Mayfair Bar

7 06 2008
  • 1585 Lake Lansing Rd.Mayfair Bar
  • Haslett, MI 48840
  • (517) 339-3880
  • Website
  • No Menu Online

I had to run some errands in the Okemos area one Saturday and had been looking forward to trying Mark’s Watershed.  Unfortunately, when we got out there, Mark’s looked closed and no one answered when we called.  I kept going down Lake Lansing to turn around and saw a brick building with a sign outside that said Mayfair Bar.  We figured what the heck.  The sign had a hamburger on it, so they must serve food.  We parked in front and ventured inside the dark bar.

When I say dark, I mean dark.  It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust.  My girlfriend just grabbed my arm and told me to find a table because she couldn’t see anything.  The bar is set-up into two rooms with a bar in the middle.  We found a booth near the bar and right on the dance floor.  There was just one waitress/bartender working the whole room.  She noticed us right away and came over with menus.  There’s not a whole lot of options.  Some hamburgers, appetizers, and sandwiches.  Some of the appetizers looked really good.  Fried ravioli.  Fried mac ‘n cheese wedges.  Some really unique options for a bar like this. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Burgers, Haslett, Local Flavor, Reviews, Sandwiches

Kelly’s Downtown

31 05 2008
  • 203 S. Washington Sq.Kelly's Downtown
  • Lansing, MI 48933
  • (517) 484-5007
  • Website
  • Menu

My girlfriend and I were checking out the city courtesy of the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitor’s Bureau “Be a Tourist in Your Own Town” (which is an incredible event and I would definately recommend you check it out next year.)  Around lunch time, we made it downtown and decided to hit up Washington Square for lunch.  At first, we stopped into Tavern on the Square, but the menu kind of sucked.  There were no sandwiches and it was pretty expensive.  We were just looking for a quick lunch so we could keep touring the town.

Across the street sat Kelly’s.  So we got up and left Tavern on the Square and crossed the street.  There was a patio outside, but we chose to go inside and found a table near the front of the shop.  There’s a huge bar in the middle of the space with seating all the way around.  We sat down and waited five to ten minutes for the lone waitress/bartender to even acknowledge us.  She yelled across the bar to get our drink orders then a bus boy actually brought them out.  After a few more minutes, she yelled across the bar to take our order as well.

My girlfriend got Kelly’s Thatsa Wrap which is listed as vegetarian, but offers options to add grilled chicken which she did.  The wrap comes standard with tomatos, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and mushrooms inside a flour tortilla.  Besides the chicken, she got ranch on the side and added fries to her order.  She seemed to really like the wrap and had some fries left over for me.  She said the cucumbers were a good addition changing the texture and the flavor of what you usually expect in a wrap like this.

I got the Bear Burger.  It was a 1/3 lb sirloin burger with crumbled bleu cheese and bacon.  The burger was obviously a frozen patty.  It was really greasy.  I picked the sandwich up and it was wet.  At first, I was afraid it wasn’t done.  There was a puddle of grease on the bottom that I almost mistook for blood.  I bit into it anyway and it was done, but it was really greasy.  Fortunately, the bleu cheese covered most of that up.  I did a double check just to make sure there was bacon on there.  It kind of got lost in all the wetness.

After the initial delay in getting to us, the waitress did a much better job.  Our drinks never got empty and she got the check to us pretty quickly.  For the two of us, it was about $20, but we ended up spending more time in the restaurant than we really wanted to.  Really it was only about forty minutes, so it’s not terrible and normally I wouldn’t complain.  I’ve read a lot of good reveiws about this place, but it didn’t do anything for me.  My burger wasn’t very good and places like this I usually expect more.  I just haven’t had much luck with the downtown restaurants yet.  I’m still looking for that place near the Capitol that is worth getting in the car and paying parking for.   Kelly’s would probably be a great night spot, but for lunch, it just didn’t do anything for me.


