One Sixty Four North – Kankakee, IL

5 02 2009
  • 164 N. Schuyler Avenue
  • Kankakee, IL 60901
  • (815) 936-0164
  • Website
  • Menu
One Sixty Four North in downtown Kankakee, IL

One Sixty Four North in downtown Kankakee, IL

Whenever I go to my parents house, I run into the problem of “where do we eat today?”    There’s not a lot of options in a town of 750 people.  The closest “big town” is Kankakee a half hour to the north.  J and I tossed around a couple options, but then I decided I was going to make dinner for my brother and dad tonight since my mom and sister-in-law were working.  In order to do that, I had to find a grocery store…again, a half hour to the north.  Since we were going anyway, I told J we’d just eat in Kankakee. 

One Sixty Four North is on North Schuyler Street near the Paramount Theater in downtown Kankakee.  Growing up, there wasn’t much in this area.  The only thing we went downtown for was a movie.  Most of the people I know are not adventurous eaters.  They prefer their Applebees and Arby’s, so asking about a local establishment is sort of like talking in Greek.  I had asked a few people about One Sixty Four North and the answer I always got was “heard it was good, but too expensive for us to try.”  I checked out the menu on-line and it looked pretty reasonably priced to me. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Downtown, Fine Dining, Illinois, Kankakee, Restaurant, Reviews

Wing Zone

1 02 2009
  • 340 Morgan Lane
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 332-9464
  • Website
  • Menu
Wing Zone in the Frandor Shopping Center in Lansing.

Wing Zone in the Frandor Shopping Center in Lansing.

Wings and the Super Bowl go together.  It’s just a fact of life.  For the last five or six years, I have slaved over a deep fryer for hours making wings for my friends on the day of the game.  Every year, I’d come up with a new sauce or way to cook them.  Last year, I skipped the deep fryer all together and went for baked wings.  This year, I just wasn’t in the mood.  I still wanted wings and have been craving them for days.  My two choices were to make a trip to Kroger for wings and oil or let the professionals do all the work.

My favorite wing place, by far has always been Buffalo Wild Wings.  It’s the one chain I don’t mind telling you that I love.  When the company opened their first store in the Peoria area, I spent three or four nights a week there.  I worked second shift and my buddies and I would hit B-Dubs after work for drinks and wings.  Most Tuesday’s, our orders were waiting for us when we got there. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Wings

Sir Pizza : Grand Cafe

31 01 2009
  • 210 E. Grand River Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 484-9197
  • Website
  • Menu
Sir Pizzas Grand Cafe in Lansings Old Town

Sir Pizza's Grand Cafe in Lansing's Old Town

After a late afternoon lunch, neither J or I were really hungry around “dinner time.”  We sat on the couch watching TV until a little after eight.  It was then, we decided we needed to find something for dinner.  I wasn’t really in the mood for another burger and the only thing I had a taste for was pizza.  I was hesitant to suggest that because I seem to always go to pizza if I don’t want bar food.  To my surprise, when I did suggest it, J said she was thinking the same thing.

Our first choice was the newly opened Izzo’s Pizzeria in REO Town.  Unfortunately, we were too late.  When we drove by, it was open.  By the time we parked and walked back to the pizzeria, it was closed, so I went with Plan B. 

The Sir Pizza Grand Cafe is in Lansing Old Town on Grand River Avenue overlooking the Grand River.  When it came to ordering pizza, we always seemed to avoid the Lansing chain.  The other Sir Pizza stores never really looked all that inviting.  The one we always drive by is the Cedar Street/Mt. Hope location and that one looks like it’s abandoned.  The front is all boarded up and you can’t tell that there’s anything going on inside.  So, and I know this is bad, that’s how my perception of Sir Pizza was built, but I had heard good things about the Grand Cafe.  Since we were still in the mood for pizza and Old Town wasn’t really all that far, that’s where we headed. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Lansing, Michigan, Old Town, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

Gilbert & Blake’s

31 01 2009
  • 3554 Okemos Road
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 349-1300
  • Website
  • Menu
Gilbert & Blakes on Okemos Road in Okemos

Gilbert & Blake's on Okemos Road in Okemos

I’ve always been afraid of Gilbert and Blake’s.  I had only read one review of the place and it wasn’t exactly glowing, but the thing that really scared me off was the “seafood” part of the branding.  We don’t eat seafood.  I know, they have steaks, but I don’t order steaks at a restaurant.  They’re never as good as I make at home and really expensive.  J and I are sandwich people.  I love a good burger and there were no burgers on Gilbert and Blake’s dinner menu, so I never considered it an option for us.  For some odd reason, I was looking at restaurants last night.  I came back to Gilbert and Blake’s and decided to look at the menu again.  Again, the dinner menu didn’t do much for me.  It’s a little too fancy for a regular night out, but the lunch menu actually looked really good.  J and I were discussing lunch options and I figured…let’s give it a try.  There were enough options that both of us should be happy.

