Merry Ann’s Diner – Downtown Champaign, IL

29 12 2008
  • 1 E. Main Street
  • Champaign, IL 61820
  • (217) 531-1160
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Merry Anns Diner in downtown Champaign, IL

Merry Ann's Diner in downtown Champaign, IL

5:30 AM is still too early for me.  I was up at this ungodly hour because I had to be in Champaign by 7:00 AM for a basketball game.  My parents live a little over an hour away, so the alarm was set for just before 5:30.  Since the game was at 1:00, it meant lunch was actually going to be breakfast, so on my way in to town, I started scouting out breakfast joints.  I wasn’t having much luck until I had to detour off of Neil Street (the main artery of Champaign and the road that runs through downtown) because of construction.  I turned down Main Street and like a golden beacon, a simple sign that said “diner” jumped out and I found my breakfast spot.

Merry Ann’s Diner is located in the One Main building which is a development companies’ prototype for downtown buildings.  I know they also built a “One Main” in Normal, IL near Illinois State University even though the street is not Main Street.  The “One Main” name comes from the address of this original building. 

I was not aware that there was a second Merry Ann’s in Champaign.  I had eaten at the location farther down on the corner of Neil and Kirby Streets near the University of Illinois (review HERE).  I was surprised when I actually saw the name of the diner on Main was Merry Ann’s.

I got back downtown just before 10:00.  The diner isn’t very big and it’s set up pretty much the same was as the diner on Neil Street.  Most of the booths but up to the “kitchen” with little cutouts for the waitress.  This way, the waitress never has to go out into the dining room….unless you happen to be sitting at the two or three tables near the door which are separated from the counter.  The diner is setup with a row of booths, a lunch counter, and another row of booths.  When I walked in, I wasn’t sure there was any available space.  All of the booths looked full.  I thought maybe there was one down at the end, so I started walking that way.  That’s when I noticed the stools at the counter, so I just sat down there. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : 24-Hour Diner, Big Ten Tour, breakfast, Champaign, Champaign/Urbana, Diner, Downtown, Restaurant, Reviews

BonaPit Grill & Smokehouse- Palos Heights, IL

29 12 2008
  • 12200 S. Harlem Ave
  • Palos Heights, IL 60463
  • (708) 361-9610
  • Website
  • Menu
BonaPit Grill and Smokehouse on Harlem in Palos Heights, IL

BonaPit Grill and Smokehouse on Harlem in Palos Heights, IL

I told J as we were eating dinner, it’s a good thing we don’t actually live in Chicago.  Every time we go home, I gorge myself when we go out because the food is so damn good!

J and I were at one of her friends house catching up with them when dinner rolled around.  They ordered pizza from a place I’ll probably blog about next time we go home.  They encouraged me to try a slice and a slice ended up being two and a half. It was delicious.  We didn’t eat because we had plans to meet her parents at a BBQ place in Palos Heights. 

BonaPit (not Bon Apetite) is located on Harlem near 122nd Street in Palos Heights.  J’s mom said there used to be a fancy, white tablecloth restaurant in the building and that was the first thing we noticed.  BonaPit doesn’t look like a BBQ joint.  The floor was a wood planked floor, but the tables, walls and ceiling all looked like we should be sipping wine over candlelight.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : BBQ, Chicago, Illinois, Palos Heights, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Taco John’s – Bradley, IL

20 12 2008
  • 484 S. Kennedy Drive
  • Bradley, IL 60915
  • (815) 939-3064
  • Website
  • Menu
Taco Johns on Kennedy Drive in Bradley, IL

Taco John's on Kennedy Drive in Bradley, IL

There aren’t many chain restaurants that I miss, but Taco John’s is one of them.  Everyone always thought I was crazy for preferring Taco John’s over Taco Bell, but I loved Taco John’s. 

