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

Want to Help Local Restaurants? Pay Cash

20 08 2009

I found this Free Press article from @joefoodie on Twitter.  This jist of the article is that some Detroit area restaurants are starting to offer “discounts” to patrons who pay cash instead of using a credit card.  Why would they do that you ask?  They make more money. 

Each swipe of a card costs him a flat 15 to 20 cents, he says, plus add-ons of 2% to 3% of the transaction amount.

“If you do a high volume of credit cards, at the end of the month it adds up. It’s the volume you do, so by turning around and giving back to the customers, it’s a win-win: You’re giving back to the customer, and in return you get people coming into your restaurant and keeping you afloat.

OK.  That makes sense from a business standpoint.  From a consumer stand point, he’s walking a fine line.  According to your terms of service with your credit cards, retailers can not charge you more to use your card than they can if you pay cash.  In Michigan, doing this is not illegal.  In 10 other states, there are laws against credit card surcharges.

I said earlier the article featured in the story was “walking a fine line.”  Technically, he’s not charging more to use a credit card.   He’s giving a “discount” to use cash.  It’s sort of a grey area that gas stations have been using for sereral years to give consumers an incentive to pay with cash so they can increase their profits.  As long as they don’t call it a payment card checkout fee, they’re probably going to get away with charge YOU more to use a credit card. 

Surchage.  Cash discount.  No matter what they call it, it’s accomplishing the same thing.  My family is very big on paying in cash.  I, on the other hand, almost always pay with credit.  I just don’t like carrying more than twenty buck or so.  If I have the cash, I will pay with it, but most times I don’t.

What’s the moral of the story?  Ultimately, how you pay is up to you.  If you frequent a local joint often, think about paying cash.  You’ll be helping the owners of the place by letting them pocket that extra 2-3%.  It’s a good thing to do, but if businesses are going to accept credit cards, they shouldn’t penalize you for using one.


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Categories : Food News

Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken – Kalamazoo South

18 08 2009
  • 4441 S. Westnedge Avenue
  • Kalamazoo, MI 49008
  • (269) 345-2151
  • Website
  • Menu
Lees Famous Recipe Chicken on Westnedge in Kalamazoo.

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken on Westnedge in Kalamazoo.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had to drive to my parents house.  It’s been a nice break that’s about the change.  This trip is the first of many between work and wedding related events. 

I waited until J went to work, but I didn’t eat much before I left the house.  I was on my way to my brother’s for dinner, but that was still four or five hours away by the time I hit Kalamazoo.  I was hungry, so I knew I needed to get off and get something.

I don’t know much about Kalamazoo, but I do know Westnedge is a pretty good bet if you’re looking for something quick.  I wasn’t going to go to far down, but I drove a little ways off the Interstate to see what was around.  Just as I was getting ready to turn around, I found a chicken place.

Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken has three locations in Kalamazoo.  The one I found is on the corner of Westnedge and Kilgore Road.  When I pulled into the lot, I had no idea this was a chain, but when I got inside and saw the signage, it was pretty obvious this place wasn’t your Mom & Pop chicken place. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Fresh Fish & Fry

16 08 2009
  • 3140 S. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 882-7007
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Fresh Fish & Fry on S. MLK, Jr. Blvd in Lansing.

Fresh Fish & Fry on S. MLK, Jr. Blvd in Lansing.

Another Sunday.  Another day at work.  That’s been pretty much my whole summer.  I’ve been without J this weekend.  She was back in Chicago for her wedding shower.  I was originally supposed to at least go back to Chicago with her, but I got some work, so I stayed here.  That means I was on my own for dinner. 

Sometime in the past, I saw an article in City Pulse about the best wings in town (sorry, I haven’t had any luck finding the article in their archives).  For some reason, I thought it was best Buffalo wing, but I guess they just did best wing and mixed both Buffalo wings and regular chicken wings.  Still, chicken’s chicken and it doesn’t really matter to me if it has hot sauce on it. 

Fresh Fish & Fry is on South Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard right in front of the Logan Square shopping center.  It’s a small joint, but it was packed on the Sunday evening I was in there.  There were a couple of tables stuffed into the corner, but they seem to be more for waiting than actually eating at.  There were a couple other people waiting for their food when I got there and there were two guys on the phone taking orders from a constantly ringing phone.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicken, Deep Fried Food, Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Gumby’s Pizza and Wings

16 08 2009
  • 311 W. Grand River Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-8400
  • Website
  • Menu
Gumbys Pizza & Wings on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Gumby's Pizza & Wings on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Long hot days.  I haven’t had too many of them the summer, but I have had a lot in the last week or so.  It seems at work picks up for me, our pleasant summer has taken a vacation.  Saturday was no different.  A ten hour day at Michigan State left me hot, tired, and hungry.   I decided to act like a college kid and I put in an order for pizza.

I don’t know why I thought of Gumby’s Pizza and Wings as I was trying to look up phone numbers using the web browser on my outdated Motorola Razr.  I’ve heard of Gumby’s but I’ve never had a pizza from one.  The chain is pretty exclusive to college campuses with 25 locations throughout the US.  There is one other location in Michigan at WMU in Kalamazoo. 

