I love Italian Beef and there’s really only one place in the world to get it. Italian Beef is a Chicago specialty. Other places will try it, but the only places that get it right have roots in the Windy City. My girlfriend and I did some grocery shopping for a cook-out we were going to later that night and needed to find something quick for lunch. Her family eats at Frankie’s quite often and she knew it would be something that would be right up my alley. Read the rest of this entry »
Frankie’s Beef, Pasta & Catering – Oak Lawn, IL
23 06 2008Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Chicago, Food, Italian Beef, Reviews, Travel
Categories : Chicago, Chicken, Italian, Oak Lawn, Restaurant, Reviews
White Palace Grill – Chicago
23 06 2008
Guy Fieri let me down. That’s painful to say out loud. My girlfriend and I first heard of the White Palace Grill in downtown Chicago on an episode of Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dives about 24 hour diners. I was working in Chicago this past weekend and since my girlfriend’s parents live in a Chicago suburb, she decided to come with me and take a long weekend. We left Lansing around midnight on a Thursday night and got to Chicago a little after two a.m. We took a detour into the city instead of just heading to her parents. We’ve been to a handful of places featured on Triple D including two others in Chicago and figured if Guy went there, it must be good. We were wrong. Really, really wrong.
White Palace Grill is located just south of the Loop on Roosevelt and Canal Streets. According to a friend of my girlfriend’s, venturing into this neighborhood at this time of night five years ago would have been scary. It wasn’t quite a walk in the park now, but it wasn’t really bad. We parked about a half a block from the diner and walked back. There’s a huge mall with a lot of high end stores right next door. The scary thing was all the people just loitering in the street and around the restaurant. We made our way to the front door and someone behind the counter acknowledged us and told us to sit where we want. There are two dining rooms. When you first walk in, there’s the traditional diner setting with a counter and a row of booths along the wall. Keep going back and there’s more of a dining room with tables and booths. We sat in the front dining room in a booth along the wall. The menus were already on the table, so we grabbed a couple and started looking over them. A bus boy came by with water and wiped the table down. After that, it was quite a while before a waitress noticed us. This was just the start of possibly the worst service we’ve ever gotten at a diner. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: 24-Hour Diner, Chicago, Diner's Drive Ins and Dives, Guy Fieri, Loop
Categories : 24-Hour Diner, Chicago, Restaurant, Reviews
Weekend Plans
19 06 2008Posting is going to be light again this weekend. I’m heading to Chicago Friday to shoot the Barclay’s Churchill Cup rugby at Toyota Park in Bridgeview on Saturday. My girlfriend took the day off so we can make a long weekend out of it and get to spend some time with our parents.
We’re going to be hitting up a few places in Chicago we’ve been wanting to go. On the way home, we’re planning on hitting the White Palace Grill on Chicago’s south side. They were featured on Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dives a few months ago. We’re also planning on hitting one of my favorite dive bars in a small unicorporated part of Iroquois County called L’Erbale. They stop serving at nine and it’s an hour drive from Chicago, so who knows. I know this has nothing to do with Mid-Michigan, but I’m going to lump them in the Big Ten Tour section of the blog because both of these places (and anywhere else we go) could be hit up on the way to Champaign (Univeristy of Illinois) or Evanston (Northwestern). Plus, I just really like reviewing places 🙂
Don’t expect to see much activity here until Sunday night (doubtful) or Monday afternoon (more likely). In the mean time, don’t forget to check out the REVIEW section of the site to see where I’ve been in Mid-Michigan already
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Tags: Chicago, Clifton, Diner's Drive Ins and Dives, Food Network, Food News, Michigan
Categories : Food News
House May Give on Smoking Ban
19 06 2008MIRS News is reporting that Houe Majority Floor Leader Steve Tobocman (D-Detroit) may call the total ban (HB 4163) that the Senate passed for a vote if the Senate doesn’t act on the bill the House sent back to them.
Tobocman said he will wait to “see if the Senate goes along with the exemptions,” but if it does not, House Democrats are prepared to adopt the Sen. Ray Basham (D-Taylor) bill that imposes an across-the-board smoking ban on every public place.
There is no timeframe given. It sounds like they’re hoping the threat of passing the total ban will get the Senate to move on the ban with exemptions. Sounds to me like he’s calling the Senate’s bluff.
Comments : 7 Comments »
Tags: Michigan, Politics Legislature, Smoking, Smoking Ban
Categories : Food News, Michigan, Politics
Grand Traverse Pie Company – East Lansing
19 06 2008
I think we screwed ourselves. Last time my girlfriend went home to Chicago, she brought a couple pies for her family and some friends. I have to go to Chicago this weekend to shoot a rugby tournament for Sky TV Sports, so my girlfriend took Friday off and we’re making a weekend out of it. We going to some of her friends’ house for a cook-out and it was suggested she bring home a pie for dessert. So, before work and after lunch, we hit up the Grand Traverse Pie Company in East Lansing for a couple pies.