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Categories : Burgers, Dive Bar, Irish Bar, Lansing, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Jon’s Country Burgers

28 05 2008
  • 3109 S. Cedar St.Jon's Country Burger
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-1627
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

I’ve driven by Jon’s Country Burgers quite a few times on my way to some other restaurant downtown and always wondered, “What the heck is a country burger?”  Well, I found Jon’s menu on-line and answered that question.  It’s “two patties of fresh ground meat, melted cheese, pickle, lettuce, and salad dressing on a toasted bun.”  OK, so that really doesn’t sound appetizing to me (it’s the salad dressing part), but I needed a place to eat a quick dinner one night because I didn’t feel like cooking.

I picked my girlfriend up from work and we headed down Cedar to Jon’s which was obviously a drive-in back in the day.  There’s still an awning for curbside service, but there’s also a dining room…which USED to actually be the drive-in.  It looks like they just put up four walls and added some furniture.  You can still see the wall that used to be the exterior wall.  The door to “go inside” is still there and the waitresses use still use the small counter to pick up orders behind the glass wall.

Jon's Country BurgerJon’s was a little confusing for us first-timers.  When we walked in, we really didn’t know what to do.  A waitress came out and said to just find a seat so we did.  We pulled out the menus on the table and began to look them over.  A different waitress came over with water and told us when we were ready to order to just pick up the phone.  Yes, there are phones at every table that connect you right to the kitchen.  That’s how you place your order.  The waitress doesn’t take it. 

After a few minutes of looking over the menu, my girlfriend picked up the phone and placed our order.  She got the chicken stips which came with an order of fries.  They were the standard deep fried chicken strips, but they were soft and moist.  She got honey mustard on the side and asked for a couple sides of barbecue sauce as well.  The five strips and out of the bag fries were more than enough for her. 

I got the Bacon Burger with Cheese basket.  My sandwich came with fries and applesauce which I passed over to my g/f.  They also brought out a shaker of cinnamon to the table for the applesauce.  My burger was, again, your standard drive-in burger.  There were two strips of crispy bacon a slice of cheese on a juicy burger.  It’s the kind of meal that just begs for me to oversalt the fries then wipe the plate with the burger just to make it a little more salty.  I’m not sure why, but it’s one of those wierd things that I’ve just been doing forever with cheap burgers.

I finished my burger and fries long before my girlfriend did.  I really didn’t feel like there was a whole lot there.  Either that or I was really hungry.  The waitress came and took my plate while my girlfriend finished then seemed to forget about us.   I don’t want to be too tough on her because she was in training and she was a little timid it seemed like.  My g/f finished her meal then we sat there for 10-15 minutes waiting for a check.  The waitress finally came over and asked if we needed anything else and we ended up just asking for the check just to make sure we got it then.  She went back into the kitchen area and came out a few minutes later.  The total for the two of us was $20.  Stupid me, I thought I had a $20 in my wallet, but to my surprise when I opened my wallet, there was only $10.  I felt a little stupid having to ask my girlfriend to spot me $10, but she did and I’ll make it up to her with lunch tomorrow.

Jon’s is a really unique place.  The ordering system is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  It lets you talk directly to the cook, so you take the middle man out and make sure you get exactly what you order.  Some of the other things were a little wierd.  The waitresses uniforms looked too much like nurses uniforms and they were always carrying around trays which really made things feel more like a hospital than a restaurant.  The food was classic comfort food which met, but didn’t exceed my expectations.  It’s another one of those places I’m glad we went to just because of the uniqueness of the building and the expeience, but not sure if we’ll go back.  It probably wasn’t a good thing that on our first trip there we had a waitress in training since we didn’t really know how things worked.  It was almost so confusing that it really took away from the dining experience.


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

Wendy’s – S. Lansing

26 05 2008
  • 6620 S. Cedar St.Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburegers
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 394-1341
  • Website
  • Menu

I know…Wendy’s is fast food.  What the heck am I doing stopping at Wendy’s.  I have a good excuse…really.  I had family come in to town for the Memorial Day weekend.  They drove four hours straight not wanting to stop for lunch, so when they got here, everyone was really hungry.  Since there’s a Wendy’s right around the corner, I suggested we stop there for a quick lunch before heading out to the malls.

