Backyard Bar-B-Q – Okemos

29 05 2009
  • 2329 Jolly Road
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 381-8290
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Backyard Bar-B-Q on Jolly Road in Okemos

Backyard Bar-B-Q on Jolly Road in Okemos

I’ve been pretty vocal on this blog about the lack of real BBQ joints in Lansing.  Sure, there’s a chain out near Eastwood and a guy who sells BBQ out of the back of his van, but there’s no real place that I can turn to when the BBQ craving hits. 

A few months ago, it was suggested that I try Backyard Bar-B-Q which has three stores in the Lansing Metro.  J and I tried to go for dinner one night, but they close at 7:00, so we missed it. 

This afternoon, J and I had to run some errands in Meridian Township including picking up our “passports” for the Be A Tourist In Your Own Town from a very rude Customer Service person at the Meridian Mall.  After that mess, we headed to Kohls to do some things then it was time for lunch.  J was running short on time and suggested we find a deli.  We were just talking about BBQ and it triggered Backyard Bar-B-Q.   Since we had to go back that way, it sounded good to both of us.

The Backyard Bar-B-Q in Okemos is in a strip mall on Jolly Road near the Okemos Road intersection.  We popped in jut before 1:00 on a Friday afternoon and the place was packed.  There were a few tables set up outside that were all full and most of the tables inside were occupied as well.  The store is not very big, but they do make good use of the public space.  The order counter is in the back near the kitchen.  There is a menu board nailed to the wall above the counter.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Ponderosa Steakhouse & Buffet

27 05 2009
  • 6727 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 694-1299
  • Website
  • Menu
Ponderosa Steakhouse & Buffet on South Cedar in Lansing.

Ponderosa Steakhouse & Buffet on South Cedar in Lansing.

Ponderosa was a staple in my family growing up.  My parents had two hungry boys and there’s no better value than an all-you-can eat buffet.  Since then, I’ve kind of drifted away from those type of places.  You don’t think quality food when you think buffet.

The Ponderosa on South Cedar Street in front of Lowe’s has been calling J and I since we moved here.  We’ve made so many jokes about going to Ponderosa, but we never have.  The restaurant is literally within walking distance but it’s just never sounded like a good idea.

I was supposed to go to the Lugnuts game tonight and J was going to fend for herself for dinner, but as I got down to Oldsmobile Park, the sky’s opened up again the game was cancelled.   I headed back towards home and texted J that I was home.  She asked if I wanted to meet at Ponderosa for dinner.  I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t, so we did.

We met in the parking lot which was the first of many weird things.  If you enter after you pass the building, you have to park in back.  There is an entrance before the building (if you’re coming from Pennsylvania) with angled parking.  The entrance to the building is actually on the backside.

When you get inside, there is a counter where you order your dinner.  The menu board doesn’t list the price of the buffet or even show it as an option.  They only list the steaks.  I ordered two buffet’s and J handed the waiter/counter clerk her credit card.  The kid mumbled so much, we couldn’t understand a word he said.  The total for the two buffets, which included drinks was $24.  When you think about how much food you could possibly eat, it’s not bad, but you better get your fill and make sure you show up hungry. Read the rest of this entry »


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

Burger King – Holt

27 05 2009
  • 2464 Cedar Street
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-2600
  • Website
  • Menu
The Burger King on Cedar Street in Holt.

The Burger King on Cedar Street in Holt.

Sorry, I’m a few days behind in blogging.  Things are a little hectic at MMD World Headquarters which is why, on Monday night, I suggested a fast food run.  Usually, we do Taco Bell or Steak ‘n Shake, but I thought we’d mix it up.  I couldn’t tell you the last time I had Burger King and there’s one right down the street.  J didn’t object.

We chose the Burger King on Cedar in Holt.  It sits near the Holt/Lansing city line right across the street from the Kroger.  There is an entrance on Cedar Street, but there is also one on Willoughby which is easier to access than crossing traffic. 

As I’ve said before, I despise drive thrus, so we went inside.  The place was desserted at 7:00 on Memorial Day.  We were the only ones inside and there was just one car in the drive thru.  Since we hadn’t eaten at a BK in a long time, we needed a minute to look over the menu.

I got, if memory serves me correctly, the #11 which is a double cheeseburger with fries and a drink.  The prices on the board are for the small combo, but they list prices for medium and large under it.  I went with the medium and got a Diet Coke with just a splash of regular Coke from the fountain. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Fast Food, Holt, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

Smoke & Spice Southern Barbeque – Windsor, ON

24 05 2009
  • 1515 Ottawa Street
  • Windsor, ON N8X 2G3
  • (519) 252-4999
  • Website
  • Menu
Smoke & Spice Southern Barbeque on Ottawa Street in Windsor.

Smoke & Spice Southern Barbeque on Ottawa Street in Windsor.

When I think of BBQ, I think of Memphis, North Carolina, Texas, and Kansas City, not Canada.  Still, if I find a good BBQ place, no matter where it is, I’m gonna stop in. 

