Carlin’s Catch

6 06 2008
  • 1979 Aurelius Rd.Carlin's Catch
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-4020
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

I wasn’t planning on eating out, but an outbreak of severe weather late in the afternoon kept me glued to my scanner and Accuweather.  Being a former news photographer, I’m a weather junkie.  I’m still learning my way around Mid-Michigan, so it was hard trying to keep up with where the spotters were located, but that adrenaline that used to flow everytime the storm clouds built up started flowing again.  Because of that adrenaline, I wasn’t able to concentrate on cooking dinner.  My girlfriend called about the time she normally comes home and said she wasn’t going to be able to make it home for dinner so I figured, screw it, I’ll eat out.  I heard about Carlin’s Catch by reading about it on another blog.  It’s fairly close to my place so I jumped on Cedar St towards Holt. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicken, Holt, Local Flavor, Reviews

Pizza Al Forno

11 05 2008
  • 1943 Cedar St.Pizza Al Forno
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-4175
  • No Known Website
  • Menu

No matter where you live in the country, there’s one place that the locals go for pizza.  There’s one place somewhere that is just a little, locally owned, shop that serves up the most delicious pizza you swear you’ll ever eat.  I haven’t had much of a chance yet to find that place and no one has really been able to offer that information up here in Lansing.  I’ve been getting coupons in the mail for some local places, so I figure it’s finally time to start looking.

The first place I tried was Cottage Inn (review here).  That’s kind of a chain, so not really what I’m looking for.  The next place we tried was a little place called Pizza Al Forno in Holt.  I called the order in at about 6:30 on a Sunday night.  They offered delivery, but I really needed to get out of the house, so I got it for pick up.  We headed down Cedar St through Holt to find a pretty non-descript shop in a non-descript strip mall next to the Edru Skae-A-Rama.  It’s strictly a carry-out place….only a counter and the kitchen inside.  My pie was really reasonably priced.  I got a 16″ pepperoni pizza for just under $11.

Once we got it back home, we didn’t waste anytime digging in.  The menu brags that they use all locally grown ingredients and make their sauce from scratch.  That’s what it looked like to me.  The sauce is put on pretty thick and you can taste the fresh tomatos. There was a kind of a sweetness to it instead of a spicyness that most places shoot for.   It’s not a smooth, blended sauce.  There are chunks of tomatos and you get that in every bite.  The cheese was a nice golden brown and held up on each bite.  My girlfriend called the pepperoni’s “cute.”  Instead of a handful of huge pepperoni’s, there were a lot of little pepperoni’s.  The crust is a thin New York-style crust and sort of chewey.

She wasn’t very hungry and only had two pieces and I didn’t finish the rest of it by a long shot.  Even if she had been hungry, the 16″ would have been enough and there probably would have been a little left.  Pizza Al Forno was good.  It wasn’t the knock your socks off I’m looking for, but it is good enough to put the phone number away for another day. 


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Categories : Holt, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza, Reviews

Cottage Inn Pizza

11 04 2008
  • 1995 Cedar Street
  • Holt, MI 48842-1831
  • Phone: (517) 699-1000
  • Website
  • Menu

We had a coupon for Cottage Inn and decided one Sunday night to give a shot. The coupon was for a large family meal deal. I couldn’t find that on the menus I had or online so we didn’t really know what we were getting when we ordered. The person on the other end of the phone asked what I wanted on two pizzas, so I knew at least that much, but when the delivery guy arrived, we knew we’d be eating pizza for a few days.

The deal came with two large pizzas. We got one pepperoni and one cheese. It also came with salad and cheese sticks.

Since the pizza would be good for lunch the next day, we dove into the sides. The salad was really only enough for two of us. It was the standard mixed greens with croutons and a few vegetables. It came with two packages of Italian dressing. The cheese sticks were good. Thick pieces of bread covered in cheese sauce with a marinara on the side. They weren’t rock hard like breadsticks but still had a great flavor with the cheese baked into it.

Once we finally dived into the pizzas, we found a great flavor in the sauce. A little bit tangy that went well with the mozzerella layered on top. I had a little problem with the cheese as it kept wanting to come off with one bite.

The size of the meal deal was a lot for just two people. We ate pizza for lunch for three days…and trust me, I’m not complaining about that. With the coupon we had, the meal was free, but t looks like it normally runs about $30.

I see Cottage Inns all over the place and it seems like they cater a lot of public functions, so I assume they are they pizza place in Mid-Michigan. It was good, but still too much like the other chains. We will most definately order again, but we continue looking for unique pizza in Lansing.


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Categories : Holt, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Champion Sports Bar and Grill

11 04 2008
  • 2440 Cedar St
  • Holt, MI 48842-2104
  • Phone: (517) 694-7660
  • No Website Known
  • Menu

Champion Sports bar is your classic sports bar with TV’s everywhere, lots of beer, and decent pub food. We stopped in for a business meeting which happened to be on the same day as the Detroit Tigers season opener, so there were quite a few guys at the bar and it got loud everytime someone hit a pop fly.

We walked in and showed ourselves to a table near the back of the restaurant to try and get away from the sports crowd. This is where the horrible service started. We sat there for a good 10 minutes before one of the ladies in my party got up to find a waitress. About the time she got up, the waitress noticed and came over and took drink orders. It took about 10 minutes to get those drinks and menus. Then she left again and it took another 10-15 minutes to for her to come back to actually take the order.

I ordered the blackened burger. Really it was just a burger with cajun spices, but it was pretty hot for a burger. I was a little surprised and had to keep grabbing my Pepsi (which also took a while to get refilled). The sandwich came with fries which were the ordinary out of the bag crispy fries.

My girlfriend ordered the blackened chicken salad. When she asked the waitress what kind of dressing they had, the waitress replied, “we pretty much have anything.” Well, that was true as long as you didn’t want a vinegrette. The salad did come piled with chicken pices and she said it was good.

The other two ladies in my party split between a sandwich and a salad. One ordered a fajita salad and had them put it in a taco shell. The other had a chicken sandwich. Neither of them made any comment to me about their meals, but both finished and were too stuffed for desert.

The waitress came back one more time to see if we wanted anything and at that point, one of the ladies I was with asked for the check…not sure if the waitress would ever come back. The price for four of us was about $40, but it took over and hour and a half to eat a meal at a sports bar. The food was ok. The atmosphere and the bar area are great if you’re wanting to watch a game, but the waitress was not very on top things and it really dragged the place down.


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Categories : Holt, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sports Bar, Uncategorized

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