A & W Restaurant – E. Oakland Ave.

28 07 2009
  • 427 E. Oakland Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 485-3950
  • Website
  • Menu
The A & W Restaurant on East Oakland Avenue in Lansing.

The A & W Restaurant on East Oakland Avenue in Lansing.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I still haven’t figured out the fascination with Sonic Drive-In’s.  J, on the other hand, loves the place.  Mostly because of their Limeade.  While watching TV the other night, we saw a commercial for A & W and they were promoting their new Fruit Flavored Limeades.  The commercial caught her attention and the next chance we got, we headed to A & W.

There are two A & W Restaurant in Lansing.  One is on West Saginaw Highway.  The other is on East Oakland.  We chose the Oakland store because it was the one I knew.  The A & W is at the corner of East Oakland Avenue and North Cedar Street.  Like many businesses in the area right now, their parking lot is only accessible from one street because of the CSO project. 

As we were pulling up to the stoplight at Cedar Street, I had serious doubts that they were open.  It was lunch time, but there was only one car in the parking lot.  It looked desserted.  As I pulled into the parking, there was a car that drove around to the drive thru window so we knew they were open. 

We were wanting to eat in the store because our next stop was grocery shopping.  It wouldn’t make sense to take our meals with it.  The inside of the store is tiny.  Very, very tiny.  There’s an order counter that only has one register and almost no counter space.  There are less than ten tables jammed into the small space…most of which are two tops.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

McAlister’s Deli – Okemos

15 07 2009
  • 4760 Marsh Road
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 381-3100
  • Website
  • Menu
McAlisters Deli on Marsh Road in Okemos

McAlister's Deli on Marsh Road in Okemos

It’s not very often that J and I make appointments for the early afternoon, but today, we had something to do in Okemos around one o’clock.  Our appointment wasn’t going to take long, so we decided we could squeeze lunch in after what we needed to do and before she needed to go to work.

Since we didn’t have a whole lot of time, I asked the question, bar food or deli.  She chose deli which narrowed the choices to Panera or McAlister’s.  Since I’ve only eaten at a McAlister’s once and she never had, I chose the latter. 

McAlister’s Deli is a chain of restaurants founded in the late nineties in Oxford, Mississippi.  There are three locations in the Lansing area.  Since we were in Okemos, we went to the Marsh Road location which is near the intersection with Grand River Avenue in a small strip mall. 

When we walked in, J’s first thought it was a sit down restaurant, but the aisle from the door leads you right to the order counter.  The decor is made to resemble the original restaurant which was in a gas station.  The lighting is pretty dark and the tables are sectioned off with dark wood dividers Read the rest of this entry »


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

Honeybaked Ham Cafe – Lansing

9 07 2009
  • 5601 W. Saginaw Highway
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 327-5008
  • Website
  • Menu
The Honeybaked Ham Company and Cafe on W. Saginaw Highway in Lansing.

The Honeybaked Ham Company and Cafe on W. Saginaw Highway in Lansing.

Merry Christmas!  Yes, I know it’s July, but J and I finally cashed in her Christmas present from work.  We were out in Delta Township with a number of errands to run.  Before we left the house, I suggested we finally use the $50 gift certificate from Honeybaked Ham for lunch.  I think we both almost forgot about it and since it’s good until next Christmas, we just kept putting it off.  My family is coming to town this weekend, so picking up some extra lunch meat sounded like a good idea.

The Honeybaked Ham Company and Cafe is in one of the many little strip malls across the street from the Lansing Mall on West Saginaw Highway.  I have had the boxed lunches from Honeybaked Ham before, but I’ve never been in a store.  J said her mom used to stop and pick up a whole ham, but she hadn’t eaten lunch there either. 

The store is pretty small with an order counter, a couple tables, and some displays of gourmet pantry items.  The menu board is above the coolers behind the counter.  Since we had a gift certificate, we had to spend the whole thing.  The plan was to get lunch for both of us today and get some sliced meat to take home for the weekend.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Cafe, Chains, Deli, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Quality Dairy – W. Saginaw Hwy & Migaldi Ln.