Gilbert & Blake’s is on Okemos Road not far from I-96 in Okemos.  Like I figured, it’s not your average night out kind of place.  I would put it in the fine dining category for this area.  There are couple different dining rooms.  When you walk in, you’re met by a hostess.  We were shown to a table in what looks to be their main dining room just off of the bar.  Gilbert & Blake’s is a white tablecloth, black napkin kind of place.  The decor is subdued and dark.  Most of the light is natural lighting coming in from large windows that run along one wall of the dining room.  What little lighting they have are track spot lights. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Michigan, Okemos, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Go Green Menus

30 01 2009

So, here it is.  Friday night a little after eleven and I’m starving.  It never fails.  I think it goes back to my drinking days when I would order pizza or wings or something really unhealthy after a few beers.  I’m not gonna go anywhere, but I start looking around Google to see what’s open and I come across this really cool website.

It’s called Go Green Menus.  It was acquired by three MSU juniors last August.  The website has a number of East Lansing restaurnts listed.  The cool thing is you can search by dine in or carry out.  From there, you select the type of cuisine you want.  Then, a list of restaurants pop up along the side bar and it actually shows you what is open and what is closed.  Once you find the restaurant you want, you can view a menu and it some cases even order online.

What a great idea!  The first one of these was built at Penn State University in 2002 and they’ve expanded the concept to other cities. 

Anyway, check out the website at http://www.gogreenmenus.com


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Categories : East Lansing, Food News, Michigan

Brother’s Grill

29 01 2009
  • 403 E. Grand River Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 333-6939
  • Website
  • Menu
Brothers Grill in downtown East Lansing

Brother's Grill in downtown East Lansing

A few weeks ago I was watching the 11:00 news and saw a story about the Michigan Business Tax.  The reporter took the angle of what a new business has to deal with when starting up in Michigan.  The business they chose to talk to was Brother’s Grill in East Lansing.  Before that story, I had never heard of Brother’s Grill….and with good reason, they had just opened their doors that week.

The later it gets in the week, the less I feel like cooking dinner.  Before J left for work, I asked what she wanted and she didn’t really come up with anything.  Before walking out the door, she asked if I just wanted to pick her up and we could go out to eat.  I didn’t argue.  I suggested Brother’s Grill in East Lansing.  The menu looked good and there’s not much info on the place on the web yet.  She liked the idea so that’s what we did.

Brother’s Grill is on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing in the old Big Ten Burrito location.  It’s sandwiched between Starbucks and SBS.  I knew it was on Grand River, but I didn’t know where.  As we drove along the stretch of road in the downtown area of East Lansing, I asked J to keep an eye out for it.  Neither one of us saw it, so I turned around and headed back the way we came.  I finally noticed it as we came up to the stoplight at Charles Street.  They don’t have a lighted a sign.  Just a painted window and a small wooden sign above the door.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Downtown, East Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Slows Bar-B-Q

25 01 2009
  • 2138 Michigan Avenue
  • Detroit, MI 48216
  • (313) 962-9828
  • Website
  • Menu
Slows Bar-B-Q on Michigan Avenue in Detroit.

Slows Bar-B-Q on Michigan Avenue in Detroit.

My biggest complaint about the food here in Mid-Michigan is that there’s no good BBQ.  After a rant one day, I was told by more than one person to eat at Slows Bar-B-Q the next time I was in Detroit.  That was probably six months ago, but we’ve only been to Detroit once.  J and I were in town for the North American International Auto Show and we wanted to do both lunch and dinner in the Detroit area.  We were too early for lunch at Slows, so we settled on BBQ for dinner.

Slows Bar-B-Q is on Michigan Avenue in the shadow of what’s left of Tiger Stadium.  There’s no parking lot that we could see, but we were able to find street parking around the corner.  The area looks a little rundown and not some place I would really want to be at night, but Slows stood out as a diamond in that rough.

Our first challenge was getting in the place.  We couldn’t find the door!  There are two doors that actually look like doors, but both are looked and not an actual entrance.  We stood looking at the store front trying to figure out how to get in!  Fortunately, someone came out.  The door is blended in to the facade.  It’s has the same wooden slats the cover the building.  No windows or even a handle.  There’s a hole cut out of the wood to pull the door open.  It’s actually a really cool look and once we figured out how to get in, we had a little chuckle and could appreciate the design.

We made it to Slows just after three o’clock.  Not a prime dinner time.  We thought we’d be ok, but when we got in, there’s was actually a wait.  There were two large groups in front of us as well as a couple normal size parties.  We gave our name to the host who told us it would be about twenty minutes.  A twenty minute wait at three in the afternoon!  Again, that’s usually a good sign, so we stuck it out.  Turns out, the wait was about ten to fifteen.   Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : BBQ, Detroit, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

The Fly Trap

24 01 2009
  • 22950 Woodward Avenue
  • Ferndale, MI 48220
  • (248 ) 399-5150
  • Website
  • Menu
The Fly Trap on Woodward Avenue in Ferndale.

