Max & Erma’s

14 12 2008
  • 2515 Lake Lansing Road
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 316-7477
  • Website
  • Menu
Max & Ermas near the Eastwoode Towne Centre in Lansing Township

Max & Erma's near the Eastwoode Towne Centre in Lansing Township

Another lazy Sunday.  J and I were laying on the couch watching a Fox News Channel special about corruption in Illinois.  We didn’t learn anything that we didn’t already, but it’s fun to see the rest of the country coming to the same conclusions we had five years ago about the current political situation in Illinois.  Neither of us were in much of a hurry to do anything, but my tummy was really growling.  I was hungry.  We needed to run a few errands, so we just decided to eat out.  I asked J what she wanted and she said a nice big salad with dried fruit, nuts, and cheese.  That really narrows it down.  Nothing was coming to mind.

I went to Google and typed in “Restaurants in Lansing, MI.”  I do that a lot for out of town meals because it gives you a list of all the restaurants in town.  I started clicking on website links figuring the chain restaurants would have what she was looking for.  I clicked on a couple and got a “yeah, those look ok” response.  When I clicked on Max & Erma’s I got a “YES!  That’s what I want!”  Off to Eastwoode.

Max & Erma’s is one of many chains located around Eastwoode Towne Centre.  Even though they have several locations throughout the country, I had never been to one nor had I ever seen one anywhere else.  J had never heard of it, so I didn’t go in with my preconceived notion that all chains are evil.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Applebees – South Lansing

14 12 2008
  • 6270 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 882-8320
  • Website
  • Menu
Applebees on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Applebee's on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

We got lazy.  After a brutal day in Novi, we crashed on the couch and watched a little TV just killing time until Saturday Night Live came on which we knew had a skit harpooning Rod Blagojevich.  Doing nothing made me hungry.  We didn’t have a lot of food in the house and neither of us wanted to get dressed up again to go out for dinner.  That made carry-out or delivery the top choice.  Neither of us had cash to tip a pizza delivery boy and for some reason we both thought of the same thing.  Applebees Carside-To-Go. 

Yeah, it’s a cookie-cutter chain that I can’t stand, but the prospect of not getting out of the car was what sold me on it.  We got on Applebees.com and I found a burger that sounded good.  J’s done the Carside-to-Go a few times at work and Applebees used to be a hangout for her and her friends when she lived out West, so she knew what she wanted.  I let her do the hard work and call in the order.  I hate talking on the phone.

After fifteen minutes or so, we paused America’s Funniest Videos and went to pick up our order.  The way Carside-to-Go works is you give the person taking your order a description of your car.  You then park in one of the designated spots and they see you on a closed-circuit video system.  An employee comes out with your food and you pay right there at the car.  Usually, they have a Wi-Fi credit card machine, but their system was down tonight, so the employee ran the card in and came back for a signature.  When we pulled in, our order was ready and our food was in our hands almost before I could get the window rolled down.  It went pretty quickly. Read the rest of this entry »


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

O’Toole’s of Novi

14 12 2008
OTooles of Novi on Novi Road down the road from Twelve Oaks Mall

O'Toole's of Novi on Novi Road down the road from Twelve Oaks Mall

Our tour of Michigan continued today as we made our way East to Novi.  When we woke up, the choices were Ann Arbor or Novi.  I chose Novi.  I shouldn’t be allowed to pick things. 

Let me back up and explain a little.  The goal today was to find a new shirt for J.  She had something from H & M that she really liked and wanted to go there again.  The closest H & M stores are Novi and Ann Arbor.  She talked about Zingerman’s many times this week.  I should have just took the hint.  Instead, I wanted to go someplace new.  Things were fine until we got five miles from our exit.  MDOT decided to START construction on a Saturday two weeks before Christmas.  We sat in traffic for 40 minutes….20 of those were at a complete stop.  Crews were painting lines.  It was ridiculous.  That just set the day off on a bad note.

After finally making it to our exit, we took a right on to Novi Road and headed away from the mall and big commercial area.  About a mile down the road, we came up a little bar set back quite a ways.  It’s not what you would expect in such a highly commercialized area. 

When walked in around two o’clock on a Saturday afternoon.  There were a few people at the bar watching basketball, but the dining room was mostly empty.  Around the bar, there are some pub tables.  On the other side of the room, there are some booths and regular four tops.  I chose the pub table hoping we’d be close enough to the bar that the waitress would be on top of things.  Again, I was mistaken. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Irish Bar, Michigan, Novi, Restaurant, Reviews

CiCi’s Pizza

11 12 2008
  • 6520 S. Cedar St #7
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 393-9900
  • Website
  • Menu
CiCis Pizza in South Lansing

CiCi's Pizza in South Lansing

Like most people, J and I are trying to stretch our dining out budget during the holiday season.  I’d rather buy J something nice than spend a fortune on cheap, but expensive bar food.  This morning, we needed to make a grocery store run.  We had planned on the weekly Horrocks/Walmart trip, but neither of us could get out of our warm bed.  Instead, we slept in and settled for Meijer which doesn’t have the flavor or Propel I like.

