Bloated Goat Saloon

22 11 2008
  • 141 E. Grand River Ave.
  • Fowlerville, MI 48836
  • (517) 223-8413
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
The sign hanging from the Bloated Goat Saloon in downtown Fowlerville

The sign hanging from the Bloated Goat Saloon in downtown Fowlerville

The Bloated Goat Saloon is my kind of bar.  Not only is the name awesome, but the inside is the typical small town, turn of the century saloon with above average food. 

J and I were heading out to Howell to do some Christmas shopping.  Might as well get it out of the way early.  I hate people and you can’t have a crowd without people and you can’t Christmas shop in December without crowds, so we went to the Tanger Outlets the week before Thanksgiving instead of the week after.   We’re always on the lookout for new places and when I was searching for restaurants in and around Howell, I came upon a place called the Bloated Goat Saloon.  There were a couple reviews that said the place was really neat and the food was good, so we decided to give it a try.

The Bloated Goat Saloon is in downtown Fowlerville.  It’s not hard to find.  There’s a huge sign hangining on the side of the building.  The inside is dark, long, and narrow.  There isn’t much width to the place.  There’s a really neat bar running along one wall in the front of the space and tables along the other.  The back of the room is filled with more tables and the usual pub games.  Back to the bar for a second, it’s a really interesting design.  There’s the bar, but there’s also a boxed in shelf a few feet above the bar.  The whole thing is supported with steel pipe, so it looks like there are a bunch of “windows” when you’re sitting there.  About half of the bar stools are attached to the bar itself and then there’s a couple of the more traditional free standing stools. Read the rest of this entry »





Jersey Giant Subs – South Lansing

20 11 2008
  • 6441 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 272-2300
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Jersey Giant Subs on South Cedar in Lansing.

Jersey Giant Subs on South Cedar in Lansing.

The market is flooded with sub sandwich shops.  It seems like they all run together and I never know what’s a chain or what’s local.  We’ve passed over Jersey Giant Subs a number of times because we wer just tired of sub shops.  They’re all pretty much the same, right?

J wasn’t able to come home for dinner tonight and I had to go meet someone and pick up some gear for a job I have tomorrow in Grand Rapids.  Since I was out, I figured I’d just grab something for dinner instead of trying to scrounge something up for myself.  As I was driving back down Pennsylvania towards home, I thought of the non-descript sub shop we always pass up.

Jersey Giant Sub sits in a small strip mall on Cedar Street near the Meijer.  There are a lot of food options along this stretch of Cedar St.  The strip mall is mostly other take out places.  There are two Mexican places close by and a number of national chains.  Jersey Giant Sub kind of gets lost in the mix.

I had a hard time finding a parking spot.  There’s something in that strip mall that people love because every time we go there (there’s also a Bigby), the parking lot is packed.  I found a spot on the other side of the complex and walked back to the store.  Read the rest of this entry »





Kroger – Frandor

17 11 2008
  • 443 Mall Ct.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 332-2090
  • Website
Kroger in the Frandor Shopping Center.

Kroger in the Frandor Shopping Center.

I have a feeling one day I will visit all the Kroger’s in Lansing.  For some reason, when I need something, I instinctively go to Kroger.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been around Kroger all my life whereas the other supermarket’s in the area or foreign to me.  Maybe it’s because there just always seems to be a Kroger when I need one.

J and I were in Frandor to check out Linens ‘N Things again.  My dad wants some pans for Christmas and he’s very, very picky about what he wants, so we were hoping to find something cheap at LNT. They just lowered their prices again, so we thought it was a good time.  We picked up a few things there, but I needed to pick up a few groceries as well and there was a Kroger not too far down the parking lot.

