Little Caesars – Holt

7 11 2008
  • 2221 Cedar St.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-8099
  • Website
  • Menu
Little Caesars on Cedar St in Holt.

Little Caesars on Cedar St in Holt.

It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten at Little Caesars.  The last time, I actually had to order a pizza.  They didn’t have the $5 Hot-N-Ready.  I needed to run to the post office this morning and the closest post office is in Holt.  I told J I was running and she decided to tag along.  It was about lunch time so why not just stop somewhere.  I asked what she wanted and two weird things happened.  1.) She didn’t say “I don’t know.”  2.) She said she was hungry for pizza and suggested Little Caesars.  I made my run to the post office and fought some pretty heavy traffic for Holt to get back to Little Caesars.

Little Caesars is in a tiny little building on Cedar St near Aurelius.  The surprising thing is that there is a drive thru window.  There were five or six cars in the drive thru line so we parked and I headed into the building.  The shop is strictly carry out.  The building is pretty much just the kitchen.   There is a small counter near the front of the building and a couple chairs if you have to wait.  There was a family there waiting for a pizza, so I was wondering if I’d even be able to get a “Hot-N-Ready” pizza.  There were two people working and both were in the back frantically making pies.  The phones were ringing, there was a line in the drive thru and then, there was me waiting at the counter.  One of the girls stopped making pizzas and came to the front to ask what I wanted.  Fortunately, I just wanted a cheese pizza and there were two of them sitting there waiting to go.  She turned around, grabbed a pizza, and handed it to me.  With tax, the pie cost me $5.20.  Read the rest of this entry »





Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits – Lansing

26 10 2008
  • 3010 S. Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 887-9861
  • Website
  • Menu
Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits on MLK in Lansing.

Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits on MLK in Lansing.

Who doesn’t “love that chicken from Popeye’s?”  I freakin love Popeye’s Chicken.  I know that’s really unlike me since Popeye’s is a chain, but I’ve never found chicken anywhere that I like better.  I’ll try to search out the local chicken joints, but I always end up back at Popeye’s.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  There was one place in Joliet, IL that I did like better, but out of hundreds of examples, that’s the one exception.   We’ve been looking for this store for quite a while.  The day we moved to Lansing, we drove around forever trying to find it.  We tried calling 411 and they said there was no listing in Lansing.  We put it into the GPS and nothing came up.  We were trying to feed not only ourselves, but our families who made the long trip to Michigan to help us move into our new place.  A few months ago, I drove down MLK just looking around and we finally found Popeye’s Chicken.

J doesn’t agree with me.  She grew up in Chicago where Brown’s Chicken reigns supreme.  When I lived in Joliet, IL there was a Popeye’s and a Browns right next to each other.  I tried both but always went back to Popeye’s.  Popeye’s aren’t really that prevelant in the Chicagoland area so the first time J had Popeye’s was right after we started dating in Peoria.  I had to work late and she had a box of chicken and a six pack of Budweiser’s waiting for me when I got to her house. Read the rest of this entry »





Press Release – Sonic open in Flint

10 10 2008

From a press release….I guess it’s a little closer to Lansing.

SONIC® Drive-In Opens Location in Flint

(Oklahoma City) – Flint residents now have a reason to stay in – stay in their cars that is. SONIC®, America’s Drive-In® today announced the opening of Flint’s first SONIC Drive-In, a restaurant where you order your meal and eat right from the comfort of your own vehicle.

“We are very excited to open a SONIC in Flint,” said Bill Wentworth, Jr., franchisee of the SONIC Drive-In. “We are looking forward to serving the community and delivering the fun Carhop service SONIC Drive-Ins are known for across the country.”

The Wentworth Group is the principal owner of the new SONIC located at 3140 Miller Road in Flint. The restaurant features 27 drive-in stalls, two walk-up ordering stations and a drive-thru.

The drive-in will open at 7 a.m. on Oct. 13 to serve customers a delicious breakfast. With the full menu available all day, customers can enjoy a Breakfast Burrito to start their morning or as a late night snack.

SONIC, which specializes in made-to-order fast food, is known for its specialty menu items and personal Carhop service. Unique drink combinations make SONIC Your Ultimate Drink Stop!® SONIC’s slow-melting ice, helps drinks stay cool and keeps them cooled longer while maintaining flavor. SONIC’s full menu is available all day, giving guests the option of eating breakfast for dinner or ordering a SONIC Blast in the morning. Favorites include TOASTER® Sandwiches (sandwiches served on thick Texas Toast), Extra-Long Cheese Coneys (hot dogs with chili and cheese), fresh hamburgers, handfresh-made Onion Rings, Tater Tots and a variety of Ffrozen Favorites® treats and Fountain Favorites® drinks. SONIC’s ever-growing menu is full of options to satisfy every taste, such as Fresh Fruit Smoothies.

