Dagwood’s Tavern and Grill

28 09 2008
  • 2803 E. Kalamazoo St.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 374-0390
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Dagwoods Tavern and Grill on Kalamazoo St. in Lansing.

Dagwood's Tavern and Grill on Kalamazoo St. in Lansing.

There are so many places we drive by that I put on a mental checklist of places.  My memory isn’t always so good though.  Dagwood’s Tavern and Grill is one of those places I always think about when we’re driving on 127, but I never think of it when we’re debating where we should eat lunch at.

I was working at the Breslin Center Saturday afternoon.  J was had planned on meeting me for lunch at 3:30.  We got released for lunch break earlier, so I told her to meet me at The Roadhouse Pub.  I walked down there before she was able to get through town, but I found a dark, empty bar.  I had to come up with a plan b.  On my way to Breslin earlier that morning, I got off of 127 at Kalamazoo and again thought to myself, we should eat at Dagwood’s.  As I was walking back towards the arena, I finally remembered that little bar we’ve been wanting to try.

Dagwood’s is located on Kalamazoo St at the US 127 interchange.  It doesn’t look like much from the outside….just you’re neighborhood bar.  I’m much more comfortable in a place like that than I am in a bar where I’m trying to impress someone…..luckily, I don’t have to do that anymore…..good thing cause I was never good at it anyway.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Burgers, Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe

21 09 2008
  • 1601 W. Lake Lansing Road
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 337-4680
  • Website
  • Menu
Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe is East Lansing

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe is East Lansing

After two long days touring Northern and Western Michigan, we got home and just wanted to relax.  We unloaded the car then laid down on the couch and watched Michigan State beat Notre Dame while I blogged about our trip and J took a nap.  Not long after the game got over, J woke up and we started talking about dinner.  Neither one of us felt like cooking, but we neither of us really had a taste for anything either.  We talked about a few places, but one of us wasn’t interested in any of them.  Finally, I said, “What about Hall of Fame Cafe on Lake Lansing?”  We thought that may not be a good move since the game just got over, but we hopped in my truck to go give it a shot.

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe is part of a small chain of cafes located in college towns.  The other cafes are in Columbus, OH (Buckeye HOF Cafe), Huntington, WV (Marshall HOF Cafe), and Louisville, KY (Cardinal HOF Cafe).  The East Lansing location sits just off US 127 in East Lansing near the Eastwood Towne Centre.  There looked to be quite a few parking spaces left so we pulled in to see if we could get a table.  There were a few people waiting, but they must have been parts of groups.  We were met by a hostess and shown to a booth in the dining room right away. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Cafe, East Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Sports Bar

Black Rose Irish Pub

21 09 2008
  • 100 Ionia Ave. SW
  • Grand Rapids, MI 49503
  • (616) 456-7673
  • Website
  • Menu
Black Rose Irish Pub near Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids

Black Rose Irish Pub near Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids

After spending a whole bunch of time planning out meals and asking for suggestions, we threw that all out the window and decided to just wing it for lunch Saturday afternoon in downtown Grand Rapids.  I’m not sure what we were expecting, but we were kind of hoping for a little walkable shopping district.  We didn’t find it, but we did find a few restaurants near Van Andel Arena.  The circus was in town the day we were down there so all the parking lots only had event parking at $7.  We ended up driving around for another ten minutes looking for a meter.  We finally found one a few blocks away.

The Black Rose sits right across the street from arena on an old brick street in downtown Grand Rapids.  The building really sticks out.  It’s a nice corner building decorated in the typical Irish pub fashion.  When we stepped inside, we were met by a host who took us to the non-smoking section behind the bar.  The decor inside is, again, typical of an Irish pub.  There is a lot of dark woods, Guinness signs, and the such.  A waitress came over menus which were pretty thick.  We ordered drinks and looked over the menu.  It had been a few days since I had a burger, so that’s what I went with. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Burgers, Downtown, Grand Rapids, Irish Bar, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Malarky’s

