Goodrich’s Shop-Rite

4 11 2008
  • 940 Trowbridge Rd
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-5820
  • Website
Goodrichs Shop-Rite in Trowbridge Plaze in East Lansing.

Goodrich's Shop-Rite in Trowbridge Plaze in East Lansing.

Another recommendation by regular commenter Corky.  Since we were already at Hobie’s (review HERE), we took a few minutes to walk over the Goodrich’s Shop-Rite to check the place out.  Corky and a few other people have told me they carry Zingerman’s bread so that’s what we went looking for.

Goodrich’s Shop-Rite is in the Trowbridge Plaza near MSU’s campus.  When we walked in, my first impression is that it wasn’t going to be much different than any other grocery store.  We walked quickly through a lot of the GM section looking for the bakery and deli section.  On the way, we made a quick run through the meat department.  The thing I noticed here is that they put signs up letting you know where all their meat came from.  I’ve been noticing that a lot more lately.

We finally made our way to the deli and what a surprise.  I was a little unimpressed up until that point.  Once we turned the corner, my impression changed.  The deli/bakery section is rather large.  There are racks of bread throughout the area.  I didn’t find any Zingerman’s so I didn’t buy anything, but there was a lot of different fresh baked bread.  The deli case was also huge.  Lots of different meats and cheeses. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : East Lansing, Grocery, Local Flavor, Michigan, Reviews

Big Ten Holt Party Store

3 11 2008
  • 2005 Eifert Rd.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-8632
  • Website
The Big Ten Holt Party Store on Eifert Road in Holt.

The Big Ten Holt Party Store on Eifert Road in Holt.

Why are they called “party stores” in this town?  Again, just curious.  I guess it sounds better than liquor store, but why not call a spade a spade?  After leaving Brower with just my Pepsi, I headed down to the Big Ten Holt Party Store.  I’ve seen a couple of these around town, but never been into one of the Big Ten locations.  I was a little bit curious because they all say “deli” along with the usual suspects.

The Big Ten Holt store is on the corner of Holt and Eifert Roads.  Just like the other stores in the small, local chain, they are painted in the colors of the hometown Spartans.  The building isn’t that big, but there are two parking lots.  One of the Eifert Rd side and one on the Holt Rd side.  I parked on the Holt Road side and made my way in.  I was still looking for a small bottle of tequila.  I thought a party store would put them out on display.   I was wrong.

The inside of the store was really cramped.  There were a couple aisles of items and the back wall was all coolers of beer.  The wine was out on display, but the hard liquor was once again behind the counter.  I gave it a quick look, but didn’t really see what I was looking for.

As for the deli, there was some pizza and a deli case of something.  I didn’t really look.  I do like that they had pizza by the slice that looked to be homemade.  Other than that, I wasn’t really impressed.  There wasn’t much I couldn’t find at a grocery store…maybe a few more selections of micro brews, but nothing great.

I don’t frequent liquor stores often, so I’m not really an expert, but I do know when I pick a liquor or “party store” over a supermarket, I’m looking for a better selection.  I didn’t really get that at the Big Ten Holt Party Store.


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Categories : Grocery, Local Flavor, Michigan, Reviews

Brower Food & Hardware

3 11 2008
  • 2102 Aurelius Rd.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-0531
  • No Known Website
Brower Food & Hardware on Aurelius Rd. in Holt, MI

Brower Food & Hardware on Aurelius Rd. in Holt, MI

I have been stopping by Brower Food & Hardware for several months now after seeing a review for a deli located inside the little grocery store.  Each time I’ve tried to stop at Big T Deli & Grill, I’ve come up disappointed.  I dont’ know if they stopped doing the deli or what.

This time, I wasn’t looking so much for lunch as I was a small bottle of tequila.  Brower Food & Hardware sits on Aurelius Road near the Holt Plaza.  There’s a very small parking lot in front of the store.  Inside, there’s not a whole lot.  There are a few pantry items, pop, and of course, liquor.  I went to the pop cooler first to grab a Pepsi then headed over to the liquor.  I’m not a big fan of places that keep their hard liquor behind the counter because I always feel so rushed to make a decision and I can’t really see the prices.  That’s how Brower is set up.  The wine is out on shelves and the beer is in coolers.  I didn’t see what I was really looking for so I just paid for my Pepsi and got out. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Holt, Local Flavor, Michigan, Reviews

Meijer – Grand Ledge

16 10 2008
  • 730 E. Saginaw Hwy.
  • Grand Ledge, MI 48837
  • (517) 622-6800
  • Website
The Grand Ledge Meijer store located just on the edge of town on Saginaw Highway