Before hiting the grocery store, I needed food.  I was starving.  J suggested hitting something close and I thought of CiCi’s.  I figured it would be fairly cheap and we shouldn’t leave a buffet hungry.  I had eaten at a CiCi’s a few years ago with my dad back in Peoria (review HERE).  I wasn’t a huge fan of the pizza, but it was cheap.  J had never eaten there so it would be something new for her and a second chance for me.

CiCi’s Pizza is part of a strip mall on South Cedar across the street from the Meijer.  There are a couple other restaurants in the strip mall and Finley’s American Grill (review HERE), Applebees, and Pizza Hut all have stand alone buildings.  We found a place to park in front of the Dollar Store which is just a few doors down from CiCi’s.  When you walk in, you come to a register where you pay.  The lady working was right on top of things and saw us walk in.  The only option for dine in is the endless buffet.  We got two of those and two drinks.  The total was just over $16 which I thought was high.  I thought it’d be closer to $10, but when I did the math in my head, it made since.  Six bucks for each of the buffet’s, a couple bucks for drinks and taxes come out to $16.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Jack Breslin Student Events Center

7 12 2008
  • 1 Birch Road
  • East Lansing, MI 48824
  • (517) 432-1989
  • Website
The view from our seats for a Michigan State basketball game at the Breslin Center

The view from our seats for a Michigan State basketball game at the Breslin Center

A year ago, when I stood in the Peoria Civic Center and watched Bradley University almost upset Michigan State, I never imagined that I would see this year’s Bradley/MSU from a seat in the Breslin Center.  Earlier in the week, J and I made sugar cookies like we do every year from my grandma’s recipe.  She took a few to work and one of her co-workers said he’d like some more.  He’s got access to MSU basketball tickets and I offered up a trade.  Two dozen home made sugar cookies for two tickets to the Michigan State vs. Bradley basketball game.  I lived up to my end of the bargain and two days later, J came home with a pair of tickets.

I have been to a number of college basketball games, but surprisingly, never as a spectator.  I do a lot of work for sports networks that broadcast these games and that’s how I usually go…including last year’s MSU/Bradley game that was aired on ESPNU.  I had been to the Breslin Center one other time, but that was for a volleyball game earlier in the year, so I was really looking forward to getting to go to a game.  J had never been to a college basketball game either, so it was a treat for both of us.

Before we ever got inside the Breslin Center, I already had a sour taste in my mouth.  Parking sucks.  Really sucks.  I tried looking online for a parking map before we left, but couldn’t find anything.  There were no signs directing you to a public lot and everything near the arena had a temporary sign out front that said those lots were for passes only.  I finally found a paid lot on Kalamazoo heading back towards Lansing and by the time we got there, it was almost full.  We were one of the last cars they let in and one of the parking attendants had to move their car to create more parking spaces.  The spaces were really tight and my mid-size truck didn’t want to fit very well.  Had we not left the game five minutes early, leaving would have been a mess. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Big Ten Tour, East Lansing, Live Entertainment, Michigan, Reviews

Cosi

7 12 2008
  • 301 E. Grand River Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 332-6500
  • Website
  • Menu
Cosi on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Cosi on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Cosi is another one of those places that remind me of Chicago.  It was about eight years ago that a DJ friend of mine introduced me to the chain when he took me to a store on the north side of Chicago.  I went back to that store on Clark and Belmont a few times, but I also made several stops at a location in the Loop while I was interning at Fox Sports Net Chicago.  When I moved away from the Chicago suburbs, it was four years before I saw another Cosi.  Not long before I left Illinois, Cosi opened a location in Uptown Normal (home of Illinois State University).  I took co-workers there after talking up their flat bread sandwiches.  Most of them didn’t agree with me, but it was still a sandwich that I really liked.

J and I had walked past Cosi several times in East Lansing.  The store is located on Grand River Avenue across the street from Michigan State.  We had tickets to the Michigan State vs. Bradley University basketball game and wanted to grab lunch before heading over to the Breslin Center.  Since we gorged ourselves yesterday on pasta, bread, pizza, and gingerbread cookies, I decided on a healthier option than bar food.

It was J’s first time ever going to a Cosi, but this was the fourth different shop I had been in.  The others I’ve been in have all been very cramped and designed really awkwardly.  The shop in East Lansing was very spacious.  When you walk in, you have the option of going to a coffee bar or to go order sandwiches.  We headed to the right where the sandwich order line was.  The menu board was above the counter and was a little hard to read.  It was so far way from the front of the counter and a little high.  I found three or four sandwiches that looked good, but I always let J pick first. No sense in us getting the same sandwich.  That way we can share with each other and taste more of the menu.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Westlund’s Apple Market

6 12 2008
  • 2301 E. Grand River Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 482-3900
  • Website
Westlunds Apple Market on Grand River Ave. in Lansing

Westlund's Apple Market on Grand River Ave. in Lansing

J and I had both seen the recent commercials for Westlund’s Apple Market touting $1.69 ground beef.  She doesn’t eat ground beef that often, but I could live on the stuff, so on our way home from Howell, we decided to check it out.

