Mid-Michigan Dining

• 625 E. Michigan Avenue
• Lansing, MI 48912
• (517) 977-9079
• No Known Website
• Menu

RG's Ballpark Dogs & More on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

I go to a lot of Lugnuts games and almost every game I go to, I walk right by a little Mexican/hot dog place on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Pere Marquette Street.  Sometimes, the restaurant is open, but most of the time, it’s not.  It seems like every time I walk by, I’m low on cash so I’ve never been able to stop in for a quick meal. 

I was downtown this afternoon for the Lugnuts Summer Family Fun day game.  When I walked by before the game, the store was open.  I didn’t eat at the park figuring I would take my chance and see if they were open when the game was over. 

After a dramatic ninth inning, two out comeback that fell just short, I started walking back towards my truck.  The door to the restaurant was open and there was one other person in.  The special board caught my eye, so I made a quick turn to see what this little corner shop was hiding.

RG’s Ballpark Dogs & More is about a block from Oldsmobile Park on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Pere Marquette right across the street from Clara’s.  I have no idea what the hours are or even if they have regular hours.  I’ve tried to see if they were posted somewhere on the window or door, but there’s nothing. 

The shop is very tiny.  When they are open, the front door is usually propped open.  When you enter the store, you have to take a step up to get to the order counter.  There is enough room for two small tables in the space next to the counter, but that’s about it.  On nice days, they pull at least one of these tables outside to the sidewalk which makes more sense. 

There’s a small hallway on the right side of the counter.  The menu board is hanging on the wall in this space and farther down is a fountain Coke machine.  The special board is a dry erase board on a wall behind the counter to the left.  To the right of the cash register is a roller machine that is filled with hot dogs and sausages. 

The menu is a little weird.   It’s mostly Mexican, but they also have hot dogs and briskets as well as a few dinner items, but I’ve never actually seen them open for “dinner.”  I don’t know if they serve those all day or what, but there is a dinner section on the menu.

RG's Ballpark Dogs & More in downtown Lansing near Oldsmobile Park.

I wasn’t looking to spend much money and one of the specials for the day was $0.99 beef tacos.  I like tacos so I ordered three.  I just assumed they would be hard shells, but the guy taking the order asked if I wanted flour or corn tortilla.  I was caught off guard, so I had to think a minute.  I said flour, but I meant corn.  I hate it when my brain doesn’t work. 

I paid the man a little over three bucks and he went back into the kitchen to make my tacos.  I didn’t figure it would take that long, but I felt like I stood there for quite a while.  The tacos were made fresh and they were warm.  I got them to go and they were wrapped in aluminum foil.  When I got home, after a stop at Meijer, the tacos were still pretty warm. 

There was nothing that you would expect in a taco.  They were six inch tortillas filled with meat, cheese, and lettuce.  They weren’t huge, but again, they were a buck a piece.  I have nothing bad to say about such a cheap meal.  It was pretty late in the day and I was actually starting to get dinner ready as I was eating these, so I wasn’t looking to fill up.  Had I been eating lunch, I probably would have added an order of fries or jalapeno poppers, but as a nice little snack, three tacos was perfect. 

RG’s Ballpark Dogs & More didn’t really do anything that stood out to me, but you’d think they’d make a killing on game days.  There’s not much as far as restaurants go in front of Oldsmobile Park and quite a few people walk down Michigan Avenue to park.  It’d be nice if they had a little more regular schedule and maybe even stayed open late on weekends to fill that post-game need.   I’m not sure I would go out of my way to eat there again, but since I’m in the area pretty regularly anyway, it would be a good place to stop.