The Monthly Restaurant Critic

Rocky Top Beer and BBQ

2008-10-21T17:25:00.002-04:00

1900 Lansing Ave.

Jackson, MI 49202

http://www.glasscity.biz/uploads/64412RockyTop_WEB.pdf

Ira and I visited Rocky Top Beer and BBQ based on a recommendation from a friend. First of all this place just gives you a fun, comfortable atmosphere. The staff is friendly and they serve their water in large mason jars. How can you not love a place like that?

We both started off with a beer and rocky top potatoes. French and sweet potato fries covered in bbq pork and coleslaw. I am not the biggest coleslaw fan and Ira was going to order it with the coleslaw on the side, but how would that give us a true taste of the appetizer. I told the waiter to leave everything as it should be. These were good and frankly, I think Ira could have eaten the whole plate for dinner and not shared them with me.

For dinner, he ordered the smoked prime rib and I had the chicken and ribs to give it the true bbq test. While I only ate one rib, I did eat most of the chicken. I enjoyed both very much and Ira enjoyed my leftovers the next day. He was not as happy with his prime rib, but I don't see ordering prime rib at a bar-b-que joint anyway.

The one thing we absolutely agreed on were the sides. From the chunky applesauce, garlic smashed redskins, salt pork green beans, and deep fried corn on the cob, we loved them all. Well, I liked mine and he liked his. We didn't share those with each other :-)

While we normally fit in a dessert on these adventures, we passed that night. The dinner portions are big and we were both stuffed.

If you are going through Jackson, I definitely recommend getting off the beaten path and checking out Rocky Top. 5 stars (since I am not judging the prime rib).

Deadwood Bar and Grill

2008-10-03T10:13:00.002-04:00

http://www.deadwoodbarandgrill.com/
18730 Northville Road, Northville, MI 48167

On Septembe 12th Ira and I had dinner at the Deadwood Bar and Grill in Northville. Growing up in the country with a family of hunters, I appreciated the atmosphere - log cabin and dead animals. I had been to the Moose Presearve which is owned by the same group so I at least had a bit of an expectation.

Ira did call ahead for seating, but it ended up not being necessary. The restaurant had a good crowd, but wasn't really packed. For an appetizer we started off with the duck tenders. I don't recall ever having duck in the past, so this was a nice choice for something new. Ira really enjoyed them with the sweet and sour sauce. I actually thought the meat with like eating a really, really dark piece of chicken. I just wasn't crazy about the flavor. I am sure this is just my feeling about the duck in general and not how it was prepared.

While we were waiting for our meal I did enjoy a black cherry martini. This was very tasty.

For our meals, Ira had the prime rib and I had the whitefish. I believe these were both in the nightly specials menu. I should know not to get whitefish anywhere outside of the UP, but I ordered it anyway. It was severely overcooked. I really, really wanted to like it, but I just could not get past the 3rd bite and just ate my potatoes. Ira enjoyed his prime rib, so he shared it with me. I wasn't even impressed with that, so maybe I was just having an off night.

I didn't complain, but the waitress could obviously see that I hardly touched my dinner and was nice enough to take it off the bill for me.

My overall summary is that the Deadwood Bar and Grill seems great for a cocktail. It has a great neighborhood bar appeal. And maybe I was just having an off night, but I really wasn't impressed with their food. Needless, to say I won't be rushing back there for another meal. I give it 2 1/2 stars.

Steve and Rocky's

2008-06-17T12:05:00.003-04:00

Steve & Rocky's43150 Grand River AvenueNovi, MI 48375

248.374.0688

http://www.steveandrockys.com/menus.aspx

Last Saturday Ira and I went to Steve and Rocky's for dinner and Second City for some entertainment afterwards. Since it was my choice, I have to that say that all in all it was a pretty great night.

Steve and Rocky's is a little on the higher end of price and trend, including a piano player on the weekend evenings. However, it is casual enough to go to in jeans.

This is not a restaurant where you order your entree and also pick a salad, soup, and sides. Everything is separate, which I personally didn't mind. So many times I get too full on all of the extras and can't fully enjoy the actual meal.

So, we both started with the the Chef Milo's Mushroom soup that was recommended by our waiter. This soup was great and a nice little before meal bite. For dinner Ira ordered the Braised Rib of Lamb. He enjoyed the meal for the most part, but was not thrilled with the burgundy sauce. It actually gave him a stomach ache later.