It has actually been a really long time since I have eaten at a Wendy’s.  We used to go all the time for the salad bar (which I’m pretty sure they don’t do anymore) and Frosty’s (which they’ve upgraded..more later).  I remember Wendy’s as being super greasy burgers.  The last time I remember eating at a Wendy’s (about four years ago), the grease had soaked through the wrapper almost making the wrapper clear.  It was good, but it was messy and I know I probably knocked at least six hours off my life by eating that burger.

The Wendy’s on South Cedar Street has been undergoing some renovations recently.  I drive by it almost everyday and I’m never sure if it’s open as there is always work trucks there.  My girlfriend says she sees people inside at night when she comes home from work.  The interior clean and obviously new and the facade has been upgraded to the newer style Wendy’s getting away from the glass dining rooms near the front.

There were seven of us that needed lunch and we were putting it all on one order.   I got the Baconator combo.  Two fresh cooked burger patties, cheese and a mound of bacon were piled on the bun.  Unlike most burger places, Wendy’s does square burgers instead of round and to my surprise, this burger is NOT how I remembered Wendy’s burgers.  It wasn’t super greasy and it was really quite delicious.  They definately didn’t skimp on the bacon either.  The combo comes with fries and a drink.  The fries are just your average fast food fries and were a little on the salty side, but good. 

Pretty much everyone else I was with got some kind of burger as well. My aunt got a baked potato  which is what she gets quite often.  I’m not sure which one she got but ther are three options..sour cream and chives, bacon and cheese, and brocoli and cheese.  My dad and brother both got Frosty’s instead of drinks with their meals.  My brother just got the original chocolate Frosty.  It’s a little bit thicker than a milkshake, but made with real milk.  It’s kind of a cross between soft serve and a milkshake.  You still need a spoon, but it’s thinned out just a little.  My dad got one of the new Frosty shakes.  I’m guessing he got the Chocolate Fudge Frosty Shake.  They take the original Frosty and add a little fudge to it for a handspun Frosty shake.

While fast food is never my first option, I was really happy with Wendy’s food this time.  It wasn’t a greasy mess which is what I was afraid it was going to be.  It’s nice that it’s so close and it’s nice to know that there is a decent option if I’m ever hungry and just not in the mood to sit down in a restaurant for a meal.


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Categories : Burgers, Fast Food, Lansing, Reviews

Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger – Ann Arbor

25 05 2008
  • 551 S. Division StBlimpy Burger
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  • (734) 663-4590
  • Website
  • Menu

Not only is Blimpy Burger the oldest burger joint in Ann Arbor, it’s also one of the most famous places in town.  The humble little shop on the corner of Packard and Division Sts. is voted best burger year after year by a variety of publications and they’ve even been featured on Food Network’s Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dives which somehow I missed. 

I was in Ann Arbor the Big Ten Baseball Championships and needed to find lunch before crew call at U of M.  I had heard of Blimpy Burger and thought it would make a good lunch.  Apparently, half of Ann Arbor thought that too.  The line weaved around the tables inside and right to the door.  The building is small. There’s only room for a handful of tables that line two walls and a couple free stand tables next to the counter.  The service is described as cafeteria style.  You actually walk up to a counter where the cook asks you what you want and he cooks it right there in front of you.

Ordering is a tradition in itself at Blimpy Burger and something I thought was going to be really intimidating.  On their website, they give you instructions for ordering and those same instructions are posted in the restaurants.  For the most part, they’re just to keep the line moving.  It starts out simple.   Everyone who’s ordering must order themselves.  You can’t just send Mom up to get food for everyone.  Your first stop in the process is the deep frier.  A fry cook asks if you want anything deep fried.  Your choices are fries (which are steak fries) or vegetables like onion rings or mushrooms.