Westlund’s in on Grand River a few blocks from Frandor.  I don’t know why, but I was expecting it to be out towards Eastwoode.  I thought my GPS was screwed up when it turned me left on Grand River from US 127.  J kept assuring me that is was the right way.  She could remember driving by it, but I couldn’t picture it. 

It was a snowy day and it was hard to see the parking lines in the lot, so I just made my own space across from a car thta was already parked.  We made our way in and I got a little nervous when I saw signs on the door that said (these are paraphrased) only one student in the store at a time unless with an adult and  leave all backpacks in the front of the store.  Signs like that just don’t make me feel all that comfortable and that’s not what I was expecting from a neighborhood grocery store. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

Tomato Bros

6 12 2008
  • 3030 W. Grand Avenue
  • Howell, MI 48843
  • (517) 546-9221
  • Website
  • Menu
Tomato Bros on Grand River Avenue in Howell

Tomato Bros on Grand River Avenue in Howell

Another weekend.  Another trip to the Kensington Valley Outlet Mall in Howell.  After our last trip to Howell when we ate at The Bloated Goat Saloon (review HERE) in Fowlerville, someone suggested in comments that we try out Tomato Bros.  J asked if it was the place we always drive by on Grand River, but I didn’t remember seeing it.  Either way, the menu looked good so that’s here we headed. 

Tomato Bros. is on the corner of Grand River Avenue and Highland Road.  You can’t miss it.  There is a huge sign over the entrance of the building in addition to the typical roadside sign.  One you turn in, you find a parking lot that is a little weird.  Some of the spots are facing north and south while others are facing east and west.  They really try to pack the cars in there.  I parked my truck  and J thought I was nuts.  It looked like I made my own parking space, but I assure you, I didn’t. 

We made our way inside.  Once we got through the big, decorative, wood doors, I didn’t find what I was expecting to find.  I figured Tomato Bros was going to be a sports bar, but it was really a nice, sit down restaurant with a bar.  We were met by a hostess and asked us the dreaded “smoking or non-smoking” question.  We chose non-smoking and were shown to a booth in the back of the restaurant near the kitchen.  The space is rather large and there were quite a few groups of ladies dining.  We assumed they were either going to or coming from the outlet mall. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Howell, Italian, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Barley’s American Grill (Revisited)

5 12 2008
Barleys American Grill on Miller Road decorated for Christmas

Barley's American Grill on Miller Road decorated for Christmas

I originally reviewed Barley’s American Grill not long after moving to Lansing.  At that time, I had no idea it would become our regular hangout.  Both J and I enjoyed the food and the atmosphere, but we’re not really “go out for a beer” regulars.  Every now and then it’s nice, but we’ve never really had a regular hangout.  A few weeks after the initial review, J got a new co-worker and they decided Thursday night was going to be “Beer Thursday” after they got off work at 11:30.  The closest bar to their place of employment is Barley’s American Grill and it’s on the way home for both of them, so that’s what they picked. 

Barley’s American Grill is behind the Meijer on Miller Road.  It’s a huge building with a good size dining room, a good size bar, and a huge gaming area with multiple pool tables and dart boards.  We have our usual booth along the back wall and our usual waitress who doesn’t even come over to ask what we want anymore.  Since it’s 11:30 at night, we usually don’t go for large food items, but we do get a couple appetizers. 

The usual for us is a Blue Moon for J’s co-worker, a Bud Light draft for me, and a frozen strawberry Daiquiri for J.  As for the appetizers, the girls almost always order the spinach-artichoke dip which comes with toasted bagels.  The bagels are the best part.  Instead of throwing some chips out of a bag with the dip, they thinly slice bagels, butter, and toast them.  They’re delicious on their own.  I’m not a fan of spinach or artichoke so I usually pass.  If they have any bagles left over, I’ll try to steal one just to eat by itself. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

Weber Grill Restaurant – Chicago

30 11 2008
  • 539 N. State St.
  • Chicago, IL 60654
  • (312) 467-9696
  • Website
  • Menu
The Weber Grill Restaurant on State Street in downtown Chicago.

The Weber Grill Restaurant on State Street in downtown Chicago.

It isn’t very often that J and I eat at the same restaurant twice, so when I tell you this is the third time we’ve eaten at Weber Grill, you should know that it’s a good restaurant.  After spending all day walking around Chicago, it was finally time for dinner.  We had a reservation for 7:30 and we left The Gap at about 7:00 to start walking towards our dinner destination.

Weber Grill Restaurant is located at State and Ohio in the bottom floor of the Hilton Garden Inn.  The downtown restaurant is one of four locations with two others in the Chicago suburbs (Schaumburg and Lombard) and the third in Indianapolis.  Weber Grill is like no other restaurant you will ever go to.

Yes, Weber Grill Restaurant is owned by the same comapny that produces those kettle grills you should have on your patio or in your garage.  There are no stoves here.  Just grills.  Giant ranch grills.  Everything is cooked over live fire and charcoal.  It’s a grill lovers paradise.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : BBQ, Burgers, Chicago, Illinois, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Steak House

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