Monarca’s Ice Cream
321 N. Grand StreetWell…we were supposed to be kid free for a few days.
My parents like to take the kids for a few days each summer back to their place in Illinois. We set it up this year so they would take the kids home after our weekend at my dad’s cousin’s place near Three Rivers.
L wasn’t feeling well. She got dizzy on Friday night and then again on Saturday. In hindsight, it was likely a combination of heat, dehydration, and not feeling well but we decided to not let her go to Illinois so we could take her to the doctor to make sure everything was alright.
J and I had planned to eat out every chance we got that week. It’s not often we can just enjoy a drink and not have to worry about someone wanting to go before the waitress even brings drinks.
L is getting to the age where she’s really not that much of a hassle at restaurants. We got her a phone a few months ago to take to ice skating practice so we usually let her bring that. Like most kids, she just stares at the screen the whole time unless we engage her.
I got home from work a little later on Tuesday night. J asked if I wanted to go out to dinner. There’s a little Mexican place in Schoolcraft we pass by often and one of her friends told her we needed to stop.
Monarca’s Ice Cream is on Grand Street (US-131) in downtown Schoolcraft. The small, oddly shaped building sits a little ways off the road near between Clay and Cass Streets. This building has been many restaurants over the years. I remember a BBQ place a while ago and most recently, it was Nonla Taqueria
Read more…Momma’s Snack Shop
1205 N. Main Street We’ve been getting together with family at a house on Pleasant Lake near Three Rivers for almost ten years now. My dad’s cousin bought a lake house and she started inviting us to spend a weekend on the lake. It eventually evolved to her kids and their family coming to so it turns in to a huge gathering with multiple families. For the Michigan contigent (ie. my family) this is the only time all year we see a lot of them. Everyone still lives in Illinois.
We typically do one big grill night and then one night that’s a little more chill. We’ve ordered pizza in the past but no one has been really impressed with the pizza options in Three Rivers.
We decided to do pizza again this year and since I’m the one that lives in the area, they turned to me for pizza options. I threw out what I knew.
We eventually decided on The Local It’s our favorite pizza place when we go to my in-laws and it’s only about twenty minutes from the house on Pleasant Lake.
I did pitch a few other places though. Frankie’s in Three Rivers was an option. So was Big Tony’s Pizzeria in Marcellus.
One other place I’ve been wanting to try in Three Rivers, and also an option I threw out there, is Momma’s Snack Shack.
Momma’s Snack Shack is on North Main Street just north of Three Rivers in Lockport Township near the intersection with Barnard Avenue. The building has a history of being a pizza place. It was an Appoloni’s for several years and Goldie’s Ice cream which had been in Three Rivers since the late 1960’s.
Read more…Franca’s Pizzeria
1551 Wealthy Street SEIt’s hard for me to turn down a good pizza.
I picked up a Saturday evening shift in Grand Rapids a few weeks ago to cover for a co-worker. It was a fairly easy shift with most of our work being done before 7:00. I still had some things to do in the office so we headed back to Grand Rapids after spending the afternoon at the lake shore.
I was hungry when we got back to Grand Rapids. I didn’t feel like putting much effort in to finding food and I remembered hearing about a pizza place that was really good not too far from the office.
Franca’s Pizzeria is on Wealthy Street just to the east of the intersection with Lake Street on the southeast side of Grand Rapids. The restaurant is in building that many years ago was a Blockbuster video. Since Blockbuster’s demise, the building has undergone several renovations to break up the space in to multiple storefronts. Franca’s is just one of many businesses, including a couple of different restaurants, that take up what used to be a video store.
Read more…Berries Famous Pancake House
4311 S. Westnedge Avenue- Kalamazoo, MI 49008
- (269) 443-2258
- No Known Website
- Menu
I was bummed when Theo and Stacy’s closed their Westnedge location a couple years ago. They went from three locations in the area to just the downtown one over the course of a few years.
The building they were in for so many years is on the very busy Westnedge Avenue but it’s tucked in right on the edge of the neighborhood. It has always been a great place for a breakfast location so when a new breakfast joint took it’s place, I got really excited to get there.
I had an unexpected Friday off a few weeks ago. J’s off the whole month of July so she and the kids are home. The kids have been asking to go out to breakfast for quite a while and since we were all home with nothing really to do, it sounded like a good opportunity for us to check this place out.
Berries Famous Pancake House opened just a few weeks ago at the corner of South Westnedge and Pratt Road where Theo & Stacy’s used to be in the South Westnedge Neighborhood. There was quite a bit of work done at the restaurant before they opened but the outside of the building and the parking lot surround it look the same as they always have.
Read more…Malia’s Mexican Restaurant
13366 M-40Last week was a weird week. I worked alone a lot. My partner was on vacation and we were short staffed all around. Some days I did a little work. Some days I did nothing.
Thursday was one of those days I didn’t much. I had to drive to Gobles to check something out. It turned out to only take a couple of minutes but since I had already made the drive to Gobles, I figured I should pick up something to eat while I was there.
