The Department – Joliet, IL

23 09 2009
  • 205 N. Chicago Street
  • Joliet, IL 60432
  • (815) 714-2280
  • Website
  • Menu
The Department in downtown Joliet

The Department in downtown Joliet

First day back in Chicago and J and I had a lot of errands to run.  We got up early to take care of our first major task at the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview.  After that, we needed to run to Joliet to see my grandma.  By the time we left her, it was lunch time. 

 

I lived in Joliet for four years and there wasn’t much reason to ever go downtown.  Things have changed a lot in the last seven years.  They’ve brought in a great Independent League baseball park and the Harrah’s Casino has invested a lot of money downtown.  With the influx of things to do, the dining scene has picked up dramatically.

In June, J and I went to a Joliet Jackhammers game with my parents.  They wanted to eat at the only reason there was to go downtown when I was there..Chicken ‘N Spice, but on our trek through town, I noticed a number of restaurants that I tucked away into the ol’ memory bank should we ever get back to Joliet.

After driving around the block a few times, the restaurant I settled on was The Department.  It was a neat looking restaurant from the outside, but what we found inside blew us both away. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicken, Downtown, Illinois, Joliet, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Zingerman’s Roadhouse

20 09 2009
  • 2501 Jackson Avenue
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48103
  • (734) 663-3663
  • Website
  • Menu
Zingermans Roadhouse on Jackson Avenue in Ann Arbor.

Zingerman's Roadhouse on Jackson Avenue in Ann Arbor.

Where to go to do dinner after a Michigan football game?  J had suggested Zingerman’s Deli, but we would have had to go north through downtown which I didn’t really want to do and I’ve always been told Zingerman’s Deli is nuts on game days. 

I started looking over the menu at Zingerman’s Roadhouse and while the prices all seemed a little higher, when I thought about it, dinner at the Roadhouse would have cost the same as dinner at the Deli.  We love Zingerman’s Deli, so I had no reason to think we wouldn’t love Zingerman’s Roadhouse….plus, Bon Appetite did call their BBQ one of the best in country….and I do love me some BBQ. 

Zingerman’s Roadhouse is on Jackson Avenue near the Westgate Shopping Center in Ann Arbor.  It’s near the Interstate 94 Exit for Jackson Avenue, so after leaving Michigan Stadium, I headed back to the expressway.  We left the game a little early to beat traffic since it was a blow out, so it only took a few minutes to get to the restaurant. 

Leaving early also allowed us to beat any sort of post game rush.  It was a little after three when we parked the car and there weren’t a lot of cars in the parking lot which was good news to me.  We were both pretty hungry having skipped lunch at the Stadium, so the quicker we could get food the better. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, BBQ, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

T & D Coney Grill

17 09 2009
  • 1735 W. Grand River Avenue
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 347-9066
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

 

T & D Coney Grill on West Grand River Avenue in Okemos.

T & D Coney Grill on West Grand River Avenue in Okemos.

In my runnings around Delta Township this morning, I forgot a few things I needed to do, so it was back out tonight, but this time, I decided to go to Okemos.  The store I needed to go to was out that way too and I wanted to check out another new place recommended by BernieB.

 

 

T & D Coney Grill is a new addition to the Okemos restaurant scene that sits in a strip mall at the corner of West Grand River Avenue and Dobie Road.  It takes up the space that used to be Villegas.  They do breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the small, family run diner, but it was dinner that I was looking for.

I pulled in just before 8:00 on a Thursday night.  There were a few other people in the restaurant which is divided into two dining rooms.  It’s just the layout of the space.  There’s not really a reason the room is divide.  Tying the two spaces together is a lunch counter that overlooks a window to the kitchen.

Since I was alone, I grabbed a seat at the lunch counter in front of the large LCD TV which was tuned to Wolf Blitzer.  When I sat down, I was asked if I was dining in or if I wanted carry-out.  I had no place to be, so I sat down to eat.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Coney Island, Diner, Michigan, Okemos, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

MBC

17 09 2009
  • 402 S. Washington Square
  • Lansing, MI 48933
  • (517) 977-1349
  • Website
  • Menu
MBC on Washington Square in downtown Lansing.

MBC on Washington Square in downtown Lansing.

The wait is over.  The Michigan Brewing Company put the “Coming Soon” sign on their building in downtown Lansing over a year ago.  I would drive  by every now and then to see if there was any progress.  I would periodically send e-mails to the marketing department in Webberville to see if they would give me anything, but never could get a solid answer.  All of a sudden, a few weeks ago, I saw a Tweet from Lansing PSD that MBC was opening.

The plan all along was to run some errands this morning then head downtown for lunch.  Of course, City Pulse beat me to the punch with an article in this week’s edition. 

MBC is near the corner of Washington Square and Kalamazoo Street.  The parking available is in front of the building in angled street parking.  There are a few spaces directly in front of the building, but more than likely, you’ll have to park and walk.  Not a big deal as there is plenty of parking spaces along Washington Square.

