Mike McAlpine's Blog-Pond
Monday, March 27, 2006
Casey's Bar & Grill
136 N. Whittaker Street New Buffalo, MI 49117
This place is in downtown New Buffalo, MI (right near the Indiana border). While it's not in Grand Rapids, it's a great place to stop for lunch on your way to or from Chicago. I had such a good experience I feel obligated to tell you about it. While still casual dining, it's a little more fancy than your average Bar (white table-cloths). There menu is very simple serving many traditional items you'd find in other bars. However, they make them exceptionally well. Lot's of flavor, great ingredients and many homemade sauces. Javier, in the kitchen, even makes his own hot sauce (get it with the wings, you can even buy a bottle to take home). Their prices are around $7-$8 for a lunch entree and worth every penny. If you're lucky enough to have Sam (girl with short red hair) wait on you, then feel free to strike up a conversation. Ask her how the painting went on her new apartment and let me know.
Food: 9 (I'd need to try more dishes to go any higher)
Atmosphere: 9
Service: 10 (Sam is the best - Congrats on my first Perfect 10 Service rating)
Little Mexico
401 Stocking Ave NW Grand Rapids, MI 49504
Fun Atmosphere. Great Chips & Salsa. The food was rather blah - not much flavor. I had "El Favorito." Which, based on the title, you'd think is a sure bet. The chicken enchilada was served in a verde sauce and was pretty good. However, the soft taco left a bit to be desired. When I picked it up, a bunch of water ran out of each side. I'm guessing the chicken is sitting in water in the kitchen and wasn't strained properly while making my food. This lunch special had a lot of food for the price but given the atmosphere, I expected better quality. I doubt I'll be back.
Bear with me as I'm working out the kinks on a new rating system:
Food: 6 (would be lower if not for the chips & salsa)
Atmosphere: 8 (could have been higher if they didn't have the tacky sign in the lobby with pictures of their food.)
Service: 6 (Our server was MIA)
Monday, March 06, 2006
Ritz Koney Island - Downtown Grand Rapids (Ionia St)
Wide selection of hot dog varieties. I tried the Chicago Koney and Detroit Koney. What's with the goofy spelling anyway? Someone tell these people that there is nothing trendy about coneys. We stumbled on $1 dog Monday so for the price this place can't be beat (normally $2.25). However, price aside I'll give it a 6 outta 10 all around. Probably would be lower but the friendly wait staff (especially Sara) made for an extremely pleasant atmosphere. The dog itself was of poor quality. Deffinitely not Koegel vienna caliber. The Detroit Style coney sauce had some flaws, it was obvious by it's dark brown appearance. Check here for a better recipe. http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5824 As for the Chicago style. First to call it a Koney is a mistake in itself. Sure they're going for naming consistency in their menu but no one in Chicago even knows what a coney is so let's not pretend. Most of the ingredients were correct. However, they forgot the mustard and relish. Then substituted sliced jalapenos for sport peppers. I'd eat here again. Especially late night after the bars close. However, if I'm looking for a true coney, I'll be over at The Grand Coney on Michigan St.
Friday, March 03, 2006
In this blog I try to focus on GR eateries. However, I recieved a geat email today from my brother in NY and wanted to share it with my readers. Besides, us chow-hounds like to travel and you never know when you'll find yourself in NYC hankerin' for a deli.
#1 Carnegie Deli. The king of the New York deli scene. Make this your first stop. You will have enough Pastrami left from one sandwich to feed the HP office back in GR. I once asked the owner (he's friends with my wife's grandparents) how they cure the meat with such a great flavor and he said that if he ever told me he would have to kill me and my wife's grandparents. Good midtown location just north of Times Square.
#2 Second Ave Deli (Kosher). In my opinion the only edible Kosher food is deli and Second Ave is the only place to eat it. If your fancy is deli meat topped off with more deli meat, but no cheese, Second Ave is the place. Also don't forget to wash it down with a can of Cel-Ray (celery flavored soda).
#3 Katz's Deli. A remnant from the the Pastrami glory years of the Lower East side and of Sleepless in Seattle fame. The neighborhood is a little rough as is the staff. My father tried to order a corned beef sandwich with ketchup here once and the man behind the counter made him go to the end of the line so he could rethink the whole ketchup request.
#4 Sarge's Deli. The most "local" deli out of the four. Hidden away in the mostly residential neighborhood of Murry Hill, its a little out of the way, but definitely worth the trip. No frills or gimmicks just classic NY deli fare.
- "Fat" Matt McAlpine