Grand Traverse is in a little strip mall between MSU and the Meridian Mall. If I would have gotten the GPS out and followed it like I should have, it would have been about a ten minute drive. Instead, I tried to do it from memory and went the wrong way. Once we finally got there, we found parking spot up close and went to get our pies. When you walk in, your overcome with pie. To the right is a little freezer which was just calling my name. You see, in this little freezer, they put their cheesecake and the Oreo Cheesecake was yelling at me to buy it. My girlfriend looked at me and said “Just get it this time!” How can I argue with her, so I got my Oreo cheesecake. I’m sitting here eating it as I type this. It is freaking delicious. Very few things in life compare to Eli’s Cheesecake, but this was really good. I like cheesecake, but I love Oreo Cheesecake. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 10 Comments »
Tags: Cherry, East Lansing, Grand Traverse, Michigan, Pie
Categories : Bakery, Cafe, East Lansing, Reviews
Harper’s Restaurant & Brewpub
19 06 2008- 131 Albert Ave.
- East Lansing, MI 48823
- (517) 333-4040
- No Known Website
- Menu
I noticed Harper’s one night while driving around East Lansing pretty late looking for a pizza-by-the-slice place. We didn’t stop because we weren’t looking for a bar and especially not a college bar, but I put that info in the back of my head for future use. Today, my girlfriend and I were making a run to the Grand Traverse Pie Company to get pie’s for the weekend, but weren’t in the mood to eat there. After driving around with my head cut off, my girlfriend mentioned that brew pub I was telling her about, so we headed down Grand River to downtown East Lansing.
The building for Harper’s is massive. When we drove by, we weren’t sure if it was even open. It looked dark, so we drove around the block again. The parking is across the street in the public pay lot, so we went through the gate and found a place to park. It was just starting to rain as we got out of the car, so we hustled across the street hoping they were open. I got to the top of the steps and pulled on the big wood double doors and they opened up right into the bar. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: Brew Pub, Burgers, East Lansing, MSU
Categories : Brew Pub, Burgers, Downtown, East Lansing, Reviews, Sandwiches, Sports Bar
E. Coli Outbreak in Michigan
18 06 2008Another food bourne illness precaution.
State health officials suspect contaminated ground beef is the source of a spike in infections by E. coli bacteria.
They’re urging people to thoroughly cook their hamburgers and, if possible, use a digital thermometer to make sure they’ve been heated to at least 160 degrees.The Michigan Department of Community Health says it’s received 29 reports of E. coli infection so far this month. That compares with just 10 cases for the entire month of June over the past four years.
The story goes on to say that early lab reports suggest a common source, but doesn’t identify it. When I found what it is, I’ll update this post.
Cook your beef. Especially if you buy ground beef from a supermarket. The stuff I get from a butcher I’ll go more medium on, but ground beef from the grocery store needs to be well done.
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Tags: Beef, E.Coli, Illness, Michigan
Categories : Food News
Cold Stone on the Decline
18 06 2008I wasn’t too surprised when I saw this artcile on MSN tonight.
Earlier in this decade, Cold Stone Creamery was one of the hottest franchises around. The super-premium ice-cream stores attracted scores of franchisees hungry for a piece of the “Ultimate Ice Cream Experience.”
Now many franchisees are selling their stores, overwhelmed by soaring bills and shrinking profits. Some have lost their homes, broken their retirement nest eggs or filed for bankruptcy. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Cold Stone, Dairy, Ice Cream, MSU
Categories : Food News, Ice Cream
Kroger – Holt
18 06 2008- 2495 S. Cedar St.
- Holt, MI 48842
- (517) 694-4119
- Website
I figured since I seem to be at the grocery store everyday, I’d write up a few blog posts about why I go to which grocery store. There isn’t one store where I do all my shopping because there is something that I think each store does better than others.
I’m going to start with Kroger because I had to run there tonight to get some baking supplies to make cookies for my girlfriend. No, I’m not in trouble. I just like to do nice things every now and then…and she asked me to because every Thursday is treat day (or something like that) at her job and it’s her to bring treats. For quick pantry trips, I usually run to Kroger because it’s the easiest to get to from our place. Meijer may be closer, but it’s harder to get to. We’ve walked to both stores so you know they’re not too far away. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: Grocery, Holt, Kroger
Categories : Grocery, Holt, Reviews
Arby’s – S. Lansing
18 06 2008
Arby’s is my guilty pleasure. I know I give chains a hard time on this blog, but if there’s one fast food place I could eat at everyday, it would be Arby’s. Growing up, Arby’s was always a treat because it does tend to be a little more expensive than a Wendy’s or McDonald’s, but the food is soooooo much better. Now, it’s about the only fast food I eat at regularly.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Arby’s on South Cedar is the old sign out front. There was one store in my last town of Peoria, IL. I think we did some research and found out there’s only a handful of these old signs left. The old sign sits in front of a more modern building. I let my girlfriend talk me into going through the drive-thru. I HATE drive thru’s. I can never understand the person talking to me and I feel like they always get something wrong because they can’t hear me. I did it anyway because neither of us were totally awake yet or dressed very well, but we needed lunch. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Arby's, Chains, Food, Roast Beef
Categories : Chains, Lansing, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches
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