My parents came to town for the Memorial Day weekend and wanted to go to Canada to gamble….just to say they gambled in Canada.  We had to go before the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative goes into effect because they don’t have passports.  I wasn’t going to argue.  Windsor is smoke free. 

Before hitting up the casino, we needed food.  Sure, we could have stopped in Detroit, but what would be the fun in that.  I thought I’d give my parents the full “Canada experience.”  Hell, J still compares my first trip to Canada to an airport layover.  I never actually set foot on Canadian soil.  This time, I was determined to get my feet on an actual Canadian street. 

After breezing through the tunnel and Canadian customs (I’m still amazed at the difference between entering Canada and the US), we headed through a couple neighborhoods to the corner of Ottawa Street and Gladstone Avenue to find Smoke & Spice Southern BBQ. 

Smoke & Spice is on a fairly commercial street.  That portion of Ottawa Street is a walkable business district although foot traffic was fairly light at 4:00 on a Saturday.  We found meter parking just down the street from the restaurant and started to feed the meter until we were stopped by a passerby who said that wasn’t necessary on weekends.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : BBQ, Canada, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Windsor

Blimpie Subs & Salads – S. Pennsylvania

22 05 2009
  • 6030 S. Pennsylvania Avenue #11
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 393-5477
  • Website
  • Menu
Blimpie Subs & Salads on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

Blimpie Subs & Salads on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

We had to kick off our Memorial Day weekend with a few errands before J went to work.  Everything we needed to do, we could do on the south side of town, so there was no need to go out to Delta Township.  The thing with staying close to home is that we are running out of new places to eat lunch.  There are definitely a few places that we have been making repeat visits to, but tyring something new is always more fun. 

One of the places we haven’t tried is Blimpie in the strip mall at the corner of Pennsylvania and Miller.  In fact, neither one of us had ever eaten at a Blimpie.  J didn’t even realize it was there and she goes by it everyday on her way to work.  I see the signs near the road for $5 12 inch subs and I’ve seen some pretty good specials at other stores.  J said she just wanted a sandwich anyway, so we went to check out a new place.

Blimpie is set up like most sub sandwich shops.  They have an assembly line counter with three ladies who made different parts of your sandwich.  The first lady cuts the meat.  She has a deli slicer in front of her and they cut the meat to order.  The next lady puts the toppings on.  There’s not as many options as some of their competitors, but they still have the most popular items.  The third lady took care of drinks and the cash register. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Michigan

Lou & Harry’s Grill & Bakery

19 05 2009
  • 1429 W. Saginaw Street #150
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-1066
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Lou & Harrys Grill & Bakery near Frandor

Lou & Harry's Grill & Bakery near Frandor

Another one of those days were I was up long before I wanted to be.  I had to work downtown again fairly early.  As I was wrapping things up, I got a text from J.  She was at a jewelry store in Frandor getting her ring re-sized (I was off by half a size).  Since she had some time to kill, she asked if I wanted to meet her for lunch.  I was just going to grab something on Washington Square, but meeting J sounded like a better idea.

When I got to Frandor, she was waiting for me and suggested Panera.  I like Panera, but there’s still places I want to try in the area.  Instead, we headed out of the shopping center a little way to a little strip mall just on the other side of the East Lansing city limits.

Lou & Harry’s Grill has three locations in the area.  Two are in East Lansing and the third is Okemos.  The store we hit up for lunch was the Saginaw Street store.  The roads in this area are really messed up and if you’re not paying attention, it’s hard to get around.  Coming out of Frandor, we had to take a left on to Coolridge Road to get into the parking lot. 

Lou & Harry’s is part of a little strip mall.  One end is anchored by Lou & Harry’s.  The other by a Biggby.  The Lou & Harry’s faces the Saginaw Street Grand River Avenue side on the building.  You walk through a small outdoor patio to get inside.  It was a pretty nice day and there were several people taking advantage of that.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Deli, East Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Bethany’s Place Family Diner

17 05 2009
  • 2221 University Park Drive
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 349-9570
  • Website
  • Menu
Bethanys Place Family Diner on University Park Drive in Okemos.

Bethany's Place Family Diner on University Park Drive in Okemos.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a billboard on South Cedar near K-Mart for a restaurant I had never heard of.  There was a web address on the billboard, so I came home and typed it into my browser.  Nothing came up that day, but a few days later, I found out the Okemos Big Boy went out of business and a family diner opened up.

Since we don’t usually get up for breakfast, I put it on my mental list of places to stop for lunch after a trip to Meridian Mall.  Things changed when I got an unexpected 9:00 AM wake up call.  Since we were both up, J offered to treat me to breakfast.  We had noticed that some people had found my blog looking for information on the place and checking it out would be a good idea.

Like I already mentioned, Bethany’s Place has taken over the old Big Boy building just off the Interstate on University Park Drive.  Last summer, J and I ate at the Big Boy and it was the first Big Boy experience for both of us.  We were pretty underwhelmed.  The business acted like they didn’t want to be in business.  There was no signage and it was hard to find.  Bethany’s Place already took the first step towards a successful business.  They added signs and started advertising.  It’s always amazed me when people open restaurants, don’t advertise at all, then can’t understand why they went out of business because no one knew they were there or what kind of food they served. 