The Gumby’s Pizza and Wings in East Lansing is in a tiny mixed use building just to the west of downtown on Grand River Avenue.  It’s right across the street from Crunchy’s which is the reason I first noticed this location.  The shop is mostly take out, but there are a couple tables and a quasi-lunch counter if you need a place to eat.  They also have a couple video games and a Pepsi machine in the lobby.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, East Lansing, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

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

Maize and Blue Delicatessen

14 08 2009
  • 1329 S. University Avenue
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  • (734) 996-0009
  • Website
  • Menu
The Maize and Blue Delicatessen on South University at Washtenaw in Ann Arbor.

The Maize and Blue Delicatessen on South University at Washtenaw in Ann Arbor.

I’ve mentioned many times on this blog that I’m a late sleeper.  Most days, it well into the late morning before I get out of bed.  In my defense, it’s usually after two a.m. before I go to bed.  That makes days when I have to get up even harder and nothing has been more of a challenge than I had this morning.  I had to be in Ann Arbor, ready to work, at five A.M.  That means, I was out the door at about 3:30…an hour after I usually go to bed. 

I was able to change my sleep pattern for the weekend and actually slept all day Thursday and got up around midnight and just stayed up.  When “lunch time” rolled around on the job site at a little after seven, I was starving. 

I work a lot of these gigs where we’re fed by University catering.  The food is fine, but it’s always the same bacon, dry scrambled eggs, and some kind of cheesy potatoes.  It’s not really filling and usually pretty bland.  On today’s job, the guy in charge did something different.  He had to make a last minute change to our meal plan because the job was supposed to be in the afternoon but it was moved to morning.  Some quick thinking got us a much better breakfast than anticipated. Read the rest of this entry »


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

Jackie’s Diner – Dimondale

14 08 2009
  • 7262 Lansing Road
  • Dimondale, MI 48821
  • (517) 646-0974
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Jackies Diner on Lansing Road in Dimondale.

Jackie's Diner on Lansing Road in Dimondale.

When J and I moved here, one of the first restaurant recommendations we got was for Don’s Windmill Truckstop in Dimondale.  We ate there one weekend and enjoyed the classic diner setting.  Don’s hit some hard times and the restaurant closed.  In comes Jackie’s Diner.

We’ve eaten at Jackie’s Diner on Pennsylvania and, again, enjoyed the greasy spoon diner aspect of the place.  J and I were out in Delta Township and decided to check out the new place on the way home.

Jackie’s Diner is on Lansing Road in Dimondale in the old Don’s Windmill building.  Not much, if anything, has changed other than the lack of gasoline sales.  We entered the truck stop through the restaurant where we found a sign that told us to wait to be seated.  A waitress took us to a booth near where the buffet is.  She took drink orders right away as we looked over the huge menu.

When she came back with the Coke’s, we were still wading through the large menu.  They serve breakfast all day and that menu alone is daunting.  There are 50 types of pancakes, 20 kinds of French Toast, and 25 Belgian waffles.  J’s more of a breakfast person than I am, so I went straight to the lunch portion of the menu while she looked over the morning food. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : breakfast, Dimondale, Diner, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Press Release – ‘Peppermint Jim Mojito’s’ to Benefit Crosby Mint Farm

12 08 2009

From a Crosby Mint Farm press release….

(MINT CITY, USA/St. Johns, MI) August 12, 2009 – Coach’s Pub and Grill in St. Johns is supporting the Crosby Mint Farm during the 2009 Mint festival. The management took the initiative to contact Peppermint Jim Crosby, owner of the Crosby Mint Farm in St. Johns, to ask for mint they will use for their weekend special “Peppermint Jim Mojitos”. The Crosby Mint Farm also provided two gift baskets with mint products to raffle during this weekend. Part of the proceeds will go directly to the Crosby Mint Farm which is facing foreclosure on the 14th, and is in the middle of a race against the clock to save the farm. The Crosbys are hosting Mint Jam 09 this weekend at the farm as a fundraiser.


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Categories : Food News, Michigan, Press Releases, St. Johns

Roadhouse Grill & Bar

12 08 2009
  • 4112 Lansing Road
  • Jackson, MI 49202
  • (517) 782-7711
  • Website
  • Menu
Roadhouse Grill & Bar on Lansing Road in Blackman Township

Roadhouse Grill & Bar on Lansing Road in Blackman Township

The next week is going to be really busy for me.  It’s a change of pace and actually a welcome change of pace.  I’m starting to get some work now that fall sports are getting under way which means a lot more traveling and a lot less time playing Wii. 

A friend of mine was driving through on his way to Plymouth where he’s spending the weekend.  He’s working for SPEED this week at MIS and Plymouth is where is hotel is.  Since today was a travel day, he asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch somewhere.  The original plan was to meet in Ann Arbor because he was going to take I-80 to Toledo then head north.  For some reason, he changed his mind and took I-94 from Chicago. 

Since he was taking 94, he was open to meeting somewhere closer for me.  Jackson seemed like a good stopping point for both of us, so I started looking for places to eat. 

We don’t get to Jackson very often, so I’m not really familiar with what’s there.  I put a post on Twitter asking for suggestions and I did get a reply from one person.  @ddkronkh pointed me to an article that was in the Jackson Citizen-Patriot about the Top Ten sandwiches in Jackson.  I wanted to eat all of them, but I had to pick one.

What I ended up picking was The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Lansing Road near Parnall Road in Blackman Township.  Coming from Lansing, my GPS took me through the country a little bit and I was starting to wonder where this place was and if my friend from Illinois would be able to find out.  It actually isn’t too far from I-94 and he was able to find it without the help of a GPS. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Jackson, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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