The Courtside Cafe on Washington Street in Owosso.
J and I made a trip to Owosso to conduct a little business. It took a little longer than we expected and J had to be back in Lansing to get work. It was pushing noon by the time we were done and we wanted to grab lunch before heading home.
I did a little research and found a sandwich shop in downtown Owosso. Since we were heading back that way, I put the address in the GPS to get us back to where we needed to be. My hope was we could get in and get out pretty quickly because we were really pushing the time limit now.
The Courtside Cafe is in downtown Owosso on the corner of Main and Washington Streets. It’s a small corner building on a very busy intersection. We actually couldn’t even find parking near the building. We ended up having to park a block down and around the corner.
The Courtside Cafe is not what I expected. It’s actually a sit down restaurant with servers. I was just expecting a place to grab a sandwich from a counter. There was a lunch counter and that’s where J and I headed. We grabbed a server and asked if we could put in a carry-out order. She said she’d be right back which gave us time to look over the menu.
The food at the Courtside Cafe is what you expect from this kind of place. There are a number of sandwiches listed by number on the menu. There are some salads, soups, quesidila’s, and even some baked goods from Zingerman’s. No deep fryer which means no fries.
The Courtside Cafe in downtown Owosso.
We both ordered sandwiches. I got the #3 which is called the Black Forest. J got the #7 which is the Traverse City Wrap. I got a half sandwich while J got a whole wrap and a Coke. We waited ten minutes or so until a guy from the kitchen brought out a paper bag with our sandwiches in. At this point, I still hadn’t been given a bill. I supposed I could have just walked out, but I went to the cashier where our waitress yelled at another to ring us up. The bill was a little over $14.
We had to wait until we got home to eat. Neither of us were confident enough we could eat in the car without making a mess. The sandwiches were nicely packaged in plastic containers. When we got home, I found out there was a bag of chips and a pickle spear included with each meal.
The food. Not sure where to start here. My sandwich (Black Forest #3) came with smoked turkey, ham, shoestring potatoes, thick dijon vinaigrette, Swiss cheese, and mixed greens. The bread was a Grain Battard. I learned very quickly that “shoestring potatoes” means potato chips and thick dijon vinaigrette means mayo. I freakin hate mayo. I wouldn’t have ordered the sandwich if it had said mayo. I’m not sure what dijon vinaigrette has to do with mayo, but that’s what was on my sandwich. I ate it all because I just can’t let food go to waste, but I didn’t really enjoy it. The mayo taste overpowered everything.
The Black Forest Sandwich from the Courtside Cafe in Owosso.
J’s sandwich (Traverse City Wrap#7) started out ok. The wheat lawash is stuffed with grilled chicken, dried cherries, walnuts, spring lettuce, and Parmesan cheese. It’s then topped with a fat free raspberry vinaigrette. It sounds delicious and something that’s right up J’s alley. Since she was rushing to get to work on time when we got home, she grabbed her sandwich and headed out. She had some things to do and didn’t get to eat for about another forty five minutes. She was starving by the time she finally got to dig in. The first half was fine. I think she actually enjoyed it. When she got to the second half, she opened the wrap up to see what was inside. What she found didn’t belong there and the rest of the wrap went in the garbage very quickly. She was pretty grossed out. I chose Courtside because I thought it would be a better choice than a greasy burger and fries. J ended up having to go to the vending machine at work, so the greasy food would probably have been a better option.
Needless to say, we probably won’t be going back. My experience on it’s own is a really good reason, but what J found in her wrap definitely will be remembered should we ever go back to Owosso (and we probably will).
Mid-Michigan Dining 
eeewwww…I cringe just thinking what it was…
I think you should do a blog post requesting readers to submit their worst unexpected food ingredient(s)…
ok…don’t think extreme, someone was out to get her and put something in the wrap….think gross and unacceptable, but something that happens.
I live about 10 minutes from Owosso and I make my way over to eat at Courtside about once a week. I personally have never had a bad experience and they always have returning customers. I’m really sorry and surprised about your experience.
I have to admit…I am too. It doesn’t look like a sketchy place, but I was really turned off by the menu not matching the finished sandwich