After you get your fried food, you make your way to the grill.  The cooks actually put on quite a show and this part can be fun to watch.  The cook will first ask what you want.  Adults have to get at least a double and they go all the way to quints (that’s five burger patties) and beyond.  All the meat is fresh.  What they do is take a disher and make little balls out of fresh beef.  The cook puts those balls on the grill then slams them down into patties.  He had probably five or six orders going at one time with all of them being at least triples.  The patties aren’t huge.  Once slamed down, they’re pretty thin, so a triple isn’t as huge as you’d think.

After the cook asks what you want, the next question is “Do you want any grilled items.”  By this, he means bacon, onions, etc.  Don’t say cheese.  Cheese isn’t grilled.  The guy in front of me made that mistake.  I didn’t want anything, so he moved on to buns.  The regular bun comes standard, but they also have choices of onion or Kaiser rolls for an additional charge.  As the burgers are just about done, the cook turns around again and asks if you want cheese.  They have five choices.  I went with cheddar although the bleu cheese option was there.  The burgers cook a little longer then they are passed on to the cashier who finishes the burgers off with condiments.  There’s even a correct way to handle this process.  Wet condiments first then everything else.  I passed altogether as I just wanted to taste the burger.  The cook appreciated that.  He turned around and said most people don’t do that, but they really should.

It took me about a half hour to get through line.  I elected to take my burger to go since the place was packed, but quite a few people were grabbing trays to stay.  Once I got to my destination, I chowed down.  The burger was delicious.  Blimpy Burger is NOT all hype.  They really do have good food.  The triple was about the size of a double most places.  The cheese was melted into the burger and the burgers were so moist they were just falling apart.  I actually had a hard time finishing the burger and fries which almost never happens.  I just got the small order of fries and with the sandwich, the total was just over six dollars.

Blimpy Burger is an absolute must in Ann Arbor.  Make sure you have plenty of time as I imagine it’s always busy like it was the day I was in there.  This place lived up to the hype as a classic burger joint.  Their slogan is “cheaper than food”…..they could also add “better than food” 


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Categories : Ann Arbor, Big Ten Tour, Burgers, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Dalmation Firehouse Grill

21 05 2008
  • 1107 S. Washington Ave.Dalmation Firehouse Grill
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 485-7877
  • No Known Website
  • No Menu Online

I got an e-mail from a reader over the weekend that suggested I try the Dalmation Firehouse Grill on my quest for the perfect burger.  Lance, the reader, called Dalmation’s burgers the “best in Lansing” and “amazing.”  With an endoresment like that, how could I pass?

Dalmation Firehouse Grill is located in REO Town next to the Cadillac Club.  It’s a small diner with a lunch counter and only six tables.  We stopped in for lunch on a Wednesday afternoon and the place was about half full.  The waitress came over for drink orders while we looked over the menu.  They’re only open for breakfast and lunch.  They switch over to the lunch menu at 11 am.  The waitress came back with our Pepsi’s and we were ready to order.

My girlfriend went with the BLT.  The sandwich came piled with bacon, lettuce and a few slices of tomato on white toast with a light spreading of mayo.  The lunch baskets came with fries, a pickle spear and a brownie bite.  While her sandwich was filling, her complaint was the same as mine on the burger.  The bacon was really chewey and not very crispy.  A couple hours later, she said her stomach was rumbling.  She really prefers her bacon way overdone and crispy.  The structure of the sandwich was great as you really got a lot for your money and had the bacon been a little crispier, this would have been the perfect BLT.  The bread was buttered when it was toasted and she said that gave the sandwich even more flavor.  The fries were the out of the bag type and they mixed shoestring and crinkle cut fries for some reason.  They were crispy and cooked perfectly.  The brownie bite was a great addition to the meal for desert.  It wasn’t very big, but the flavor was huge.  It was very gooey, fudgy, and even had chocolate chips in it.