The Grand Ledge Meijer store located just on the edge of town on Saginaw Highway

It’s October and I need charcoal.  Just because it’s fall and quickly becoming winter doesn’t mean I’m going to stop grilling.  According to most mega marts, I should be putting up tacky Christmas ornaments, not grilling a pork loin.  I’m also a charcoal snob, so that makes things a little bit tougher.  No briquettes for me.  The chemicals used to press them together annoy me.  If you don’t let it totally ash over, you’ll pick up the chemicals in your food.  I’m not that patient, so I use natural hardwood lump charcoal.  We looked at Wal-Mart, but all they had was the Kingsford crap.  I was just going to run to the Meijer by our place to see what they had, but since we were in Grand Ledge anyway for lunch, I decided to stop at the Grand Ledge store.

The Meijer in Grand Ledge is just on the edge of town on Saginaw Highway.  It’s a newer store with the newer facade.  It’s not quite the “main street” concept store they’re starting to roll out, but it’s in between that and the old boxy type like the store on Pennsylvania.  The inside of the store is a drastic difference too.  J made the comment that it’s much less overwhelming than the other stores around here we’ve been in.  My complain about Meijer is just that it’s so darn big.  It’s hard to find things and can be frustrating if you have to shop in a couple different departments. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Grand Ledge, Grocery, Michigan, Reviews

Walmart Supercenter – St. Johns

11 10 2008
  • 1165 Superior Rd.
  • St. Johns, MI 48879
  • (989) 224-8099
  • Website
The Walmart Supercenter just off of Business 127 in St. Johns

The Walmart Supercenter just off of Business 127 in St. Johns

I’ve blogged about Walmart before.  J and I hit the Walmart in Delta Township (review HERE) about once a week to get things we can’t get at Horrocks (review HERE).  The big reason we go to Walmart and not somewhere else is they are the only place in town we can find Mandarin Orange Propel.  I grabbed the last Propel out of the fridge last night so we needed to get more.  We had talked about going around Lansing to the Delta Township store on our way home, but first, we wanted to go into St. Johns to get gas.  I noticed on Lansinggasprices.com that St. Johns had gas for $3.05/gal.  We found a BP on US 127BR that had gas for that price so we stopped and filled up.

After getting gas and a potty break, we kept heading south to try and find the freeway again.  Along the way, we found gas for $3.02 and $2.99.  That $2.99 was at the Murphy’s USA in the Walmart Supercenter parking lot.  I noticed the Walmart and put my turn signal on to turn in.  Why go all the way out to Delta Township when there was a Walmart Supercenter right here?  It sounded like a good idea to me, so we went in to do some shopping.

You all know what Walmart looks like and what you can find there.  The only reason I’m writing this review is to blow off a little steam about rude, inconsiderate, and just plain ignorant cashiers.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Grocery, Michigan, Reviews, St. Johns

Fresh Market – Grand Rapids

21 09 2008
  • 5114 28th St. SE
  • Grand Rapids, MI 49512
  • (616) 940-1103
  • Website
Fresh Market in Grand Rapids

Fresh Market in Grand Rapids

We get to our hotel Friday night and I check my e-mail to find a couple comments telling me to check out Fresh Market near I-96.  The funny thing is, Fresh Market is right across the street from our hotel and I told J on our way in that we should check it out in the morning.  After sitting in our hotel room and relaxing for a little bit, we decided to see if they were still open.  It was 9:30 and no they weren’t so we were gonna have to check back in the morning.

After we got up and got moving, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to the Fresh Market.  It’s located in a little shopping plaza just off the Interstate.  Once again, it’s a good thing there’s not one right down the street.  This is another one of those great grocery stores.  Even though it’s a chain, they haven’t taken the human element out of it or seen how much product they can buy to try and keep costs down.  Instead, they have quality, hard to find products.  We zipped through the produce section without seeing anything really unique because I noticed the butchers in the back. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grand Rapids, Grocery, Michigan, Reviews

Whole Foods Market – Ann Arbor (Washtenaw Ave.)

14 09 2008
  • 3135 Washtenaw Ave.
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  • (734) 975-4500
  • Website
Whole Foods Market on Washtenaw in Ann Arbor

Whole Foods Market on Washtenaw in Ann Arbor

Can you believe that I have never been in a Whole Foods before?  Where I’ve lived the last six years, the closest Whole Foods was in Chicago and until J and I started dating, I didn’t spend a lot of time that far north.  Same thing when we moved to Lansing.  The closest Whole Foods in Ann Arbor.  We were driving around checking out the city when for some reason I said, “I think there’s a Trader Joe’s in town somewhere.”  I was wrong, it wasn’t Trader Joe’s It was Whole Foods.  J put it into her GPS and even though we were driving aimlessly, we were just a few blocks away, so why not check it out?

