115 Albert AvenueAnother weekend, another trip back to East Lansing for work. Fortunately, we still have control of the apartment in Lansing, so I could bring an air mattress, the laptop, and a little TV and be comfortable for a couple days.
My weekend started early Saturday morning amongst the gloomy, rainy conditions. By the time lunch rolled around, I needed to get someplace warm.
I was working near the IM West Building at MSU which means there isn’t many options within walking distance. That’s my only complaint about the MSU campus. I work mainly at the athletic facilities and I can’t walk anywhere to get a sandwich, so I hopped in my truck and headed to Grand River Avenue where I found lunch.
Menna’s Joint in East Lansing is on Albert Avenue near Abbot Road just a block of Grand River Avenue. It took a long time to find parking. There isn’t much street parking in this part of downtown and the public lot across the street was full. I finally doubled back to the public lot near Dublin Square
The East Lansing location is the original location of this small, four shop chain. The other locations are in downtown Lansing, Mt. Pleasant and in Kalamazoo on Stadium Drive. The building holds two businesses with Menna’s on the right if you’re facing it.
The store is set up with the order counter and kitchen in the back. The front of the space is the dining room which doesn’t have many tables. The only other location I have been to is the downtown Lansing location which is decorated with waterfall features and brick elements. This Menna’s Joint doesn’t have any of that. It’s actually pretty plain.
The menu board is above the order counter and I was the only one in line, so I took a step back to see what exactly I wanted. I ordered the Blazer Dub without sour cream. Now if you’ve never heard of a Dub, you probably haven’t eaten at Menna’s Joint before. The “legend” is that the sandwich were named after the sound crew chief at Woodstock. His name was Menna. He created the sandwich and called it a Dub because the people of Woodstock called him “The Dub Mon”. Whether that’s true or not, I have no idea, but it makes for a good story.
Anyway, it took about five minutes for my dub to be grilled and handed to me. The cost was just a little over six bucks and I was out the store in less than ten minutes. I could have eaten there, but I took it to go. I didn’t add any sides or a drink because they have Coke products and I’m more of a Pepsi guy, so I just found a gas station somewhere.
When I got back to the job site, I dug in. Now, a dub isn’t just a typical sandwich. It’s actually a flour tortilla that is filled, rolled, and grilled. The best thing about the dub’s, no rice or beans filler. The Blazer dub is two chicken tenders that have been covered in hot sauce, jalapeno, banana peppers, and BBQ sauce. You think it was hot? Oh yeah. My mouth was on fire, but it was really good. The one dub was big enough to satisfy my hunger and keep me that way until dinner time.
I’ve only had two meals at Menna’s Joint, but both times, I’ve been really happy with them. I love that they really load up on the ingredients, but it’s not loaded up with rice. Every bite has a huge portion of filling. At some point, I’ll make way my over to the Kalamazoo location and I’m sure it’ll be another winner.
Blazer Dub
Mid-Michigan Dining 
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