Georgio’s Gourmet Pizzeria – Downtown

27 04 2009
  • 120 Charles Street
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 333-9990
  • No Known Website
Georgios Gourmet Pizzeria on Charles Street in East Lansing.

Georgio's Gourmet Pizzeria on Charles Street in East Lansing.

I love late night pizza-by-the-slice places and I love living near a college town that has many places to fill that late night craving. 

J got home from work just before midnight like she always does and I said, “I’m hungry” like I always do.  This time, she said she had a taste for pizza or tacos too.  We debated the pros and cons of each and eventually settled on pizza.  Since there’s no place on the south side of Lansing to get a slice at midnight, we trekked to East Lansing.

There are a couple locations for Georgio’s in East Lansing, but I chose the one in the downtown area on Charles Street.  We drove around the streets of downtown a few times on a very busy Friday night looking for pizza.  I knew there was a Georgio’s and a Bell’s, but I didn’t remember which was where.  We drove by Bell’s because there were so many kids around and no place to park.  I made it to Georgio’s and got really lucky.  There was a parking space right out front.  I showed off my awesome parallel parking skills (there was no space in front of me, so really, I just pulled in) and we went inside.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Downtown, East Lansing, Michigan, Pizza

Pizza Hut/WingStreet – Lansing

19 04 2009
  • 6200 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 393-1565
  • Website
  • Menu
The Pizza Hut/WingStreet in South Lansing.

The Pizza Hut/WingStreet in South Lansing.

When I was growing up just south of Chicago, there was always a fight in my house about where to go for pizza.  I always wanted to go to Pizza Hut because I loved their bread sticks.  My dad and brother always wanted to go to Monical’s (a regional chain which I’ve blogged about before).  I usually lost. 

To this day, I still really like Pizza Hut’s breadsticks.  The pizza is alright, but nothing I really crave.  J and I have been saying for a year we needed to check out the Pizza Hut Italian Bistro on Cedar Street.  The commercials always made the pasta look really good.

A couple weeks ago, I noticed the “Italian Bistro” signs coming down and “WingStreet” signs going up.  I do like me some wings, so we finally got around to trying something other than pizza at Pizza Hut.

The Lansing Pizza Hut is on the south side of town on South Cedar across the street from Meijer.  It sits in the corner of a strip mall that also has an Applebees and Finlay’s.  We decided to hit up Pizza Hut for a Sunday night dinner.  It was about 5:30 when we pulled in to the parking lot.  That’s important to remember.

When you enter the store, you come in t the carry out counter.  There were a few people in front of us picking up pizza and we didn’t want to get lost in the shuffle, so J went right up to the hostess stand and waited.  Fortunately, we were noticed right away and taken to a booth.  Later in the night, we may have had to wait several minutes until someone noticed us. 

The dining room was much nicer than any Pizza Hut either of us remembered.  J can only faintly eating at one a long time ago, but what she remembers is that everything was red except for the lights which were green.  This dining room had a more intimate setting like….wait for it….an Italian bistro.  All kidding aside, the dining room was actually pretty nice and not what I think of when I think of Pizza Hut. Read the rest of this entry »


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

Quality Dairy – Saginaw & Cedar

17 04 2009
  • 500 E. Saginaw Street
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 319-4120
  • Website
The Quality Dairy on Saginaw Street at Cedar Street in Lansing.

The Quality Dairy on Saginaw Street at Cedar Street in Lansing.

Guess what?  I needed a Pepsi.  I left Oldsmobile Park after a heartbreaking Lugnuts lost and I was really thirsty.  I knew there was a Quality Dairy close that I hadn’t been to so I turned the truck around and headed to the Quality Diary.

This Quality Dairy is on the corner of East Saginaw and North Cedar Streets.  There is actually an entrance off Larch Street as well, but you have to go through a large parking lot to get to the building.

The building is weird.  The Saginaw Street side sits pretty close to the road.  There’s just enough room to park along side the building and the door looks more like a back door than an entrance.  There are no windows along that side of the street, but it is actually an entrance.  The Cedar Street side looks more like the main entrance with the typical store front.

I didn’t know any better and that’s where I parked.  When you go inside, the liquor section is off to the left and there’s a cash register back there as well. The fountain pop machine was just off to the right, so I grabbed my cup and filled up. 

I didn’t eat anything at the ballpark, so I was also really hungry.  I had considered just getting a cold meat sandwich like I did a few weeks ago at the QD in Charlotte, but as I was walking to the register, I noticed some pizza that was being sold by the slice.  The price was only $1.25 a slice, so I grabbed a paper boat and put a couple slices in there. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza

Cottage Inn Pizza – Holt – Revisited

11 04 2009
Cottage Inn Pizza on Cedar Street in Holt.