When I was growing up, they used to give free tacos for A’s on your report card.  You’d bring in the report card, they’d give you a taco then mark the report card so you couldn’t try to use it again.  As stupid as it sounds, it was always an incentive to get A’s.  We knew if we did, we get a trip for tacos.

Once we got too old for that, we would always hit up the store on Tuesday for “Taco Tuesday”  All tacos were half price and my mom could feed two growing boys for half price.  Not a bad deal.

Taco John’s kind of fell out of my life until I moved to Peoria.  I worked in one of Peoria’s suburbs and right down the street was a Taco John.  I know this is going to surprise most people, but folks working in small town television news make about the same as fast food employees who don’t have thousands of dollars in student loans to pay off, so anytime I could pick up a cheap meal, I did.  Every Tuesday, you could find me at the Taco John’s where I could get six hardshell tacos for under $4. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Michigan

Chicken-N-Spice – Joliet, IL

18 12 2008
  • 251 N. Chicago St.
  • Joliet, IL 60432
  • (815) 727-1100
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
Chicken-N-Spice in downtown Joliet, IL

Chicken-N-Spice in downtown Joliet, IL

The biggest chicken breasts you’ll ever see.  That’s how I used to describe the chicken from my favorite chicken joint.  I went to school at the University of St. Francis in Joliet.  I wasn’t quite the foodie then that I am now.  When I ordered out, it was usually to Papa Johns or one of the other national chains.  I wish I knew then what I know now about food in the Chicago area.  I’m sure there are hundreds of places I missed out on.

Fortunately, one of the places I didn’t miss out on was a little chicken joint in downtown Joliet.  Chicken-N-Spice sits on Chicago Street near the ballpark, theater, and casino.  There’s not a lot of food options in downtown Joliet but as far as I’m concerned, there only needs to be one.

I was on my way to my parents how from DeKalb when I got the idea to detour to Joliet.  I was tired of paying tolls anyway and I was running out of cash.  I now owe the Illinois Toll Authority some money since they still have the change baskets on I-88.  Seriously, who carries $1.10 in change?   I thought they were doing away with all of those and didn’t bring enough home with me.  Instead of dealing with that, I got off  I-88 and made my way to Route 30 which would eventually take me into Joliet.

Chicken-N-Spice is the kind of place you look at and think twice about before going in.  It’s not a very inviting building.  It’s a small store that needs some work down to it.  The thing I always notice is that it’s constantly surrounded by Joliet PD, Will County Sheriff and a number of prisoner transport vehicles from surrounding counties.  For once, that’s not a bad thing.  Chicken-N-Spice is a gathering spot and if the cops eat there, it must be a good place. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicken, Downtown, Illinois, Joliet, Local Flavor, Restaurant, Reviews

Fatty’s Pub & Grille – DeKalb, IL

18 12 2008
  • 1312 W. Lincoln Highway
  • DeKalb, IL 60115
  • (815) 758-7737
  • Website
  • Menu
Fattys Pub & Grille near the campus of Northern Illinois University

Fatty's Pub & Grille near the campus of Northern Illinois University

I have never been so happy to be in DeKalb, IL.  I got up early because of the snow storm last night, but I never thought it would be as bad as it was.  The roads were awful between Lansing and Kalamazoo.  I didn’t think I’d ever make it to where I needed to go.

It was slow going, but I did finally make it.  My four and a half hour trip took closer to six.  By the time I got to DeKalb, I was exhausted and my day was just starting.  I was working at Northern Illinois University where the NIU Huskies were taking on the Southern Illinois University Salukis in  men’s basketball.  Just before four o’clock, we were released for lunch.  No one knew where to go or what was even around.  Lucky I did some research before leaving Mid-Michigan.

