McDonald’s – Paw Paw

4 09 2008
  • 829 S. Kalamazoo St.
  • Paw Paw, MI 49079
  • (269) 657-2835
  • Website
  • Menu
McDonalds in Paw Paw located just off I-94

McDonald's in Paw Paw located just off I-94

When I left Lansing this afternoon, I had no intention of eating fast food.  I knew when I left for Champaign, IL at about 1:30, I would have to stop somewhere for lunch before I got to my parents house.  Just to their house, it’s about a four hour drive and Champaign is another hour after that.  I got just passed Kalamazoo and got really, really hungry.  I pulled off in Paw Paw.  Being a county seat, I assumed there would have to be sandwich places near the courthouse.  There were a lot of restaurants, bars, and pubs, but not a whole lot of quick sandwich shops.  The one I did find in the main business district was already closed for the day as it was almost 3:00.

After striking out downtown, I drove back out towards the Interstate where chains dominate the landscape.  There used to be a place called the Chicken Coop (review HERE) close to I-94, but since the last time I was in town (May), it has been torn down and a Walgreens is being built.  So, my choices were all chains.  I contemplated Taco Bell, but realized that would be hard to eat in the car.  I ended up choosing McDonald’s mostly because it was next to a stop light and it’d be easy to cross traffic to get back to the Interstate.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

Panera Bread – Lansing Mall

21 08 2008
  • 5300 W. Saginaw Hwy
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 703-9340
  • Website
  • Menu
Panera Bread located inside the Lansing Mall on Saginaw Highway in Lansing

Panera Bread located inside the Lansing Mall on Saginaw Highway in Lansing

I used to be scared of Panera Bread.  I always assumed there is nothing there I would like because they didn’t make greasy hamburgers and fries.  My girlfriend finally got me there one day while we were doing some extended work in Decatur, IL.  We had exhausted all of the downtown restaurant options and another lady we were working with had mentioned she was going to Panera Bread.  I decided not to argue and went along for the ride.  To my surprise, I actually found quite a bit there that sounded and looked good.  Panera has always been a standby for J.  She eats there pretty much every time she has to work in Kalamazoo or anytime she has to find someplace to eat and I’m not with her.

Today, we needed to run to Horrocks before heading back to Illinois for the weekend.  J just wanted a salad for lunch and asked if there was a Panera close.  The only one I could think of was the one at the Lansing Mall so after we grabbed what we needed from Horrocks, we headed down Saginaw Highway to the mall.  Read the rest of this entry »


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

McDonald’s – Holt

20 08 2008
  • 2400 S. Cedar St.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 694-9431
  • Website
  • Menu
The McDonalds on South Cedar St. in Holt

The McDonald's on South Cedar St. in Holt

Surprisingly, McDonald’s is one of my favorite fast food restaurants.  I don’t eat there often because I don’t eat fast food all that much, but I do really like their “burgers.”  Since moving to Lansing, I haven’t eaten at one even though there is one right down the road from our place.  J and I needed to make a run to Target this morning to get a diaper bag and some bottles…..for my brother who’s wife is expecting my first niece in about seven weeks.  While we were out, we decided to just run and grab lunch instead of coming home and trying to make something.

J wants to get back on the Weight Watchers diet and the only way it will work is if I get on it too.  I’m not super excited about it because it takes away all the foods I like and makes me eat larger portions of the foods I don’t.  But, she wants to do it and I want to help her, so I’ll do my best. 

Since she wants to start this diet, my usual double quarter pounder with cheese value meal isn’t really an option.  For the first time since I was five and ordering happy meals, I ordered something other than the #4.  I didn’t really know what any of their salads were so I just ordered what J did.  We both got the Southwestern salad.  I got grilled chicken and she got crispy chicken. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Fast Food, Holt, Restaurant, Reviews

The Peanut Barrel

19 08 2008
  • 521 E. Grand River Ave.
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 351-0608
  • Website
  • Menu
The Peanut Barrel on Grand River Ave. in East Lansing across the street from Michigan State University

The Peanut Barrel on Grand River Ave. in East Lansing across the street from Michigan State University

The Peanut Barrel is one of the restaurants that have been our list since we moved here.  One of our first weekends in Lansing, we went to check out East Lansing and MSU.  We walked by the Peanut Barrel and the patio area was full with a long wait, so we didn’t stop.  Every other time we’ve been down that way, the situation was the same, so we’ve always passed.  Those times were always weekends which makes sense.  Lots of students with families in town.  We finally made it to East Lansing on a Tuesday morning right before lunch and thought it would be the perfect time to try to get a seat outside. 

