Taco Bell – Dunkel Road

1 01 2010
  • 3000 Dunkel Road
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-2800
  • Website
  • Menu

So, I must be on a quest to eat at every Taco Bell in Lansing or something.  I got out of work around 9:00 and headed to my hotel.  When I stay in Lansing, I almost always stay at the Red Roof Inn on Dunkel Road.  The closest restaurant is either Taco Bell or Subway.  Both are right down the street as part of the Sunoco gas station just off I-494.  I wanted something warm, so I chose Taco Bell.

Even though it was only 9:00, the counter was already closed.  If I wanted tacos, I would have to go through the drive thru.  In order to do that, you have to go all the way around the building.  I’ve documented many times why I hate drive thrus and this expereience was no difference. 

I pulled up to the speaker and waited.  The girl working started talking before she clicked the button, so I only heard half of what she said.  I just wanted tacos, so I clearly belted out my order of five crunchy tacos.  What I heard back was, “Nachos supreme?”  No, five crunchy tacos.  The second time, she got it and told me to pull around.  Read the rest of this entry »





Taco Bell – Trowbridge Rd

27 04 2009
  • 1051 Trowbridge Road
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 333-9644
  • Website
The Taco Bell on Trowbridge Road in East Lansing.

The Taco Bell on Trowbridge Road in East Lansing.

Fast food is almost never my first choice, but when it is, there is one place J and I can usually agree on.  This particular scenario came up Saturday morning.  I was working at Spartan Stadium for the MSU spring football game.  When it came time for lunch, J came to pick me up so I wouldn’t lose my parking spot.  I was worried about rain and only had about 45 minutes by the time she got there, so I figured sitting down was out of the question.  If the sky’s opened up, I wanted to get back in a hurry to get my gear covered and out of the elements. 

The night before, we debated between pizza and tacos for a late night run and pizza won out.  Since we both had the taco craving, we headed for the border.

The closest Taco Bell that I could think of is on Trowbridge Road in East Lansing near the US 127 interchange.  We headed back that way and made the left turn into the somewhat small parking lot.  At first, I wondered if we could even turn there, but there looks to be a cutout in the median just for the purpose of going to Taco Bell. Read the rest of this entry »





Andy’s Mexican & Ameican Deli

20 04 2009
  • 2102 N. Aurelius Road
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 268-0051
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Andys Mexican & American Deli on North Aurelius Road in Holt

Andy's Mexican & American Deli on North Aurelius Road in Holt

Finally!  I think I’m probably the last person in the South Lansing/Holt area to grab lunch at Andy’s Mexican & American Deli in Holt.  We’ve tried a couple times and even got up early yesterday to try and get lunch before I had to be to work at 2:00.  When I called to make sure they were open, I got an answering machine saying Andy changed his hours and was closed on Sunday. 

Last night, J and I decided it was time to clean out our closet.  We ended up filling six garbage bags with clothes we haven’t worn since we moved here.  Since we were going out in the rain to drop them off at Goodwill, we thought we’d double back to Holt and stop in to Andy’s for lunch.

Andy’s Mexican & American Deli is on North Aurelius Road in Holt.  It’s actually located inside Brower’s Foods & Hardware.  It takes up the space that used to be Big T’s Extreme Deli.  When we walked into the store, Andy was at the cash register chatting with the lady from the hardware store.  Still, he greeted us like he knew we were there for food.  We made our way back to his part of the store and started looking over the menu posted on the counter.  We were told that the taco lunch was the special for today.  I was going to get taco’s anyway, but I didn’t want the rice and beans that come with it.  I never end up eating them and there was an option for tacos a la carte, so that’s what I did. I ordered three, but he must have mistook what I said and only made two.  He only charged for two, so no big deal.  Sometimes, I think it’s me.  My orders get screwed up every so often and I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m not clear.  Even J says she has a hard time understanding me from time to time. Read the rest of this entry »





Mamacita’s Famous Taco

23 03 2009
  • 3500 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-0766
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Mamacitas Famous Taco on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Mamacita's Famous Taco on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Today was the first day of what’s going to be a lot of improvising when it comes to dinner.  I’m working this summer downtown and it’s going to keep me from being home a few nights a week.  I had a 6:00 meeting tonight and when I was walking out at 7:00, I got a text from J asking if I could meet her for dinner.  I happened to be getting in my truck when I got the message, so I called her back and suggested meet for tacos.

Mamacita’s Famous Taco is on Cedar Street in that strip mall right next to the Lansing PD’s South Precinct.  I always thought it was two different business, but it’s just the sign that’s split up.  We walked in under the sign that said “Famous Taco” to find a dining room that spanned what probably used to be two separate store fronts.  There were already laminated menus on the table, so we grabbed a booth near the front.  It was a little after 7:00 on a Monday night and we were the only ones there.  A few people came in for carry out, but we obviously missed the dinner rush.

The decor is pretty bland.  They don’t have the usual, stereotypical Mexican decor.  Other than the booths and tables, the only thing in the restaurant were stainless steel buffet tables which get used during the day.  There was no dinner buffet, so we ordered off the menu.

A waiter came over with our Pepsi’s then went and got some chips and salsa.  The chips were home made as was the salsa.  He brought out mild and asked if that was ok.  It was fine with me.  The chips and salsa were delicious.  There were a few too many chunks of onion in the salsa for me.  I’m not an onion fan and I’d rather not see them even though I know I’m eating them.  J was eating the chips by themselves.  She really liked them. Read the rest of this entry »





Taco’s E Mas

23 01 2009
  • 1850 Cedar Street
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 699-TACO
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Tacos E Mas on Cedar Street in Holt

Taco's E Mas on Cedar Street in Holt

A few weeks ago, J and I were going to Mason for dinner when we passed what used to be an abandoned building.  I always thought it was an old drive thru coffee shop, but the business I found on Google was called Hot ‘N Now Hamburgers.  Dig a little deeper and I find Mocha Mac’s which is the coffee shop I was thinking of.  It was all lit up and the windows were painted for the first time since we moved here.  I didn’t catch the name, but Corky pointed out in comments that it was now called Taco’s E Mas. 

J had made tentative plans to go out with co-workers for dinner which would have left me on my own.  I never got around to thinking about dinner.  Her plans fell threw and she was now coming home for dinner like she always does.  I got up around 5:30 to start on dinner and I just didn’t feel like it.  I was tired and not in the mood to cook.  I sent her an e-mail to see if tacos would be ok for dinner.  She was on board, so we went to check out the new taco stand in Holt.

Taco’s E Mas sits on Cedar Street on the way out of town when you’re going to Mason.  It’s a small drive thru operation that just opened at the end of November.  There was one car at the window when we pulled in a little after seven on a Friday night.  We drove around to the back where the first menu board is located.  On that board, they only list the eight combo meals.  I spotted the taco meal right away and was ready to pull forward.  The menu by the speaker had a lot more details about the combos and they included the ala cart and dessert options there.  There was no one else in front of us and J wasn’t quite ready so we asked the speaker for a few more minutes. Read the rest of this entry »





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 »