SONIC, America’s Drive-In (NASDAQ/NM: SONC) started as a hamburger and root beer stand in 1953 in Shawnee, Okla., called Top Hat Drive-In, and then changed its name to SONIC in 1959. The first drive-in to adopt the SONIC name is still serving customers in Stillwater, Okla. As the nation’s largest chain of drive-in restaurants, SONIC has more than 3,400 drive-ins coast to coast. More than a million customers eat at SONIC every day; and with more drink combinations than any other quick-service restaurant – more than 168,000 to be exact – SONIC is Your Ultimate Drink Stop®. For more information about Sonic Corp. and its subsidiaries, visit SONIC at http://www.sonicdrivein.com.

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Press Release – $1 Butterburgers!!

30 09 2008

Just got this press release.  I’m pretty sure I know where I’ll be next Tuesday….

Prairie du Sac, WI (Grassroots Newswire) — Yes, the rumors are true, the juicy, mouth-watering Butterburger™, made famous by Culver’s® Restaurants, is available on Tuesday, Oct. 7, for just $1.

The $1 ButterBurger celebration will take place at more than 380 participating Culver’s restaurants in 18 states. Every order can include up to five single ButterBurgers, with the guest’s choice of condiments, for the special one-day only price.

As part of Culver’s 2008 Custard Election (Sept. 29 – Oct. 19), an in-store and online voting campaign to select your favorite Democrat or Republican sundae candidate, Culver’s Restaurants are attempting to “buy votes” by driving voter traffic in-store with the second annual $1 ButterBurger guest appreciation day.

Culver’s signature sandwich, the ButterBurger, is made from fresh, never frozen 100 percent U.S. beef raised predominantly in the heartland of America, seared on a hot grill and served on a buttered, lightly toasted bun.

Please join us Oct. 7 at participating Culver’s Restaurants. Interviews with local franchise partners are available.

WHO: Culver’s Restaurant

WHAT: $1 ButterBurger Customer Appreciation Day

WHEN: Tuesday, October 7, 2008

WHERE: Participating Culver’s locations





Happy’s Pizza – Lansing

14 09 2008
  • 6045 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 272-7777
  • Website
  • Menu
Happys Pizza on the corner of Cedar and Miller in Lansing.

Happy's Pizza on the corner of Cedar and Miller in Lansing.

What a miserable day.  It hasn’t stopped raining since Friday and that’s made it hard to work up the ambition to do anything but lay on the couch and watch TV.   Good thing there’s a NASCAR race on today.  We had talked about going to Okemos to pick something up, but ultimately, we both decided neither of us wanted to do much of anything except lay around and be lazy.

We had been watching the progress at the old BP station on the corner of Miller and Cedar that was being turned into a Happy’s Pizza.  Not being from Michigan, I had never seen a Happy’s Pizza before.  They got their start in 1994 in the Detroit area.  Since then, they have expanded a lot in Southeast Michigan.  Currently, they’re heading west and even starting to look at expansion in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana.

Lunch was becoming a problem.  We were both hungry but too lazy to actually do anything about it.  Earlier this week,  Runs With Spatula put up a post about Happy’s opening.  J and I talked about it all week.  She finally suggested if I could reach my cell phone on the coffee table, we should order pizza.  Grudingly, I got up and checked out the Happy’s Pizza website where I found a coupon for 12 wings,a  2-liter of Pepsi and a large pizza for about $16.  Since I was already up, I grabbed my cell phone and called in an order. Read the rest of this entry »





7-Eleven – Holt

12 09 2008
  • 1997 Aurelius Rd.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-4906
  • Website
The 7-Eleven store on Aurelius Road in Holt

The 7-Eleven store on Aurelius Road in Holt

It’s not very often that J makes me crave something, but tonight, she did.  When she came home for dinner, she had to weave through the madness that was the gas stations in this town today.  Because people are stupid and will believe anything they hear, lines were forming in the streets on Pennsylvania and Cedar.  She had to weave through all this mess just to get home, so when it was time to go back, she didn’t want to mess with trying to get the Slurpee-type drink from Speedway which she was craving.  Just talking about it made me crave one.

Even though it was much later and all the rumors about $6 gas turned out to be untrue, I didn’t want to mess with trying to get to a gas station, so I went the other way and went to Holt.  7-Eleven occupies the corner of Holt and Aurelius Roads in the village.  It has been a few years since I’ve been in a 7-Eleven.  The convenience stores are prevalent in Chicagoland, but not where I grew up about an hour south.  7-Eleven was a treat when we would stop before or after a White Sox game at Comiskey Park.  We figured since they sponsor the White Sox (all home games start at 7:11 PM CST), we’d support them right back.  That’s what happens when your family watches NASCAR.  You support the sponsors of you’re favorite driver/team. Read the rest of this entry »





Subway – Ashkum, IL

4 09 2008
  • 410 N. Front St.
  • Ashkum, IL 60911
  • (815) 698-2108
  • Website
  • Menu
The Subway store located inside BP Fast N Fresh in Ashkum, IL on the way to Champaign

The Subway store located inside BP Fast 'N Fresh in Ashkum, IL on the way to Champaign

You haven’t lived in a small town until you’ve lived in a place that gets excited a Subway is moving in to the gas station.  How small is this town?  It’s the only national chain other than Dairy Queen that has ever set up shop.  Yes, that’s the town I grew up in.  This review is actually a holdover from a couple of weeks ago when J and I were home for the Ashkum Homecoming.  I didn’t snap a picture and really just forgot about it until I stopped at my parents house on my way to Champaign tonight.

