Mid-Michigan Dining

• 3554 Okemos Road
• Okemos, MI 48864
• (517) 349-1300
• Website
• Menu

Gilbert & Blake's on Okemos Road in Okemos

I’ve always been afraid of Gilbert and Blake’s.  I had only read one review of the place and it wasn’t exactly glowing, but the thing that really scared me off was the “seafood” part of the branding.  We don’t eat seafood.  I know, they have steaks, but I don’t order steaks at a restaurant.  They’re never as good as I make at home and really expensive.  J and I are sandwich people.  I love a good burger and there were no burgers on Gilbert and Blake’s dinner menu, so I never considered it an option for us.  For some odd reason, I was looking at restaurants last night.  I came back to Gilbert and Blake’s and decided to look at the menu again.  Again, the dinner menu didn’t do much for me.  It’s a little too fancy for a regular night out, but the lunch menu actually looked really good.  J and I were discussing lunch options and I figured…let’s give it a try.  There were enough options that both of us should be happy.

Gilbert & Blake’s is on Okemos Road not far from I-96 in Okemos.  Like I figured, it’s not your average night out kind of place.  I would put it in the fine dining category for this area.  There are couple different dining rooms.  When you walk in, you’re met by a hostess.  We were shown to a table in what looks to be their main dining room just off of the bar.  Gilbert & Blake’s is a white tablecloth, black napkin kind of place.  The decor is subdued and dark.  Most of the light is natural lighting coming in from large windows that run along one wall of the dining room.  What little lighting they have are track spot lights.

Even though we were a little after lunch, we were still given the lunch menus.  Good thing, we probably wouldn’t have stayed if we had got the dinner menu. The waitress came over for drink orders.  I ordered a Pepsi and J ordered a Diet.  As the waitress started to walk away, she remembered they were out of the syrup for Diet Pepsi, so J ordered a Raspberry Tea instead.  The drinks came back right away, but the waitress didn’t stick around and take orders.  There were only two other tables and they both finished at the same time, so the waitress was trying to get them their checks which made her ignore us for a few seconds.  She came by and asked if we wanted an appetizer.  When we said no, she left again and said she’d be right back.  Why she didn’t take our meal order then beats me. 

Gilbert & Blake's. A Seafood & Steak Grille

By the time she did come back, ten minutes after we were seated, we had plenty of time to look over the menu.  We had both found a sandwich we liked, but there was also a Cajun Macaroni and Cheese dish hiding down there in the corner taunting us.  We were both curious, but didn’t want a full meal of Mac ‘ n Cheese.  I went with Blake’s Burger.  J ordered the Southwestern Chicken Wrap.

While we were waiting, the waitress brought out a bag of bread.  I always love it when places served their bread in a paper bag.  I’ve only seen it at a few places, but think it’s a good idea.  Anyway, the bread was warm and buttery.  It was finished off with poppy seeds.  J loved it.  She said she could have had a whole meal of just bread.  I agreed with her. 

I could see into the kitchen from our table and saw J’s wrap go up on the counter to go out.  I figured it was coming soon, but it was another five to ten minutes before my burger was ready. I thought that was odd…until we got the meals.  J’s wrap was chilled (not grilled) chicken, Tex-Mex veggies, and chipotle ranch in a sun dried tomato tortilla.  It wasn’t a warm sandwich.  J said it was good, but would have preferred the chicken warm.  We both misread the menu.  Using chilled chicken prevents the carry over heat from turning the veggies to mush, but it’s not something that’s common and definitely not something she’s used to.  Again, she said it was good, but different.  She got her choice of starch with the wrap and chose fires.  They were crispy and golden brown, but needed some salt or something. 

My burger on the other hand, was delicious.  It was a fresh ground beef patty topped with both Swiss and Cheddar cheese and bacon served on a brioche bun.  J thought it looked a little to pink, but I thought it was perfectly cooked.  It was still nice and juicy and the cheese had melted into the meat.   The bun was great.  It was soft and flaky.  I love it when places use fresh meat instead of frozen patties. It makes so much difference.  I also got fries with my sandwich.  They could have used a little bit more salt or some kind of seasoning, but I thought they were fine.  It didn’t really matter.  I was really into the burger.

Our bill was just a little over twenty bucks.  We both left full.  The addition of the loaf of bread went a long way towards filling us up.  We were split on the meals.  I loved my burger.  J was luke warm on hers.  We both loved the bread.  Gilbert & Blake’s wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.  I’m glad I decided to look at the menu again.  It’s a fancier place than we usually eat at, but the lunch prices didn’t break the bank either.