Leo’s Lodge

2 07 2008
  • 2525 E. Jolly Rd.Leo\'s Lodge
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 882- 3850
  • Website
  • Menu

OK, so I’ve spent our day playing our new Wii.  Before I knew it, it was dinner time and I had nothing laid out or any energy to actually cook a meal.  I went and picked my girlfriend up from work and decided we needed a night out.  I had drove by Leo’s Lodge several times and figured it was time to actually stop in. 

The decor of Leo’s should be pretty obvious from the name.  It’s a lodge.  Very cool rustic feel with a faux log cabing design.  When you walk in, you sort of walk into a small dining room connected to the bar.  There are a few tables and a pool table.  We started to head that way, but my girlfriend called an audible at the last minute and we went over to the other dining room which was no smoking.  We took a seat right in front of a big screen TV.  If we played the stock market, we could have gotten caught up during dinner as they had CNBC on that particular TV.  First thing we both noticed was the chairs.  It was a very cool design with a woven rope seat and back on a rustic wood frame.  Very cool addition to the log cabin feel. Read the rest of this entry »


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

The Beach Bar

16 06 2008
  • 3509 Ocean BeachThe Beach Bar
  • Clarklake, MI 49234
  • (517) 529-4211
  • Website
  • Menu

The Beach Bar is one of those places that is really off the beaten path.  We left Michigan International Speedway after the Craftsman Truck Series race hungry and needing a place to eat.  The Beach Bar is one of the suggested places on MISpeedway.com, so I found a website and was impressed (again, I reiterate, restaurant owners, YOU NEED A WEBSITE if you want to be found).  We left the track and the GPS took us back into Brooklyn to Clarklake Road.  After winding through the Irish Hills and down what seemed like some country roads, we came upon Clark Lake.  My companions in the truck with me were starting to wonder if we were going the wrong way until we hit the lake which is a beautfiful site.  All of a sudden, I looked to the right and there was this big building right across from the docks.  I was almost expecting a little hole in the wall, but this was a big, nice looking building.  I was also somewhat expecting it to be packed since we were still fairly close to MIS.

When you walk in, there’s a little area for carry-outs.  I think it’s pretty safe to assume they do a pretty good carry-out business with the lake across the street.  People come in for food, but want to sit on their boats.  You go through that room and enter the bar.  The hostess station is almost in the middle of the room and it took us a while to notice it.  I almost suggested just grabbing a station when my buddy saw the hostess.  We were shown to a table in the non-smoking section near the back of the restaurant.  the space is divided by a game room area with the smoking section in the front of the space near the bar. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Clarklake, Local Flavor, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Sports Bar

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

Harrison Roadhouse

4 05 2008
  • 720 Michigan Ave.Harrison Roadhouse
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 337-0200
  • Website
  • Menu

This is a concept I saw all the time living near old Route 66 in Illinois, but not something I’ve seen a lot of in Michigan….take an old gas station and turn it into a garage themed restaurant/bar….and that’s exactly what Harrison Roadhouse is.  The Roadhouse was originally Duke’s Shell station.  In 1981, someone had the idea to turn the building into a restaurant.  Today, the old bay doors are windows and the ceiling beams are covered with license plates from all over the country. 

Surprisingly, the actual dining room isn’t that big.  When you walk in, you come right into a waiting room.  Past the hostess station, there is a small dining room with tables on either side and just enough room for to walk single file.  To the left of that is a bar that sits elevated from the rest of the dining space.  On that platform, there are a few pub tables, the bar and then a drink bar where you can stand, but still have a place to set a drink down.  Once you get past the bar, there’s another dining room where the tables are packed in pretty tight and then a couple private party rooms plus an outdoor patio with a fire place.

We probably chose a bad day to eat at the Harrison Roadhouse.  MSU had graduations, so there were a lot of big parties.  It was raining so we couldn’t sit outside.  I ran in to check with the hostess to see about the wait.  She handed me the buzzer thing and by the time I called my parents and girlfriend who were waiting in the car to tell them to come in, my buzzer went off.  We were shown to a table in the main dining room.  I think we were the only small party other than one table behind us.  Every other table was pushed together to accomodate huge parties.