Since the burger was the reason we chose Dalmation Firehouse for lunch, that’s what I had to get.  They had a few different kinds of burgers on their menu, but I chose the bacon cheeseburger.  I finally got what I was looking for in flavor of the meat.  It was a classic diner burger.  It was juicy and cooked perfectly on the flattop.  The cheese was melted almost into the burger and it was topped with a ton of bacon.  Like I stated early, the bacon was really chewey.  The flavor of it was good, but it was hard to eat.  After biting into the sandwich, I had to rip the bacon with my teeth.  I really liked that they put an extra effort into the bun.  It wasn’t just the usual seasame seed bun.  This bun was soft and flaky.  They buttered the bottom of it then toasted it on the grill as well.  It makes for an extra layer of flavor that most places skip on.

The Dalmation Firehouse Grill is truly a neighborhood diner.  The small space makes it cozy and the staff seemed to know most of the people in there at the time.  A couple of the waitresses were sitting at the counter talking to a customer and our waitress was carrying on a conversation with two soldiers who were sitting behind us.  The grill is out in the open so you can watch you meal being cooked.  Thank you, Lance, for the recommendation.  I’m not sure I would have found this place on my own.  Is it the best burger in Lansing?  Well, it’s probably the best I had so far.  The individual components of the burger have by far been the best.  The bacon knocks off a lot of points, but the meat, cheese, and bun combo was incredibly tasty. 


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Categories : Burgers, Diner, Downtown, Lansing, Local Flavor, REO Town, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Merry Ann’s Diner (Campus Location)- Champaign, IL

19 05 2008
  • 1510 S. Neil St.Merry Ann's
  • Champaign, IL 61820
  • (217) 352-5399
  • No Known Website
  • Menu (downtown Location)

So here’s the first of my reviews of dining in Big Ten communities (well, second if you count The Fleetwood Diner in Ann Arbor).  I was in Champaign for the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship.  When I lived in Peoria, I would end up in Champaign quite often for work.  When we had an early call time, I would pretty much always be put up in the Hilton Garden Inn on Neil St.  From the hotel, I always saw this little diner called Merry Ann’s.  For the most part, I needed to get to bed and didn’t have time to grab a bite to eat, so I kept passing this place up.  Not this time.

I spent the weekend in town and I got off work at a fairly early time on Saturday.  I had eaten nothing but cold meat sandwiches supplied by University Dining Services for two days, so I needed something good and greasy.  I walked across Neil to get to Merry Ann’s.  There were only a couple guys sitting in a booth when I got there, so I grabbed a spot at the bar.  The set up is pretty interesting.  There is only one row of booths and the bar.  All the booths have a cut-out area on the kitchen side so the waitress never has to go out to the dining area.  Merry Ann’s is your typical 24-hour diner and the menu is too.  It’s filled with breakfast items, greasy burgers and they even have some after midnight “hangover” specials. 

The waitress brought me a Pepsi and asked if I needed a menu.  I glanced over it and right away, one thing jumped out.  The Horseshoe!  If you don’t know what a horsehoe is, check out my post on unique regional foods.  This is what I really miss about Central Illinois.  The flat top was right in front of me, so I was able to watch the cook grill the burger, fry the fries, toast the bread, and squeeze the cheese on.  I actually got quite a bit more than I expected.  The fries came piled on and the burger was a pretty good size.  The cheese, for being squeezed out of a bottle, was just what I wanted.  I devoured the “sandwich” in just a few minutes.  The waitress was actually a little surprised I finished so quickly, but I was really hungry. 

My bill was a little over $7, so with tip, I got out of there for ten bucks.  Merry Ann’s is a great asset to the University of Illinois’ campus.  Diner’s are getting rarer and Merry Ann’s has been there for 25 years this year.  I’ve drove by there on my way to Memorial Stadium on Saturday mornings and the place is usually pretty busy.  If your in town, hunt this place down…it’s on Neil and Kirby and two blocks from Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium.