The building is dominated by windows that let in a lot of natural light.  When you first walk in, there’s a little lounge area off to the left with comfy red chairs and some bar stools.  Right in front of you is a hostess station that divides the remaining space into two distinct areas.  On the left is the bar area.  They have a beautiful bar along the far left wall as well as a couple pub tables.  The chairs at these pub tables are made of wood and have a ring around the bottom that looks like it was once part of a wooden barrel.  The rest of the bar area is filled in with regular tables that run along a half wall that separates the bar from the dining room.  The whole space has a somewhat industrial feel to it with high ceilings and low ambient lighting.  A majority of the light comes from the natural light that floods in through the large windows that make up the facade. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Brew Pub, Burgers, Downtown, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

National Coney Station

15 09 2009
  • 565 E. Grand River Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-2100
  • Website
  • Menu
National Coney Station on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

National Coney Station on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

As readers of this blog know, the thing I love most about food is regional cuisine.  Sure, I may not like everything that makes a region popular, but I love the idea that no matter where you grew up, there’s going to be some brand, food, or preparation technique that will always make you think of home. 

In Michigan, that food is the Coney Dog.  I’m not a hot dog eater, so it’s not something that I’ve been able to adapt to.  I’ve tried it once and wasn’t a huge fan only because I don’t like the dog.  The chili is delicious and I could eat that without the hot dogs.

There are always imitators when it comes to a region’s marquee cuisine.  Yeah, you can get a coney dog here in Lansing, but up until last week, you couldn’t get it from one of the big names in Detroit coney’s.

National Coney Station opened up on Grand River Avenue in the building that was most recently Moe’s Firehouse.  Before that, it was a Spartan Gyro.  National Coney did a lot of work to the building to clean it up.  I never got a chance to eat at Moe’s before it closed, but for some reason, the place always scared me a little bit. 

National Coney Station is not quite the same as the National Coney Island restaurants you’re familiar with in Detroit.  They’re owned by the same company, but they’re designed to be more of a quickservice restaurant.  The menu is much, much smaller having only nine choices plus some a la cart items.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Nicky’s Carry-Out, Crestwood, IL

14 09 2009
  • 14001 Cicero Avenue
  • Crestwood, IL 60445
  • (708) 388-4626
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
Nickys Carry-Out in Crestwood, IL

Nicky's Carry-Out in Crestwood, IL

Months before I started dating J, I was sent up to Chicago to shoot a high school basketball game at St. Xavier University on the south side.  I didn’t know then that I’d be spending so much time on the south side of Chicago and when I got off the Interstate on Cicero Avenue, my first order of business was finding some place to get an Italian beef. 

The first place I came across was Nicky’s Carry-Out in Crestwood, so I stopped and got a beef.  I didn’t know it at the time, but there was a Portillo’s right down the street.  If I had known that, I probably would have waited, but I’m sort of glad I didn’t. 

I haven’t been back to Nicky’s since then even though we do drive by it quite a bit on our way to J’s parents’ house.  On my last trip home by myself, I had to make a stop at J’s parents on the way back to Lansing to pick up some things we forgot on our last trip home. 

I left my parents in kind of a rush because I slept much later than I had intended.  After a quick stop at my brother’s, I headed towards Chicago….hungry.  I could have stopped at Portillo’s, but since I was by myself, I decided to stop at Nicky’s to see if it was what I remembered now that I’ve been formally introduced to Chicago cuisine. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Crestwood, Illinois, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Dam Site Inn

29 08 2009
  • 4095 Patterson Lake Road
  • Pinckney, MI 48169
  • (734) 878-9300
  • Website (not working)
  • No Online Menu
The Dam Site Inn in Hell, MI

The Dam Site Inn in Hell, MI

I made a lot of people happy today.  I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve been told, “Go to hell.”  Today, I did.  Sure, it was just Hell, MI, but I can still tell all those people who have given me that order over the years that I’ve been to Hell and back…and it was fun. 

J and I were stuck on Travel Channel’s “Extreme” shows last weekend.  During the “Extreme Roadside Attractions” I was reintroduced to Hell, MI.  I say reintroduced not because I’ve ever been there, but it was something I had heard about while I was growing up in Illinois. 

For many years, my brother and I delivered papers.  We lived in a small community and the daily newspaper in the area wasn’t huge.  One really hot day, the paper lead with the headline “It’s Hotter Than Hell (Michigan, That Is).”  We got a ton of phone calls from angry customers that thought it was inappropriate and yelled at us like we had something to do with content.  That’s the only newspaper headline I think I’ll ever remember word-for-word. 

So, J and I finally got to sleep in and we took advantage of it.  It was a little after noon before I stumbled into the living room already really hungry.  We figured out that Hell wasn’t all that far away and it would be fun just to say we’ve been there.  Since they had a bar/restaurant, we could make that a reason to go. 

