Whole Foods Market – Willowbrook, IL

2 05 2009
  • 201 63rd Street
  • Willowbrook, IL 60527
  • (630) 655-5000
  • Website
The Whole Foods Market on 63rd Street in Willowbrook, IL

The Whole Foods Market on 63rd Street in Willowbrook, IL

When you’re within a couple miles of a Whole Foods Market, you have to go.  Right?  That’s the case with us anyway.  We were in Willowbrook for lunch at The Chicken Basket and J said there was a Whole Foods right down the street.  It’s the store where she was first introduced to the store we’ve come to lovingly call Whole Paycheck (thanks Amy).  When we lived in Peoria, J would make the drive to her parents house quite often.  On those trips, she and her mom would run to Whole Food and stock up on pre cut fruits, veggies, and those delicious pre-made salad.

Whole Foods has a number of markets in the Chicago area.  The Willowbrook location is on 63rd Street right off of Kingery Highway (IL-83).  We actually drove by it the first time because J thought it was visible from Kingery, but we found out pretty quickly, it’s not.

The store is a stand alone and the parking lot is really tight.  Whole Foods is definitely not your typical mega mart with concrete parking lots as far as the eye can see.  There’s plenty of parking, but it’s not spread out and there’s not a lot of empty spaces.

The Willowbrook Whole Foods sets the standard for J.  She compares every Whole Foods we go in to to this one.  I actually thought the store was cramped compared to the two Ann Arbor stores, but she thinks there’s more room.  The theme of the weekend was Cinco De Mayo and there were a number of sample tables throughout the store.  It’s too bad we just came from lunch because we really could have eaten our way through. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Illinois, Reviews, willowbrook

Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket – Willowbrook, IL

2 05 2009
  • 645 Joliet Road
  • Willowbrook, IL 60527
  • (630) 325-0780
  • Website
  • Menu
Dell Rheas Chicken Basket on old Route 66 in Willowbrook, IL

Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket on old Route 66 in Willowbrook, IL

Yup.  We hit another Chicago area Diner’s, Drive-In’s, and Dive’s place.  J and I are back in Chicago for another weekend trip.  We have tickets to a show in Hammond, IN tonight which isn’t far from her parents house.  Her mom and step-dad had a prior commitment during the day, so J and I were on our own for lunch.  I had been wanting to check out another place we saw on Triple D that was only about 20 minutes from her parents.  After they left for the morning, J and I got going and headed to Willowbrook for lunch.

Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket has been on Joliet Road in Willowbrook for almost 70 years.  Of course, in the early days, Joliet Road was Route 66.  A lot has changed since then.  Interstate 55 is in Dell Rhea’s backyard and the old Mother Road is hidden behind an office park. In fact, J is very familiar with this area.  Her high school speech team used to stay at a Holiday Inn down the road and her grandma was in an area nursing home for a few years yet she had never seen our destination.

It’s not really hard to find and there are signs from IL-83 for the out of towners like us.  The building is a classic Route 66 icon.  There’s a big neon sign out front and the decor hasn’t aged in fifty years.  Parking is a little wierd.  The spots out front are spots that are perpendicular with the building, so you take a sharp 90 degree turn off the road into a spot crossing a lane of traffic in the process. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicken, Illinois, Local Flavor, Reviews, Sandwiches, willowbrook

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill

1 05 2009
  • 2005 E. Michigan Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 482-6376
  • Website
  • Menu
The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill on Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill on Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

Have I mentioned that I love when J e-mails me from work and says she’s hungry for greasy bar food?  Man, I love that!  I was not in the cooking mood again as we were packing up for a trip back to Chicago.  For J’s birthday, I got her and her family tickets to see comedian Joel McHale at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN.  We were going to see McHale in Detroit back in January, but I had to work.  Since Hammond is about 15 miles from her parents south suburban home, I made up for missing the January show with four tickets to this show.

I’m starting to run out of ideas for greasy bar food, so I started looking at menus on Allmenus.com.  One of the places that came up that I never really thought about was The Green Door.  I ran it by J and she thought we would have enough time on her dinner break.

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill is on Michigan Avenue at Clemens Avenue.  If you can find street parking along Michigan Avenue, there is a front door, but there’s also a City of Lansing lot behind the building.  If you park in back, there’s a door that leads right in to the bar on the backside of the building.