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Categories : 24-Hour Diner, Big Ten Tour, Burgers, Champaign, Champaign/Urbana, Diner, Illinois, Restaurant, Reviews

Bonnie’s Place

14 05 2008
  • 415 E. Saginaw St.Bonnie's Place
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 372-1559
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

After winning practically every category in the Lansing City Pulse Best of…., I figured it was time to give Bonnie’s Place a try.  We had passed the quaint little bar on Saginaw a few times as we were trying to find our way to Old Town through the construction plagued streets of downtown Lansing.  Bonnie’s sits on the corner of Saginaw and Cedar Sts. just off of downtown.  We pulled into the parking lot on a pretty rainy day in Mid-Michigan and found a spot right up front.  We got there about one o’clock.  The lunch rush was just finishing up.  We were shown to a table in the non-smoking section of the bar….but I really don’t think it mattered.  The inside of Bonnie’s is pretty tiny.  There’s a bar on one side and on the other side of a half wall are two rows of booths.  My girlfriend described the dining room part of Bonnie’s as a little diner. 

The waitress came back for drink orders and we were ready to order.  Since Bonnie’s had been voted “Best Burger” I had to try the burger.  I got the Bonnie Burger.  A 1/2 lb burger was topped with 1/4 lb of shaved ham, Swiss and American cheese.  The sandwich was served in a plastic basket with a pickle spear and an order of fresh cut fries came in another basket.  Now remember, these burgers were voted best in Lansing.  My burger was huge.  The ham added a salty layer to the sandwich.  Could I call it the best burger in Lansing?  Well, that depends on the criteria for best burger.  The extra’s on the burge were unique and creative.  The actual burger patty wasn’t anything to write home about.  The sandwich as a whole was definately the best burger I’ve had since moving to Lansing, but like every other burger I’ve had, the meat didn’t stand out on it’s own.

Bonnie's PlaceMy girlfriend got the Buffalo Chicken Wrap.  The tortilla for the wrap was the really interesting thing about this sandwich.  It looked like it may have been toasted after the wrap was put together…almost pressed.  The wrap came filled with spicy buffalo chicken pieces, lettuce, tomatos, and a mayo.  The wrap only came with a pickle spear on the side, so she got an order of fries as well.  The spicyness was definately there.  On the car ride home, she was still talking about the heat.  Half of the sandwich is sitting in our fridge right now so she has lunch tomorrow.  The size of the wrap was overwhelming and more than enough for one meal.  Usually, she’ll pick most of the tomatos out of a wrap like this, but with this one, I only noticed a few pieces on her plate so the wrap must have been put together real well.

The fries were also voted best in Lansing.  We both had an order with our meal and I think we both agreed they were good.  She said many times that the fries were good.  With fresh cut fries, she feels most places under cook them.  Not the case with these fries.  They were golden brown and crispy.  I felt they needed a little something to make them the best in town.  I’ve been to a few places that have served fresh cut fries and they were all about the same.  Some kind of unique season was needed to make them stand out.

As an overall review, I loved Bonnie’s.  The small atmosphere was comfortable and the menu offered some unique, interesting items.  I would definately call Bonnie’s the best when it comes to burger combinations.  I would say they may even have the best overall burgers when you consider the condiments and add-ons.  The actual burger patty is nothing special though.  It’s the kind of place that I would love to take my parents.  The food is comforting and not so far out there that they’d be afraid to try something new.  Bonnie’s is absolutely a recommendation for dining out in Lansing.


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Categories : Burgers, Lansing, Local Flavor, Pub, Reviews

Dusty’s Tap Room

11 05 2008
  • 1839 W. Grand River Ave.Dusty's Tap Room
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 349-5150
  • Website
  • Menu

Dusty’s Tap Room is part of a larger Dusty’s Cellar complex.  My girlfriend’s parents were in town one weekend and we wanted to go to Meridian Mall to go to Caruso’s (reviews HERE).  After a 3 1/2 hour drive, they were hungry, so we needed a place for lunch first.  I did a search for restaurants in Okemos and Dusty’s came up.  Just another reason why restaurantuers need to have a website.