My girlfriend needed to go to the Secretary of State’s Office.  I asked her which one and she just said one near a restaurant we haven’t been to.  The Mason branch is the closest, but there’s not a lot of restaurants around there.  I thought I remembered seeing a branch in East Lansing and there are still a ton of restaurants in that area that we haven’t been to, so that’s where I went.  Like all trips to the SOS office, it never goes smoothly.  We had to drive all the way back home to get something and go back.  Same thing happened to me last time I went.  Why do they have to make it so damn hard? Read the rest of this entry »


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

El Oasis – Tony’s Party Store

12 08 2008
  • 6100 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 882-2311
  • No Known Website
  • No Menu Online
Three chicken tacos from El Oasis inside Tonys Party Store in Lansing.

Three chicken tacos from El Oasis inside Tony's Party Store in Lansing.

We don’t usually do Mexican.  I can handle tacos and I make them at home all the time, but other than that, I’m not really into a lot of the traditional Mexican food.  My girlfriend’s not a huge fan either, but she does like more than I do.  We’ve both read at Runs With Spatula, about the little taco stand inside Tony’s Party Store on Cedar.  We made our weekly shopping trip to Wal-Mart (review HERE) and Horrock’s (review HERE) and wanted to stop somewhere for lunch.  We had milk this time, so stopping for a sit down meal wasn’t an option.  El Oasis is close to home and not that far off the Interstate, so that’s what we decided on.

El Oasis used to have a trailer in the parking lot of Tony’s, but this year, they moved inside.  Their space is really small right when you walk in the door.  The menu is plastered on the plexi glass separating you from the cashier and below it as well.  I knew I just wanted a taco, but that proved to be not an easy choice.  El Oasis has a wide variety of meat ranging from the usual ground beef and chicken to tongue and tripe.  The menu said all tacos were made with cilantro and onions.  It didn’t say anything about tomatoes and cheese, but that was there also.  The tortilla is a corn tortilla.  I ordered three tacos which were a $1.50 each.  I’m gonna hold off for a second on what I thought….you’ll see why in a second. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Lansing, Local Flavor, Mexican, Restaurant, Reviews

Aldi – S. Pennsylvania

11 08 2008
  • 655 S. Pennsylvania
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • No Phone Number
  • Website
The Aldi store on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

The Aldi store on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

A few weeks ago, I decided to give Aldi a shot for the first time in many years.  I went to the store on Saginaw Highway (review HERE).  The only thing I picked up was a bag of frozen chicken.  We finally ran out of that chicken and I needed something for dinner, so I headed to the Aldi on S. Pennsylvania to pick up the same thing.  I said in my last review that chicken was a test.  It totally passed the test.  It was just as good as chicken we’ve gotten from somewhere else and it was much cheaper.

The Aldi on S. Pennsylvania is set up like all Aldi stores.  Since I was just going for chicken again, I didn’t grab a cart.  It took me a little while to find what I was looking for this time.  I went to the fresh meat case first hoping to find some ribs.  There wasn’t a whole lot left there.  Just a few pieces of chicken and some ground beef.  I didn’t find the ribs, so I went looking for the frozen chicken breasts.  I finally found the bag I was looking for after doing some digging in the freezer.  Someone had put some flavored frozen chicken breasts in the box for the regular ones. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

Greek Islands Restaurant – Chicago

10 08 2008
  • 200 S. Halsted St.
  • Chicago, IL 60661
  • (312) 782-9855
  • Website
  • Menu
Greek Islands Restaurant on Madison and Adams in Chicagos Greektown

Greek Islands Restaurant on Madison and Adams in Chicago's Greektown

We were in Chicago for the weekend for a friend’s wedding.  Our hotel was the Crowne Plaza Metro in Greektown.  On Sunday morning after a night of drinking, we decided to meet up with some friends from Ohio that we don’t get to see often and have lunch before we went our separate ways.  The night before, I went for a walk to kill time and check out the restaurants in Greektown.  We checked out of our hotel then walked down Halsted.  I had read a little about a restaurant on the corner of Halsted and Adams called Greek Islands.

