Joe’s Pizza NYC (Ann Arbor)
1107 South University Avenue, Suite BI was so excited when we first moved to Kalamazoo because it was a college town. College towns usually have open late pizza by the slice places.
Imagine my disappointment when Kalamazoo didn’t have one of those.
There was a place that tried for a while. Hot Slice opened on Michigan Avenue where DP Dough is now but didn’t survive. It took way too long. It would take 20 minutes just to get a slice of pizza. If I wanted to wait, I would have ordered a full one from somewhere.
I had a late work assignment in Oakland County a few weeks ago. I had picked up a sandwich at DiBella’s in Auburn Hills but I was hungry again by the time I was coming home around 11:00 PM.
I knew of at least one pizza by the slice place in Ann Arbor so I headed there. When I looked up the address, I actually found a second place I had never been to so I went that route instead.
Joe’s Pizza NYC is the quintessential late night college town pizza joint. The small restaurant is at the intersection of South University Avenue and East University Avenue. The building is right on the edge of the University of Michigan campus. The space was a bookstore a few years ago but it was gutted and rebuilt to house a bank, a pizza restaurant, and a gym.
Read more…DiBella’s Subs (Auburn Hills)
3395 University DriveI’ve spent a lot of time in the Detroit area for work recently. It’s that time of year when I just get a lot of assignments on the road. It will be slowing back down pretty soon….hopefully.
I was in Eastern Oakland County a few weeks ago for a shift where I was meeting a co-worker near Oakland University. I got over there early…like I typically do…so I could find something to eat.
I was hoping there would be a lot local quick food kind of places since I was near the University but that wasn’t really the case…at least what I could tell by doing a quick Google search.
I did find a sandwich place near the entrance to the University. It’s a chain but not one we have on this side of the state and I knew it would be quick.
DiBella’s Subs is an east coast sub shop that’s been around for decades. The sub shop stayed pretty small for most of their history with locations in and around Rochester, NY and eventually Buffalo. They started expanding end of the 2000’s. They operate 44 shops in five states with Michigan being as far east as they’ve gone.
The Auburn Hills location is one of five Michigan locations. The shop is on the corner of University Drive and Squirrel Road right across the street from the entrance to Oakland University. The shop is in a shopping plaza with several other chain restaurants. DiBella’s is in the building closest to the University Drive entrance.
Read more…Big Shawn’s Cheesesteaks
4317 Kalamazoo Avenue SEI’m not sure what day it is right now or which city I’m working in. It’s been a helluva couple of weeks with a lot of overtime and a lot of travel.
I was in Grand Rapids last week working an evening shift filling in for a colleague. Another co-worker and I had an assignment in Kentwood which we finished up just before dinner time.
We were in an area that had a lot of dining options and I was hungry. I didn’t tell him what I was doing but I pulled in to a parking lot near the corner of Kalamazoo Avenue and 44th Street and told him I was getting dinner.
I stopped at Big Shawn’s Cheesesteaks. The small Philly cheesesteak restaurant is in that massive shopping center on the corner of 44th and Kalamazoo. Big Shawn’s is in the building on the Kalamazoo Avenue side. You can enter from either Kalamazoo Avenue, which only has a few parallel parking spots in the shopping center, or from the parking lot which is a lot easier to park on.
Read more…Blackhawk On the Move
Food TruckThere are a lot of BBQ food trucks. It seems like whenever there is some kind of large food truck event there are twice as many BBQ trucks as anything else.
It’s hard to complain about that. I love BBQ….but variety is also nice too.
A food truck out of Allegan noticed that it was getting harder to get booked because they were competing with other BBQ trucks. According to a post on their Facebook page, they were having a hard time even getting in to events because of the “BBQ” in their name….so they changed it.
Blackhawk BBQ became Blackhawk on the Move.
I’ve written about Blackhawk BBQ before. I saw them out when I was driving through Allegan one day so I pulled off and got a sandwich. I’m doing another blog post because they’ve changed their name and we tried more on the menu this time.
Our experience with Blackhawk on the Move was at Steinspark Biergarten and Food Court in Portage. The German style beer garden has their own food but they also bring in food trucks to provide food options other than German food. They park the trucks on a cement pad right outside of the beer garden near their own food hut.
Read more…Steinspark Biergarten and Food Court
2603 Milham AvenueThis fall has been pretty warm which makes for some perfect days to sit outside and drink a beer.
I’ve mentioned in several blogs this summer that we’ve spent most Saturday nights at Wings West ice skating. Fall Saturday nights haven’t been much different.
A couple of weeks ago, the kids were asking to go to open skate. J and I wanted a drink and some food before heading to the rink. There’s a German Biergarten that just opened not too long ago that we both wanted to check out.
