like the pizza. We just want something else every now and then.
We were struggling to come up with something different a few weeks ago. Kazoopy’s is Westwood is usually our number two but wait times there can be really long….it’s really the only reason we don’t order them every week.
I tried a Kazoopy’s order to pick up on my way home but it was still almost an hour and a half wait. We were frustrated and about to order Cottage Inn again. I suggested we just go with one of the mega chains we almost never order from. It’s been a while since we’ve done that so it would be something different for one week.
I picked Pizza Hut in Westwood because it was pretty easy to get to from work. The restaurant is a carry-out only building right on the corner of West Main and Dartmouth Street. They moved here in 2016 from their old location two doors down….which is now Kazoopy’s.
Read more…Jimmy John’s (Central Business District)
232 W. Michigan AvenueTo be fair, I did warn you that I was going to start writing blocks about national chains again. I haven’t done it in several years and my opinions on some things has changed. Plus, I just feel like writing a little bit more.
It wasn’t that long ago, I wrote a post about the downtown Subway in Kalamazoo. I’ve worked downtown for about six years now and I had never eaten at that Subway. I don’t particularly love Subway so I don’t go there often anyway but it was something different.
My go to in downtown Kalamazoo has become Jimmy John’s. If you had told 2002 me that I’d be eating at Jimmy John’s more often, he wouldn’t have believed you. I used to loathe the place.
When Jimmy John’s first starting gaining popularity, a lot of places were catering sandwiches. My first few introductions to Jimmy John’s were a couple slices of meat and about three gallons of mayo. It was so gross. Why anyone thinks mayo dripping off a sandwich is appetizing is a mystery to me.
Those early impressions really shaped my views on the sandwich chain. I didn’t eat Jimmy John’s for years. All I could picture was how disgusting the mayo sandwiches were.
I was with a co-worker several years ago who wanted to stop at a Jimmy John’s and I gave in. I knew all along I could customize my order and get it without the mayo but it was hard to get that image out of my mind.
Once I did, I realized the sandwiches were not that bad and most importantly, it was a way to get a quick lunch.
Since Theo & Stacy’s has closed downtown, I’ve been eating more at the downtown Jimmy John’s. The restaurant is on Michigan Avenue west of Rose Street pretty close to where Theo & Stacy’s was. The restaurant is part a two story building that underwent some major renovations a little over a decade ago tucked between the old Theo & Stacy’s building and La Familia.
Read more…South Pier Creamery & Market
407 Phoenix StreetWhat’s a trip to South Haven without ice cream?
We had to take advantage of the warm early spring weather a few weeks ago. We grabbed dinner at The Lodge then headed to South Beach to play at the playground and dip our toes in the water.
We had promised the kids ice cream if they ate their dinner. L cleaned her plate. B….had enough to eat and we all wanted ice cream so we gave in.
We could have went to Sherman’s….like is the tradition in South Haven….but we ended up going just up the hill from South Beach to downtown South Haven. There’s a new little ice cream shop right in the main business district.
South Pier Creamery & Market is fairly new to downtown South Haven. The small restaurant is on Phoenix Street just to the east of Kalamazoo Street. The business is tucked in between Harbor Toy Company and Shooting Star Antique Store. Up until fairly recently, this business was Captain Nemo’s. The new restaurant is a little more simpler of a concept focusing more on the ice cream side of things while still offering a little bit of food.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 