Press Release – Taste of Creole Dinner

15 05 2009

From a Williamston Area Chamber of Commerce press release….

A Taste of Creole Dinner, 6/25/09, Williamston. The Williamston Community Library Foundation (WCLF) presents its 4th annual “Taste of the World” fundraising dinner. Thursday, June 25, 2009, at 7 pm, under a tent at 226 & 304 W. Grand River Ave. (site of the future library). Featuring Creole cuisine, catered by Gumbo & Jazz. Entertainment, silent auction, lots of fun! $35 adult, $15 children. Tickets available at the Williamston Library (201 School Street), Independent Bank of Williamston (1245 W. Grand River Rd.), or by calling 517-655-5140 or 517-655-1047.

Funds will go toward building Williamston a much needed, adequate library. Ask to see the architect’s drawings. WCLF is a 501(c)(3). www.wclf.info


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Categories : Press Releases, Williamston

Paramount Coffee Giving Away Frac Packs

14 05 2009

I saw this on Paramount Coffee’s new blog.

During most night (Lugnuts) games, we offer cheap parking in our company lot right across the street from the stadium.  Five-bucks will get you in, and starting in June, we will be giving away FREE “frac pack” coffee in addition to coupons for 25% off at our online retail store.


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Categories : Michigan

Press Release – Anti-Smoking Ban Website

14 05 2009

So the anti-smoking ban lobby takes a new tactic…at least new to me.  They’re claiming jobs will be lost near Indian casinos.  Again, I would say Prove it!  There are bars in border towns of smoke free states all over the country that butt up to a state that have yet to ban smoking.  How is that different from tribal land?  The website focuses on alcohol sales, but what it fails to take in to consideration, is overall profit.  They fail to mention if profits rise or fall after a ban for a business…they only focus on alcohol.  From a  Michigan License Beverage Association press release…

Anti-Smoking Ban Website Launched to Help Save Michigan Jobs

BanMiSmokingBan.com reveals untold story of smoking bans

LANSING, Mich. — A new website – www.BanMiSmokingBan.com – was launched today to highlight the unpublicized and damaging economic effect a smoking ban would have on Michigan businesses.

The website, launched by the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA), includes current research on the economic effects of smoking bans, recent news coverage and economic forecasts on the effect a proposed smoking ban could have on Michigan businesses and their workers.

“This website is an important way to deliver the message that 750 businesses and 7,500 workers will be kicked to the curb if lawmakers enact a smoking ban in Michigan,” said Lance Binoniemi, executive director of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association. “Some proponents of a smoking ban have worked hard to drown out the voices that will actually be affected by this legislation. That needs to change – and now.”

Bar and restaurant workers across Michigan continue to be outraged by the ongoing debate over whether Michigan should adopt a statewide smoking ban at a time when the state leads the nation with a 12 percent unemployment rate.

“Jobs are tough enough to come by in Michigan and anything that is going to cost me my customers and maybe my job should be an easy no vote for Lawmakers,” said Jamie Beachum, bartender at Dublin Square Irish Pub in East Lansing.

The hospitality industry is one of Michigan’s largest employers, providing hundreds of thousands of food-service careers and millions of dollars in payroll and business taxes to the state. Currently, more than 5,500 businesses in Michigan’s hospitality industry have already made the decision to go smoke-free – without any state mandates.

“Ask anyone in Michigan what our state needs and they will say more jobs,” said Binoniemi. “That’s why Michigan bar and restaurant owners and employees can’t understand why lawmakers would even think of passing a law that is proven to cost jobs in our industry. It just doesn’t make sense.”


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Categories : Politics, Press Releases

Press Release – Menna’s Joint Grand Opening

12 05 2009

It’s not a new one…it’s a grand opening for the downtown Lansing location that opened in October (and I reviewed in November.)  From a Lansing Principal Shopping District press release….

Grand Opening of Menna’s Joint in Downtown Lansing

(LANSING) –Mayor Virg Bernero will join Lansing’s Principal Shopping District (PSD) for a
Grand Opening celebration of Menna’s Joint, 208 S. Washington Sq. at 11:00 a.m. on
Wednesday, May 13 in downtown Lansing.

Menna’s Joint is a chain of fun, classic food joints steeped in youthful irreverence that are
managed by students for students and the young at heart, presenting an exciting new spin on fast
food.

