Grumpy's Diner on Mt. Hope and Pennsylvania in Lansing.
I don’t know what “Mean Cuisine” is, but I like it. Because of the weather, I took J to work again, so when dinner rolled around, she offered to treat me instead of making another trip back and forth. We threw around a few ideas then she came up with Grumpy’s Diner. We noticed right after they opened and have heard nothing but good about it since. I love diners, so why not?
Grumpy’s Diner sits on the corner of Mt. Hope and Pennsylvania Avenue. There is another restaurant connected to it, but Grumpy’s is by far the more visible restaurant. We found a spot in the L-shaped parking lot which proved to be tough with all the snow piled up. We parked on the Pennsylvania Avenue side, but the entrance is on the Mt. Hope side. After carefully making our way to the front door, we were met by a waitress who showed us to a booth along the windows. Other than the booths, there are a few tables and a lunch counter. The color red dominates the decor. The table clothes are red and white checkered and any surface that lended itself to a pop of color is bright red.
The waitress brought us drinks while we looked over the menu. After she set them down, she told us drinks were on the house tonight as long as we ordered dinner. We weren’t there just to drink, so of course, we did.
The food is typical diner fare. They serve breakfast all day and most of the menu is sandwiches. J ordered a grilled cheese and a cup of soup. The soup of the day was Cream of Broccoli and that was brought out while we were waiting on our meal. More than anything, she just wanted to hold the cup of hot soup. We were both freezing. It’s nothing Grumpy’s did…..it was just 10 degrees outside before windchill. The walk from the car to the door was enough to send a chill straight to the bone. The grilled cheese came out not long after she finished her soup. A nice, thick sandwich with a gooey center. She loved it. It was perfect diner fare as far as she was concerned.
Both our sandwiches came with fries and the fries were unique. They were fresh cut and they were huge. These were not normal size fries. They were large….both length and width. J really liked them. She said the outside was perfectly cooked, but I thought the middle was a little too raw. I’m not a big potato fan unless they’ve been deep fried, so the potato taste threw me off a little. Like her, I really liked the initial taste and the crunchy outside, but after the initial tastiness, I got a little too much potato for my liking. I really love that they take the time to do something other than out of the bag fries. I would definitely order these again even though they’re not exactly what I really like.
Grumpy's Diner....home of the "Mean Cuisine"
I ordered Grumpy’s Burger. The sandwich is a half pound of meat divided over two patties topped with cheese, BBQ sauce, bacon, and onion. I had the onion left off. What was left was one of the most delicious burgers I’ve had in a long time. The burger was huge and juicy. The BBQ sauce was a little sweet and there was plenty of it. I was reaching for my napkin after one bite.
Both of licked our plates clean. The waitress made a joke when she came to pick up our plates that we must have enjoyed it. I looked at both of our plates and there was nothing left on mine and just a little bit of ketchup on J’s. We almost literally licked our plates clean.
The bill was just over $16 with the free pops. My sandwich was eight bucks and J’s sandwich and cup of soup totaled up to about eight bucks.
Grumpy’s Diner is a great addition to the diner scene in Lansing. They take a little extra time to make good, home cooked food instead of relying on prepackaged elements. A lot of diners get lazy and just put enough effort in to dinner to get by. They tend to rely on their breakfast menu as being the big seller. Grumpy’s doesn’t do that. Grumpy himself cooked our meals tonight and you can tell there’s a lot more care and pride taken in every plate that goes through that window.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
I was in the mood for fried fish so I decided to try their all you can eat fish and chips last Friday. Priced at $10.99, and came with cole slaw, which was just okay. The fries were okay, quite a large portion. The fish was terrible, however. It was breaded, not battered, and it was way overcooked. The breading was hard and brittle. Fried fish should be light and flaky, so that the flavor of the fish shines through and is complemented by the favor of the coating. When the waitress asked if I wanted a second serving of the fish, she asked “not so crispy this time?” even though I hadn’t said anything. The second serving was just as crispy. When I couldn’t eat most of the second serving of fish, I asked for a takeout box as I knew they would throw it out. Waitress said they did not provide take out boxes for all you can eat specials. I can understand that policy to avoid abuse, but it did not make me happy as a customer, knowing the leftovers would just be tossed.
man, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m not a fish eater and I don’t normally go for the “all you can eat” specials. We had a great experience at Grumpy’s…unfortunate to hear you had a totally opposite experience.
You are new on the block being called grumpy’s……. Anna’s cafe has been known as grumpy for several years now…….. I grew up about 20 miles away and think of some new comer stealing my nickname 1600 miles away is?????? It has given me a good laugh and thank you………… Now I know I am not the only one…….
john