Jackie’s Diner – Pennyslvania Ave.

27 02 2009
  • 5600 S. Pennsylvania Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 272-0036
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Jackies Diner on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing.

Jackie's Diner on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing.

I’ve always known J was a little quirky.  When most people aren’t feeling well, they want soup and 7-up.  When J’s not feeling well, she wants something greasy.  About the only time she ever craves burgers is when her tummy hurts.  She’s been a little under the weather the past few days and when she sent me an e-mail from work about dinner, she caught by surprise.  “I want a greasy dinner grilled cheese and fries.”  How can I argue with that. 

We chose Jackie’s Diner on South Pennsylvania because it’s close enough to J’s work and it’s a diner we haven’t been to yet.  We got there a little after seven on a Friday night.  The parking lot was pretty empty but there were a couple cars.  When we got inside, a man told us to find a seat, so we grabbed a booth.  J said she was worried I had picked an Asian diner due to the decor.  The dining room was split level with booths in both levels and tables filling in the remaining space.  To me, it felt like a little country diner. 

While it was comforting, there was one big problem.  The ceiling fans.  Ceiling fans themselves aren’t really a problem.  The problem is when you put them too close to lights.  The entire dinner I felt like there was a strobe light just above my head.  There was a light directly above one of the fan blades.  You can imagine how annoying that can be. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Diner, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Rudino’s Pizza & Grinders

26 02 2009
  • 8741 W. Saginaw Highway
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 627-3025
  • Website
  • Menu
Rudinos Pizza & Grinders on Saginaw Highway in Delta Township

Rudino's Pizza & Grinders on Saginaw Highway in Delta Township

Once a month, I spend the whole morning driving around Delta Township while J gets her hair cut.  I usually spend part of that time looking for someplace to eat.  This month was easy.  A couple weeks ago, I saw a posting on Craigslist for jobs at a new place on Saginaw Highway.  Last weekend, we were out in the area and I drove by to see if there was any indication it was opening.  There was a sign on the door that said it would open February 25.  I knew we were going to be out there on the 26th, so we were good to go for lunch.

Rudino’s Pizza & Grinders is in a small strip mall near the Menards on Saginaw Highway.  It’s in the space that used to be Art’s Pizza & Italian Oven.  We tried going to Art’s once, but it was closed.  I was excited to see a new pizza joint moving in.

Rudino’s is a long, narrow space.  When entering, you sort of come in to what can be considered the first dining room.  Beyond that is the order counter.  There is a menu board above the registers that lists a large selection of grinders as well as pizza’s, calzones, and salads.  Since it was only the second day of being open, things were running a little slow, but we knew that when we walked in and it wasn’t a big deal.  We needed time to figure out what we wanted anyway.  We were greeted right away by two guys who were sitting behind the counter on laptops.  The whole space is a Wi-Fi hot spot. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Italian, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

East Lansing Police Chief Opposes Extended Bar Hours

24 02 2009

Mike and I got into a discussion today in the comments section of another post about longer bar hours.  I’m in favor.  I’ve seen it work.  I came from a city that had a 4 AM zone downtown.  It was by accident that I came across this article in the State News were the East Lansing Police Chief voices his opposition.

But for East Lansing police, longer bar hours would mean more patrols and more money spent to pay officers, East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said.

“On weekends, we would increase our overtime pay,” Wibert said. “We generally put out extra foot patrols on bar nights.”

Wibert said making liquor available Sunday mornings probably wouldn’t affect police, but the extended bar hours could pose a problem of increased late night crime.

“Not many good things happen between 2 and 4 a.m.,” he said.

Two things.  1.)  You’re a police department.  You’re job is to serve and protect.  Plan accordingly.  2.) Extended bar hours do not increase late night crime.  You have no proof of that  and there are several cities that have 4 AM license and it works.  Instead of prediciting what you think would happen, I would suggest getting in touch with Peoria (IL) Police Chief Steve Settinsgaard who actually encourage the expansion of Peoria’s 4 AM zone a few years back. 

East Lansing has a number of bars in a small area and they’re near the police headquarters.  Extending the liquor license by two hours shouldn’t be that big of a deal.


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Categories : East Lansing, Michigan, Politics

Flatts Grille Closed by State Treasury

24 02 2009

Whoops.

Flats Grille, 551 E. Grand River Ave., was closed Tuesday, with a sign on the locked door announcing that the restaurant had been seized by the Michigan Department of Treasury.

The sign announced a tax warrant against the business and explained that “it is in the best interest of all concerned parties (owner and state) to sell the perishable property.”

Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Jr. said a state tax lien was filed on Dec. 10 against Flats owner Paul O’Connor, for $8,864.75 in unpaid taxes.

Damn.  Never got a chance to eat there.  I considered it last time I worked at MSU, but opted for McDonald’s instead.  That’s what I get for picking a chain over a local place.


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Categories : East Lansing, Food News, Michigan

Could Liquor License Renewal Fees Increase?

24 02 2009

That’s one of Jennifer Granholm’s proposal’s for balancing the budget.  I saw this story in the Jackson Citizen-Patriot late last week.

Local bar owners are not happy with what Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to serve up in 2010 — a doubling of their annual liquor license renewal fees.

Granholm is seeking to raise the fees — which haven’t been increased since 1976 — as a way to help solve the state’s massive budget deficit.

“It’s a 100 percent tax increase,” said Jeff Veach, owner of Veach’s Office Bar in downtown Jackson.

So, it’s been 30 years since there’s been an increase in liquor license renewal fees.  30 years!  That seems like a long time.  With the rate of inflation, a doubling of the fees seems cheap.  It sucks that it could happen now when everyone is struggling.  It’s kind of a vicious cycle.  If business fees aren’t increased, then they’ll have to find another stream of revenue such as property or income tax hikes, but it just seems like doing business in Michigan is getting harder and harder.


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Categories : Food News, Michigan, Politics

Dispatch Sports Pub & Grill

21 02 2009
  • 3004 W. Main Street
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 484-7940
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
The Dispatch Sports Pub & Grill on Main Street in Lansing.

The Dispatch Sports Pub & Grill on Main Street in Lansing.

Saturday nights are usually relaxed nights for us.  After being lazy all afternoon and watching the NASCAR truck race, we decided to go out for dinner again.  We still  haven’t been to the grocery store since getting back to Michigan so there’s not a lot of food in the house yet and since shopping hungry is a bad idea, we just found a bar.  Quite a while ago, someone suggested the Dispatch Sports Pub & Grill.

The Dispatch Sports Pub & Grill is on Main Street near I-496.  It’s kind of out there by itself.  There’s not a whole lot in the area yet the parking lot was packed even though it was a crappy, snowy night.  We trekked through the snow only to be confused again.  There were two doors.  Neither were marked.  Neither gave any indication that it was the entrance. One of them was a little fancier than the other so that’s the one I chose.  I peeked in through the window and it looked right so we went in.  Good thing I chose that one.  The other one would have led to the kitchen.

The inside is a typical sports pub.  There are at least three pretty good size dining areas.  The bar is the first thing you run into.  From there, there are two dining areas off to the side.  I took a second to look around and didn’t really see anything other than tables for large groups.  Then I noticed some booths at the far end of the bar.  The decor is all beer company freebies.  It’s a comfortable, familiar setting.

The Dispatch near I-496 on Main Street in Lansing

The Dispatch near I-496 on Main Street in Lansing

Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Lansing, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Sports Bar

Quality Dairy – E. Jolly Rd.

21 02 2009
  • 2625 E. Jolly Road
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 272-1628
  • Website

This coming Tuesday is Fat Tuesday….and everyone knows what that means!  Paczki’s!  Alright, I’ll admit it.  Up until about a year ago, I had never heard of a paczki.  J grew up on the south side of Chicago which has a fairly large Polish population, so the Fat Tuesday treat was something she grew up with.  Last year on the Monday before Lent, J and I took my mom to Chicago and while we were eating lunch downtown, J started talking about paczki’s.  My mom likes sweets so we found a Polish bakery on the north side of town and brought home a dozen.  This past weekend, I was at a mega mart with my mom and grandma when I saw a box of paczki’s….of course, we had to buy them.

In the last couple days, we had seen commercials for Quality Dairy and L & L Food Centers advertising that they both had the pastry in their stores.  After eating lunch and a quick shopping trip, we needed dessert, so it was off to the Quality Dairy.

