Mid-Michigan Dining

• 301 E. Grand River Avenue
• East Lansing, MI 48823
• (517) 332-6500
• Website
• Menu

Cosi on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Cosi is another one of those places that remind me of Chicago.  It was about eight years ago that a DJ friend of mine introduced me to the chain when he took me to a store on the north side of Chicago.  I went back to that store on Clark and Belmont a few times, but I also made several stops at a location in the Loop while I was interning at Fox Sports Net Chicago.  When I moved away from the Chicago suburbs, it was four years before I saw another Cosi.  Not long before I left Illinois, Cosi opened a location in Uptown Normal (home of Illinois State University).  I took co-workers there after talking up their flat bread sandwiches.  Most of them didn’t agree with me, but it was still a sandwich that I really liked.

J and I had walked past Cosi several times in East Lansing.  The store is located on Grand River Avenue across the street from Michigan State.  We had tickets to the Michigan State vs. Bradley University basketball game and wanted to grab lunch before heading over to the Breslin Center.  Since we gorged ourselves yesterday on pasta, bread, pizza, and gingerbread cookies, I decided on a healthier option than bar food.

It was J’s first time ever going to a Cosi, but this was the fourth different shop I had been in.  The others I’ve been in have all been very cramped and designed really awkwardly.  The shop in East Lansing was very spacious.  When you walk in, you have the option of going to a coffee bar or to go order sandwiches.  We headed to the right where the sandwich order line was.  The menu board was above the counter and was a little hard to read.  It was so far way from the front of the counter and a little high.  I found three or four sandwiches that looked good, but I always let J pick first. No sense in us getting the same sandwich.  That way we can share with each other and taste more of the menu. 

I thought J was going to order a sandwich, but she called an audible at the line of scrimmage and went with the Signature Salad instead.  Cosi is not your average chain.  This salad wasn’t sitting in a box somewhere waiting for someone to order it.  The counter person pulled out a stainless steel bowl from underneath the counter and went to work.  In the bowl, she added a scoop of Gorgonzola cheese, grapes, pears, pistachios, and dried cranberries to a handful of mixed greens.  She then poured on a sherry shallot vinaigrette dressing and tossed the salad before plating it in a real bowl.  The salad came with a slice of their flat bread.  She said the salad really hit the spot and it was filling.  I ended up stealing about half of her bread. 

Cosi in downtown East Lansing across the Street from Michigan State University

I ordered the Buffalo Bleu sandwich.  The signature, hearth baked flat bread is sliced in half and stuffed with buffalo chicken pieces and lettuce.  The sandwich is finished with a bleu cheese spread.  The sandwich was good and the bread was exactly what I remembered and loved about Cosi, but it wasn’t very filling and the flavors were a little bland.  Neither the bleu cheese nor the buffalo chicken stood out.  They sort of blended together.  The sandwich came with a bag of kettle chips which helped, but I still left pretty hungry.

Our total was just over $20 which is pretty expensive for a salad and a sandwich…especially since I left hungry.  It was good and it was exactly what I remembered from my days walking in the Chicago winter to get dinner.  Maybe it was the sandwich I ordered this time that left me a little unimpressed.  I would definitely go back just because I’ve had such good luck in the past, but this visit left me hungry and that’s always a bad thing.  Next time, I’ll try the pizza.