So, we headed back to the truck to drop of the “Things” we bought from Linens ‘N Things before heading to Kroger.  I’m guessing this store is one of the older ones in Lansing.  They still have an old sign on the building and the layout is a little wierd for a grocery store.  When you walk in, you come in behind the cash registers.  There’s only one door in and out so you come out the way you go in.  If you keep walking past the cash registers, you’ll eventually hit produce and you can start shopping just like you would at any store. Read the rest of this entry »





Crunchy’s Burgers and Pizza – Revisited

17 11 2008
Crunchys in East Lansing.  Picture taken in the spring of 2008

Crunchy's in East Lansing. Picture taken in the spring of 2008

I first reviewed Crunchy’s back in the spring not long after moving to Mid-Michigan.  That was the beginning of my quest for the best burger in Lansing.  I wasn’t overly impressed, but really liked the bar.  There were a few other things on the menu we were wanting to try and figured we’d get back there some day.  Fast forward six months.  I was working at Munn Ice Arena and J and I decided to meet up for dinner after the hockey game.  There’s not a whole lot of options after 10:00 other than pizza so J suggested we meet at Crunchy’s.

Saturday night is probably not the best night to go to a college bar if you’re not in college, but we knew that heading in.  J called ahead to see when the kitchen closed.  I was expecting to get done with work around 11 and the kitchen closed at 11:30, so we knew it was going to be close.  Turns out, I got done before 11 so we made it in plenty of time.  We were carded at the door and a waitress pointed out a table just inside the dining room that we could take.  Read the rest of this entry »





Munn Ice Arena

16 11 2008
  • 1 Chestnut Rd.
  • East Lansing, MI 48824
  • (517) 353-4698
  • Website
One of the endzones at Munn Ice Arena.  The view from my camera position.

One of the endzones at Munn Ice Arena. The view from my camera position.

I like hockey.  I like going to hockey games.  I like watching hockey.  I don’t do enough of either, so when I got a phone call to shoot CCHA hockey at Munn Ice Arena, I was pretty psyched.  I was just in Munn for the first time a week ago when I shot football across the street at Spartan Stadium and I thought then Munn would probably be a pretty good place to watch hockey.  I was right.

Munn Ice Arena is located on the campus of Michigan State University between Spartan Stadium and the Jack Breslin Student Events Center.   It’s a really interesting looking building.  Most of the arena is actually built into the terrain.  All you can see from the street is the roof of the building.  When you walk in, you’re at the concourse level and have to walk down to get to your seats.

Munn is a pretty good sized stadium for a hockey only arena.  The stadium holds almost 6500 people and most of those seats were pretty full the night I was there.  There are also suites on either side elevated above the seating area.  Most of the seating is bench seating, but the closer you get to the ice, there are some individual seats.  The interesting design thing, to me anyway, was the location of the team benches.  I don’t know if it’s unique to Munn or if it’s a college hockey thing (I come from an area where college hockey isn’t big, so I’ve never been to a game before). Read the rest of this entry »





Flap Jack Family Restaurant – South Lansing

16 11 2008
  • 6927 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 699-5532
  • Website
  • Menu
Flap Jacks South Lansing location on South Cedar St.

Flap Jack's South Lansing location on South Cedar St.

I’m not going to give you the same ol’ spiel about how J and I aren’t really breakfast people.  Saturday’s we usually sleep in late, do a little shopping and find a couple new restaurants to for lunch and dinner.  This particular Saturday was a little out of the ordinary.  J was getting up early to do some volunteer work and I was shooting a hockey game at Munn Arena.  It just so worked out that by the time she was getting home, I would be leaving to head to East Lansing, so we got up an hour earlier than she needed to be up and went and found breakfast.

Flap Jack Family Restaurant is a small, local chain of family restaurants in the Lansing area.  We picked the store on South Cedar because it was close to our place.  It was a dreary day and by a little after 7:00, the parking lot was starting to fill up.  Since it was raining, I parked as close as I could, but I mistook some spots by the door for handicap spots, so we parked on the opposite side of the parking lot and ran inside.  Read the rest of this entry »





Tony M’s Restaurant & Lounge

13 11 2008
  • 3420 S. Creyts Rd.
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 322-2069
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Tony Ms Restaurant & Lounge on Creyts Road in Lansing.

Tony M's Restaurant & Lounge on Creyts Road in Lansing.