We chose Harrison because the menu looked different.  We all started with Coke’s then skipped the appetizer and went straight for sandwiches.  I got the Roadie Dip which is a French dip served on a Ciabatta roll with a side of Au Jus and fries.  I love Ciabatta bread, so that was a real treat.  The meat was good, but the Au Jus was a little heavy on onion.  Nothing overpowering, but noticeable.  I don’t know how to explain the fries.  They almost looked and felt like fresh cut fries that were breaded and deep fried.  They were alright, but definately different.

My girlfriend got the Rt. 66 Rollup.  Grilled chicken breast tenders were covered in a hot sauce that was tangy and had quite a kick then rolled with lettuce, tomatos, and bleu cheese in a flour tortilla.  Her sandwich also came with those same fries.  She likes spicy and that’s probably a good thing as the chicken was really spicy.  She’s become a big fan of bleu cheese lately and that’s what made her order rollup….and we all know how well hot sauce and bleu cheese go together.

My mom got the BBQ chicken sandwich.  She got a fried chicken breast served with lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce, onions, and cheddar cheese served on a kaiser roll.  She had to take some of the toppings off to get to the chicken because there was so much.  She got onion rings instead of fries and was happy with them. She prefers the rings whole, battered and deep fried whereas my dad prefers bites, so you don’t pull the onion out of the breading.  Neither had a problem with these onion rings.

My dad surprised me and got the Buffalo Melt.  Surprising to me because that’s a 1/2lb buffalo burger served with sauteed onions on grilled rye bread.  I wasn’t 100% sure that he knew he was ordering buffalo meat and not hamburger meat with a “buffalo” sauce or something.  I was more worried when he called it a a “glorified patty melt”  When I asked him about it later he said he didn’t realize it at first and thought he was just getting a regular patty melt, but the buffalo tasted a lot like hamburger and he actually really liked the sandwich.  The bread was different and the meat was nice and juicy.

The four of us ate for less than $50.  The atmosphere is really neat, but the place is really, really loud and it was really full.  There were a few people at the bar just screaming at TV’s while watching the Kentucky Derby and the sound carried.  It was hard to carry on a conversation or communicate with the waitress.  The food was really good and I would suggest going back to try a different sandwich.  As long as your not going for conversation, Harrison Roadhouse is a really neat place.


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Categories : Bar, Burgers, East Lansing, Pub, Reviews, Sandwiches

Dublin Square

26 04 2008
  • 327 Abbott RoadDublin Square
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-2222
  • Website
  • Menu

I found Dublin Square just by searching for restaurant websites in the Lansing area.  Good find.  We pulled up to Dublin Square and almost drove by it.  The building is beautiful. Too nice for a bar in that area.  The building is 70 years old and started its days as the East Lansing Post Office.  A few years ago, the new owners decided to do something different and brought in Irish carpenters to give the place an authentic Irish feel.  The interior of the pub as well as the bar was built in Dublin out of mahogany then shipped to East Lansing.  Everything was put together back here in the states by the same craftsmen who built it in Ireland.

We were met at the door by a hostess who showed us to a table in the main dining room next to where the stage is at night.  A waiter came over and brought us water as we were looking over the menu.  It’s not necissarily the sign of a great restaurant, but it is the sign of a restaurant going the extra mile when the include a lemon slice with the water.

Dublin SquareThe menu is interesting.  I couldn’t decide as there were so many things I wanted to try.  I settled on the Irish  Bacon BBQ burger.  The 1/2 lb. Angus burger came with two slices of “Irish Bacon” (strips of ham grilled on the flat top) and cheddar cheese then it was drenched in a green apple bbq sauce.  Lettuce, tomato, onion, and a pickle spear served on the side next to a cup of green apple cole slaw.  Fries were a dollar more.  The burger was delicious.  It took up half the platter it was served on.  There was a lot of bbq sauce.  Somehow, I managed to let enough drip off then set the burger in it, so everytime I picked up the burger, I was grabbing the sauce.  It was pretty messy, but it was really good.  The green apple bbq sauce was different and the Irish bacon was much better than traditional bacon.  The fries were not very good.  They were steak fries that were not very crispy and actually kind of soggy.  The burger was delicious though and very much worth the price.