Fatty’s Pub is located on Lincoln Highway not far from the Convocation Center and Huskie Stadium.  We piled into a couple cars and set out looking.  I put the address in my GPS, but by the time it found the satellites, we were turning into the parking lot.  The building sits pretty close to the road, so you have to go down a little alley to the back.  The parking lot and main entrance are located behind the building.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, DeKalb, Illinois, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews

Max & Erma’s

14 12 2008
  • 2515 Lake Lansing Road
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 316-7477
  • Website
  • Menu
Max & Ermas near the Eastwoode Towne Centre in Lansing Township

Max & Erma's near the Eastwoode Towne Centre in Lansing Township

Another lazy Sunday.  J and I were laying on the couch watching a Fox News Channel special about corruption in Illinois.  We didn’t learn anything that we didn’t already, but it’s fun to see the rest of the country coming to the same conclusions we had five years ago about the current political situation in Illinois.  Neither of us were in much of a hurry to do anything, but my tummy was really growling.  I was hungry.  We needed to run a few errands, so we just decided to eat out.  I asked J what she wanted and she said a nice big salad with dried fruit, nuts, and cheese.  That really narrows it down.  Nothing was coming to mind.

I went to Google and typed in “Restaurants in Lansing, MI.”  I do that a lot for out of town meals because it gives you a list of all the restaurants in town.  I started clicking on website links figuring the chain restaurants would have what she was looking for.  I clicked on a couple and got a “yeah, those look ok” response.  When I clicked on Max & Erma’s I got a “YES!  That’s what I want!”  Off to Eastwoode.

Max & Erma’s is one of many chains located around Eastwoode Towne Centre.  Even though they have several locations throughout the country, I had never been to one nor had I ever seen one anywhere else.  J had never heard of it, so I didn’t go in with my preconceived notion that all chains are evil.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Applebees – South Lansing

14 12 2008
  • 6270 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 882-8320
  • Website
  • Menu
Applebees on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Applebee's on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

We got lazy.  After a brutal day in Novi, we crashed on the couch and watched a little TV just killing time until Saturday Night Live came on which we knew had a skit harpooning Rod Blagojevich.  Doing nothing made me hungry.  We didn’t have a lot of food in the house and neither of us wanted to get dressed up again to go out for dinner.  That made carry-out or delivery the top choice.  Neither of us had cash to tip a pizza delivery boy and for some reason we both thought of the same thing.  Applebees Carside-To-Go. 

Yeah, it’s a cookie-cutter chain that I can’t stand, but the prospect of not getting out of the car was what sold me on it.  We got on Applebees.com and I found a burger that sounded good.  J’s done the Carside-to-Go a few times at work and Applebees used to be a hangout for her and her friends when she lived out West, so she knew what she wanted.  I let her do the hard work and call in the order.  I hate talking on the phone.

After fifteen minutes or so, we paused America’s Funniest Videos and went to pick up our order.  The way Carside-to-Go works is you give the person taking your order a description of your car.  You then park in one of the designated spots and they see you on a closed-circuit video system.  An employee comes out with your food and you pay right there at the car.  Usually, they have a Wi-Fi credit card machine, but their system was down tonight, so the employee ran the card in and came back for a signature.  When we pulled in, our order was ready and our food was in our hands almost before I could get the window rolled down.  It went pretty quickly. Read the rest of this entry »


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

O’Toole’s of Novi

14 12 2008
OTooles of Novi on Novi Road down the road from Twelve Oaks Mall

O'Toole's of Novi on Novi Road down the road from Twelve Oaks Mall

Our tour of Michigan continued today as we made our way East to Novi.  When we woke up, the choices were Ann Arbor or Novi.  I chose Novi.  I shouldn’t be allowed to pick things. 

Let me back up and explain a little.  The goal today was to find a new shirt for J.  She had something from H & M that she really liked and wanted to go there again.  The closest H & M stores are Novi and Ann Arbor.  She talked about Zingerman’s many times this week.  I should have just took the hint.  Instead, I wanted to go someplace new.  Things were fine until we got five miles from our exit.  MDOT decided to START construction on a Saturday two weeks before Christmas.  We sat in traffic for 40 minutes….20 of those were at a complete stop.  Crews were painting lines.  It was ridiculous.  That just set the day off on a bad note.

