Arby’s – Frandor

23 11 2009
  • 622 N. Homer Street
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 351-6340
  • Website
  • Menu

Call me lazy.  I’m not completely proud of the fact that I’ve now eaten two fast food meals in a row, but once again, I’m trying to make as much money as possible, so going cheap on the lunch is a necessary evil.  I would much rather eat like this alone and be able to spend a little more when I go out with J.

Work day number two in Lansing started around 1:30.  I didn’t eat before going to work because I knew our lunch break was going to be pretty soon after we got to the job site.  Once we were released around 2:45, I headed to Frandor because I wanted to look at Staples for something.  After that was complete, it was on to lunch.  Sure, I had a bunch of options in Frandor, but since I was going to eat fast food anyway, I decided to go to a place I really like.

The Arby’s near the Frandor Shopping Center is located on Homer Street.  Because Homer is a one way street, there is also a back entrance from Clippert Street which is where I was coming from.  The building sits pretty close to Homer.  There is a huge parking lot in back and a few slots on the sides.  I took one of the side spots

Eating alone at Arby’s must have been the thing to do.  There were a number of solo diners in the restaurant when I got there.  Like almost every other fast food chain, I have a predictable order.  I get the sandwich they used to call “The Big Montana.”  Now, it’s just a large roast beef.  I got the combo and made it a large.  That’s not something I usually do, but I didn’t know if or when I would get to eat again, so I needed to load up.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories : Chains, Fast Food, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

McDonald’s – W. Saginaw & Vermillion

23 11 2009
  • 7240 W. Saginaw Highway
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 323-2228
  • Website
  • Menu

My quest for cheap meals went on with one of the most obvious choices when it comes to dining on the cheap. 

My first day of work in East Lansing ended around 8:30.  I was exhausted and headed straight for my hotel.  As I was driving across town on I-496, I was trying to picture what I could grab quickly and eat in my  hotel room.  I was drawing blank, but I knew there were a couple options right there near the Red Roof Inn.

Like most cities, Lansing is littered with McDonald’s.  I chose the location on West Saginaw Highway and Vermillion Road in Delta Township for one reason.  It was close to where I was going. 

Being 9:00 at night on a Thursday meant I should be able to get in and get out in a hurry.  I’m not a drive thru fan.  In fact, I despise them.  Unless I absolutely have to, I never use them.  If J forces me to, she leans across the seat and yells into the speaker.  I guess I don’t speak clearly or something because I never have good luck.  I’d rather just take the extra few minutes and walk inside.  No one has ever died from getting out of their car for a hamburger. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Panera Bread – Okemos

26 10 2009
  • 4738 Central Park Drive
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 349-4425
  • Website
  • Menu

You’ll hear me say this a lot.  I’m not a breakfast person.  I don’t normally get out of bed earlier enough to eat breakfast.  It’s one of the nice things about being a freelancer.  I don’t work everyday.  That’s also one of the bad things about it. 

Anyway, in East Lansing.  This time, very early in the morning.  Work started at 6 AM on Sunday.  Fortunately, I still had keys to my Lansing apartment, so I was not making the drive at four in the morning.  That will happen a few times this fall/winter. 

Our lunch break came around nine o’clock.  Typically, I just go to McDonald’s for breakfast.  I like the bacon, egg, and sausage biscuit.  Add that to the fact that it’s cheap and quick.  When J could meet me, we’d actually go to a good, sit down place, but now that J’s in Kalamazoo, I’m on my own and there’s not a lot of quick breakfast choices.  There just aren’t many places that do a good breakfast sandwich. 

So, I’m heading down Grand River towards my usual McDonald’s stop when I hear a commercial for Panera Bread’s breakfast.  It sounds really good plus it will be something a little different.  Since I’m already on Grand River I keep going to the Panera in Okemos.