Steinspark Biergarten and Food Court is such a unique place in the Kalamazoo area. The totally outdoor beer garden is on Milham Avenue just to the east of Portage Road. It’s on the part of Milham Avenue you would turn on to go to the Air Zoo’s East Campus. It’s really just a spot in the woods with a parking lot and a few buildings erected. There was literally nothing but trees here before.
Read more…Uncle Dog’s
643 Capital Avenue SWYeah. I’ve been working in Battle Creek a lot lately.
For the second time that week, I had an additional shift after my regular shift and it was in Battle Creek. I had a little bit of time between my last assignment of my regular work day and my first assignment of my overtime shift so, of course, I went looking for food.
I came in to Battle Creek and just kind of drove the long way from Helmer Road to downtown. I had a couple ideas so it was a last minute decision but I saw a parking space on the street in front of one of the places on my list and that’s how I ended up at Uncle Dog’s.
Uncle Dog’s is on Capital Avenue just south of Territorial Road. This is that odd part of Capital that looks like a neighborhood business center. There are a lot of businesses between Territorial Road and Columbia Avenue on Capital and some weird parking options.
Uncle Dog’s is in one of the old row of buildings on the east side of the street. There have been several restaurants in this location. Before Uncle Dog’s, it was Juicy Burger. Before that Shawarma’s Queen and Speed’s of Lakeview.
Read more…Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders (Battle Creek)
2171 W. Columbia AvenueI’ve been working a lot of extra hours recently. I don’t mind to much because I do like the paycheck but I hate the time spent away from the family and making J do the sports practices all by herself.
A couple of weeks ago, I had to pick up some extra hours after my shift was over in Battle Creek. It was an easy assignment. It was just going to take a little while and I would miss dinner by doing so.
I got done around 7:30 on the west side of Battle Creek. I was hungry and I thought ahead. I knew I had to go back to Columbia Avenue to get to the highway so I quickly looked at what was in the area.
I saw Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders was open, but only until 8:00. Good thing I started looking for dinner while I was still working. I was able to put in an order about 7:10 that would be ready when I could get there by 7:45.
The Battle Creek location of Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders is near the corner of Helmer Road and Columbia Avenue right in front of the Meijer. The building is a standalone restaurant alongside a few other quick service restaurants near this very busy intersection.
Read more…Garcia’s Mexican Kitchen
10445 Shaver RoadIt’s not very often I come across a restaurant I didn’t know existed in the Kalamazoo Metro area. I get around town a lot so I see the signs for new places pop up all the time.
I was in Portage last week just kind of driving aimlessly. I headed south down Shaver Road because I realized I haven’t been to Barret’s Smokehouse in quite a while. I stopped at the gas station across the street to grab a Pepsi and looked at my maps just to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
Turns out, I was missing something.
Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant is on the very south end of Portage on Shaver Road at the intersection with Osterhout Avenue. This small restaurant was a breakfast/lunch joint called Red’s Grill. J and I ate there way back in 2010 after I saw a “best burgers” list in the Kalamazoo Shopper. That restaurant closed a few years ago and last December, the building became a Mexican restaurant.
City Barbeque (Portage)
6395 S. Westnedge AvenueWhen I first moved to Kalamazoo twelve years ago, I complained a lot about the lack of good BBQ in the area. That has certainly changed in the last decade or so.
There are a number of great local places that have popped up and you can almost always find a BBQ food truck whenever there are big food truck rallies. There have even been a couple of pretty decent national chains come in over the years.
More BBQ was added to the dining scene a few weeks ago when Ohio based City Barbeque opened up a location in Portage.
City Barbeque’s Portage location is on South Westnedge at Gladys Street right in front of Dick’s Sporting Goods. The restaurant is in a new build shopping center known as Union Commons. Before this building went up, the space was a bank. That building is long gone and replaced by delicious BBQ among other things.
Read more…A1 Wings & Crab
589 W. Columbia Avenue, Suite CI feel like I’ve spent a lot of time in Battle Creek lately.
I was there again one day last week by myself. I had a fairly easy day at work. I didn’t have a co-worker with me, so I completed my assignment then had a big gap in my day so I decided to seek out lunch.
The list of quick takeout places in Battle Creek I haven’t been to is dwindling but I still have a few. I decided to go search out a wing place I’ve seen ads for.
A1 Wings and Crab is on Columbia Avenue at Ferndale Court. It’s right across the street from Taqueria San Francisco. The restaurant is part of a small, three store building. A1 is in the big corner space. It was a Papa Murphy’s for a long time before they closed an A1 moved in.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 