Not much has changed from this restaurant’s Big Boy days.  There are still some signs on the walls and the layout, furniture, and decor are all leftovers.  When we got there, we stopped at the sign that told us to wait to be seated.  A frantic hostess came over and said it would be a couple minutes.  They were short handed and behind.  We considered leaving at that point because there is no way the meal could have went smoothly, but J noticed a sign for a $7.99 breakfast buffet.  We chose to stay and get the buffet so we could set the pace of our meal. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Diner, Michigan, Okemos, Restaurant, Reviews

Subway – Cedar & Jolly

15 05 2009
  • 5025 S. Cedar St #2
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-7370
  • Website
  • Menu
The Subway at Cedar & Jolly in Lansing.

The Subway at Cedar & Jolly in Lansing.

OK, so when you think “celebratory lunch,” Subway isn’t the first thing you think of, but we just didn’t have time to go out for something fancy.  We were both starving and J still had to get ready for work, so I suggested Subway.  Jokingly, I said we should go to the store at Cedar & Jolly.  I had never been there, but J went a few weeks ago and came back with a doozy of a story about the layout of the building.  Normally, we’d just go to the Subway in Holt, but J said I needed to see this store to understand what she was talking about. 

The Subway at Jolly & Cedar looks like most other Subway’s from outside.  It’s situated in a small strip mall near the busy intersection.  Heck, even when you first walk in, it looks like any other Subway.  There are a few tables, but, for the most part, it’s a carry-out business.  The counter is the back right side of the space.  There was only one other person in front of us when we got there just before one o’clock. 

J eats at Subway quite often when I’m working, so she knew what she wanted right away.  I usually get the same everytime as well, so there was no waiting on us when it came our turn to order.

J got a footlong veggie on whole wheat.  When her sandwich was finished, it had pepper jack, lettuce, cucumbers, banana peppers, green peppers, and Chipotle Southwest mayo.  She tried the Chipotle mayo last time she was at a Subway and really liked it.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Pump House Grille

11 05 2009
  • 214 State Street
  • St. Joseph, MI 49085
  • (269) 983-0001
  • Website
  • Menu
The Pump House Grill in downtown St. Joseph

The Pump House Grille in downtown St. Joseph

J really wanted to do something with her mom for Mother’s Day.  Over the past couple months, there’s been a lot of traveling back and forth to Chicago for both us and our families.  Instead of her parents coming to Lansing or us driving to Chicago for the second week in a row, we decided to find a halfway point.  The Benton Harbor/St. Joseph area looked like a good meeting point, so the search was on to find a good place for Mother’s Day brunch.

After a quick Google search, I came up with two options.  Neither would take a reservation for less than six people, so we chose the one that opened first.  That one was the Pump House Grille on State Street in beautiful downtown St. Joseph.  State Street is a one-way cobblestone street that is lined with boutiques and restaurants.  It’s kind of touristy, but would still make a great shopping and dining district for the locals.  We actually drove by the restaurant on our first pass through downtown.  The buildings are all connecte and none of them have eye level signs that stick out from the building.  On the second pass down State Street, we noticed the building on the left side of the road.

Brunch started at 11:30 and we got there about 11:40.  Like I already mentioned, they wouldn’t take reservations and there must have been a line when the door opened.  By the time we got there, all the tables were full.  The host told us there would probably be a half hour wait since everyone just sat down to eat.  We took a buzzer and set up at the bar to wait.  The bartender told us we could eat there if we wanted to, but J and her mom couldn’t really reach the bar comfortably and it would have made eating uncomfortable.  Instead, we ordered drinks….just Pepsi’s since they couldn’t serve liquor until noon.  The half hour wait would give me time to step outside and call my mom to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Brunch, Downtown, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, St. Joseph

Marcos Pizza – South Cedar

9 05 2009
  • 4320 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 394-4444
  • Website
  • Menu
Marcos Pizza on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Marcos Pizza on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

How lucky am I?   I finally get a Saturday off and there’s a Saturday night NASCAR race.  What’s really sad is J has seen more NASCAR than I have this year and I actually had to ask her this morning where the race was at.  Since we both wanted to hang out on the couch and watch TV (the White Sox game was on WGN America, so we could flip back an forth), we decided to find a pizza place we hadn’t tried yet. 

I drive by the Marcos Pizza on South Cedar quite a bit and we’ve been seeing a lot of commercials lately, so I pulled up a menu online to see what they had to offer.  It looked like standard pizza fare to me, so I called in an order for a large cheese pizza.

We gave it about ten minutes then headed down Cedar to pick up the pizza.  The building only does carry-out.  It’s a stand alone building, but the kitchen takes up 3/4 of the space.  There are some cheap red chairs if you have to wait, but we timed it pretty well.  When I went in to get my pizza, everyone was pretty busy.  There were two people manning phones and two making pizzas.  One of the guys making the pizzas saw me standing there and came over to take care of me.  I paid the ten dollars and change, grabbed the box and headed home. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Lansing, Pizza, Restaurant, Reviews

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