20 09 2008
  • 3210 Deposit Dr NE
  • Grand Rapids, MI 49546
  • (616) 808-2956
  • Website
  • Menu
Malarkys at I-96 and Beltline in Grand Rapids

Malarky's at I-96 and Beltline in Grand Rapids

After an amazing day in Traverse City, we headed back to Grand Rapids for the night.  We couldn’t find a hotel under $100 up north,so we came back as far as Grand Rapids and found a Red Roof Inn for not even half that much.  After getting settled, we both got a little hungry, so we hoped in the car and started heading towards downtown.  First, we wanted to check out Fresh Market, but it was too late and they were closed.  That would have to wait until the next morning.  For some reason, our GPS took us the long way back to the Interstate and we ended up on Beltline Road.  Just before we got to I-96, we hit this bar that looked like a chain, but wasn’t a chain we had ever heard of.  I-96 West was closed at that interchange, so we had to drive around and come back.  On the way back, we just decided to give Malarkey’s a try.  Really, all we wanted was a drink and an appetizer, so why keep driving when there was a place right here.

Once we got inside, Malarky’s again looked like a chain.  The hostess station was right inside the door in it’s own little room.  Through a doorway to the right was the bar.  To the left was the dining room.  We made our way into the bar and found a pub table along the wall, so we sat down.  A waitress noticed us and came over for a drink order.  I got a 14 oz. Bud Light and J got a frozen daquiri.  the waitress came back with a 24 oz. Bud Light instead.  It was only $.50 more so I just took it and didn’t say anything.  She tried to walk away, but we stopped her to put in an order of nachos. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Reviews, Sports Bar

The Longbranch – Clifton, IL

8 09 2008
  • 2713 N. 1500 East Rd.
  • Clifton, IL 60927
  • (815) 694-9748
  • Website
  • Menu
The Longbranch in downtown LErable

The Longbranch in downtown L'Erable

I have to preface this by saying, I might be a little biased.  My mom has worked as a waitress at the Longbranch for many years and I eat there almost every time I go home.  My aunt is a hostess and my sister-in-law waits tables a few times a month as well.  The Longbranch is located in the middle of the country in an unincorporated section of Iroquois County locals call L’Erbale (pronounced La- Rab).  L’Erable is comprised of pretty much only a downtown.  There is one street that runs through this old French Canadian settlement that has a few houses, the tavern, and the oldest frame church in Illinois.  The tavern is an old building itself.  From the outside, it would seem this building has seen better days.  Once you get inside, you might still think that, but once you sit down and the waitress puts your food in front of you, you know you’ve found one of those hidden treasures that not everyone knows about.

The Longbranch serves a dual purpose.  During the day, the bar is open and they serve lunch Tuesday thru Saturday for farmers in the area.  There’s only a few tables out front and the space is pretty tight.  At night, the Longbranch only serves it’s full menu on Friday and Saturday night.  Wednesday is Taco night, the first Thursday of the month is smelt night and there’s been talk of adding a BBQ night during the week.  At first glance, you would think this is a small restaurant and you could walk in on a Friday night and be seated right away.  You’d be wrong.  Reservations are suggested for peak meal times both nights.  As amazing as it may seem, people still travel from all over the region and as far away as Chicago to eat dinner in this tiny community.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Big Ten Tour, Clifton, Illinois, Local Flavor, Restaurant, Reviews

Redamak’s Tavern

25 08 2008
  • 616 E. Buffalo St.
  • New Buffalo, MI 49117
  • (269) 469-4522
  • Website
  • Menu
Redamaks Tavern in New Buffalo, MI

Redamak's Tavern in New Buffalo, MI

I had heard about a little bar in New Buffalo that may have the best hamburgers in the state.  In fact, I read that in a book at Barnes and Noble.  I don’t remember the name of the book, but the premise was the best hamburgers in each state.  In Michigan, there was Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor (review HERE), Red Coat Tavern in Royal Oak (review HERE) another place I don’t remember and Redamak’s Tavern in New Buffalo.  For quite some time now, I’ve been wanting to stop at Redamak’s on our way home from Chicago.  After a three day weekend at my parents in Iroquois County, we finally got the chance, but not before a brief stop at Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets in Michigan City, IN.

