Lou & Harry’s Greek Grill – Downtown East Lansing

22 10 2009
  • 245 Ann Street
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-0066
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

Sorry it’s been a few weeks since my last update.  We’re getting settled into our new place in Kalamazoo, but that’s not going to keep me from updating when I do make it back to the Lansing area. 

I was back in East Lansing for a volleyball game at Michigan State.  When lunch time rolled around, I headed downtown to find a sandwich.  I was actually looking for Menna’s Joint, but I couldn’t find parking close.  By the time I got up to someplace I could park, I was a couple blocks away and there was another joint right around the corner.

Lou & Harry’s Greek Grill is on the corner of Ann & MAC in downtown East Lansing just a block from Grand River Avenue and MSU’s campus.  There’s a little mall area with a couple restaurants and shops.  Lou & Harry’s takes up what could probably be a couple storefronts. 

I had eaten at the Lou & Harry’s near Frandor in East Lansing, so I was somewhat familiar with the menu.  When you enter the store, the order counter is right in front of you.  To the right is a bar as well as some seating.  There is more seating to the left and if you head down a hallway along the left side, you can find a game room with a couple pool tables.  Read the rest of this entry »

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

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

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

Press Release – National Coney Station Opening in E.L.

8 09 2009

From a City of East Lansing press release…

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY FOR NATIONAL CONEY STATION

(EAST LANSING)—The City of East Lansing Downtown Management Board is pleased to announce the Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for National Coney Station, a new concept from National Coney Island, Inc., scheduled to be held on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. The Honorable Mayor Victor Loomis will provide opening remarks.

 
National Coney Station, located at 565 E. Grand River Avenue, will offer a menu of ‘National’ favorites like the trademark Hani Special and their famous Coney Island Hot Dogs as well as new additions like Station Burgers and more!

The restaurant is scheduled to be open seven days a week, with the following business hours: Sun.-Wed .:11 a.m.- midnight; Thurs.-Sat. 11 a.m.- 3 a.m..

Director of Business Development for NCI, Inc., Bradford Egan, a former MSU student, said that he is “excited to be opening up our new concept across from the Michigan State University. We are thankful to be able to have such a great business and loyal following.”

Currently, there are 25 National Coney Island restaurants located throughout South-East Michigan. The first National Coney Island opened in 1965 in the Macomb Mall.

On the web: Facebook Fan Page


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Categories : East Lansing, Michigan, Press Releases

Cottage Inn Pizza – Washington Square

10 08 2009
  • 303 S. Washington Square
  • Lansing, MI 48933
  • (517) 267-9000
  • Website
  • Menu
Cottage Inn Pizza on Washington Square in downtown Lansing.

Cottage Inn Pizza on Washington Square in downtown Lansing.

Long baseball games make me hungry.  I was at the Saturday night beating the Lugnuts took at the hands of the Dayton Dragons and by the time the game finally ended, I was craving pizza.  J was at home and hadn’t eat yet either.  She texted me to see what I was going to do and I told her to call for pizza.

Cottage Inn has several locations in Lansing and the surrounding area.  We usually order from the one in Holt because it’s closest to our place, but it was my turn to buy dinner.  Had J ordered from Holt, she would have had to buy, so I told her to call the downtown location and I’d just pick it up on my way home.

The Washington Square location sits near the corner of Washington Square and Washtenaw Street.  It’s a small building, but they actually have a little bit of seating in the front of the store.  They serve pizza by the slice and actually had some in the rotating glass case at 10:30 at night.  I’ve always wondered about that when I drive by after baseball games.  I guess it was Saturday night and they probably do a decent business from the bars with the slices. 

J ordered the pizza at 10:25.  When I got there at 10:45, the pizza wasn’t ready.  We had ordered a large thin crust that was half cheese and half all meat.  We also got an order of Cinnamon Stix. The Cinnamon Stix were on the rack ready to go, but the clerk told me they hadn’t put the pizza in yet, so I had to sit there for the ten minutes or so while the pizza cooked.  It was made, it just hadn’t been put in.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Downtown, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza

MBC Lansing Location Opening Soon

7 08 2009

The “coming soon” sign has been in the window for over a year and a half, but according to the LSJ, the Michigan Brewing Company will open their downtown Lansing location in just a few weeks. 

Crews are putting the final touches on the Lansing location, MBC, at 402 S. Washington Square. The 4,000 square-foot facility formerly housed the Greenhouse Bistro, but has been mostly vacant for a couple of years, St. Pierre said.

 The pub will be non-smoking and feature 16 kinds of beer and a full menu.

Non-smoking.  Awesome.


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Categories : Michigan

RG’s Ballpark Dogs & More

29 07 2009
  • 625 E. Michigan Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 977-9079
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
RGs Ballpark Dogs & More on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

RG's Ballpark Dogs & More on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

I go to a lot of Lugnuts games and almost every game I go to, I walk right by a little Mexican/hot dog place on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Pere Marquette Street.  Sometimes, the restaurant is open, but most of the time, it’s not.  It seems like every time I walk by, I’m low on cash so I’ve never been able to stop in for a quick meal. 