The Okemos Panera Bread is on Central Park Drive in a small strip mall on the corner with Grand River Avenue.  On a Sunday morning, it was the only place open, yet there were a lot of cars in the parking lot.  Seems like I wasn’t the only one that had this idea. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : breakfast, Chains, Michigan, Okemos, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Sonic Drive-In – Portage, MI

8 10 2009
  • 349 Romence Road
  • Portage, MI 49024
  • (269) 324-7777
  • Website
  • Menu
The Sonic Drive-In in Portage, MI

The Sonic Drive-In in Portage, MI

J and I have been in Kalamazoo all of a few hours and where do you think our first stop to eat was? We’re kind of moving in trips. My brother has helped me everytime I’ve had to move (and it’s been quite a few times) and he can’t get up here until Oct. 17. It’s not a huge deal because our apartment has a ridiculous break penalty (if there’s any legislators reading this, after you solve the budget, you should look into this…besides the two months rent, they’re charging us $20 A DAY for 60 days because we didn’t give them 60 days notice…re-f^%king-diculous..and not spelled out in the lease, so it comes out to 4 months rent) so we’ve got the Lansing apartment until the end of October.

We made the first of two trips with our cars loaded down. After unloading and doing some organizing, we realized it was after 3:00 and we hadn’t had a thing to eat all day.

It was no surprise to me where J wanted to go. I’m surprised I even asked. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, Michigan, portage, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Chick-fil-A – South Bend, IN

7 10 2009
  • 4555 S. Michigan Avenue
  • South Bend, IN 46614
  • (574) 968-0351
  • Website
  • Menu
Chick-fil-A on Michigan Street in South Bend, IN

Chick-fil-A on Michigan Avenue in South Bend, IN

Getting closer.  The final day of our honeymoon started awfully early in the morning.  We got up and got going because we wanted to go apartment hunting in Kalamazoo.  Since it was still a four hour drive from Indianapolis to Kalamazoo, we got on the road early. 

 

Around South Bend, we started getting hungry.  All week we had been saying we needed to top at a Chick-fil-A for lunch.   We hadn’t up until this point and South Bend was probably going to be our last chance.  J took out the GPS to see if there was one close and there just so happened to be one right near our next turn

Let me backtrack a little bit with the whole Chick-fil-A thing.  For whatever reason, a couple guys I used to work with loved the place.  There was one location in Bloomington, IL on the campus of Illinois State University in one of the resident hall dining rooms.  We had a recent college grad working with us who lived in Bloomington and periodically, she would treat the guys to Chick-fil-A.  I never got it.  It’s like Sonic to me.  It looked, smelled, and tasted like fast food. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Fast Food, Indiana, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, South Bend

Skyline Chili – W. 86th St., Indianapolis

7 10 2009
  • 3524 W. W. 86th Street
  • Indianapolis, IN 46268
  • (317) 872-2266
  • Website
  • Menu
Skyline Chili on W. 86th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Skyline Chili on W. 86th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Our trip was winding down and we needed one more hotel before making our way back to Mid-Michigan.  We initially planned on driving the whole way back to Lansing because I was supposed to work on Friday.  That got cancelled so we decided to break the nine-hour trip into two parts with a stop over in Indianapolis.

 

I really didn’t want to spend a lot on a hotel, so I did Priceline.  I said I wanted a hotel for $30 and someone took the offer.  It wasn’t a four star in downtown, but all we really needed was a place to sleep. 

As we were driving to our hotel, we passed a Skyline Chili.  Neither of us had ever eaten at one and the only reason I had ever heard of it is because of the Big ‘n Rich song Coming To Your City which has the lyric…

Well we blew through Cincinatti
And we all got really happy
Grabbed a bowl of that Skyline Chili along the way

Since our trip was essentially a country music/BBQ experience, it makes sense that we headed back for some chili.

Skyline Chili has six locations in the Greater Indianapolis area.  The one we chose was the location on West 86th Street on the northwest side of town.  It’s in a little strip mall just off Michigan Road with a number of other fast food and chain restaurants.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Fast Food, Indiana, Indianapolis, Restaurant, Reviews

Krystal – Pigeon Forge, TN

4 10 2009
  • 2041 Parkway
  • Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
  • (865) 908-3210
  • Website
  • Menu
Krystal on The Parkway in Pigeon Forge, TN

Krystal on The Parkway in Pigeon Forge, TN

For someone who likes to think I know a lot about food and restaurants, I felt a little ignorant the first time I saw a sign for Krystal.  J and I were driving through Sevierville, TN on the way to our cabin.  I knew it looked like fast food, but I had never heard of it.  J said she thought it was like a White Castle.  That was a turn off to me, but we also thought it would be fun to try something new. 

As we were leaving Pigeon Forge on Wednesday morning, J suggested stopping.  It was early and I was hungry.  We had a three hour drive to Nashville where we already had lunch plans, so getting a little something to eat wasn’t a bad idea. 

