Free Pizza for McCain Signs

23 10 2008

I don’t know how else you would think this would end….

A Warren pizzeria owner received threatening phone calls Wednesday after a political pizza deal went awry.

“They’ve been actually calling here and threatening my life,” said Salvatore’s Pizzeria owner Diana Franzoni, who previously offered free, small pizzas to anyone who turned in a McCain-Palin yard sign after the Republican senator closed his Michigan offices. “It’s just ridiculous. People have blown something completely innocent completely out of proportion.”

That’s not the best part of the story. 

“We put out a sign that said ‘McCain gave up on Michigan. Michigan should give up on McCain. Turn in your McCain lawn sign for one free, mini pizza with topping,’ ” she said.

Approximately 300 signs were turned in by young and old customers, but the promotion ended Tuesday when police visited the business after receiving complaints that some of the submitted signs were stolen.

Duh.  If I could get a free pizza for turning in a McCain sign, I would probably wait until it got dark and jack a few too.  Did the owner really think that die-hard Republicans would pull their signs up and give them to a pizzeria for a mini pizza? 

I love election season.  You always get the best (wierdest?) news stories.


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Categories : Food News, Michigan

Rose’s on Reed’s Lake

22 10 2008
  • 550 Lakeside Dr. SE
  • East Grand Rapids, MI 49506
  • (616) 458-1122
  • Website
  • Menu
Roses on Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids

Rose's on Reed's Lake in East Grand Rapids

Rose’s on Reed’s Lake was an incredible find.  The restaurant had been suggested last time we were in Grand Rapids by two of J’s co-workers.  We passed wanting to check out downtown.  We should have took their advice.  The last trip was kind of a bust because we couldn’t find any walkable areas.  Rose’s on Reed’s Lake is close enough to what I’m guessing was downtown East Grand Rapids which is easily walkable and really cute.

We had a really hard time getting to Rose’s.  We were in Grand Rapids for a concert at Van Andel Arena.  The idea was to have a nice leisurely meal.  We left my parents in Illinois six hours before the concert.  It was a three and a half hour drive and we wanted to make a stop in Michigan City, IN at the outlet mall.  I thought we’d have plenty of time.  That was, until we hit construction.  I couldn’t hold it anymore and had to get off a heavily torn up portion of I-196 to find a restroom.  It took us 15 minutes to find our way back to the Interstate due to ramps being closed.  After that, we finally make it to Lakeside Drive only to find it closed due to construction.  Luckily, we had a GPS that brought us to the next road which was also closed due to construction.  Finally, we made it to a road that was open and weaved our way back to where we needed to be. 

I saw the sign for Rose’s out near the road and wondered if it was the right spot.  The parking lot is almost non-existent.  There are probably only a half dozen spots, but there is plenty of street parking.  We were facing the wrong way, so I went up to the next intersection to turn around and find a spot to park.  It was brisk autumn night so we kind of hustled the half a block to the restaurant. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Downtown, East Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, Italian, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Monical’s Pizza – Gilman, IL

22 10 2008
  • 625 US Highway 24
  • Gilman, IL 60938
  • (815) 265-7272
  • Website
  • Menu
Monicals Pizza in Gilman, IL about 40 miles north of Champaign.

Monical's Pizza in Gilman, IL about 40 miles north of Champaign.

This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about Monical’s, so I won’t rehash the whole history.  If you’re interested, there’s more information on my review about the store in Champaign, IL (review HERE).  As a quick recap, Monical’s is a Central Illinois based pizza chain that my family ate at very often.  The choices were either Pizza Hut or Monical’s.  Like everything else with my family, I chose Pizza Hut because I liked their bread sticks better and everyone else chose Monical’s, so we ate at Monical’s a lot.  Even though J grew up in Illinois, she had never been to a Monical’s.  They don’t go that far north, but there were a couple stores in the Peoria area where we lived before moving to Lansing.  We still never ate there. 