The Fly Trap on Woodward Avenue in Ferndale.

When I started watching Diner’s, Drive In’s, and Dives, one of the first restaurants I saw was a little joint in Ferndale, MI called the Fly Trap.  At that point, J and I weren’t even dating and I had no idea that I would one day move to Lansing.  Still, the diner looked awesome and I knew if I ever made it to Detroit, I had to find this place.

J and I got up and got going this morning.  We figured since we live in Michigan, we have to go to the North American International Auto Show.  My parents were going to drive up from Eastern Illinois last weekend and go with us, but the weather kept them home.  They weren’t able to make the drive this weekend, so J and I decided to go on our own.  One of the things we really want to do is see as much and do as much in Michigan as we can.  We always took things in Illinois for granted and there are a lot of major events I’ve never been to.  Would you believe I have never been to the Taste of Chicago?  Me!  A guy who blogs about food has never been to one of the premier food events in the country that takes place in my backyard.  We didn’t want to do that in Michigan and the NAIAS is the equivalent to the Taste.

Before heading in to Detroit, we decided to stop and eat first.  I have a short list of places I want to eat at in Detroit and the Fly Trap in neighboring Ferndale was one of them. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : breakfast, Detroit, Diner, Ferndale, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Taco’s E Mas

23 01 2009
  • 1850 Cedar Street
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 699-TACO
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Tacos E Mas on Cedar Street in Holt

Taco's E Mas on Cedar Street in Holt

A few weeks ago, J and I were going to Mason for dinner when we passed what used to be an abandoned building.  I always thought it was an old drive thru coffee shop, but the business I found on Google was called Hot ‘N Now Hamburgers.  Dig a little deeper and I find Mocha Mac’s which is the coffee shop I was thinking of.  It was all lit up and the windows were painted for the first time since we moved here.  I didn’t catch the name, but Corky pointed out in comments that it was now called Taco’s E Mas. 

J had made tentative plans to go out with co-workers for dinner which would have left me on my own.  I never got around to thinking about dinner.  Her plans fell threw and she was now coming home for dinner like she always does.  I got up around 5:30 to start on dinner and I just didn’t feel like it.  I was tired and not in the mood to cook.  I sent her an e-mail to see if tacos would be ok for dinner.  She was on board, so we went to check out the new taco stand in Holt.

Taco’s E Mas sits on Cedar Street on the way out of town when you’re going to Mason.  It’s a small drive thru operation that just opened at the end of November.  There was one car at the window when we pulled in a little after seven on a Friday night.  We drove around to the back where the first menu board is located.  On that board, they only list the eight combo meals.  I spotted the taco meal right away and was ready to pull forward.  The menu by the speaker had a lot more details about the combos and they included the ala cart and dessert options there.  There was no one else in front of us and J wasn’t quite ready so we asked the speaker for a few more minutes. Read the rest of this entry »


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

Coscarelli’s Restaurant & Lounge

21 01 2009
  • 2400 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48813
  • (517) 482-0238
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Coscarellis Restaurant & Lounge on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Coscarelli's Restaurant & Lounge on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Have you ever noticed that big grey building on South Cedar Street with the word “Coscarelli’s” painted across the front?   I’ve noticed it, but never knew it was open.  There are no windows or signs that show any sort of life at the place.  The parking lot is around back and not really visible from the street.  We’ve lived here for almost ten months and had no idea the place wasn’t abandoned.  Last week, we were driving by and I happened to notice some cars in the parking lot behind the building.  Later in the week, I was driving down Cedar again and decided to turn in to the parking lot and scope the place out.  What I found was a lot of cars hidden by the big grey building.  Not only Coscarelli’s open, they seem to be packed.

I had a late afternoon job interview and wasn’t sure how long it would take or how I would feel afterwards, so I told J I would pick her up on her dinner break and take her out to eat.  Our original plan was to check out the new Brothers Restaurant in East Lansing until I remembered there was a home basketball game.  J just said she wanted a salad and didn’t want to go to a chain.  On my way home from the interview, I drove by Coscarelli’s again.  When I got home, I did a Google search for a menu and actually found one.  J approved so I picked her up at a little after seven and headed to that building we used to think was abandoned.

Coscarelli’s sits on South Cedar between Rockford and Lincoln.  On the front of the building, there are signs painted on both the north and south sides.  The south sides points you to the sports bar.  The north side points you to the lounge.  We were looking for dinner so we entered the parking lot off of Rockford Road.  The parking lot was packed.  We drove around twice looking for a place to park then just kind of made our own spot next to a snow bank.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

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