I was downtown this afternoon for the Lugnuts Summer Family Fun day game.  When I walked by before the game, the store was open.  I didn’t eat at the park figuring I would take my chance and see if they were open when the game was over. 

After a dramatic ninth inning, two out comeback that fell just short, I started walking back towards my truck.  The door to the restaurant was open and there was one other person in.  The special board caught my eye, so I made a quick turn to see what this little corner shop was hiding.

RG’s Ballpark Dogs & More is about a block from Oldsmobile Park on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Pere Marquette right across the street from Clara’s.  I have no idea what the hours are or even if they have regular hours.  I’ve tried to see if they were posted somewhere on the window or door, but there’s nothing. 

The shop is very tiny.  When they are open, the front door is usually propped open.  When you enter the store, you have to take a step up to get to the order counter.  There is enough room for two small tables in the space next to the counter, but that’s about it.  On nice days, they pull at least one of these tables outside to the sidewalk which makes more sense.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Downtown, Lansing, Mexican, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Ted-Dee’s Sandwich Shop

23 07 2009
  • 119 S. Washington Square
  • Lansing, MI 48933
  • (517) 374-2784
  • Website
  • Menu
Ted-Dees Sandwich Shop in downtown Lansing.

Ted-Dee's Sandwich Shop in downtown Lansing.

After spending a little time at the Select Michigan Capitol Lawn Farmer’s Market, J and I were in the market for lunch.  Since we were only a block from Washington Square, I suggested we take a walk and see what we could find.  It my mind, I was already leaning towards a deli, but if J saw something she would rather have, I wasn’t going to complain.

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating, I feel extremely sorry for the businesses that have to deal with the CSO Project.  We walked down Allegan from the Capitol and just walking in the area is a pain.  Imagine if you have to drive.  It’s not worth the hassle….and that pains me to say. 

As we rounded the corner on Washington Square, we followed the fence to a makeshift crosswalk in the middle of the street.  The good thing is the crosswalk leads right to the door of Ted-Dee’s Sandwich shop which sits near the intersection of Washington Square and Allegan Street. 

It was lunch time and there were a lot of people walking the streets looking for lunch.  We entered Ted-Dee’s to find a cafeteria style set up.  Along the back wall is an order counter with a very high counter.  There are menu boards on the walls, but the fare is pretty standard for a deli.  There are a list of meats, breads, and salads.  There aren’t a lot of choices like a New York style deli, so it didn’t take long for us to decide on a sandwich. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Deli, Downtown, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Baja Grille

5 07 2009
  • 402 S. Jefferson Street
  • Mason, MI 48854
  • (517) 244-1181
  • Website
  • Menu
Baja Grille on South Jefferson Street in Mason.

Baja Grille on South Jefferson Street in Mason.

We’re finding out that the thing to do on the Fourth of July in Michigan is to “go up north.”  Well, we have no place to really go up north and I had to work all weekend anyway, so J and I did what we always do on Saturdays.  We slept in late then got up and started planning on lunch.

Our original plan was to see about driving over the Birch Run.  We got up too late to do that without rushing to get me home in time for work.  Our second idea was a cafe in Jackson that Corky told me about.  We called and they weren’t open.  I had a copy of City Pulse sitting on the coffee table, so I picked it up and started looking through the “Food Finder.”  As I’m going down the list, I come across a place called in Mason that I’ve never heard of.  I did a Google search, found a website and loved the menu.  We were off to Mason. 

The Baja Grille is on Jefferson street on the courthouse square.  There were quite a few people downtown due to the Fourth of July holiday.  We got there after the parade, but the car show was still going on.  I could see there was a lot of foot traffic, so when I found a parking spot a half a block away in front of the library, I pulled in.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Cafe, Downtown, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Spagnuolo’s Chocolate

21 06 2009
  • 115 E. Main Street
  • Owosso, MI 48867
  • (989) 729-9590
  • No Known Website
Spagnuolos Chocolate in downtown Owosso.

Spagnuolo's Chocolate in downtown Owosso.

Leave it to us to find the chocolate shop in town.  On our way to Owosso, we saw billboards for “historic downtown Owosso.”  After eating lunch at the Wrought Iron Grill, we decided to find downtown and see what the billboards were all about.  On our first pass through town, we saw a little candy store that still had an “open” sign lit up.  We went around the block to find a parking spot then headed back for some dessert.

Spagnuolo’s Chocolate has a tiny store front on Main Street.  We parked around the corner where there is some angled parking.  In front of the store, there are some parallel spots, but I didn’t realize that and the walk didn’t hurt us any. 

We walked into the chocolate shop at 3:45…about fifteen minutes before they were set to close.  There was one lady who was already gearing up to close.  We started looking around.  We saw a sign for fudge, but didn’t see any in the case.  The lady noticed we looked a little lost and asked if there was anything in particular we were looking for.  She pointed out the fudge in a basket behind us.  It was already cut and wrapped.  They only had two flavors but one of them was peanut butter.  I grabbed a chunk of fudge and J kept looking. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Candy, Downtown, Ice Cream, Local Flavor, Michigan, Owosso, Reviews

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