We parked in back and trekked through the alley which, like most of the streets in Lansing, has seen better days.  When we got inside, we were faced with a choice.  The Green Door is set up for live music which is really the main draw.  There are some tables in front of the stage, but there are also some higher pub tables on the other side of the room.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Lansing, Live Entertainment, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Mama Bear’s – A Conscious Cafe

30 04 2009
  • 1224 Turner Street
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 485-6262
  • Website
  • Menu
Mama Bears - A Conscious Cafe in Old Town

Mama Bear's - A Conscious Cafe in Old Town

It’s the end of the month again which means J and I head to Delta Township to get her hair cut.  While she’s doing that, I drive around town, run errands, and of course, scout out new places to eat.  In City Pulse’s Top of the Town Awards, I noticed a cafe in Old Town that racked up a few awards.  I couldn’t find much other than a Myspace page on the place, but it sounded good to me.

Mama Bear’s Cafe is on Turner Street in Old Town half a block off of Grand River Avenue.  I drove by the building four times trying to find it.  It’s a big grey building with a black awning.  There is a logo on the awning, but it’s hard to see from the street.  I did finally find it and after I picked J up, headed back to Old Town for lunch.

We parked on the street a few doors down from the cafe and walked back.  The cafe is pretty small, but very cute.  The order counter is near the front.  The dining room are heavy wood tables which are scattered throughout the space.  Next to the counter on either side is a pastry case with all sorts of goodies including some that are vegan. 

We stopped in closer to 1:30 which would have been after the lunch rush.  The lady working told us they had a pretty busy lunch and they were out of a few things.  There was no turkey left and they didn’t have everything to make the creole wrap which I think is the menu item J was looking at.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Cafe, Lansing, Michigan, Old Town, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Handy’s Food Market

30 04 2009
  • 424 W. Willow Street
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 482-1156
  • No Known Website
Handys Food Market on Willow Street in Lansing.

Handy's Food Market on Willow Street in Lansing.

Handy’s Food Market is on Willow Street at the corner of Chestnutt.  It’s a really small building with just a little bit of street parking.  There were already three or four cars parked out front, so I had to go down the street a little ways to find a spot. 

Like I already mentioned, there isn’t a lot of room in the store.  There’s one shelf that runs through the middle of the store and divides the space in to two.  With the aisles that are left, there’s not enough room for two people to pass by comfortably. 

I found the spice section I was looking for, but again, couldn’t find what I was looking for.  I found whole ancho chile’s, but no powder.  Before I left, I also noticed some hanging above the counter, but still, no ancho chile powder. 

I didn’t look around too much, but the rest of the store was filled with staples of the Mexican pantry.  There was also a case up front that had some prepared food that looks like it just needed to be heated up again.  I didn’t ask questions and there wasn’t a whole lot of room to move. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Mexican, Michigan

“I Love This Bar” Coming to Auburn Hills

29 04 2009

Yes, I’m a country music fan.  Yes, I’m a Toby Keith fan despite the fact he’s a closet liberal.  I’ve never been to Vegas or any of the other cities where one of his restaurants are, but I’m sure we’ll make a trip to Auburn Hills once “I Love This Bar” opens at Great Lakes Crossing.

Country music singer-songwriter Toby Keith will open a 650-seat restaurant and entertainment center called I LoveThis Bar & Grill at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills late this year, mall marketing director Melissa Morang announced today.

[snip]

The casual menu includes many of the home-style Southern dishes the ex-oil field worker from Oklahoma callshis favorites: pulled-pork sandwiches, chicken-fried steak, Honky Tonk meatloaf, Freedom Fries and fried-bologna sandwiches — a signature dish, along with Southern-fried Twinkies.


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Categories : Auburn Hills, Food News, Michigan

Speaker Dillon Wants Movement on Smoking Ban

29 04 2009

Got this statement from House Speaker Andy Dillon today.

“As I’ve said before, we want to move the smoking ban before summer. I trust my Chairman will move the smoking ban when it is ready.”

OK


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Categories : Michigan, Politics

Pepsi Throwback Now In Mid-Michigan

27 04 2009

When my dad showed up at my apartment this weekend, he had a surprise for me.  Before leaving, he found bottles of Pepsi and Mt. Dew Throwback..   I heard some time ago that Pepsi was going to do a limited run of the two with natural sugar to give drinkers a taste of what the product was pre 1980’s.

