The A & W Restaurant on East Oakland Avenue in Lansing.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I still haven’t figured out the fascination with Sonic Drive-In’s. J, on the other hand, loves the place. Mostly because of their Limeade. While watching TV the other night, we saw a commercial for A & W and they were promoting their new Fruit Flavored Limeades. The commercial caught her attention and the next chance we got, we headed to A & W.
There are two A & W Restaurant in Lansing. One is on West Saginaw Highway. The other is on East Oakland. We chose the Oakland store because it was the one I knew. The A & W is at the corner of East Oakland Avenue and North Cedar Street. Like many businesses in the area right now, their parking lot is only accessible from one street because of the CSO project.
As we were pulling up to the stoplight at Cedar Street, I had serious doubts that they were open. It was lunch time, but there was only one car in the parking lot. It looked desserted. As I pulled into the parking, there was a car that drove around to the drive thru window so we knew they were open.
We were wanting to eat in the store because our next stop was grocery shopping. It wouldn’t make sense to take our meals with it. The inside of the store is tiny. Very, very tiny. There’s an order counter that only has one register and almost no counter space. There are less than ten tables jammed into the small space…most of which are two tops.
The menu is pretty basic and they don’t even have all their options listed on the menu board above the counter. The cuisine is typical fast food/drive in. I wasn’t in the mood for a burger, but the chicken strips seemed like a good choice instead. J and I both ordered the chicken strip combo basket which came with fries. I got a Pepsi with my sandwich, J got a cherry Limeade.
One of two A & W Restaurants in Lansing.
We paid the twelve bucks or so then sat down. The lady working said she’d bring our order out to us. We chose one of the few booths and waited not much more than five minutes. The chicken was typical fast food chicken strips. We each got three pieces of chicken and a bag of fries. For some reason, neither of us where super hungry, but I ate my portion and half of J’s chicken strips. It was good, but typical fast food stuff. Nothing fancy or even unique. It was good food and served it’s purpose.
I’m sure you’re wondering about the Limeade’s. J really liked it. She it was very similar to Sonic’s. The only thing that makes Sonic’s better is the ice they use. A & W used the same ice they would use in a soft drink while Sonic uses shaved ice which almost make a slurpee type drink. A & W’s was smoother more like a pop,but she said the flavor was pretty spot on and she’ll be back for the Limeade’s since Sonic still hasn’t built a store here in Lansing. It’s not a replacement for Sonic, but it’s still a pretty good choice if your a Limeade fan.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
The other A&W on Saginaw is out in Grand Ledge, so was probably a bit further out than you would have been looking to drive.
Someday when you are feeling food-adventurous you need to try the lime- & lemonaide at Pablo’s Panaderia in Old Town…The taste is similar, but is frothy and refreshing…
Food is great Service is Horrible! Some worker called me a black bitch after she messed up my order (didn’t give a large size as ordered) then forced me to charge .53 cents on my credit card. Guess they don’t realize it will cost them more to process it!
once again, Horrible and racist service. Never going there again!