Cottage Inn Pizza on Cedar Street in Holt.

J converted me.  I used to be a deep dish pizza guy, but where she grew up on the South Side of Chicago, thin crust rules.  Over time, she broke me down and now all I want is a thin and crispy pie.  We haven’t had a whole lot of luck finding those in Mid-Michigan.  It’s not because no one does it.  It’s because we never looked.  When you call and just order a large pizza, most places give you the same crappy not quite thin, not quite thick crust.  If you ask, you just might get a good pizza.

That’s the case with Cottage Inn.  We went almost a year without realizing they do a thin crust.  When we first started checking out the local and regional pizza places, Cottage Inn was up first.  The pizza was good, but I said it was ” still too much like the other chains.” 

I don’t know why, but for some reason, J actually decided to look at the menu one weekend when I was working.  She saw an option for thin crust, so that’s what she ordered.  She took one bite and fell in love.  It reminded her of home.  In Chicago, if you order a thin crust pizza, the pizza is cut into squares, not triangle and that’s how Cottage Inn cuts their thin crust.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Holt, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

A Change At Pizza Hut..

8 04 2009

..at the south Lansing location anyway.  I was driving by yesterday and saw a crane taking signs down.  I thought the worst and figured they were going out of business.  When I drove by tonight, I found out that I was wrong.  They didn’t close.  They just changed the branding.

They’ve dropped the “Italian Bistro” concept and turned it into a WingStreet. 

J’s been saying for a while we needed to stop in one day.  Growing up, I was the only one in my family that preferred Pizza Hut.  Really, I just loved the breadsticks.  It’s been so long since I’ve actually had a pizza from there that I don’t really remember if I liked it or not. 

The Italian Bistro concept was a little more upscale than a typical Pizza Hut.  They had more of a “bistro” menu and offered a lot of dishes that are now common due to the “Pasta Hut” campaign.

WingStret is the Yum! Brand’s wing store.  Pairing Pizza Hut and WingStreet is pretty common, but not in a location like the south Lansing spot.  Usually, they’re paired together in take out restaurants.

I’ve never had WingStreet wings, so maybe we’ll give them a shot one night.  We’re running out of new places to eat on the southside anyway.


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Categories : Chains, Food News, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza

Pizza Papalis – Southfield

20 03 2009
  • 23703 Greenfield Road
  • Southfield, MI 48705
  • (248) 552-7272
  • Website
  • Menu
The Pizza Papalis in Southfield on Greenfield Road

The Pizza Papalis in Southfield on Greenfield Road

I was sort of waiting for my first Pizza Papalis experience to be with my pizza loving dad before a Tigers game.  The Greektown location was on the many places suggested to us last summer when J and I went to see our White Sox beat up on the Tigers.  We passed, but we shouldn’t have.  We keep saying, next time we’re in Detroit.  I’ve got six tickets to a Tigers game in July and I was expecting to take my family there.   I probably still will…especially after sampling their pie today.
I was working in Southfield and the company I work for always buys lunch and usually buys pizza.  I was really pumped when I walked in to the conference room to see boxes from Pizza Papalis.

If you’re from the Detroit area, you already know all you need to know about the Metro Detroit chain.  Being from Chicago, I hold all pizzas that claim to be “Chicago Style” to a very high standard. 

There are a number of locations in the Detroit area.  The closest one to our job site was the Southfield location on Greenfield Road.  It’s located in a small strip mall with a Kroger and a CVS.  I didn’t go inside, but from the parking lot, it looked to be a pretty large store with plenty of seating.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews, Southfield

Art’s Bar & Grill – Revisited

14 03 2009
Arts Bar & Grill on Kalamazoo in Lansing.

Art's Bar & Grill on Kalamazoo in Lansing.

It’s been almost a year since our first visit to Art’s Bar & Grill.  It was one of the first places we ate at after moving to Lansing.  The building didn’t look like much, but I had heard the food was some of the best in town.  After a little hesitation, we went in and had one of the best meals we’ve had in town.

J’s parents were in town and we needed someplace to eat.  The original plan was to eat in Mt. Pleasant after gambling for a little bit, but we were still full from lunch, so we headed back to Lansing.  We tossed around a few ideas, but eventually settled on Art’s.  I had heard good things about their pizza and we hadn’t tried it yet.  By hitting up a bar, we could get a pizza and J’s parents could get burgers.