J and I were home on a short vacation to see friends, family and my new niece.  We got up on Monday and needed to make a grocery store run and find food.  We could do both by driving fifteen miles south to Gilman and that would give her a chance to finally try Monical’s Pizza. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Big Ten Tour, Gilman, Illinois, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Palermo’s 95th – Oak Lawn, IL

18 10 2008
  • 4849 W. 95th St.
  • Oak Lawn, IL 60435
  • (708) 425-6262
  • Website
  • Menu

Palermo's 95th in Oak Lawn, IL

This is a review I’ve been holding for a couple months.  Honestly, I forgot about it.  When I was in town for a job earlier in the year, my girlfriend’s parents took us out to dinner the night before.  We drove home this weekend to see my niece and whenever we head to my parents, we stop at J’s parents on the way.  We came in to Oak Lawn late Friday night and drove past Palermo’s 95th.  I remembered I never did a review so I got out and snapped a few pictures.

J has always said Palermo’s ruined her on pizza.  Nothing she’s had anywhere else has even come close to living up to the standard Palermo’s 95th set.  I thought she was being dramatic, but I’d give her the benefit of the doubt.  When her parents suggested we go to Palermo’s for dinner, I was up for the challenge.

Palermo’s is on 95th Street in Oak Lawn.  There’s parking behind the building, but if you’re not there early, good luck.  We stopped in for a late dinner on Saturday night.  We thought maybe we’d be ok since it was after 8:00, but we were wrong.  The wait was only about 15 minutes so it wasn’t bad.  Had we been earlier, we could have waited up to two hours for a table. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicago, Illinois, Italian, Local Flavor, Oak Lawn, Restaurant, Reviews

Luconi’s Pizza – Bradley, IL

3 10 2008
  • 496 S. Kennedy Dr
  • Bradley, IL 60915
  • (815) 935-5235
  • Website
  • Menu
Luconis Pizza on Kennedy Dr. in Bradley, IL

Luconi's Pizza on Kennedy Dr. in Bradley, IL

Finding places to eat in the Kankakee area has always been tough for me.  Growing up, my parents always hit the chains.  We didn’t really go out of our way looking for local restaurants.  I’m back in the Kankakee area this week because my brother and his wife are having a baby.  Their first and my parents first grandchild.  Because it was everyone’s first, my parents and my sister-in-laws parents were at the hospital bright and early this morning.  I didn’t get up and get going until lunch time.  The hospital is a half hour away so once I was in Kankakee, I wasn’t going home until I had a niece. 

I got to the hospital around 11 and started trying to convince everyone to go to lunch with me.   I got no takers, but did get some good suggestions.  My sister-in-law’s parents suggested a few places including Luconi’s.  They raved about the pizza, but also couldn’t stop talking about the hamburger.  Sounds good to me.  I do love me some burgers.

I found Luconi’s Pizza on Kennedy drive next to the Taco John’s we always went to when I was kid.  The last time I lived in the area, the building where the pizza joint now is was a cyber cafe.  It’s a really small building with a really small parking lot.  I found a space along the side and parked there.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Big Ten Tour, Bradley, Burgers, Illinois, Local Flavor, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Georgio’s Gourmet Pizza

28 09 2008
  • 1010 E. Grand Ave.
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-1000
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Georgios Gourmet Pizza on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Georgio's Gourmet Pizza on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

Georgio’s Gourmet Pizza is the elusive pizza-by-the-slice I’ve been hoping to find.  I’ve spent a lot of time on the campus of the University of Illinois and there is more than one place to get a late night slice of pie.  I’ve checked out the other place along Grand River and wasn’t all that impressed.  Georgio’s was a totally different story.

I was in East Lansing fairly late on a Saturday night after working a volleyball game at the Breslin Center.  I was exhausted and really hungry.  J had sent me a text message asking if I wanted her to go get me something, but since I was out, I thought it’d be easier if I just took care of it myself.