We took a detour off of I-94 into Michigan City just because J had never been there and it had been years since I had.  We walked around, bought some candles at Yankee Candle and moved on.  Redamak’s is about 10 miles from Lighthouse Place and Blue Chip Casino.  Our GPS didn’t take us back to the Interstate, but instead took us on a two lane state highway through New Buffalo.  The tavern is located right on that busy highway.  We started turning into the parking lot and wondered if this was a good idea.  It was packed.   We went inside and again, had doubts about getting dinner.  There were quite a few people sitting down waiting to be seated.  We made our way up to the hostess stand and she asked the usual questions.  Smoking or non (damn Michigan) and then if we wanted to sit in the main dining room or the four seasons patio.  We said non-smoking preferably and we didn’t care.  Whichever would get us seated fastest.  To our surprise, she grabbed a couple menus right away and told us to follow.  We ended up sitting in the main dining room in a booth for two.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Burgers, Local Flavor, Michigan, New Buffalo, Restaurant, Reviews

Buffalo Barbeque Wings

18 08 2008
  • 1085 N. Wisner St.
  • Jackson, MI 49202
  • (517) 782-4344
  • Website
  • Menu
Buffalo Barbeque Wings in Jackson

Buffalo Barbeque Wings in Jackson

I first heard about Buffalo Barbeque Wings (yes, Barbeque, not Wild) a few months ago when the Jackson Citizen-Patriot ran a blurb about it’s opening.  I blogged about (here) and I have gotten hundreds of hits for that post.  When you type “Buffalo Barbecue (sic) Wings” in Google, that post is the first hit you get.  Seems there are a lot of people wanting to know more about this place but since they don’t have a website, they keep getting directed to my site.

My girlfriend and I were down in Brooklyn for the Sprint Cup race.  I was doing some work and we both had garage passes.  The concession stands in the pits suck and the media lunch was at noon, so by the time 6:00 rolled around, we were both starving.  As we were waiting for Carl Edwards to make his way to the conference room, J asked about dinner.  Since we were already going through Jackson, I asked her if she was up for some wings.  I figured if people are going to come to this blog looking for information, I might as well give it to them.

We avoided the mess on US 127 by staying on US 12 after leaving the track and cutting through the country on Jackson Rd.  We ended up only sitting in traffic for 20 minutes instead of the hour plus we did last time.  Since we took Jackson Rd, we ended up going all the way through town to get to where we were going.  That’s not necessary on a normal day.  We found on the way home Buffalo Barbecue Wings is less than a mile from I-94 and US 127.  We found the shop in a strip mall.  There was just a sign that marked the spot.  Had we not been looking for it, it would have been easy to miss.  It’s behind Biggby and that’s how I knew to start looking.  I saw the Biggby and turned into the parking lot.  After a quick scan of the storefronts, we found Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Chicken, Jackson, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sports Bar, Wings

Reno’s West Sports Bar & Pizzeria

3 08 2008
  • 5001 W. Saginaw Hwy.
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 321-0616
  • No Known Website
  • Menu (from East Lansing Location)
Renos West Sports Bar and Pizzeria on W. Saginaw Hwy in Lansing

Reno's West Sports Bar and Pizzeria on W. Saginaw Hwy in Lansing

What a day!  Everything we tried to do just didn’t want to work out.  The day started off with us getting up super early (for us) to get tickets to Barack Obama’s speech on Monday.  We made it to Gone Wired Cafe at about 8:30 and the line was four blocks long.  We jumped in line thinking, “The Lansing Center holds 5,000 people, I bet there’s not more than a couple thousand in line.”  According to the LSJ, they only gave out 1,000 tickets, so by about the time we got within one block of the front door, they ran out of tickets.  Not a big deal to me, being from Illinois, I covered Obama’s Senate run, have interviewed the Senator many times, and worked for the campaign at his Presidential Announcement in Springfield, IL on the steps of the Old Capitol…oh yeah, and I’m a Republican and probably won’t be voting for him.  My girlfriend, on the other hand, was working in a different state during that election and has never seen Obama speak live, so I was hoping to get tickets so she could see him.  Didn’t work out.