Hank Andries, owner, opened his first Lansing location on October 10, 2008. The new S.
Washington Square quick service restaurant is his fifth. Other store locations include two in East
Lansing, one in Kalamazoo and one in Mt. Pleasant.


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Categories : Lansing, Michigan, Press Releases

Horrocks – Battle Creek

11 05 2009
  • 235 Capital Avenue SW
  • Battle Creek, MI 49037
  • (269) 966-3200
  • Website
The Horrocks store on Capital Avenue SW in Battle Creek.

The Horrocks store on Capital Avenue SW in Battle Creek.

Easily, one of things I like the most about Lansing is Horrocks.  We’ve saved so much money and gotten some great stuff at Horrocks in Delta Township.  When produce is in-season, Horrocks is a once a week trip.  During the winter, it turns in to a bi-monthly or monthly trip but still something I look forward to.

J and I met her parents in St. Joseph for Mother’s Day brunch.  On the way home, J suggested stopping by Horrocks to get some fruit for the week.  Since it was on the way, I suggested we check out the Battle Creek Horrocks.

The Horrocks on Battle Creek is near I-194 on Capital Avenue SW.  The building looks to be an old office building or something.  The store is in a pretty industrial area, so the previous tenant of the building could have easily used the building for anything.

Being regulars at the Lansing store made the Battle Creek store very confusing.  We’re so used to the layout and the flow of the store in Delta Township that we were lost when we got inside the Battle Creek store.  First, you actually have to walk through the greenhouse to get to the building.  We grabbed a cart and walked through the doors.  At first, I thought we were in the wrong store.  I thought maybe there were separate buildings for the grocery and greenhouse parts of the business.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Battle Creek, Grocery, Michigan

Kilwin’s Chocolate & Ice Cream – St. Joseph

11 05 2009
  • 217 State Street
  • St. Joseph, MI 49085
  • (269) 982-1330
  • Website
Kilwins Chocolate & Ice Cream Shop on State Street in St. Joseph

Kilwin's Chocolate & Ice Cream on State Street in St. Joseph

I freakin’ love fudge!  When we took a day trip to Traverse City last fall, we found a Kilwin’s Chocolate Shop in downtown.  That was our introduction to the Northern Michigan chain of stores. 

A Mother’s Day isn’t complete without chocolate and, as luck would have it, there was a Kilwin’s across the street from our brunch destination.  After a good meal and a quick stroll through downtown St. Joseph, we loaded up on fudgey goodness.

The St. Joseph Kilwin’s store is on State Street in downtown St. Joseph just a few blocks from Lake Michigan.  Like most of the other stores, you can watch the candy makers apply their craft in the window.  On the day we were there, one guy was making caramel apples an another was making fresh waffle cones.

The inside of the store smells so good.  Just past the candy making area are the cases of candy.  The first case has the fudge.  This shop didn’t have nearly as many options as the Traverse City shop, but still had two of three flavors I wanted.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Candy, Chains, Chocolate, Downtown, Michigan, St. Joseph

Pump House Grille

11 05 2009
  • 214 State Street
  • St. Joseph, MI 49085
  • (269) 983-0001
  • Website
  • Menu
The Pump House Grill in downtown St. Joseph

The Pump House Grille in downtown St. Joseph

J really wanted to do something with her mom for Mother’s Day.  Over the past couple months, there’s been a lot of traveling back and forth to Chicago for both us and our families.  Instead of her parents coming to Lansing or us driving to Chicago for the second week in a row, we decided to find a halfway point.  The Benton Harbor/St. Joseph area looked like a good meeting point, so the search was on to find a good place for Mother’s Day brunch.

After a quick Google search, I came up with two options.  Neither would take a reservation for less than six people, so we chose the one that opened first.  That one was the Pump House Grille on State Street in beautiful downtown St. Joseph.  State Street is a one-way cobblestone street that is lined with boutiques and restaurants.  It’s kind of touristy, but would still make a great shopping and dining district for the locals.  We actually drove by the restaurant on our first pass through downtown.  The buildings are all connecte and none of them have eye level signs that stick out from the building.  On the second pass down State Street, we noticed the building on the left side of the road.