There are a few restaurants in the small town so I had some options. I went with the option that I’ve passed many times but never had the time to stop at.
Malia’s Mexican Restaurant is on the north side of Gobles just outside of the village limits on M-40 near Pinedale Lane. The restaurant sits off the road a little bit with a large parking lot in front of the building.
Read more…Island Style BBQ
2245 W. Columbia AvenueIt’s been a pretty slow week at work. The colleague I typically work with is on vacation and we’ve been short staffed in our other office so they haven’t sent anyone to work with me. On the plus side, it means I’ve been on my own around lunch time so I can be a little more adventurous in seeking out places.
I was in Battle Creek earlier this week and needed to kill a few hours. I was sitting downtown and trying to think of a place that I haven’t been to yet that I keep seeing delicious looking pictures from on the Battle Creek Carryout Club Facebook group.
I wasn’t having a ton of luck so I decided to try the Eats BC website. At least there I knew I could put in an online order for whatever I found.
There were a few options on that website but BBQ sounded good and Island Style BBQ is the one that won me over.
Island Style BBQ is on the corner of Columbia Avenue and Helmer Road on the west side of Battle Creek. The small restaurant is in the Plaza West strip mall across Helmer Road from the Meijer .
Read more…Round Bread Sandwich Company
515 Williams StreetFourth of July weekend is a fun time to be in South Haven. It’s kind of the peak of summer season. The water in the lake has warmed up. The sun is hot. The atmosphere downtown is just kind of electric.
I typically avoid crowds so it’s odd for me to be in South Haven during the time but I got sent to do a quick job for work.
It took me about an hour to do what I needed to do. I was a little surprised at how laid back things were still on the Friday of the holiday weekend. Finding a parking spot downtown was difficult but there wasn’t a crush of people in restaurants and walking around like there would be later in the weekend.
I get sent to South Haven quite a bit so I’m always on the lookout for new or different restaurants. I have my typical go-tos but there are still a few places I haven’t made my way to yet.
One of those is Round Bread Sandwich Company. I had heard quite a while ago the shop opened but I actually had no idea. While I was sitting in my car on Phoenix Street, I looked it up to see if I was close.
Round Bread Sandwich Company is on Williams Street near Center Street right along the Black River. The restaurant is in Old Harbor Village. You can’t see the restaurant from the street. You will need to park then walk down the the sidewalk between the shops. This is the same area where South Haven Brewpub and Idler Riverboat are.
Read more…Hayloft Ice Cream Parlor
45502 M-51If we’re gonna take a road trip for lunch we have to include an ice cream stop on the way.
We were bored last weekend and really wanted to get out of the house. I suggested we take a road trip to Niles for lunch. We had a great meal at Iron Shoe Distillery then headed back towards Kalamazoo.
I was really hoping we could stop in Dowagiac at Caruso’s Candy & Soda Shop but they had already closed by the time we made it back through town.
No worries. We saw an ice cream place in Decatur on the way to Niles. We headed back that way.
Hayloft Ice Cream Parlor is on M-51 on the southwest end of Decatur. It’s actually just outside of Decatur on the very western edge of Decatur Township. The business, shaped like an old red barn, has been around for over 20 and at one time had a lighted miniature golf course and a softball field.
Read more…Iron Shoe Distillery
3 N. 3rd StreetWe used to take road trips all the time for restaurants. Kids, COVID, and gas prices have kind of put that on hold. We still do it occasionally, but not like we used to.
We had a hard time getting moving on Saturday. I ran down to the Kalamazoo Farmers Market to do something for work and when I got home, J was half asleep.
I hate sitting at home on weekends. Honestly, I’m lazy. I don’t ever get stuff done and I end up sitting around watching sitcom reruns all day. I’m just….tired.
J said she wanted to go somewhere for lunch. We went to Bell’s last week for the first time in a long time and it was nice to just sit outside and enjoy a couple of beers.
I couldn’t really think of anywhere close by that I we haven’t been to in a while that we really wanted to go to. I asked J if she was up for a road trip. I had a place in Niles and a place in Battle Creek. She said screw the high gas prices and chose the place in Niles.
We made the hour drive down to Niles to find Iron Shoe Distillery.
Iron Shoe Distillery is on North 3rd Street on the corner with Broadway Street just to the south of the main downtown district in Niles. The building is quite large with the distilling operations, tap room, and a two story patio taking up the corner lot that was a muffler and brake shop before it was renovated and expanded to make the distillery. The original part of the business opened in 2019 with the expansion of an additional dining room and the two level patio happening thanks to a Match on Main Grant provided by the MEDC.
Read more…Mac N More
Food TruckLunchtime Live is back, y’all.
I look forward to Friday’s in the summer all year long. Not just because it’s a Friday….in the summer…but also because the food trucks are back at Bronson Park.
A lot of the usual suspects have been at Lunchtime Live the first few weeks but I really like seeing what’s new this year. What new, interesting food creations to serve out of the side of a panel truck have people come up with over the winter?
The first new one for me this year is Mac N More. The large yellow food truck based out of Kalamazoo serves up gourmet mac ‘n cheese.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 