Auggie’s Grille & Pub

9 11 2008
  • 820 W. Miller Rd. #3
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 272-0099
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Auggies Grille & Pub on Miller Road in Lansing.

Auggie's Grille & Pub on Miller Road in Lansing.

I hate writing bad reviews.  I always feel bad, but I’m not going to not write about a place just because it might make me feel bad.  I always look for the good in things because I know a bad review can be bad for business.  If someplace just pisses me off though, I sort of feel like they deserve it. 

Auggie’s Grille & Pub is located in a tiny strip mall on Miller Road.  There’s a party store right next to it and there are signs all over the place saying drinking in the parking lot is illegal.  That should have been a sign.  Auggie’s looked like a nice place, but I’m guessing that it’s not a good area of town.  On Thursday night, I drove by to scout the place out before meeting J at our regular Thursday hang out, Barley’s.  The parking lot was packed so I figured the place was legit.  Read the rest of this entry »





Goodrich’s Shop-Rite

4 11 2008
  • 940 Trowbridge Rd
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-5820
  • Website
Goodrichs Shop-Rite in Trowbridge Plaze in East Lansing.

Goodrich's Shop-Rite in Trowbridge Plaze in East Lansing.

Another recommendation by regular commenter Corky.  Since we were already at Hobie’s (review HERE), we took a few minutes to walk over the Goodrich’s Shop-Rite to check the place out.  Corky and a few other people have told me they carry Zingerman’s bread so that’s what we went looking for.

Goodrich’s Shop-Rite is in the Trowbridge Plaza near MSU’s campus.  When we walked in, my first impression is that it wasn’t going to be much different than any other grocery store.  We walked quickly through a lot of the GM section looking for the bakery and deli section.  On the way, we made a quick run through the meat department.  The thing I noticed here is that they put signs up letting you know where all their meat came from.  I’ve been noticing that a lot more lately.

We finally made our way to the deli and what a surprise.  I was a little unimpressed up until that point.  Once we turned the corner, my impression changed.  The deli/bakery section is rather large.  There are racks of bread throughout the area.  I didn’t find any Zingerman’s so I didn’t buy anything, but there was a lot of different fresh baked bread.  The deli case was also huge.  Lots of different meats and cheeses. Read the rest of this entry »





Brower Food & Hardware

3 11 2008
  • 2102 Aurelius Rd.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-0531
  • No Known Website
Brower Food & Hardware on Aurelius Rd. in Holt, MI

Brower Food & Hardware on Aurelius Rd. in Holt, MI

I have been stopping by Brower Food & Hardware for several months now after seeing a review for a deli located inside the little grocery store.  Each time I’ve tried to stop at Big T Deli & Grill, I’ve come up disappointed.  I dont’ know if they stopped doing the deli or what.

This time, I wasn’t looking so much for lunch as I was a small bottle of tequila.  Brower Food & Hardware sits on Aurelius Road near the Holt Plaza.  There’s a very small parking lot in front of the store.  Inside, there’s not a whole lot.  There are a few pantry items, pop, and of course, liquor.  I went to the pop cooler first to grab a Pepsi then headed over to the liquor.  I’m not a big fan of places that keep their hard liquor behind the counter because I always feel so rushed to make a decision and I can’t really see the prices.  That’s how Brower is set up.  The wine is out on shelves and the beer is in coolers.  I didn’t see what I was really looking for so I just paid for my Pepsi and got out. Read the rest of this entry »





Rose’s on Reed’s Lake

22 10 2008
  • 550 Lakeside Dr. SE
  • East Grand Rapids, MI 49506
  • (616) 458-1122
  • Website
  • Menu
Roses on Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids

Rose's on Reed's Lake in East Grand Rapids

Rose’s on Reed’s Lake was an incredible find.  The restaurant had been suggested last time we were in Grand Rapids by two of J’s co-workers.  We passed wanting to check out downtown.  We should have took their advice.  The last trip was kind of a bust because we couldn’t find any walkable areas.  Rose’s on Reed’s Lake is close enough to what I’m guessing was downtown East Grand Rapids which is easily walkable and really cute.

We had a really hard time getting to Rose’s.  We were in Grand Rapids for a concert at Van Andel Arena.  The idea was to have a nice leisurely meal.  We left my parents in Illinois six hours before the concert.  It was a three and a half hour drive and we wanted to make a stop in Michigan City, IN at the outlet mall.  I thought we’d have plenty of time.  That was, until we hit construction.  I couldn’t hold it anymore and had to get off a heavily torn up portion of I-196 to find a restroom.  It took us 15 minutes to find our way back to the Interstate due to ramps being closed.  After that, we finally make it to Lakeside Drive only to find it closed due to construction.  Luckily, we had a GPS that brought us to the next road which was also closed due to construction.  Finally, we made it to a road that was open and weaved our way back to where we needed to be. 