The Dam Site Inn is on Patterson Lake Road in what is technically considered Pinckney.  Hell is actually an unincorporated part of Livingston County.  For USPS purposes, they have a Pinckney address and zip code.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Burgers, Dive Bar, Hell, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pinckney, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Courtside Cafe

28 08 2009
  • 101 N. Washington Street
  • Owosso, MI 48867
  • (989) 720-8161
  • Website
  • Menu
The Courtside Cafe on Washington Street in Owosso.

The Courtside Cafe on Washington Street in Owosso.

J and I made a trip to Owosso to conduct a little business.  It took a little longer than we expected and J had to be back in Lansing to get work.  It was pushing noon by the time we were done and we wanted to grab lunch before heading home. 

I did a little research and found a sandwich shop in downtown Owosso. Since we were heading back that way, I put the address in the GPS to get us back to where we needed to be.  My hope was we could get in and get out pretty quickly because we were really pushing the time limit now. 

The Courtside Cafe is in downtown Owosso on the corner of Main and Washington Streets.  It’s a small corner building on a very busy intersection.  We actually couldn’t even find parking near the building.  We ended up having to park a block down and around the corner. 

The Courtside Cafe is not what I expected.  It’s actually a sit down restaurant with servers. I was just expecting a place to grab a sandwich from a counter.  There was a lunch counter and that’s where J and I headed.  We grabbed a server and asked if we could put in a carry-out order.  She said she’d be right back which gave us time to look over the menu. 

The food at the Courtside Cafe is what you expect from this kind of place.  There are a number of sandwiches listed by number on the menu.  There are some salads, soups, quesidila’s, and even some baked goods from Zingerman’s.  No deep fryer which means no fries.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Cafe, Michigan, Owosso, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Tony’s I-75 Restaurant

22 08 2009
  • 8781 Main Street
  • Birch Run, MI 48415
  • (989) 624-5860
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Tonys I-75 Restaurant on Main Street in Birch Run.

Tony's I-75 Restaurant on Main Street in Birch Run.

I love bacon.  So much so, my favorite comedy routine is Jim Gaffigan’s King Baby show where he keeps talking about bacon (Is he still talking about bacon?). 

A few weeks ago, I was watching Sandwich Paradise on The Travel Channel and one of the places featured was a diner in Birch Run.  Sure, I’ve had a few people tell me I needed to check out and try their BLT that comes with a pound of bacon.  I thought they were just over hyping the place…..like the fish that gets bigger every time they tell the story.  I was wrong.

Tony’s I-75 Restaurant is on Main Street in Birch Run just a block or so from Interstate 75.  The restaurant has the distinction of being the only local joint in a sea of chains.  This particular area of Birch Run is very highly developed.  They have the Prime Outlets (which we of course checked out) and just about every type of chain cuisine you can imagine. 

We showed up just before noon on a Saturday.  The parking lot was packed.  There is a large lot behind the restaurant and that’s where we eventually found a spot.  When we opened the door to enter the restaurant, we were greeted with a line ten people deep.  The waiting area is actually outside the actual restaurant in a long, narrow hallway that looks like it was added on after the fact so people wouldn’t have to wait outside in the cold.  

Not long after getting in line, an employee stuck her head out and asked how big each of our parties were.  There was a group of seven, two and three in front of us.  Still, we waited in line only about five minutes.  We were asked if we would like a seat at the lunch counter.  Initially, we said no, but after reconsidering it, we took the two seats at the counter which proved to be entertaining.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Birch Run, Diner, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

DiBella’s Old Fashioned Submarines

14 08 2009
  • 904 W. Eisenhower Parkway
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48103
  • (734) 997-9011
  • Website
  • Menu
DiBellas Old Fashioned Submarines in Cranbrook Village in Ann Arbor.

DiBella's Old Fashioned Submarines in Cranbrook Village in Ann Arbor.

Whenever I work in Ann Arbor, I get a request from J to make a Whole Foods run.   Since I’m going to be working a lot over the next week, I won’t be home to make dinner every night.  She’s a fan of one of the prepackaged salads from Whole Foods and she loves the pre cut fruit to snack on during the day.

After I got off work, I headed to the Whole Foods at Cranbrook Village.  Sure, I could have grabbed something for myself out of the deli, but where’s the fun in that?  I saw a sandwich shop in the same strip, so I grabbed the items for J then went to get myself a sandwich.

DiBella’s Old Fashioned Submarines is a chain out of New York, but the only Michigan location is in Ann Arbor.  In fact, there’s only five stores outside of New York….and in the state, they’re only in Rochester and Buffalo, so they’re not a large chain store by any means. 

The Ann Arbor location is on Eisenhower Parkway in the Cranbrook Village shopping center.  The shop sits right in the middle when you turn into the center from Eisenhower.  I found a parking spot then walked across the roadway.  The inside has sort of a throwback feel.  There’s a lot of red that accents the dark wood.  The employees all wear paper hats to add to the feel.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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