Brunch started at 11:30 and we got there about 11:40.  Like I already mentioned, they wouldn’t take reservations and there must have been a line when the door opened.  By the time we got there, all the tables were full.  The host told us there would probably be a half hour wait since everyone just sat down to eat.  We took a buzzer and set up at the bar to wait.  The bartender told us we could eat there if we wanted to, but J and her mom couldn’t really reach the bar comfortably and it would have made eating uncomfortable.  Instead, we ordered drinks….just Pepsi’s since they couldn’t serve liquor until noon.  The half hour wait would give me time to step outside and call my mom to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Brunch, Downtown, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, St. Joseph

Dairy Queen – South Cedar

9 05 2009
  • 3906 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 882-0611
  • Website 
  • Menu
Dairy Queen on South Cedar in Lansing.

Dairy Queen on South Cedar in Lansing.

Usually when J and I discuss dinner plans, she doesn’t say anything that catches me off guard.  When I asked her what she wanted tonight, she answered “ice cream!”  OK, I like ice cream, but I haven’t actually wanted ice cream for dinner in twenty years.  I compromised…sorta.  Since we eventually decided to get a pizza from Marcos for dinner, I suggested we just pick it up then go to DQ and grab something for dessert.

I grew up with Dairy Queen.  Soft serve ice cream was actually invented in Kankakee, IL about twenty minutes from where my parents live.  The technology was then sold to two guys who opened the first Dairy Queen store in Joliet, IL where I went to college, so there’s always been a Dairy Queen close.  Just to give you an idea of how small of a town I grew up, the Dairy Queen near the Interstate was the only “fast food” restaurant within 20 miles, so we ate there often as kids.  They had the best crappy burgers and most of my friends had jobs there.  My mom even worked there part time after my brother and I were both old enough to go to school.  The saddest thing that happened to my town was when the DQ closed and moved five miles north to the next town over.  We couldn’t ride our bikes to get Blizzards anymore (good thing I had just turned 16 and got my license).

There are only two DQ in the City of Lansing.  There’s a DQ/Orange Julius at the Lansing Mall and there’s the ice cream stand on South Cedar Street.  The DQ’s I grew up with are now called Brazzier’s and they have a full menu.  The South Lansing location is a seasonal store that only sells DQ’s famous and often imitated soft serve ice cream. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Michigan

Marcos Pizza – South Cedar

9 05 2009
  • 4320 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 394-4444
  • Website
  • Menu
Marcos Pizza on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Marcos Pizza on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

How lucky am I?   I finally get a Saturday off and there’s a Saturday night NASCAR race.  What’s really sad is J has seen more NASCAR than I have this year and I actually had to ask her this morning where the race was at.  Since we both wanted to hang out on the couch and watch TV (the White Sox game was on WGN America, so we could flip back an forth), we decided to find a pizza place we hadn’t tried yet. 

I drive by the Marcos Pizza on South Cedar quite a bit and we’ve been seeing a lot of commercials lately, so I pulled up a menu online to see what they had to offer.  It looked like standard pizza fare to me, so I called in an order for a large cheese pizza.

We gave it about ten minutes then headed down Cedar to pick up the pizza.  The building only does carry-out.  It’s a stand alone building, but the kitchen takes up 3/4 of the space.  There are some cheap red chairs if you have to wait, but we timed it pretty well.  When I went in to get my pizza, everyone was pretty busy.  There were two people manning phones and two making pizzas.  One of the guys making the pizzas saw me standing there and came over to take care of me.  I paid the ten dollars and change, grabbed the box and headed home. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Lansing, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Starbucks Coffee – Okemos

9 05 2009
  • 3552 Meridian Crossings #500
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 381-8350
  • Website
  • Menu
Starbucks at Meridian Crossing in Okemos

Starbucks at Meridian Crossing in Okemos

To some people, there’s nothing like a warm coffee or tea on a cold rainy day.  I’m not one of those people.  I despise Starbucks.  The only time I ever go in one is with J.  She likes a couple of their drinks and today, she was wanting something warm and comforting.  Since there was a Starbucks right next to the State Side Deli where we ate lunch, she asked if I would stop in with her.

This Starbucks is located on the far end of the Meridian Crossings shopping center.  You can see it from Okemos Road and there is an entrance on both sides of the building.  With this business, it doesn’t matter which side you enter.  The counter is in the middle.  That’s only if you’re not lazy and actually go in.  There is a drive-thru on the side of the building and the line wrapped back into the parking lot.  I don’t do drive thrus and it was easier just to get out and go in the store.

There’s really not much there.  There are a few tables if you want to pay for wi-fi while you drink coffee and a few displays of coffee making products.  I’m guessing they do most of the business through the window.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Coffee, Michigan, Okemos, Reviews

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