I hadn’t seen the bottles around here yet, so I was really excited to try them.  He brought two bottles of each and offered me one of them.  I tried the Pepsi first.  Man, was it good.  So much crisper.  I have been buying glass bottles of Pepsi manufactured for the Mexican market at Tony’s Party Store and American International Bulk Foods.  Those bottles are made with cane sugar, so the taste of the Pepsi Throwback wasn’t something totally new to me.  Still, it was nice to get it in a 20 oz. plastic bottle.  My dad, who doesn’t really like Pepsi, really likes the Throwback.  He says it doesn’t have the aftertaste that regular Pepsi does.

The Mt. Dew took a little while to grow on both of us.  At first, I thought it tasted water down, but that was because it didn’t have the aftertaste that the HFCS version does.  The only chance you have to savor the drink is as it’s passing through.  It doesn’t stick around.  After I started drinking a whole bottle, it really started to grow on me.  My dad, who only drinks Mt. Dew, said the same thing.  At first, it wasn’t great, but the taste grew and now he’s only drinking the Throwback.

Unfortunately, the Pepsi Throwback is only set for a limited run.  Sales are supposed to halt on June 13 then only the HFCS that we all know and are forced to love will be the only choice.

This morning, my dad wanted one for the road, so we ran over to Meijer on Pennsylvania to see if they had them.  I hadn’t seen them yet in Mid-Michigan, but I haven’t been looking either.  I figured Meijer would have them if anyone would and I needed a few other things anyway.  We found a 12 pack of cans in the pop aisle, but no bottles.  As we went to check out, we found a cooler full of 20 oz. singles.  He got a Mt. Dew for the drive back to Illinois and I got a Pepsi just because I love Pepsi.  Every place my dad has found them they have been sold for $.99.  Meijer had them at full price…$1.39 plus deposit.  Still, I’ve only got a month and a half to enjoy the true taste of Pepsi.  I hope it goes over well and Pepsico changes their mind about the limited run.


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The Henry Ford Museum

27 04 2009
  • 20900 Oakwood Blvd.
  • Dearborn, MI 48124
  • (313) 982-6001
  • Website
The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan

The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan

I’m weird when it comes to museum’s.  I don’t know why, but I like them.  When my eighth grade class took a class trip to Washington DC, I was really mad we didn’t go to the history museum at the Smithsonian.  The only place we went was the Air and Space Museum which was great, but not my thing.

My parents came to town and we needed something to do.  Like I explained in an earlier post, our plan was to go to Canada to gamble, but they forgot theirbirth certificates.  As we were walking through Target Saturday night, I asked J what the heck we were going to do to entertain them the next day.  She mentioned the RE Olds Museum in Lansing and that eventually led to The Henry Ford in Dearborn.   I still want to take my dad to the Olds Museum, but that’s something we can do another time. 

The Henry Ford is a huge complex in Dearborn that consist of a museum, IMAX theater, the Rouge factory tour and the 90 acre Greenfield Village.  That’s just the attractions open to the public.  There is also a research center, the Ford convention center and probably more things I don’t know about.  The complex is located on Oakwood Boulevard just a mile or so off Southfield Freeway.

We entered the complex off Oakwood Boulevard.  At first, the whole thing is a little confusing.  It looks like a college campus and it’s not really marked all that well.  We knew we were looking to go to the museum and we never saw a sign or anything that really showed where it was.  We spotted the IMAX and the Greenfield Village.  I figured we could just park and start walking around.  It had to be in between the two.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Dearborn, Entertainment Venues, Michigan, Reviews

Sweetie-Licious Wins Grand Prize

27 04 2009

I saw this little tidbit on Sweetie-Licious’ Facebook page.

THE BEST POSSIBLE NEWS! Linda won the $5,000 grand prize at the National Pie Championship in Florida. Her winning pie was Tom’s Cherry Cherry Berry Pie. Be sure to stop into the shop an congratulate her! Way to go Linda!!!!!

Congrats on the win!  Still haven’t made it to DeWitt, but hope to soon.  J got a pie from them at last spring’s Capitol Farmer’s Market and loved it.


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Categories : Dewitt, Food News

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