We chose the Quality Dairy on East Jolly Road at Dunkel Road because it was on the way home.  This location is bigger than the other QD’s we’ve been to.  Not only does it have all of the great Quality Dairy baked goods, but it also has a gas station and a laundromat.  How great of an idea is that.  You can throw a load of laundry in then go next door and get a doughnut.  I’m usually happy if the laundromat has a pop machine so I can get a Pepsi while my clothes are washing. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bakery, Chains, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

RiverHouse Inn

21 02 2009
  • 310 W. Grand River Avenue 
  • Williamston, MI 48895
  • (517) 655-4300
  • No Known Website
  • Menu 
The Riverhouse Inn on Grand River Avenue in Williamston

The Riverhouse Inn on Grand River Avenue in Williamston

Back in January, I made reservations for Valentine’s Day at the RiverHouse Inn in Williamston. It’s a place that I have been wanting to eat at since it opened late last summer. It just looked like a neat place. Our Valentine’s plans changed a couple times and we ended up back in Chicago after having to cancel a trip to Dayton.  I told J as we were heading to Hot Chocolate (review HERE) on Chicago’s north side that I actually had reservations for a place in Michigan that I canceled.  It worked out for the best.  We loved our dinner in Chicago and the lunch menu at RiverHouse Inn was actually more our style, so our first weekend back in Lansing in quite some time, we decided to brave a snow storm and head to Williamston for lunch.

The RiverHouse Inn is a gorgeous old house that sits on the banks of the Red Cedar River on the west side of Williamston.  The building was actually built in 1929 and for 77 years, it was a private residence.  The current owners of the building planned to remodel the place into a bed and breakfast, but that never really happened.  Instead, they opened a restaurant.  The inside of the building still looks like a house.  When you walk through the front door, you come to a hostess station in a hallway between two rooms.  The sign said “please seat yourself” so we started looking for the best place to sit.  There were no people in the two rooms you can see when you walk in, but I could kind of see a staircase that led down to a bar area.  I figured that was the best place to go since there would at least be a bartender who could see we were there.

We headed through what was probably an old living room or dining room that had just a couple tables in it on our way to the bar.  Every table in the house is in a pretty intimate setting.  It’s really hard to describe the ambiance.  It looks like they used the existing layout instead of trying to open everything up and only keep load bearing walls.  The place just had a charm that you can’t get from a new building. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Fine Dining, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Williamston

Little Caesars Pizza – South Cedar

20 02 2009
  • 4929 S. Cedar Street #701
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-2753
  • Website
  • Menu
Little Caesars...home of the $5 Hot-N-Ready...sometimes

Little Caesars...home of the $5 Hot-N-Ready...sometimes

I didn’t realize that we actually took Little Caesars for granted until this past weekend.  It was actually quite funny.  My brother was so excited about Little Caesars opening up in Kankakee (IL) again.  There used to be a store when we were little and we’d eat there every now and then.  That was when they did their two pizza deal.  Eventually, the store dropped the franchise and became a shop called “Cheeser! Cheeser!”  It was pretty much Little Caesars, but not Little Caesars.  Within in the last few months, the Little Caesars franchise moved back in and they had this deal that was only available in Kankakee called “$5 Hot and Ready.”  J and I laughed a little when my brother was telling us about this.  I have been getting “Hot-N-Ready” pizzas for five years and didn’t realize that not everyone had heard of it. 

For some reason, I was craving pizza for lunch.  I still have a frozen Giordano’s in my freezer, but didn’t feel like cooking.  J suggested running to Little Caesars and getting pizza.  Five bucks is a great deal for lunch and I had a few other errands to run so I went for it.

Little Caesars has multiple locations in Lansing.  They’re all carry-out and they’re all pretty much in strip malls.  The one I chose today is near the corner of Jolly Road and Cedar Street. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Fast Food, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza, Reviews

MSU Museum Chocolate Party

20 02 2009

I saw an ad for this in City Pulse so I went looking for information.  The following is from the MSU Museum website.

 MSU Museum Chocolate Party Benefit

Sunday, February 22, 2009
1:30pm – 3:30pm
Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center
South Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI

The Michigan State University Museum Chocolate Party Benefit is set for Sunday, Feb. 22, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, Harrison Road and Michigan Avenue, East Lansing. The event features samples to savor from the area’s finest “chocolatiers.” In this popular community event, chocolate lovers indulge for a great cause — all to benefit the care and preservation of the MSU Museum’s collections.

Chefs, caterers and all-around chocolate connoisseurs compete to make extravagant masterpieces using the key ingredient, chocolate. The event is unique in that it’s one of the few professional culinary industry competitions open to the general public. Meanwhile, the MSU Museum will also mount an exhibit showing a sampling of its diverse holdings, which number nearly 1 million objects, artifacts and specimens.

Tickets are $30 for the general public and a special “Premier Chocolatier” ticket for $75 offers an advance preview of the elaborate Chocolate Party creations and a year-long MSU Museum membership.


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Categories : East Lansing, Food News, Michigan

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