The Spotted Dog Cafe on Washington Sq. in Downtown Lansing
As my girlfriend said, the Spotted Dog Cafe is more her kind of place than mine. We made our way downtown to check out the Farmer’s Market at the State Capitol and decided to stay downtown for lunch. We were parked on Michigan Ave. just past the roundabout so we left the car and went for a walk. We’ve walked by Spotted Dog before, but usually on a Saturday when they’re not open. I wasn’t in the mood for a burger or anything heavy and I figured a deli sandwich would be much better.
We walked in right about opening time so the place was pretty empty. There were a couple people behind the counter. The first asked what my girlfriend wanted. She went with the summer salad which she said reminded her of the two years she spent in Idaho. The mixed greens were topped with dried cherries, blueberries, shredded cheese, walnuts, and apples with a peppercorn dressing. She it was refreshing and tasted like it came right out of the garden. The large salad was more than enough for her.
I just wanted a sandwich so I got the turkey sandwich on white. I was worried as I was watching them make it. It looked they were just using Wonderbread. Once I was actually handed the sandwich, I could see that was not the case. The bread was much denser and really soft. The menu says the bread is from Great Harvest which has a shop right down the street. In between the two slices of bread they piled on smoked turkey breast, pepper jack cheese, and dijon mustard. The sandwich was much better than I expected and actually pretty filling. It’s been about four hours since we ate and I’m still not hungry.
There was a little bit of confusion when we were done with our meal. We weren’t quite sure what to do with our trays. There was no garbage with a tray return or anything so we assumed they would bus the table after we left. There was nobody really around to ask and we needed to get going to make a noon appointment out by the mall. My girlfriend really liked her salad. I was happy with my sandwich as well even though it’s not what I normally eat for lunch. Our bill was barely over $11 and the whole meal was less than a half hour. The Spotted Dog is a good option in a downtown that filled with bars and ethnic restaurants.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
Leave a comment