My girlfriend got the Smoked Turkey Rueben.  Two slices of pumpernickel were stacked with smoked turkey, swiss cheese and the green apple slaw.  Sauerkraut could have been added for no extra cost, but she’s not a fan, so it was left off.   The smoked turkey was incredible.  She was expecting the sandwich to be mostly slaw with a few slices of turkey, but it turned out to be just the opposite.  There was quite a bit of turkey on there.  So much she took a few slices off and tossed them on my plate.  It really tasted like something I would make at home on the grill.  It was really good.  Her meal also came with a side of the green apple slaw which she devoured.  She didn’t like the soggy fries at all and only ate a couple.  The sandwich was more than enough to fill her up though as neither of us left hungry.

Dublin Square is a beautiful bar and a great dinner spot.  There’s also a huge patio outside and if it hadn’t been so windy, would have been a beautiful spot for dinner.  They have a great menu that goes beyond bar food and beyond traditional Irish food (yes, they do have Bangers and Mash).  The space looks and feels great.  I don’t know if they allow smoking or not, but I know where we were at seemed to be free of smoke.  The atmosphere is great and the food matches the atmosphere.


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Categories : Downtown, East Lansing, Irish Bar, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews

Crunchy’s Burgers and Pizza

19 04 2008
  • 254 W. Grand Ave.Crunchy's Burgers and Pizza
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-2506
  • Website
  • Menu

I found Crunchy’s by doing a Google search for the phrase “Best Burger in Lansing”  What I got was a link to Crunchy’s Burger’s and Pizza who, according to their website, was voted the best burger in Lansing by the Lansing State-Journal.  We made two trips to Crunchy’s.  The first time, we popped in late on a Friday night because my girlfriend wanted to do karaoke.  It was late so we didn’t get food.  We went back a second time on a Saturday afternoon after we went to a Lugnuts game.

It was also the same day as the Green and White game at Michigan State University, which is right down the road, so the bar was pretty packed by 5:00.  We found a booth located in the room off of the main dining room.  A waitress eventually came over for drink orders and found us a couple menus.  I had to go with the Famous Crunchy Burger.  A 1/2 burger comes with American cheese, lettuce, tomatos and pickles.  So, was it the best burger in Lansing?  It was definately the best burger I’ve had since moving to Lansing, but not the best burger I’ve ever had.  The meat was fresh and very juicy.  The bun was a mega-mart poppy seed bun, so nothing special there.  The sandwich came with chips, but I upgraded to fries and for the second meal in a row, they were fresh cut.  My girlfriend chimed in on the fries saying despite being fresh cut, they were crunchy like the out of the bag ones (which I hate and she likes) usually are.  So for once, we were both happy with the fries.

Speaking of my girlfriend, she went with the Traverse City Cherry Burger.  We had seen this on the menu at a few restaurants here in Michigan, so she decided to finally try it.  The waitress warned her it wouldn’t taste like cherries which must be a misconception to out-of-staters (she saw our drivers license when we ordered drinks).  She it pretty much tasted like a burger, but she did say she probably put a little too much ketchup and mustard on the sandwich because she forgot to order cheese.

Both of us ate for under $20 with drinks.  I was actually shocked when I picked up the bill because I figured it had to be wrong, but it wasn’t  Crunchy’s wasn’t quite everything I hoped it would be.  The burger was good, but not knock my socks off good.  The atmosphere is unique.  Being a college bar, they decided to just encourage vandalism instead of trying to stop it.  Patrons have been writing on the walls, tables, and any other surface with Sharpie’s for quite a while. 