I pulled into the parking lot off Grand River Avenue where Georgio’s sits.  I was a little worried they had just closed or something.  I could see lights on and people inside, but the “open” sign in the window was turned off.  I drove around so I could see the hours of operation on the door.   It said they were open until 3 AM on Friday and Saturday, so I parked the truck and gave the door a tug.  Yay!  It opened.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

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 »


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

Manolos Pizza & Empanadas – Urbana, IL

4 09 2008
  • 1115 W. Oregon St.
  • Urbana, IL 61803
  • (217) 365-0110
  • Website
  • Menu
Manolos Pizza & Empanadas near the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana

Manolo's Pizza & Empanada's near the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana

Traveling has really wore me out….and made me hungry.  I’m sitting in my hotel room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign and even though I’ve had two meals, I’m hungry.  I get on my laptop and do a search for pizza joints that sell pizza by the slice.  That’s what I really love about college towns.  You can usually find a pizza place open late.  My hotel is pretty close to campus, so I figured there would be one close and of course, there was more than one. 

I chose the one that wasn’t quite as close to Memorial Stadium…I think.  I went to the area I wasn’t familiar with tonight so I could stop by the other one after I get done with work tomorrow evening which I believe is closer.  I’m probably wrong, but oh well.  The one I chose is called Manolos Pizza & Empanadas and it sits right next to popular the night spot The Cannopy Club.

There’s not much to Manolos.  Just a glass case with already made pizza, a cash register and a bar along the back wall should you want to stay an eat.  There’s no seating, but their website says you can dine in at the Canopy Club.  I would assume that means you’ve already got tickets to a show and they just serve pizza in there.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Big Ten Tour, Champaign, Champaign/Urbana, Illinois, Local Flavor, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews, Urbana

Pizza House

1 09 2008
  • 4790 S. Hagadorn Rd. #116
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 336-0033
  • Website
  • Menu
The Pizza House in East Lansing. A little slice of Chicago in Mid-Michigan

The Pizza House in East Lansing. A little slice of Chicago in Mid-Michigan

The quest for the perfect pizza took me to East Lansing after getting several recommendations for the Pizza House in Hannah Plaza.  My family was in town and we spent the day in Frankenmuth.  As we were leaving, we debated on whether or not to go in to Detroit for dinner and gambling.  That was eventually shot down and my dad said he just wanted pizza.  Since the Pizza House has been so highly recommended, I thought that was a safe bet.  If you remember my review of Pisanello’s Pizza (review HERE) in Mt. Pleasant, you’ll recall that everyone in my family likes a different type of pie, so pizzaria’s can be a challenge.

I had a little bit of trouble finding Pizza House at first.  We put the address in the GPS and it brought us the right area, but as the GPS was saying “Arriving at Pizza House on right” I couldn’t see any signs for it.  We were at Hannah Plaza, so I assumed it was in there.  I turned into the parking lot and J saw the sign for it.  The building is nothing special.  Just your typical strip mall pizza joint….or is it? Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : East Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Hungry Howie’s Pizza – Holt

10 08 2008
  • 2361 Cedar St.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 699-9000
  • Website
  • Menu
Hungry Howies Pizza in Holt

Hungry Howie's Pizza in Holt

It was a long weekend.  We spent all weekend in Chicago and the drive home always seems to take forever.  We got stuck in traffic right away when we jumped on I-94 and stayed in bumper-to-bumper traffic until we got the 35th Street.  There were a lot of people trying to get to U.S. Cellular Field ten minutes before the game was about to start.  We hit a lot of traffic on the Skyway (I-90) leaving town and no one had I-Pass so the lines to the manned tollbooths were backed up.  Then, we got into Indiana, we came up on an accident on I-94 where traffic was at a standstill.  By the time we finally made it back to Lansing, neither of us were in the mood to cook dinner.

For some reason, J was craving pizza.  I said that sounded good to me.  We were sitting on the couch wathing the Olympics and a pizza sounded like a good solution.  We haven’t had Hungry Howie’s yet and their ads always intrique me with their flavored crusts.

I got on Google and found the Hungry Howie’s in Holt across from L & L Food Center.  We’re still on that quest for the “perfect pizza.”  There’s a front runner, but we want to give all the local delivery places a try.  Hungry Howie is a home grown chain.  Their numbers are in excess of 500 locations nationwide, but their offices are here in Michigan in Madison Heights.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Holt, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

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