Like I already mentioned, this particular Subway is located inside the only gas station in town about half a miles from Interstate 57 in Ashkum, IL which is about halfway between Chicago and Champaign.  Before Subway moved in a year ago, the only food option this town had was pizza from the local grocery store or pizza from the operation that occupied this space.  The townspeople were ecstatic when it was finally annouced Subway would set up shop.  My mom actually eats there at leaset three times a week. 

J and I got up after a long night of drinking and catching up with some of my old friends.  The only options for lunch at the park where the homecoming was being held were greasy foods like hamburgers, pizzas, and brats.  She wanted something a little healthier and I didn’t want grease so we walked down to the BP for lunch. Read the rest of this entry »





Panera Bread – Lansing Mall

21 08 2008
  • 5300 W. Saginaw Hwy
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 703-9340
  • Website
  • Menu
Panera Bread located inside the Lansing Mall on Saginaw Highway in Lansing

Panera Bread located inside the Lansing Mall on Saginaw Highway in Lansing

I used to be scared of Panera Bread.  I always assumed there is nothing there I would like because they didn’t make greasy hamburgers and fries.  My girlfriend finally got me there one day while we were doing some extended work in Decatur, IL.  We had exhausted all of the downtown restaurant options and another lady we were working with had mentioned she was going to Panera Bread.  I decided not to argue and went along for the ride.  To my surprise, I actually found quite a bit there that sounded and looked good.  Panera has always been a standby for J.  She eats there pretty much every time she has to work in Kalamazoo or anytime she has to find someplace to eat and I’m not with her.

Today, we needed to run to Horrocks before heading back to Illinois for the weekend.  J just wanted a salad for lunch and asked if there was a Panera close.  The only one I could think of was the one at the Lansing Mall so after we grabbed what we needed from Horrocks, we headed down Saginaw Highway to the mall.  Read the rest of this entry »





McDonald’s – Holt

20 08 2008
  • 2400 S. Cedar St.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-9431
  • Website
  • Menu
The McDonalds on South Cedar St. in Holt

The McDonald's on South Cedar St. in Holt

Surprisingly, McDonald’s is one of my favorite fast food restaurants.  I don’t eat there often because I don’t eat fast food all that much, but I do really like their “burgers.”  Since moving to Lansing, I haven’t eaten at one even though there is one right down the road from our place.  J and I needed to make a run to Target this morning to get a diaper bag and some bottles…..for my brother who’s wife is expecting my first niece in about seven weeks.  While we were out, we decided to just run and grab lunch instead of coming home and trying to make something.

J wants to get back on the Weight Watchers diet and the only way it will work is if I get on it too.  I’m not super excited about it because it takes away all the foods I like and makes me eat larger portions of the foods I don’t.  But, she wants to do it and I want to help her, so I’ll do my best. 

Since she wants to start this diet, my usual double quarter pounder with cheese value meal isn’t really an option.  For the first time since I was five and ordering happy meals, I ordered something other than the #4.  I didn’t really know what any of their salads were so I just ordered what J did.  We both got the Southwestern salad.  I got grilled chicken and she got crispy chicken. Read the rest of this entry »





Maggie Moos Ice Cream and Treatery

18 08 2008
  • 1077 N. Wisner St.
  • Jackson, MI 49202
  • (517) 990-0579
  • Website
  • Menu
Maggie Moos Ice Cream and Treatery in Jackson

Maggie Moos Ice Cream and Treatery in Jackson

Funny story.  J and I are sitting in the press conference room at MIS waiting for Carl Edwards to come in.  By this point it had been almost six hours since we last ate.  She turned around and said she wanted a big meal, then ice cream.  I said we should go to Buffalo Barbeque Wings (review HERE) in Jackson for dinner then maybe we could search for an ice cream shop with her GPS.  We pull into the strip mall where Buffalo Barbeque Wings is located and two doors down is a Maggie Moos.  Ain’t that luck?

After dinner, she made a bee-line for the ice cream shop.  We were a little worried that wouldn’t be open at 8:00 on a Sunday night, but they actually stay open pretty late.  We made out way into the store where a few other groups had the same idea we did.  Today was must have been the day of imitators.  J was watching one of the guys make someone else’s ice cream when she turned to me and said, “this is just like Cold Stone.”  It is just like Cold Stone.  You pick your flavor and your mixins and they make it right in front of you the same way as we’re used to getting at the larger chain.  Read the rest of this entry »