9 07 2009
  • 8512 W. Saginaw Highway
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 622-1533
  • Website
Quality Dairy on W. Saginaw Highway in Delta Township

Quality Dairy on W. Saginaw Highway in Delta Township

It’s been another five weeks, so while J was at the salon, I was running errands.  For once, I actually had a lot that I needed to do.  I’ve been putting off a lot just so I could keep busy.  My route today was Walmart, Game Stop, Cartridge World, Target, Meijer then off to lunch.  After my first two stops, I started to get thirsty.  It was 12:30 and I had yet to have my morning Pepsi.  As I was leaving the Walmart area, I remembered there was a QD just down the street so I took a left instead of a right and went to get my Pepsi.

This Quality Dairy is on West Saginaw Highway west of I-69.  It’s near the Art Van on that side of the road across from where Menard’s and Walmart are.  This store is one of the Quality Dairy’s that have a gas station out front. 

The parking lot is pretty large and I just took a spot kind of far away.  While it’s a huge area, the gas pumps are jammed up against the building, so there’s not much room to maneuver after leaving the pumps.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan

Subway – Saginaw & Creyts

6 07 2009
  • 6334 W. Saginaw Highway, Suite G
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 323-2003
  • Website
  • Menu
Subway on West Saginaw Highway and Creyts Road in Delta Township

Subway on West Saginaw Highway and Creyts Road in Delta Township

Last summer, our Horrocks/Walmart trip was a weekly event.  So far this year, we’ve been pretty bad about getting out to Delta Township.  Over the winter, we’ve preferred the produce at Meijer, but with local stuff starting to come in season, we wanted to make the effort to get out to Horrocks. 

After I got home from the Lugnuts game on Sunday, I asked J if she wanted to make the run.  We needed some groceries anyway, so why not.  I hadn’t eaten all day and was starving, but neither of us really wanted to do to the sit down restaurant thing.  We hoped in the car and just started driving.  I knew there was enough out that way that we could find something.  On the trip though, I came up with Subway.  It’s always a fairly cheap, good meal….and most of the time, it’s pretty quick.

We chose the Subway on the corner of Saginaw Highway and Creyts Road in Delta Township mostly because it was the first one we came across after getting off the highway.  The store sits in a little strip mall that I guess you coule say is “anchored” by a Baryames Cleaners. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Arby’s – E. Oakland Avenue

28 06 2009
  • 500 E. Oakland Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 487-5154
  • Website
  • Menu
Arbys on East Oakland Avenue in Lansing.

Arby's on East Oakland Avenue in Lansing.

In the last year, Arby’s has drastically changed their menu.  They’ve added the Roastburger, Fajita Flatbread Melts, and Toasted Subs.  Usually when places make that many changes in a short time, the old formula isn’t working.  Still, there’s nothing I like better than an Arby’s roast beef and when I saw the 5 for $5 campaign had been brought back, I started looking for a reason to stop for lunch.

I was on my way to Oldsmobile Park for a Sunday afternoon baseball game.  First, I needed to grab something quick and cheap for lunch.  I drove by the Arby’s on South Cedar and that reminded me of the 5 for $5.  I missed the turn and instead of turning around, I kept going and hit the Arby’s a little farther north. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Fast Food, Lansing, Michigan, Old Town, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Applebees Neighborhood Bar & Grill – Okemos

26 06 2009
  • 2284 Woodlake Drive
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 347-4892
  • Website
  • Menu
Applebees near I-96 & Okemos Road in Okemos

Applebees near I-96 & Okemos Road in Okemos

We’ve been good all week.  I’ve made dinner every night and we haven’t eaten out since last Saturday.  Before J left for work today, I asked if she wanted me to pick her up for dinner.  Of course, she said yes. 

I’ve learned the hard way that we can’t really head towards Michigan Avenue or East Lansing on her dinner break, but the edge of Okemos is usually ok.  She actually said she wanted to eat at a chain tonight and I said Applebees.  Yes, we could have just went to the South Lansing location, but it is Friday night and if they were busy, I wanted to make sure we had options.  There’s plenty of other restaurants near the Okemos location, so that’s where we went.

The Applebees in Okemos is just off of Okemos Road and I-96.  You would think the address would actually be Okemos Road, because it faces that street, but the address is on the side street that you turn on to which is Woodland Lake Drive. 