After we left Gone Wired, we figured since we just blew two hours, we’d get some breakfast.  I’ve read on Runs With Spatula about Soup to Nuts Bistro more than once.  We headed back to Kalamazoo Street only to find Soup to Nutz closed on Saturdays.  Two strikes against us and it’s not even 11:00.

Since we were at that odd time of not quite breakfast, not quite lunch, we headed out to the Lansing Mall to do some shopping for a wedding next week in Chicago.  We finally caught a break.  My girlfriend found a great dress at 60% off.  After walking around the mall, we’re both starving.  We’ve drove by Reno’s West a few times and since it was close, we headed back down Saginaw.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Lansing, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Sports Bar

Olde Peninsula Brew Pub

20 07 2008
  • 200 E. Michigan Ave.
  • Kalamazoo, MI 49007
  • (269) 343-2739
  • Website
  • Menu
The sign for Olde Peninsula Brew Pub in downtown Kalamazoo

The sign for Olde Peninsula Brew Pub in downtown Kalamazoo

After a weekend in Chicago, I had to drop my girlfriend off in Kalamazoo for work.  Before we parted ways for the afternoon, we thought it’d be nice to check out what Kalamazoo has to offer in terms of restaurants.  I saw a recommendation for Olde Peninsula on chow.com, so that’s what I went looking for.

Olde Peninsula is located on the corner of Michigan and Portage in what used to be known as the Big Corner.  The first brew pub opened on St. Patrick’s day in 1896.  The current incarnation opened after the 1980 tornado that almost destroyed the building.  We walked into the building and found the hostess station near the door as an extension of the bar.  The building is divided into two dining rooms.  The smoking section also has the bar.  The distillers are visible through a glass wall opposite the bar.  The non-smoking section is divided by a wall that serves as the bar’s back wall.  We were seated in a booth which was on a raised platform on this back wall.

The waitress came over for drinks and we stopped her from leaving to place our order right away.  While there were several options that looked good, we were both in the mood for our usual sandwiches.  I went with the Olde Smokey burger.  The 1/2 lb burger was topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and a bbq sauce.  The sandwich is served with a side of beer-battered fries.  The sandwich was big.  I had a hard time getting it in my mouth.  The bacon was nice and crispy and the burger was just slightly pink which lended itself to a good flavor.  I didn’t really notice the bbq sauce until the last couple bites where it had soaked into the bun.  The fries were interesting.  Beer-batterd fries aren’t usually my favorite, but the breading was not overpowering which made these better than normal. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Brew Pub, Burgers, Downtown, Kalamazoo, Local Flavor, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews

Mr. B’s Rustic Tavern

5 07 2008
  • 101 W. Grand Ave
  • Howell, MI 48843
  • (517) 548-5500
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Mr. B\'s Rustic Tavern

Mr. B's Rustic Tavern - View from across Grand River Ave.

We came to the corner of Grand River and Michigan Ave. and there was this old building with a neon sign that wrapped around the building that said “Mr. B’s Rustic Tavern.”  There were tables outside that were full which is usually a good sign.  We found street parking about a block away then walked back.  Since the outside tables were full, we had to sit inside which really wasn’t a bad thing.  The inside of the tavern is divided into smoking and non-smoking with the bar in the smoking area.  Of course, the little half wall that divides the two areas does nothing to stop the smoke.  They certaintly didn’t falsely advertise with the name of the place.  The whole inside does have that rustic feel.  The floor is old, creaky hardwood and the walls and support beams look like had seen better days.  It gave a really neat, unique feel to the place.  Along one wall was a row of pictures depicting the history of downtown.  Along the ceiling beams were orange neon tube lights.  There were booths along with walls with tables filling the rest of the space.  Near the back of the space was another room with video games.  Plasma TV’s were hung over the bar and in the smoking section of the dining room. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Downtown, Howell, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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