I saw the sign for Rose’s out near the road and wondered if it was the right spot.  The parking lot is almost non-existent.  There are probably only a half dozen spots, but there is plenty of street parking.  We were facing the wrong way, so I went up to the next intersection to turn around and find a spot to park.  It was brisk autumn night so we kind of hustled the half a block to the restaurant. Read the rest of this entry »





Tim Hortons – Holt

15 10 2008
  • 2350 Cedar St.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-0129
  • Website
  • Menu
Tim Hortons on Cedar Street in Holt

Tim Hortons on Cedar Street in Holt

I never really think of Tim Hortons as a place to get a quick after dinner snack, but Monday night I was watching my favorite CBS show, How I Met Your Mother, and one of the characters actually threw out a Tim Hortons reference.  The character, Robin, is from Canada which is where Tim Hortons was founded.  She said something to the effect of ‘at least I didn’t say let’s go to Tim Hortons.’  Six months ago, I wouldn’t have had the slightest idea what she was talking about becuase there were no Tim Hortons in Illinois.  We found them for the first time when we moved to Lansing.

Around the time we moved here, I reviewed the Tim Hortons on South Cedar (review HERE) in Lansing after we stopped for lunch.  The Tim Hortons in Holt is a new store even since that review.  It sits in front of L & L Food Center on Cedar Street near Aurelius Road.  It’s not a very big building.  It’s about the perfect size for a coffee shop.  This trip was just for an after dinner snack.  I was still hungry, but we didn’t have anything to snack on, so I suggested we go get a cookie or something.  Read the rest of this entry »





Travelers Club International Restaurant and Tuba Museum

13 10 2008
  • 2138 Hamilton Rd.
  • Okemos, MI 48864
  • (517) 349-1701
  • Website
  • Menu
The Travelers Club International Restaurant and Tuba Museum in Okemos

The Travelers Club International Restaurant and Tuba Museum in Okemos

I had no idea what to expect dining at a tuba museum.  The Travelers Club is one of the first places that jumped out at us when we moved to Mid-Michigan.  It just sounded and looked like an interesting place.  We kept putting off dining there because we don’t make it to Okemos very often.  Now that Younkers is done remodeling, that may change. 

The Travelers Club is at the intersection of Hamilton Road and Okemos Road.  It’s hard to miss on your way to Meridan Mall.  The little corner building doesn’t look like a very big restaurant from the outside.  We found parking along Hamilton Road and walked to the red doors that open into quaint dining room with a row of booths and an number or tables crammed into the space.  When we walked in, we heard a voice from somewhere in the back tell us to find a seat wherever we liked.  We made our way to the back of the dining room where we took a table along the back wall.  For being a Sunday afternoon at three o’clock, the Travelers Club was doing pretty good business.  All the booths were full and there were quite a few tables being used as well. Read the rest of this entry »





Blue’s Cafe – Kankakee, IL

3 10 2008
  • 1190 W. Station St.
  • Kankakee, IL 60901
  • (815) 933-5315
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
Blues Cafe on Station Street in Kankakee, IL

Blue's Cafe on Station Street in Kankakee, IL

If you watch ABC’s World News with Charles Gibson, Blue’s Cafe is a place you may actually heard of.  A few weeks ago (September 18 to be exact) Barbara Pinto showed up in Kankakee to do a Wall Street vs. Main St. story.  Blue’s Cafe was one of the places she visited to get the “regular Joe” insight into the financial crisis.

Blue’s Cafe is a spot that many people in the area automatically suggest when I ask for a local restaurant.  According to my brother, the food is ok, but the pie is to die for.  As I was waiting with my family for my niece to be born, my aunt mentioned she was hungry and hadn’t eaten all day.  Since I’m always hungry, I offered to go to “lupper” (the meal between lunch and supper) with her.  Since everybody always suggests it, I said “How about Blue’s?”

Blue’s Cafe is located on Station Street not far from the hospital.  It’s a very plain building with an old sign out front adorned with an old Pepsi logo and the words “Blue’s Cafe.”  Since we got there at such a wierd time, the dining room was fairly empty.  There are two dining rooms that probably used to be the smoking and non-smoking section before Illinois got smart and banned smoking in public places.  There’s also a lunch counter near the kitchen in the first dining room. Read the rest of this entry »





Dagwood’s Tavern and Grill

28 09 2008
  • 2803 E. Kalamazoo St.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 374-0390
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Dagwoods Tavern and Grill on Kalamazoo St. in Lansing.