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Categories : Burgers, East Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza, Pub, Reviews

Barley’s American Grill

17 04 2008
  • 727 E. Miller Rd.Barley's
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 882-7297
  • Website
  • Menu

I picked my girlfriend up from work on a Thrusday night for a quick dinner break.  I had drove by Barley’s a few night’s earlier and wanted to check it out.  I figured this was as good as time as any.

Barley’s is a pretty unique bar/restaurant.  When you walk in, you actually walk into a huge pool room.  It’s more of a pool hall feel than a bar.  Take a right and you hit the bar.  Go a little bit farther and you hit the dining room.  Nice, spacious area surrounded by TV’s and cut off from the pool room and the bar to make a nice cozy setting.

We took a booth near the back and got menus.  I had eaten burgers for the last three meals so I wanted something else.  That something else was the Hot Cheesey Italian.  Italian meats piled high on buttered, toasted bread.  Between that was both cheddar and provolone cheese.  This sandwich was surprsingly good.  Little things like toasting the bread just made the sandwich so much better.  The fries that came with it were actually fresh cut and had a hint of a cajun seasoning on them.

My girlfriend got the crunch chicken wrap.  Instead of grilling chicken and putting it in a wrap, they deep fry some chicken tenders, cut them up, and put them in the traditional chicken wrap which also included mayo, lettuce and tomato.  Her complaint with the sandwich was the tomatos.  The chicken was hot and crunchy while the tomatos where cold.  She said the contrast of hot and cold made the sandwich a little difficult to eat, but she made it most of the way through.  Had the tomatos been at least room temperature, there wouldn’t have been any complaints.  Like me, she noticed the fresh cut fries and appreciated the cook taking an extra five seconds.

The damage was $20 before tip.  The food was really good for bar food.  The cook/chef took the extra time to develop a menu that goes beyond grease and wings and developed a diverse collection of favorites.  We accidently stumbled upon Barley’s, but it’s location combined with the great bar sets it up for a return trip


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

Rendezvous on the Grand

15 04 2008
  • 226 E. Grand River Ave.Rendezvous on the Grand
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 853-0300
  • Website
  • Menu

I saw a review for Rendezvous on the Grand in The Hub‘s 2 for $20 feature shortly after moving to Lansing.  We got up early one day and decided to hit Rendezvous for lunch before my girlfriend had to go to work.

We stopped in on a Tuesday afternoon just after the lunch rush.  The place was empty.  The waitress/bartender and the cook were wrapping silverware at a table near the back.  They were very friendly when we walked in and took a table near the bar.  The Rendezvous is located in Old Town which is the hip, artsy part of Lansing.  The decor of the old bank building embodies that spirit.  When you walk in, you walk into a spacious, high ceiling space filled with art deco chairs and tables.  The feature that jumped out to me was the light fixtures.  They took something as simple as conduit and bent it into an art piece.  The lights on the end of each condiut are spot lights that are plugged right into a junction box on the end of each piece of conduit.  There’s an upstairs area with a few more tables and a pool table then there’s a dance floor in front of a stage with permanent stage lighting hanging from the ceiling.

Rendezvous on the GrandWe took a seat near the bar and the waitress came over with paper menus to take our drink order.  Since it was early, we both went with Pepsi’s.  The menu is pretty interesting with salads, sandwiches, and personal french bread pizzas.  I went fairly safe and got the Beefeater sandwich.  The kaiser roll was filled with sliced roast beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and bistro sauce.  I left the lettuce and tomato off and went straight for the meat.  The meat itself was nothing special.  It actually kind of tasted like they went to the deli and got some roast beef.  The bistro sauce was interesting and I couldn’t really place what it actually was, but it was good and added some flavor to a sandwich that really wasn’t much more than cold meat sandwich.  The sandwich came with chips and a pickle spear.