After finally making it to our exit, we took a right on to Novi Road and headed away from the mall and big commercial area.  About a mile down the road, we came up a little bar set back quite a ways.  It’s not what you would expect in such a highly commercialized area. 

When walked in around two o’clock on a Saturday afternoon.  There were a few people at the bar watching basketball, but the dining room was mostly empty.  Around the bar, there are some pub tables.  On the other side of the room, there are some booths and regular four tops.  I chose the pub table hoping we’d be close enough to the bar that the waitress would be on top of things.  Again, I was mistaken. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Irish Bar, Michigan, Novi, Restaurant, Reviews

Tomato Bros

6 12 2008
  • 3030 W. Grand Avenue
  • Howell, MI 48843
  • (517) 546-9221
  • Website
  • Menu
Tomato Bros on Grand River Avenue in Howell

Tomato Bros on Grand River Avenue in Howell

Another weekend.  Another trip to the Kensington Valley Outlet Mall in Howell.  After our last trip to Howell when we ate at The Bloated Goat Saloon (review HERE) in Fowlerville, someone suggested in comments that we try out Tomato Bros.  J asked if it was the place we always drive by on Grand River, but I didn’t remember seeing it.  Either way, the menu looked good so that’s here we headed. 

Tomato Bros. is on the corner of Grand River Avenue and Highland Road.  You can’t miss it.  There is a huge sign over the entrance of the building in addition to the typical roadside sign.  One you turn in, you find a parking lot that is a little weird.  Some of the spots are facing north and south while others are facing east and west.  They really try to pack the cars in there.  I parked my truck  and J thought I was nuts.  It looked like I made my own parking space, but I assure you, I didn’t. 

We made our way inside.  Once we got through the big, decorative, wood doors, I didn’t find what I was expecting to find.  I figured Tomato Bros was going to be a sports bar, but it was really a nice, sit down restaurant with a bar.  We were met by a hostess and asked us the dreaded “smoking or non-smoking” question.  We chose non-smoking and were shown to a booth in the back of the restaurant near the kitchen.  The space is rather large and there were quite a few groups of ladies dining.  We assumed they were either going to or coming from the outlet mall. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Howell, Italian, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Barley’s American Grill (Revisited)

5 12 2008
Barleys American Grill on Miller Road decorated for Christmas

Barley's American Grill on Miller Road decorated for Christmas

I originally reviewed Barley’s American Grill not long after moving to Lansing.  At that time, I had no idea it would become our regular hangout.  Both J and I enjoyed the food and the atmosphere, but we’re not really “go out for a beer” regulars.  Every now and then it’s nice, but we’ve never really had a regular hangout.  A few weeks after the initial review, J got a new co-worker and they decided Thursday night was going to be “Beer Thursday” after they got off work at 11:30.  The closest bar to their place of employment is Barley’s American Grill and it’s on the way home for both of them, so that’s what they picked. 

Barley’s American Grill is behind the Meijer on Miller Road.  It’s a huge building with a good size dining room, a good size bar, and a huge gaming area with multiple pool tables and dart boards.  We have our usual booth along the back wall and our usual waitress who doesn’t even come over to ask what we want anymore.  Since it’s 11:30 at night, we usually don’t go for large food items, but we do get a couple appetizers. 

The usual for us is a Blue Moon for J’s co-worker, a Bud Light draft for me, and a frozen strawberry Daiquiri for J.  As for the appetizers, the girls almost always order the spinach-artichoke dip which comes with toasted bagels.  The bagels are the best part.  Instead of throwing some chips out of a bag with the dip, they thinly slice bagels, butter, and toast them.  They’re delicious on their own.  I’m not a fan of spinach or artichoke so I usually pass.  If they have any bagles left over, I’ll try to steal one just to eat by itself. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

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