We do a lot of shopping out in the Delta Township area and finding new places to eat is always hard.  We’ve found some good ones out there, but in our quest to eat at everyplace I keep sniffing out new ones.  I’m not exactly sure where I first heard of Tony M’s.  While J was at her monthly hair appointment, I was running errands.  After picking up a few things at Walmart, I turned on the GPS and started looking for restaurants in the area.  The usual suspects showed up, but Tony M’s also popped up so while I was waiting on J, I went and did a little scouting.  After finding out it was still there, I picked J up and we headed back for lunch.

Tony M’s is located on the corner of Creyts Road and Millet Highway just across the street from the Meijer Distribution Center.  We pulled up a little after 11:00 and found a good number of cars in the parking lot. I figured it was lunch time or something at the Meijer and since this is the only place around, it’s where everyone went.  There are two sections to Tony M’s.  In the back is the restaurant and lounge.  The front of the building is a party store and deli.  The entrances are clearly marked and we made our way to the restaurant for lunch. Read the rest of this entry »





Walmart – Lansing Township

10 11 2008
  • 3225 Towne Centre Blvd.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 487-9150
  • Website
The Walmart store...which is NOT a Supercenter...in Lansing Township

The Walmart store...which is NOT a Supercenter...in Lansing Township

It’s been years since I’ve been to a Walmart that wasn’t a Supercenter….and you know what, I almost liked it better.  We were coming home from Flint after making a run to Sonic (review HERE).  I needed to pick up some things and J was out of some things to.  Instead of going all the way around town to Delta Township, I suggested we stop at the Walmart next to the Eastwood Towne Centre. 

The Walmart in Lansing Township, like I already mentioned, is not a Supercenter…yet.  The outside is a little fancier than more Walmarts to keep up with the higher end theme that Eastwood carries.  When we walked in, I noticed a few things right away that were much different than the norm. Read the rest of this entry »





Sonic – Flint

9 11 2008
  • 3140 Miller Road
  • Flint, MI 48507
  • (810) 232-2900
  • Website
  • Menu
The New Sonic Drive In on Miller Rd. in Flint

The New Sonic Drive In on Miller Rd. in Flint

I don’t get it.  I still don’t get it.  We needed to run to the mall to pick up some things today so why not run to Flint?   Hell, gas is only $2.05.  Ever since we heard there was a Sonic opening in Flint, J has been wanting to go, so we went.  We hadn’t explored Flint yet and since it was one of the last major cities in Michigan we hadn’t checked, why not?

After grabbing lunch and doing some shopping, we made our way to Sonic.  It’s located on Miller Road right off Interstate 75.  When we pulled in, there was actually a line.  They had workers out in the parking lot directing traffic.  The first person handed us a menu and asked if we wanted a stall or wanted to go to the drive thru.  We wanted to park and eat so she directed us to a roped off area where more cars were waiting.  Then, another worker told us it was time to move into a stall and directed us out of the holding area.  Finally, another person pointed us into an empty stall.  There were five or six cars in front of us but we only waited five minutes or so to get into a stall.  Read the rest of this entry »





Redwood Lodge

9 11 2008
  • 5305 Gateway Center Dr.
  • Flint, MI 48507
  • (810) 233-8000
  • Website
  • Menu
The Redwood Lodge just off of I-75 in Flint

The Redwood Lodge just off of US-23 in Flint

I don’t usually expect Brew Pubs to be considered “upscale dining”, but when I looked on the Flint Visitors Bureau website that’s what it said.  I just figured it was a mistake or Flint has a pretty low standard.  I was wrong.

Redwood Lodge is located in a business/hotel park called Gateway Center.  It’s right off of US-23 and visibile from the freeway.  There’s a huge parking lot out front and the building makes you think of a lodge in the Rocky Mountains.  As we were making our way to the entrance, we passed stacks of mesquite wood which would be used in the wood burning oven.

The inside carried on the Rocky Mountain Lodge theme.  We were met by a host at the front who showed us to a booth near the bar area.  The booths didn’t butt up to the walls like they usually do.  They were freestanding and you could enter on either side.  A waitress came over and got our order for the usual Diet Pepsi and Pepsi.  We passed up the “World’s Largest Bloody Mary Bar.”  A great deal at $6 for all you can drink Bloody Mary’s, but neither of us drink Bloody Mary’s so we passed. Read the rest of this entry »