Pink Pony Bar & Grill

27 07 2009
  • P.O. Box 250, Main Street
  • Mackinac Island, MI 49757
  • (906) 847-3341
  • Website
  • Menu
The Pink Pony Bar & Grill in downtown Mackinac Island.

The Pink Pony Bar & Grill in downtown Mackinac Island.

After our carriage tour of Mackinac Island, J and I made our way back to Main Street.  It was now pushing 5:30 and we still hadn’t bought any fudge.  J mentioned we should probably buy some then added she could go for dinner.  I felt the same way. We burned a lot of energy today and lunch seemed so long ago. 

This was going to be our last meal on the Island and there were still so many choices. I picked up a Mackinac Island dining guide from the Visitor’s Center, but there were no address or maps of where any of the places were.  As we toured the Island, we walked by a number of places that would normally catch our attention. I stopped and browsed menus at a few, but when it comes down to it, J and I are really pub food people. 

I thought it might be nice if we could spend the end of the day enjoying dinner overlooking Lake Hudson.  The first place that popped into my head was the Pink Pony.  We walked by earlier in the day and it looked cute plus the back of the building overlooked the harbor.

The Pink Pony Bar & Grill is on Main Street inside the Chippewa Hotel.  The bar/restaurant takes up a large portion of the bottom floor and it’s divided into several sections.  If you walk into the bar, there is no hostess station, but there is a sign pointing you to the lobby of the hotel.  We just stayed outside and walked to the lobby where we found a hostess just in front of the main dining room.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories : Downtown, Mackinac Island, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Corner Bar & Grill

1 06 2009
  • 505 E. Shiawassee St.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 374-3565
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
The Corner Bar & Grill on Shiawassee Street in downtown Lansing.

The Corner Bar & Grill on Shiawassee Street in downtown Lansing.

J and I called it quits early on Be A Tourist In Your Own Town.  After the zoo, we tried to go to MSU, but couldn’t find parking and just gave up.  We spent a few hours at the zoo and we were getting hungry and I had to go to work in a few hours, so we decided to find lunch/dinner.  Since we were in East Lansing, J suggested Buffalo Wild Wings which is usually a hit with me, but on our way, J also pointed out that a lot of the blog entries recently have been chains and I hate doing that.  I wanted to get back to something local.  A couple weeks ago, Runs With Spatula reviewed a bar that I haven’t been to yet.  Her blog made my mouth water.  We were saving it for after a Lugnuts game, but bar food sounded good and it would put me back on the local track.

The Corner Bar & Grill is on the corner of Shiawassee and Cedar across the street from the City Market and just a block down from Oldsmobile Park.  Before we moved here, the building housed the Club 505 which I’m told was a lesbian bar.  Now, it’s kind of taken on a biker bar feel.  Maybe that’s because there are scooters from the neighboring business parked on the sidewalk. 

There’s a gravel parking lot across Shiawassee Street that has signs for parking.  When we pulled in, there was only a couple cars in the parking lot, but it was an odd time.  We were eating lunch around 3:00 which isn’t a prime meal time.  We crossed the street and walked into the building which opens up into the bar.  There aren’t really any tables in this area.  It’s got more of a bar feel.  We walked into another room which has a number of tables, booths, and of course, flat panel TV’s.  A third room was set up for live music and there was a guy running around setting up some gear for later in the evening. Read the rest of this entry »


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

The Courthouse Pub

11 01 2009
  • 160 W. Maple St.
  • Mason, MI 48854
  • (517) 676-6941
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
The Courthouse Pub in downtown Mason

The Courthouse Pub in downtown Mason

There was no way a little snow was going to keep me cooped up in the house all day.  That being said, does anyone in Michigan actually own a snow plow?  Just curious.  The roads looked like they hadn’t been touched.  Yeah, we could have stayed closer to home, but I like branching out into the communities surrounding Lansing and we haven’t been to Mason very much.  There’s not much there that would give us cause to go, but tonight, we had plans to go to a bar in Holt after dinner, so why not drive a few more miles down the road to Mason.

I did a quick Google search for restaurants in Mason and the one that stood out to me was a place called Mason Jar Pub and Grub.  One of the reviews on Google said they served drinks in a Mason jar.  That did it for me.  I jumped in the shower to get cleaned up and we were going out to eat.  Before we left, I realized it was after 8:00, so I called to make sure the kitchen would be open.  When the person on the other end picked up the phone, she answered it “Courthouse Pub.”  Uh….I thought I was calling the Mason Jar, so I found the Mason Chamber of Commerce website.  The Courthouse Pub was a member and the address matched what Google has for the Mason Jar…I’m guessing it just became the Courthouse Pub recently. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Downtown, Mason, Mexican, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews

Crunchy’s Burgers and Pizza

19 04 2008
  • 254 W. Grand Ave.Crunchy's Burgers and Pizza
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-2506
  • Website
  • Menu

I found Crunchy’s by doing a Google search for the phrase “Best Burger in Lansing”  What I got was a link to Crunchy’s Burger’s and Pizza who, according to their website, was voted the best burger in Lansing by the Lansing State-Journal.  We made two trips to Crunchy’s.  The first time, we popped in late on a Friday night because my girlfriend wanted to do karaoke.  It was late so we didn’t get food.  We went back a second time on a Saturday afternoon after we went to a Lugnuts game.

It was also the same day as the Green and White game at Michigan State University, which is right down the road, so the bar was pretty packed by 5:00.  We found a booth located in the room off of the main dining room.  A waitress eventually came over for drink orders and found us a couple menus.  I had to go with the Famous Crunchy Burger.  A 1/2 burger comes with American cheese, lettuce, tomatos and pickles.  So, was it the best burger in Lansing?  It was definately the best burger I’ve had since moving to Lansing, but not the best burger I’ve ever had.  The meat was fresh and very juicy.  The bun was a mega-mart poppy seed bun, so nothing special there.  The sandwich came with chips, but I upgraded to fries and for the second meal in a row, they were fresh cut.  My girlfriend chimed in on the fries saying despite being fresh cut, they were crunchy like the out of the bag ones (which I hate and she likes) usually are.  So for once, we were both happy with the fries.

Speaking of my girlfriend, she went with the Traverse City Cherry Burger.  We had seen this on the menu at a few restaurants here in Michigan, so she decided to finally try it.  The waitress warned her it wouldn’t taste like cherries which must be a misconception to out-of-staters (she saw our drivers license when we ordered drinks).  She it pretty much tasted like a burger, but she did say she probably put a little too much ketchup and mustard on the sandwich because she forgot to order cheese.

Both of us ate for under $20 with drinks.  I was actually shocked when I picked up the bill because I figured it had to be wrong, but it wasn’t  Crunchy’s wasn’t quite everything I hoped it would be.  The burger was good, but not knock my socks off good.  The atmosphere is unique.  Being a college bar, they decided to just encourage vandalism instead of trying to stop it.  Patrons have been writing on the walls, tables, and any other surface with Sharpie’s for quite a while. 


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Categories : Burgers, East Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Pizza, Pub, Reviews