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

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

Cottage Inn Pizza – Washington Square

10 08 2009
  • 303 S. Washington Square
  • Lansing, MI 48933
  • (517) 267-9000
  • Website
  • Menu
Cottage Inn Pizza on Washington Square in downtown Lansing.

Cottage Inn Pizza on Washington Square in downtown Lansing.

Long baseball games make me hungry.  I was at the Saturday night beating the Lugnuts took at the hands of the Dayton Dragons and by the time the game finally ended, I was craving pizza.  J was at home and hadn’t eat yet either.  She texted me to see what I was going to do and I told her to call for pizza.

Cottage Inn has several locations in Lansing and the surrounding area.  We usually order from the one in Holt because it’s closest to our place, but it was my turn to buy dinner.  Had J ordered from Holt, she would have had to buy, so I told her to call the downtown location and I’d just pick it up on my way home.

The Washington Square location sits near the corner of Washington Square and Washtenaw Street.  It’s a small building, but they actually have a little bit of seating in the front of the store.  They serve pizza by the slice and actually had some in the rotating glass case at 10:30 at night.  I’ve always wondered about that when I drive by after baseball games.  I guess it was Saturday night and they probably do a decent business from the bars with the slices. 

J ordered the pizza at 10:25.  When I got there at 10:45, the pizza wasn’t ready.  We had ordered a large thin crust that was half cheese and half all meat.  We also got an order of Cinnamon Stix. The Cinnamon Stix were on the rack ready to go, but the clerk told me they hadn’t put the pizza in yet, so I had to sit there for the ten minutes or so while the pizza cooked.  It was made, it just hadn’t been put in.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Downtown, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza

Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill

10 08 2009
  • 2401 Lake Lansing Road
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 316-9973
  • Website
  • Menu
Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill on Lake Lansing Road in Lansing.

Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill on Lake Lansing Road in Lansing.

My curiosity finally won out.  Is it possible for a large chain restaurant to make good BBQ?  I’ve tried in the past.  I’ve eaten at a Corky’s franchise hoping for the best, but leaving feeling disappointed.  In my experience, the best BBQ joints are always locally owned, they smoke on site, and they serve Memphis style BBQ. 

Saturday was a pretty crappy day.  J and I both overslept due to the rain.  Our bedroom looked dark all morning and neither of us were motivated enough to actually look at a clock to see what time it was.  When we did finally roll out of bed, we started our Saturday ritual of debating eateries and activities to fill our afternoon before I had to go to work.  I had the BBQ craving and J had a GAP Rewards card, so Eastwood Towne Center seemed like the best option.

Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill is just off of Lake Lansing Road in front of the Eastwood Towne Centre near the other chain restaurants that dominate the area.  It was a miserable rainy day when we pulled into the parking lot and fortunately, we found a parking spot near the door.  The main entrance does not face Lake Lansing Road like you’d expect it to.  It actually faces the access road for the mall.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : BBQ, Chains, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Danny Boys Italian Eatery – Sandusky, OH

3 08 2009
  • 6207 Milan Road
  • Sandusky, OH 44870
  • (419) 621-1000
  • Website
  • Menu
Danny Boys Italian Eatery near Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH

Danny Boys Italian Eatery near Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH

Road trip!  I got a phone call from my buddy (I’ll call him Ja from here on) a few weeks ago wanting to know if we were busy on August 2.  He was going to be in Sandusky for work and wondered if we wanted to meet up.  Ja and his wife (Je from now on) were friends of both J and I when we lived in Peoria.  All four of us worked at the same place.  Ja is from Ohio and went back to school.  His girlfriend, who later became his wife, eventually followed him to Athens and the only time the four of us would see each other was at weddings. 

Ja and Je now live in Columbus, OH which would still be a pretty good haul for either of us to make a social visit.  Sandusky seemed a little more doable since it would be just a short three hour drive from Lansing. 

After the trip was planned, I started scouring foodie boards for places to eat.  There’s got to be some little hidden gem in a tourist town.  Alas, all anyone would tell me is that Sandusky is over run by chains.  To that I say, what city isn’t?  I hate when I get that answer because there is an abundance of chains in every town, every city, and every tourist destination in the country.  I’m not looking for those.  I want to know where the locals eat. 

Finally, I got a few suggetions.  Out of the top three I got, two were bars and Ja said a bar probably wasn’t a good idea, so I picked the Italian eatery. 

Danny Boys Italian Eatery is on the edge of town fairly close to Cedar Point.  When you get off OH-2, you go left for the amusement park and right to find this restaurant.  It’s less than a mile down Milan Road on the right side.  The building shares space with a few smaller businesses, but there’s a huge parking lot and overflow parking on the side. 

We got there right at 11:30 on Sunday which is when they open.  After the hugs and handshakes in the parking lot…and a little ribbing for my friends driving a Kia…we went inside.  I was a little surprised by the decor.  I was almost expecting a cheesy Italian decor which would fit the tourist town, but we we found was more of a Tuscan pub.  The floors were faux stones.  The first walls and ceilings were dark wood paneling.  The first area we came into was actually a bar with a window to the kitchen.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Italian, Ohio, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandusky, Sandwiches

Take on the 3-Foot Coney

28 07 2009

There must be something in the water in West Michigan.  First it was the Fifth Third Burger.  Now, it’s a monster 3-Foot Coney from The Galley in Wyoming.

The Jolly Roger is a three-foot long hot dog that comes with Coney sauce, onions, mustard and pickles. The German-style wiener is made by a local meat market and the bun crafted by a Grand Rapids bakery.

Owner, Rick Baumgardner hopes it will put his restaurant, The Galley on the map. “We’ve been thinking about something for the past couple of years and we just didn’t know what– but we knew we needed a signature item, and a few months ago we decided we needed something big and unusual and recently we decided it was going to be a Coney dog.”

From a marketing standpoint, I love these ideas.  I would never take one of these challenges, but anything that gets people talking about your place is a good thing….a website would help too..especially with all the media attention that you’re hoping to get from this gimmick.


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Categories : Food News, Michigan

A & W Restaurant – E. Oakland Ave.

28 07 2009
  • 427 E. Oakland Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 485-3950
  • Website
  • Menu
The A & W Restaurant on East Oakland Avenue in Lansing.

The A & W Restaurant on East Oakland Avenue in Lansing.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I still haven’t figured out the fascination with Sonic Drive-In’s.  J, on the other hand, loves the place.  Mostly because of their Limeade.  While watching TV the other night, we saw a commercial for A & W and they were promoting their new Fruit Flavored Limeades.  The commercial caught her attention and the next chance we got, we headed to A & W.

There are two A & W Restaurant in Lansing.  One is on West Saginaw Highway.  The other is on East Oakland.  We chose the Oakland store because it was the one I knew.  The A & W is at the corner of East Oakland Avenue and North Cedar Street.  Like many businesses in the area right now, their parking lot is only accessible from one street because of the CSO project. 

As we were pulling up to the stoplight at Cedar Street, I had serious doubts that they were open.  It was lunch time, but there was only one car in the parking lot.  It looked desserted.  As I pulled into the parking, there was a car that drove around to the drive thru window so we knew they were open. 

We were wanting to eat in the store because our next stop was grocery shopping.  It wouldn’t make sense to take our meals with it.  The inside of the store is tiny.  Very, very tiny.  There’s an order counter that only has one register and almost no counter space.  There are less than ten tables jammed into the small space…most of which are two tops.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Fast Food, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

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