We walked in Greek Islands and were met by an older gentlemen welcoming us to the restaurant.  He showed us to table on a landing in the dining room.  We were seated and starting looking over the menu which is very traditional greek food.  A bus boy brought us some water and the waiter came over to take the order.  We weren’t quite ready to order, but we did put in drink orders.  They had both Coke and Pepsi.  Three of us got Pepsi’s and J got a Diet Coke.  The drinks that were served were little glass bottles, so there were no refills.  I’m guessing they were six ounce portions, so we had to go light before the meal got there. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicago, greek, Local Flavor, Restaurant, Reviews

Reno’s West Sports Bar & Pizzeria

3 08 2008
  • 5001 W. Saginaw Hwy.
  • Lansing, MI 48917
  • (517) 321-0616
  • No Known Website
  • Menu (from East Lansing Location)
Renos West Sports Bar and Pizzeria on W. Saginaw Hwy in Lansing

Reno's West Sports Bar and Pizzeria on W. Saginaw Hwy in Lansing

What a day!  Everything we tried to do just didn’t want to work out.  The day started off with us getting up super early (for us) to get tickets to Barack Obama’s speech on Monday.  We made it to Gone Wired Cafe at about 8:30 and the line was four blocks long.  We jumped in line thinking, “The Lansing Center holds 5,000 people, I bet there’s not more than a couple thousand in line.”  According to the LSJ, they only gave out 1,000 tickets, so by about the time we got within one block of the front door, they ran out of tickets.  Not a big deal to me, being from Illinois, I covered Obama’s Senate run, have interviewed the Senator many times, and worked for the campaign at his Presidential Announcement in Springfield, IL on the steps of the Old Capitol…oh yeah, and I’m a Republican and probably won’t be voting for him.  My girlfriend, on the other hand, was working in a different state during that election and has never seen Obama speak live, so I was hoping to get tickets so she could see him.  Didn’t work out.

After we left Gone Wired, we figured since we just blew two hours, we’d get some breakfast.  I’ve read on Runs With Spatula about Soup to Nuts Bistro more than once.  We headed back to Kalamazoo Street only to find Soup to Nutz closed on Saturdays.  Two strikes against us and it’s not even 11:00.

Since we were at that odd time of not quite breakfast, not quite lunch, we headed out to the Lansing Mall to do some shopping for a wedding next week in Chicago.  We finally caught a break.  My girlfriend found a great dress at 60% off.  After walking around the mall, we’re both starving.  We’ve drove by Reno’s West a few times and since it was close, we headed back down Saginaw.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Lansing, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Sports Bar

Mike’s Village Restaurant

30 07 2008
  • 115 N. Bridge St.
  • Dimondale, MI 48821
  • (517) 646-6804
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Mikes Village Restaurant in downtown Dimondale

Mike's Village Restaurant in downtown Dimondale

I’m not sure how I first heard about Mike’s.  I’m pretty sure I saw a recommendation posted a couple years ago on Chowhound.  When we were at the farmer’s market at the State Capitol last week, I heard a lady advertising the Dimondale Farmer’s Market.  When someone asked her where it was, she said, “Across from the restaurant.  You know, Mike’s.”  From that comment, it sounded like it’s one of those places that everyone in the area knows about. 

We made our weekly trip to Horrock’s and Wal-Mart.  Like most of the trips, it was around lunchtime.  Dimondale is sort of on the way home so we started heading that way.  I didn’t grab an address, but I told my girlfriend to put the city center of Dimondal in the GPS.  I had a sneaking suspicion that it would get us to the right place.  Once we turned on Bridge St., we actually found quite a few restaurants which was a little surprising for such a small town.

Mike’s Village Restaurant wasn’t quite what I was expecting.  What I was expecting was a fairly good size family restaurant.  What we found was a somewhat small family diner.  The green awning out front let us know we were in the right place.  Mike’s is probably a turn of the century store front.  The entry way is up a couple steps and has an old, heavy, wooden door that pushes in to open. I tried to pull and couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t open.  Once I figured it out, I went in first and went to pass the weight of the door back to my girlfriend.  Instead, it closed in a hurry and almost smashed her.  Neither of us were expecting that and now I feel bad.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Dimondale, Diner, Downtown, Local Flavor, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

Merindorf Meats & More – Mason

29 07 2008
  • 2289 W. Barnes Rd.
  • Mason, MI 48854
  • (517) 676-6039
  • Website
Merindorf Meats & More in Rural Mason

Merindorf Meats & More in Rural Mason

This is the store I keep hearing about.  We went looking for this shop one weekend, but somehow ended up at the store in Williamston (review HERE).  I needed some ground chicken for dinner tonight and since I have a hard time finding it at the mega marts anymore, I decided to hop in the truck and head to Mason. 

It’s a good thing we didn’t just “try to find it” last time.  Merindorf’s is located on Barnes Road which is outside of Mason about half a mile from US-127.  This building is much older looking than the Williamston shop.  The inside is a big difference too.  There’s not as much grocery, which is fine because when I go to Merindorf’s, I’m looking for meat.  Fresh meat wasn’t on my radar today.  I was in the market for some frozen stuff and Merindorf’s has it all.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Mason, Reviews

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