We stopped in around 7:00 on a Saturday.  There were quite a few people, but we found a table in the middle of the dining room.  Just like last time, a waitress noticed us right away and yelled over that she would be right with us.  A few minutes later, she dropped off menus while she was taking care of the rest of the dining room.  There were only two waitresses for the whole building and the one we had was working her butt off.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Burgers, Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza

Izzo’s Pub & Pizzeria

5 03 2009
  • 1145-1147 S. Washington St.
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 853-8500
  • Website
  • Menu
Izzos Pub & Pizzeria in Lansings REO Town

Izzo's Pub & Pizzeria in Lansing's REO Town

It took three tries, but I finally found Izzo’s Pizzeria open.  I happened to be downtown for a late morning meeting.  I was hopping back in my truck a little after noon and I started to head towards Washington Square to find something for lunch when I decided to give Izzo’s a third try.

Izzo’s Pub & Pizzeria is on Washington Avenue in Lansing’s REO Town neighborhood.  The pub has been there since the mid-1960’s.  The Pizzeria has been there since December.  The two businesses are in separate spaces with separate entrances, but they are connected and you can move freely between the two spaces.  The pizzeria side is big enough for a kitchen and a handful of tables.   The interior fits the area.  It has kind of a rustic feel with an exposed brick wall with a relief pattern that sort of resembles the globe.  The tables are surrounded black metal chairs and it’s a bright, inviting atmosphere.

The order counter is near the back of the space.   When I made it back there, a man behind the counter made contact right away.  He asked if I was staying or taking something to go.  J was still at home and I planned on bringing her lunch, so I told him I was getting carry out.  He handed me a menu to look over, but I noticed some slices behind the counter.  I asked if they did pizza by the slice.  He said they did, but all they had was a sausage, mushroom, and onion pie.  Not really my thing, so I ordered a small cheese pizza that I could share with J. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza, REO Town, Restaurant, Reviews

Topper’s Pizza

2 03 2009
  • 1219 E. Grand River Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 203-0303
  • Website
  • Menu
Toppers Pizza on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Topper's Pizza on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Now that it’s NASCAR season again, Sunday’s can get pretty lazy.  When the race is a west coast race, it really gets lazy because the race starts so late, it goes right through dinner.  J and I were hanging out on the couch flipping back and forth between the Shelby 427 and the Illinois vs. Michigan State basketball game.  Once we saw MSU had the game wrapped up, we started thinking about dinner.  J suggested pizza.  I was game.  Once again, we tried Izzo’s Pizzeria in Old REO Town only to find them closed again.  I continued to drive around before I ended up in East Lansing.

Topper’s Pizza is on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.  The store is fairly new having opened just before Christmas.  Topper’s is a chain out of Whitewater, Wisconsin with locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and North Carolina.  The East Lansing location is the only Michigan location.

The store is pretty small, but there are a couple of tables should want to dine in.  There’s also some leather chairs and a couch  in a little waiting area.  Since I was driving aimlessly, I didn’t call my order in.  I went to the counter to place my order.  I ordered a large cheese pizza and tried to tag on a single order of Cinnamonstix.  The lady taking the order it would actually be three bucks cheaper if I ordered a triple order of Cinnamonstix due to a promotion they had going on.  I didn’t really need that much dessert, but I did it anyway to save money.  After that was hammered out, she asked if I wanted extra cheese since I got one topping on the pizza, I said, sure.  She didn’t have to twist my arm. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Candy, East Lansing, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Rudino’s Pizza & Grinders

26 02 2009
  • 8741 W. Saginaw Highway
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 627-3025
  • Website
  • Menu
Rudinos Pizza & Grinders on Saginaw Highway in Delta Township

Rudino's Pizza & Grinders on Saginaw Highway in Delta Township

Once a month, I spend the whole morning driving around Delta Township while J gets her hair cut.  I usually spend part of that time looking for someplace to eat.  This month was easy.  A couple weeks ago, I saw a posting on Craigslist for jobs at a new place on Saginaw Highway.  Last weekend, we were out in the area and I drove by to see if there was any indication it was opening.  There was a sign on the door that said it would open February 25.  I knew we were going to be out there on the 26th, so we were good to go for lunch.

Rudino’s Pizza & Grinders is in a small strip mall near the Menards on Saginaw Highway.  It’s in the space that used to be Art’s Pizza & Italian Oven.  We tried going to Art’s once, but it was closed.  I was excited to see a new pizza joint moving in.

Rudino’s is a long, narrow space.  When entering, you sort of come in to what can be considered the first dining room.  Beyond that is the order counter.  There is a menu board above the registers that lists a large selection of grinders as well as pizza’s, calzones, and salads.  Since it was only the second day of being open, things were running a little slow, but we knew that when we walked in and it wasn’t a big deal.  We needed time to figure out what we wanted anyway.  We were greeted right away by two guys who were sitting behind the counter on laptops.  The whole space is a Wi-Fi hot spot. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Italian, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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