The Tap Room is located in a strip mall just down from Dusty’s Cellar.  The Tap Room is a really comfortable bar with high pub tables, low lighting, dark wood and of course TV’s in front of the bar.  There was one other guy in there with his two daughters when we stopped in.  We took a table near the back of the bar.  The waiter came over with menu and to get drinks.  The menu was a lot of sandwiches, wraps, salads, and hot dogs.  Our waiter, Joel, came back with drinks, but didn’t ask if we were ready to order.  He just dropped them of and left.

So, five mintues later, Joel comes back and we order.  My girlfriend ordered the smoked turkey pretzel sandwich and her mom got the Dusty’s chicken sandwich.  They cut each sandwich in half and gave it to the other.  The smoked turkety pretzel sandwich is turkey, bacon, and provolone on a pretzel roll.  It came with a side of honey mustard and your choice of fries.  All four of us ordered the beer battered fries which good and salty.  You could really taste the sea salt…that’s not a bad thing..it’s not like iodized salt which is overpowering when you get too much of it.  Back to the sandwich, the pretzel roll is the reason she ordered the sandwich and it didn’t disappoint.  The grilled chicken sandwich came with a mixture of spinach, sun-dried tomatos, and a garlich-herb cheese spread on top of a pretty good size chicken breast. Both ladies liked both sandwiches, but I think the pretzel roll won.

Myself and my girlfriends step dad went pretty boring and got the Classic Burger.  I really wanted a Black and Bleu burger, but they mix the bleu cheese with a black olive mayo and that didn’t really sound appetizing, so I backed off.  The burger is a 1/2 angus burger.  I got mine with cheddar…her stepdad got it without cheese.  The burger comes on a square seasme seed bun.  I had mine cooked medium  which left it juicy and just a little pink in the middle.  It was good, but it was just a burger.

It took Joel a long time again to come back to refill drinks and quite a while to come back with the check.  We sat there for a while with empty plates waiting for the bill. Once it finally did come, the total for four people was about $45. 

After we ate lunch, we decided to walk down to Dusty’s Cellar.  There’s another restaurant there…a little more fancier and an upscale grocery store with wine, a deli, baked goods, and some gourmet items.  They even had my girlfriends favorite salsa which we can’t find anywhere (Sable and Rosenfeld’s).  The Tap Room has a great ambience and pretty good food.  The whole complex is a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon.  There’s private dining on top of the two dining rooms and at the Wine Cellar, there’s an outdoor patio.  I don’t know if we would try the Tap Room again as it doesn’t really stand out, but I am looking forward to trying lunch at the Cellar.  It was good and the experience is good. I would recommend it to someone looking for a place in Okemos…just not sure if I’d go back.


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Categories : Burgers, Local Flavor, Michigan, Okemos, Pub, Reviews

Joe’s Gizzard City

7 05 2008
  • 120 W. Main St.Joe's Gizzard City
  • Potterville, MI 48876
  • (517) 645-2120
  • Website
  • Menu

So, I’m sitting at home on a Monday afternoon surfing the Internet while watching the Porn channel for fat people….otherwise known as Food Network.  My favorite show Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dives was on.  I wasn’t really paying attention, but my ears perked up when I heard the word “Michigan”  Guy Fieri was at a place called Joe’s Gizzard City somewhere in Michigan.  I kept watching to see if I could catch the name of the town.  They showed a shot of a kid wearing a Michigan State football jersey and I knew it had to be close.  Turns out, Joe’s Gizzard City is in Potterville….about 15 minutes from my place in South Lansing.

My girlfriend and I got up early one morning to do some shopping.  When it came time for lunch, we figured, what the heck….let’s go find Potterville.  We put the address in her Garmin and headed west.  We found Joe’s in the business district of Potterville.  That sounds impressive, but the business district is probably two blocks long.  There were a lot of cars parked in front of Joe’s, but we were able to find a spot.  The inside is definately a dive….and I love dives.  There are two small dining rooms.  One of them is the bar area then there’s a back dining room which is a little larger and has a pool table plus an autographed picture from Guy Fieri.  The room is dimly lit and covered with Potterville signs and memorabilia.  The tables are kind of cramed in there.  We took a table for two that kind of sits between the two dining rooms.  The bar area was full and we weren’t sure if we should go to the back dining room.  The table was small and butted up against a wall, but it kind of added to the charm.