Dagwood's Tavern and Grill on Kalamazoo St. in Lansing.

There are so many places we drive by that I put on a mental checklist of places.  My memory isn’t always so good though.  Dagwood’s Tavern and Grill is one of those places I always think about when we’re driving on 127, but I never think of it when we’re debating where we should eat lunch at.

I was working at the Breslin Center Saturday afternoon.  J was had planned on meeting me for lunch at 3:30.  We got released for lunch break earlier, so I told her to meet me at The Roadhouse Pub.  I walked down there before she was able to get through town, but I found a dark, empty bar.  I had to come up with a plan b.  On my way to Breslin earlier that morning, I got off of 127 at Kalamazoo and again thought to myself, we should eat at Dagwood’s.  As I was walking back towards the arena, I finally remembered that little bar we’ve been wanting to try.

Dagwood’s is located on Kalamazoo St at the US 127 interchange.  It doesn’t look like much from the outside….just you’re neighborhood bar.  I’m much more comfortable in a place like that than I am in a bar where I’m trying to impress someone…..luckily, I don’t have to do that anymore…..good thing cause I was never good at it anyway.  Read the rest of this entry »





Fresh Market – Grand Rapids

21 09 2008
  • 5114 28th St. SE
  • Grand Rapids, MI 49512
  • (616) 940-1103
  • Website
Fresh Market in Grand Rapids

Fresh Market in Grand Rapids

We get to our hotel Friday night and I check my e-mail to find a couple comments telling me to check out Fresh Market near I-96.  The funny thing is, Fresh Market is right across the street from our hotel and I told J on our way in that we should check it out in the morning.  After sitting in our hotel room and relaxing for a little bit, we decided to see if they were still open.  It was 9:30 and no they weren’t so we were gonna have to check back in the morning.

After we got up and got moving, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to the Fresh Market.  It’s located in a little shopping plaza just off the Interstate.  Once again, it’s a good thing there’s not one right down the street.  This is another one of those great grocery stores.  Even though it’s a chain, they haven’t taken the human element out of it or seen how much product they can buy to try and keep costs down.  Instead, they have quality, hard to find products.  We zipped through the produce section without seeing anything really unique because I noticed the butchers in the back. Read the rest of this entry »





Boone’s Long Lake Inn

20 09 2008
  • 7208 Secor Rd.
  • Traverse City, MI 49648
  • (231) 946-3991
  • Website
  • Menu
Boones Long Lake Inn outside Traverse City

Boone's Long Lake Inn outside Traverse City

Whenever we go on a trip, I like to find the place where the locals go for a meal.  You can always find good spots in the tourists hubs as well, but it’s those out of the way places that a tourist might have a hard time finding where the real gems are.  Boone’s Long Lake Inn came from a recommendation from Ang who said she and her fiance will find a reason to drive to Traverse City just so they can go to Boone’s.  That was a good enough recommendation for me, so we headed out of town to find Boone’s.

Boone’s is located a few miles outside of town on Secor Rd.  I damn near missed the turn for the driveway.  The sign came up on me pretty fast, but since there was no one behind me, I slowed down in a hurry to make the turn.  The restaurant sits at the end of a short drive.  When we got up the hill, we came into a huge parking lot that was pretty empty.  We were pretty early for dinner, so it was questionable whether we would even be able to get a meal here.  There’s a sign posted on the outside of the restaurant with the hours and they just opened for dinner about ten minutes prior to our arrival.

When we got inside, we were met by a host and shown to a table.  The dinning room is massive.  It’s divided into three separate, gigantic spaces.  In addition to the dining rooms, there’s a bar and banquet rooms.  Boone’s is huge.  Our waitress came over for drinks and told us about the specials.  Steaks had been recommended, but I don’t normally eat steak at restaurants.  Too expensiveand I’m a little picky with how it’s cooked.  I like it medium rare and that seems to be open to interpretation for some reason.  There was plenty on the menu that looked good.  I ended up ordering the single bacon wrapped pork loin.  The pork chop came with choice of potato and a salad.  I chose french fries for the potato and got a side salad with Italian dressing.  The most interesting thing about the salad were the croutons.  They were obviously homemade.  They were crispy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside.  Before the meal, the server brought out a loaf of warm, homemade bread.  I would assume the croutons are made from that left over bread.  Side salads are usually uninteresting and bland, but the croutons made this salad just the opposite. Read the rest of this entry »