Like I figured, the parking lot was packed.  Still, I found a spot in the front parking lot, so I was holding out hope.  We made our way to the door where a waitress/hostess was there to greet us by opening the door….something that I’ve noticed at pretty much all the chain restaurant we’ve been to in the last year.  Once we were inside, we were stuck behind what must have been a large group.  It took three people to figure out where to put them.  The hostess that opened the door finally grabbed a couple menus and showed us to a booth in the dining room that is to the left of the bar. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Michigan, Okemos, Restaurant, Reviews

Fatburger – Orland Park, IL

16 06 2009
  • 15110 S. La Grange Road #A
  • Orland Park, IL 60462
  • (708) 364-8380
  • Website
  • Menu
Fatburger on La Grange Road in Orland Park, IL

Fatburger on La Grange Road in Orland Park, IL

Our wedding planning trip to Chicago continued this morning with a trip to meet with the Reverend we chose for the ceremony.  After we took care of that meeting, we had a couple hours before our next appointment and J was starving.  Since we were already in Orland Park, we headed over to the big business street and started looking for food.  J’s mom suggested a brew pub on La Grange Road.  I said any place with a burger was fine with me.  We started towards the brew pub, but as we were driving, J noticed the Fatburger.  She figured that would be faster than a sit down restaurant and it would satisfy the burger criteria. 

Fatburger is a west coast burger chain that, at one time, was co-owned by former Spartan Magic Johnson.  The chain was started in 1952 in Los Angeles.  Up until the mid-9o’s, the chain pretty much only existed on the west coast, but expansion brought store farther to the east.  The company now has 93 restaurants across North America, Asia, and the Middle East. 

The store in Orland Park is in a strip mall on La Grange Road near 151st Street.  We pulled in just after 11:00 and there was only one other person in line.  Fatburger’s slogan is “The Last Great Hamburger Stand.”  The decor is that of a sixties diner and while it’s technically considered fast food, they do cook your food to order.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, Illinois, Orland Park, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

McDonald’s – South Cedar

12 06 2009
  • 4700 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-8678
  • Website
  • Menu
McDonalds on South Cedar near Jolly Road in Lansing.

McDonald's on South Cedar near Jolly Road in Lansing.

I know I haven’t blogged all week and I always feel bad when the only thing I have to blog about is a chain restaurant, but I left Oldsmobile Park after a heartbreaking Lugnuts loss and I was starving.  The game went longer than I had anticipated due to yet another extra inning game.  When I started heading home a little after ten o’clock, my choices were limited.  I knew there was some fast food along the way, so I waited until I got a little bit closer to home.

The McDonald’s on South Cedar Street sits just north of Jolly Road.  Being late, the drive-thru was the only option.  As I was heading south, I pulled in to the second drive.  I always think if you pull in the one farther to the north, it gives you a bad angle at the drive thru. 

I’m not a very adventurous eater when it comes to the Golden Arches.  I always get the same thing.  It’s a good thing I looked at the menu board as I pulled up to the speaker though.  It must have been a while since I’ve eaten a burger McD’s because they moved the Double Quarter Pounder w/cheese meal to #3 instead of #4.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Panera Bread – Frandor

3 06 2009
  • 310 N. Clippert St.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 332-9183
  • Website
  • Menu
Panera Bread in the Frandor Shopping Center.

Panera Bread in the Frandor Shopping Center.

I know.  I know.  Another chain.  J and I had made plans earlier in the week to only eat out once.  Tomorrow.  Something came up and J wanted to run to Frandor. Neither of us had eaten lunch yet and we wouldn’t get back home in time to eat before she had to be at work, so we just ate while we were out.

J has always been a big fan of Panera Bread.  Me, not so much.  When we lived in Peoria, J worked long hours on Saturday and would usually stop at a Panera for at least one meal.  Before we started dating, she almost lived there. 

The Panera Bread in Frandor has a physical address on North Clippert, but it’s actually on the interior of the shopping center.  It sits on a corner connected to the  same building that houses Kroger.  It’s much smaller than most of the other Panera’s I’ve been in.  From the beginning, I felt a little crowded.  Usually, Panera has separate areas for the cafe and bakery.  I didn’t see that here. 

When you walk in, the order counter is right in front of you.  The bakery section is off to the right side of the counter.  There were four cash registers, but only two open.  We waited for the next available cashier, but that wasn’t good enough for a lady who walked up after us.  She wanted us to pick a line in hopes we would pick the longer line so she didn’t have to wait as long to get her coffee. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bakery, Chains, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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