The Krystal in Pigeon Forge is right on the Parkway.  We pulled in probably a little after 9:00 and the place was empty.  In fact, we were wondering if it was even open.  There were maybe two cars in the lot, but it looked dark inside.  We pulled in and saw people moving.  I tried the door and it opened so we went in. 

Krystal is apparently a pretty large chain.  They were founded in 1932 in Chattanooga, TN.  One of the original owners actually visited White Castle restaurants and took notes.  Today, Krystal is commonly referred to as the White Castle of the South.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : breakfast, Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum – Corbin, KY

1 10 2009
  • 688 US Highway 25W
  • Corbin, KY 40701
  • (606) 528-2163
  • Website
  • Menu
Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum

Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum

Two chains in a row. I know what you’re thinking. And to make things worse…a KFC? Again, I know, BUT this isn’t just any KFC. It’s the original KFC. 

The Sanders Cafe & Museum is on US 25 West on the outskirts of Corbin, KY. It’s not in a highly developed area. It sits along a two lane road right next to a gas station. Ever since my first trip to the region in 2006, I’ve wanted to stop, but usually my travel companions aren’t as excited about it as I am. 

This time, I had J and I knew she would enjoy, so we pulled off the Interstate and followed the signs to chicken. 

From the outside, this place looks nothing like a KFC. If it wasn’t for the modern signs, it would be hard to even tell. Instead, it looks like the original cafe. The hotel and service station are long gone, but there is a lot left of the building that gave us Kentucky’s greatest gift.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Corbin, Fast Food, Kentucky, Restaurant, Reviews

Romano’s Macaroni Grill – Louisville, KY

1 10 2009
  • 401 S. Hurstbourne Parkway
  • Louisville, KY 40222
  • (502) 423-9220
  • Website
  • Menu
Romanos Macaroni Grill on Hurstbourne Parkway in Louisville, KY

Romano's Macaroni Grill on Hurstbourne Parkway in Louisville, KY

I’m just as surprised as you are to see a chain restaurant review on my honeymoon….but we had a really good reason.

We got to Louisville fairly late. After checking into the hotel, it was after 8:00 on a Sunday, so we knew there wasn’t going to be a lot of time to do any sort of exploring. We were also pretty far from downtown out on the east side of town.

On top of that, my mom had given us a gift card to Chili’s before we left. The company that owns Chili’s also Romano’s and neither of us had eaten at a Romano’s. To make things even better, we passed one on the way to the hotel.

Romano’s Macaroni Grill is on the east side of Louisville on Hurstbourne Parkway. It’s in an area with a lot of other chain restaurants and small shops.

We pulled up closer to 8:30 just hoping they were still serving. Neither J nor I knew what to expect because we had no idea what kind of restaurant we were walking in to. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Italian, Kentucky, Louisville, Restaurant, Reviews

Al’s Beef – Oak Lawn, IL

24 09 2009
  • 5128 W. 95th Street
  • Oak Lawn, IL 60435
  • (708) 422-2333
  • Website
  • Menu
Als Beef on 95th in Oak Lawn.

Al's Beef on 95th in Oak Lawn.

It only took a day and a half this time.  Operation Bridesmaid Pickup is in full swing and J, her mom, and the one out-of-town bridesmaid headed to the hotel to unload a bunch of stuff for this week.  I was left at the future in-laws house to shower and run a couple errands.  Of course, it was lunch time and of course, I wanted a beef. 

Al’s Beef is a Chicago legend.  They claim to be the inventors of the sandwich.  In recent years, they’ve expanded quite a bit around Chicagoland with franchise locations.  One of those franchises is in Oak Lawn not too far from where I was staying.

The Oak Lawn Al’s Beef is on 95th Street in a new strip mall in the downtown area.  It’s actually a dual store with Nancy’s Pizza.  The inside is missing the one major thing that makes Al’s Al’s.  The counter.  Actually, I was quite confused with the store. Not only did it have tables instead of stand up counters, but when I walked in the door, I had no clue where the order area was.  You can’t see it at all from the doorway.  There’s a wall that sort of leads you around to the counter, but I walked into the dining area before I finally saw where I was supposed to go.  I had to go back to the entrance and walk inside the wall to get to the cash register. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Illinois, Oak Lawn, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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