I’m gonna say right now, it’s a good thing there is not a Whole Foods in Lansing.  On the other hand, you’d always know where to find me.  The thing I’ve always heard about Whole Foods is that it’s expensive.  As we walked through produce, I could see that.  We can get produce at Horrocks (review HERE) much cheaper.  It’s probably not “organic” at Horrocks, but it tastes the same.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, Bakery, Cafe, Grocery, Michigan, Reviews

Roma Bakery, Deli, & Fine Foods

9 09 2008
  • 428 N. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 485-9466
  • Website
  • No Online Menu
Roma Bakery, Deli, & Fine Foods on Cedar St. in Lansing

Roma Bakery, Deli, & Fine Foods on Cedar St. in Lansing

Finding Roma today was totally an accident.  We made our weekly trip to Horrocks and wanted to find something for lunch.  I seem to remember someone telling me Aunt Millie’s had a Deli out on Grand River, so that’s what we went looking for.  We put it in the GPS and when the GPS said we had arrived, there was nothing that even remotely looked like a diner.  We found the outlet store, but no deli.  I thought maybe it was farther down Grand River, so we kept driving.  Eventually, we hit I-96 BL and I got on that without even knowing.  Once I figured out we were going through Old Town, I thought of that bakery on Cedar Street that we had passed so many times without even giving a second glance to.  Since it was getting late in the afternoon and J needed to get to work, I suggested stopping since it would probably be something we could grab and go.

Roma is situated just a few blocks from Oldsmobile Park and downtown Lansing.  The building makes it look like nothing more than the corner bakery, but there is a sign out front that says “Join us for lunch.”  The parking lot was pretty empty when we pulled in around 1:00 and we wondered if we were making a mistake. 

The inside is set up like a local grocery store.  The name Roma suggests an Italian bakery, but I would call it more European as they offer food and baked goods from all parts of the continent even though most of their wares are Italian.  The deli case is in the back of the store.  Next to the deli case is a long pastry case filled with home made goodies.  Since lunch was the priority, we hit that up first. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bakery, Cafe, Deli, Downtown, Grocery, Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Specialty Shop

Another Grocery Store Coming to Jackson

2 09 2008

You’d think two Meijer’s would be enough in a town like Jackson, but Save-A-Lot is opening it’s second store at 3525 O’Neill Drive.

The new store is going in a building formerly occupied by Staples, which closed in 2001. Rabban said he liked the building’s location off I-94 and the building itself, which is 20,000 square feet and in relatively good condition.

“It’s easy for you to get to, very visible,” Rabban said. “The building was ideal. It almost looks like it was designed for a Save-A-Lot.”

Renovations are ongoing. The Save-A-Lot sign is now up, the checkout counters are in, and the aisles are going in.

“It’s really coming along. Wow! Beautiful,” Rabban said during a recent walk-through.

The first Jackson-area Save-A-Lot opened in 1994 in a former Polly’s building at 3152 E. Michigan Ave. It was called SAL Food Store to distinguish it from Sav-A-Lot Drugs, which closed in 2000.

Save-A-Lot isn’t my favorite store, but discount options are a good thing in this economy.


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Categories : Chains, Food News, Grocery, Jackson, Michigan

Save-A-Lot

18 08 2008
  • 3222 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 394-0396
  • Website
The Save-A-Lot store on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Lansing.

The Save-A-Lot store on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Lansing.

We moved to Lansing about five months ago and in that time, I’ve never really gone down Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.  Today, I needed to run to the Walgreens out that way, so I decided to drive around a little and check it out.  Usually, I go to the Walgreens on the corner of Jolly and Cedar, but they were having problems with their photo equipment.  I also needed to make a quick grocery store run to get a few things for dinner.  As I was leaving the parking lot of the Walgreens on MLK, I noticed the Save-A-Lot across the street.

I’ve never really been in a Save-A-Lot, so I didn’t know what to expect.  The only store in my old town was near a college, so I avoided it.  Today’s adventure is the first time I went in to shop.  The store is set up a lot like Aldi’s.  All the products are shipped in custom cartons that allow them to be product displays.  There’s not a whole lot of people stocking shelves.  They stores are also much smaller than most grocery stores.  The selection isn’t quite as big either.  There’s pretty much only one option for each product and there’s not a whole lot of sizes.  This is how they claim they can save you up to 40% on your grocery bill. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Grocery, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

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