Joe's Gizzard CityThe menu is fantastic.  Joe’s signature dish is obviously the gizzards which are deep fried in their signature batter.  Gizzards just don’t sound good to me, so we went with something else.  I’m going to describe out meals seperately, but in reality, we both ordered something different then gave the other half so we could try more of the menu.  I’m going to start with my girlfriend’s order this time because it’s such an interesting idea.

Joe’s already had deep fried hamburgers on the menu before Guy’s visit.  Guy took it one step further and fried the whole sandwich….bread and all.  Joe’s put the burger on the menu and called it The Triple D Burger.  I’m going to explain this again because if you’re like me, your reading this and shaking your head thinking that can’t be right.  They take their cheeseburger and prepare it like they normally would.  The hamburger patty is cooked then put on the bun with pickles, onions, tomatos and ketchup.  Then they take the whole thing and dip it in their signature batter and deep fry the entire burger.  When the waitress delivered the plate, there was a knife sticking out the top of a golden brown shell that you knew contained the burger.  The thing was huge.  My girlfriend cut it in half and at that point, you can see the layers.  The burger is entombed in the fried batter.  We both took a bite and our eyes just rolled in to the back of our heads.  This burger was “money” (as Guy would say).  She described the batter as sweet and kind of like a dessert batter.  I loved the crunch of the batter and the juiciness of the burger.  I didn’t really want the fixins and I was still able to peel back the bun and crust to get them out and it made for a delicious and very unique offering.  The batter added an incredible contrast to what you normally think of when you get a burger.  The sandwich was also served with fries, but surprisngly, they were nothing spectacular.  Just the regular out of the bag fries, but the sandwich was so good and so big, the fries are really an after thought on the plate…you really don’t even think about them.

I ordered the quarter chicken plate.  The meal came with two pieces of chicken, fries and coleslaw.  They use Joe's Gizzard Citythe same batter for their fried chicken instead of a bread crumb coating, so the crust of the chicken smooth and thin.  Like everything else at Joe’s, the chicken has it’s own uniqueness.  They actually start by boiling the chicken before frying.  The boiling leaves the meat moist and prevents the batter from burning before the chicken is done.  Like the Triple D Burger, the batter on the chicken added a whole range of flavors and textures you don’t normally expect. 

We couldn’t pass up dessert even though both of us were stuffed.  I introduced my girlfriend to deep fried desserts at the Illinois State Fair soon after we started dating.  We went to see Sugarland and Joe Nichols at the grandstand, but made it there early so we could walk around the midway.  There, we found deep fried Snickers, deep fried Twinkies, deep fried pickles, deep fried…etc., etc.  Joe’s had some of those same goodies on their menu.  We went with deep fried oreos for dessert.  Again, same batter they’ve used for everything else.  You get five Oreos to an order and they come sprinkled with powdered sugar.  My girlfriend compared them to corn fritters she used to get at Brown’s Chicken, but chocolatey and better.  The heat actually softened the cookie to take the bite out of them.  I expected a crunch when I bit in, but it wasn’t there.  The cookies were soft and really, really good.  Even feeling like I was about to explode, I couldn’t pass up these cookies.

The waitress seemed a little frazzled.  She was working the bar and the dining room by herself.  It took a while to get drink refills and to take plates away.  She was doing her best, but they probably could have used one more person.  With all that food, our bill was $22 plus tip.  It took a little over an hour to eat, but I did order fried chicken.  I am sooooo glad I happened to have DDD on that day or I probably never would have found Joe’s.  I have friends and family that will love this place.  Joe’s isn’t a fine dining establishment….it’s better.  It’s a dive bar in a small town with incredible and unique food.


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Categories : Burgers, Deep Fried Food, Dive Bar, Local Flavor, Michigan, Potterville, Reviews

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