My girlfriend got a little more adventerous and got the chicken satay.  The waitress almost accidently talked her out of it because it’s probably supposed to be an appetizer and not a meal, but when the waitress said it came with mashed potatoes, she figured it could be a meal.  With this meal, chicken breasts were wrapped in bacon and skewered with green pepper, tomato, and pineapple then the whole thing is drizzled with a sweet BBQ sauce.  The two skewers came beautifully presented on the plate with a drizzling of the same BBQ sauce underneath.  Heck, they even put the BBQ sauce on the garlic mashed potatos.  One bite and she knew that she had made the right choice.  The chicken had a delicious smokey flavor from the bacon and the grilled veggies were a great compliment to the meal.

After we ordered, we realized neither of us ordered fries.  I tracked down the waitress and asked if we could still put in an order.  She said the fryer had been down all morning and she wasn’t sure if it was hot enough to actually cook the fries.  After talking with the cook, she came out and apologized that the oil wasn’t hot enough.  A few minutes later, she came back and said the oil had warmed up, so we went ahead and told her to fry some up.   The cook came out 5 minutes later with an order of fries.  Nothing special here, but I really like the way the staff handled it.  Most places would have just tried to pass off the fries as cooked, but these two were not going to serve something that wasn’t done right.  The first couple my g/f bit in to she said were a little under done, but I didn’t notice.

We picked Rendezvous because of the claim the Lansing State Journal made about two meals under $20.  As promised, this meal came in under the $20.  With tip, we paid $17 and made it in and out with enough time to spare to walk around Old Town.


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Categories : Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Old Town, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Uncategorized

Michigan Brewing Company

12 04 2008

We were on our way to the Tanger Outlets in Howell on a Saturday afternoon, but both my girlfriend and I were really hungry, so we decided to stop before we got there. A sign along the highway advertised the Michigan Brewing Company. After a quick conference with her, I hopped off I-96 and went looking for the pub. Our first attempt was met with disappointment. We pulled up to a building that had for sale or lease signs on it. Thinking it was closed, we almost left, but she noticed a sign tha said “Visit us at our new location. Turn at McDonalds.” So, we went up the road and took a right at the McDonald’s into a business park.

After a short drive down the road, we pull up to a building that looks more like an office building than a restaurant and only a sign in the parking lot marks the place as the Michigan Brewing Company. We both kind of look at each other and wonder if this is the right place. Then, we notice people sitting at some tables through the window.

When you walk in, again, it looks more like an office than a restaurant. There’s a small shopping area off to the left then you walk through a big empty room to get to the first dining room. The pub is split up into a bar area which you get to by walking through a dining room area. We walked into the bar and found a table near the back of the space. The tables were the high pub tables with high back chairs. The decor was very rustic and really what you look for in a brew pub. The bartender came over with menus and gave us a few minutes to look over the beer menu. They only serve their beers and root beer…didn’t even have soda.

We both went for the Sunset Amber Lager, which according to their menu is “A refreshing, crisp and clean amber colored lager. Made in a Vienna-style with distinct caramel malt flavor and aroma.” It was a little bitter for my taste and a very heavy, filling beer. Both of us had a little trouble finishing.

For lunch, I had the Hog’s Heaven Sandwich. The sandwich is a shredded pork sandwich which tasted like it came from a can served on a ciabatta roll with a pickle spear and kettle chips. The sandwich was alright, but like I said, it wasn’t fresh made on site. It was a litltle small and not incredibly filling.

My date got the Twisted Turkey sandwich which was turkey, provlone, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and mustard served on a pretzel roll. She really liked her sandwich commenting more than once that it was tasty. For her, the portion was just right as she had a few extra chips for me.

The Michigan Brewing Company seemed like a place where beer lovers gather. We stopped in around 1 on a Saturday and there were quite a few guys there enjoying a cold one. There are no TV’s, so it’s not a place to go watch a game and have a beer. It’s more of a gathering spot for good converstaion. A lot of guys were coming in with pony kegs to get refilled and most everyone had a jug that they were getting refilled.

The atmosphere was interesting adn the food was alright. For those that like micro-brews, this would definately be a stop. I’m not a huge micro-brew fan myself, but it was a good meal just off the highway.

 


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Categories : Brew Pub, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Webberville

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