I ordered the Gulf Shrimp and Lobster Fettucine. First, I absolutely hate that 99% of restaurants leave the shrimp whole and with the tails on in any pasta dish or salad. I have been to a very upscale fine dining restaurant and tactfully tried to cut the tails off of my shrimp. One, I do not like to play with my food, and two, it takes so long to get to eating it once you have removed the tails and cut up the meat. It only takes a few minutes to do it right in the kitchen before you serve it to the customer. So, you can imagine my delight to receive a pasta dish with shrimp that had the tails removed. I can deal with cutting the meat up as long as the tails are removed. This was a wonderful dish and I ended up only eating half since we had ordered the Chocolate Ganache for dessert and I wanted to make sure I had room to eat it. Honestly, the pasta was just as good the next day and I honestly think about it from time to time. That is the sign of a very good dish. Pricey, but good.

We finished the meal with the ganache. Frankly, it was the only dessert on the menu, but that is only because you need to order it in advance due to the additional time it takes to bake. So, since we actually weren't sure what a ganache is, we decided to try it. However, we found out later that there is actually a dessert tray. For those of you that also don't know what a ganache is, it is like a volcano cake - chocolate cake/brownie with oozing chocolate in the center. Very yummy!!

I do give Steve an Rocky's 5 stars and will consider it when planning a special evening out. It's pretty hard to not get a bill for around $100 for 2 people.

The Breakfast Club

2008-05-13T09:51:00.002-04:00

Our weekend review #2

The Breakfast Club
676 W Grand River Ave.Brighton, MI 48116

This was not a planned stop, but I felt it also deserved a review since I had never been there before. Again, this restaurant is in Brighton (seems to be a lot of places we haven't been 10 minutes from our house) and is only open for breakfast and lunch. They have been voted the best breakfast in Livingston County for 4 years running and are well known for their oven baked french toast.

This is a cute, little restaurant that is actually larger on the inside that it looks from the outside. While Ira's breakfast was fairly standard with pancakes and coffee, he did state the coffee was really good. I tried his pancakes and agreed with him that his are better.

Me, on the other hand, I had to try what they were known for...the world renowned (states that in the menu) oven baked french toast. This is made with cinnamon rolls, texas toast, croissant, berries, and streusel. Now building from bottom up - a large cinnamon roll, a piece of texas toast, berries of all kinds, we were guessing the croissant is probably tore up and put on top the berries, and then a couple inches of struesel. What they brought to me looked like a huge chunk of 8 inch high coffee cake...WITH SYRUP! Holy cow was this thing huge!!

While I knew I would not be eating all of it, I did give it a fair try and think I ate most of it, at least more than half. It was sweet, but not too sweet and very tasty. I also had fresh and delicious orange juice that I was trying not to share with Ira.

After the meal they bring your check with chocolate covered strawberries for each person at the table - very classy!

The only downfall is that their prices are a little high for breakfast. The bill was $25 for everything I mentioned above. So, that will keep me from visiting on a regular basis, but I will definitely go back.

4 stars

Champ's Pub

2008-05-13T09:32:00.004-04:00

Champ's Pub
140 E Grand River Ave.Brighton, MI 48116

On Saturday night Ira and I went to Champ's Pub. I cannot tell you how many times each one of us have passed this little bar, but I can bet it is hundreds. So, as Ira's turn to choose, he decided we should finally check it out and just see if this really was the best burger in Brighton.

Their menu is bar food, no doubt about it. The only thing missing from this place to make it feel like the many bars I spent so much time in as a kid (long story, not for this blog) was a pinball machine in the corner.

We each started with a beer and an appetizer of jalepeno poppers, one of my faves. Now, to me jalepeno poppers are fairly standard. They are either good all-around, the breading is too hard and tears up your mouth, or superb. I have only found one place that makes superb, so I have to say that Champ's were standard and good.

Ira had to order to burger and claimed it was like a Blimpy's burger, but larger. For anyone who has not been to Blimpy's in Ann Arbor, this was quite a compliment to Champ's. I ordered the Champ's Original - a roast beef sandwich with swiss and peppers. This was supposed to be their take of a philly cheesesteak. I will start by saying that the sandwich was good, but felt like it was missing something. However, when I first received my meal it looked like chopped roast beef on a bun. To be honest it looked like chunky dog food. So, after I was able to get past the appearance, the flavor was good. But, it could be better. So, after I mixed a side of horseradish with Ira's leftover ranch from his sweet potato fries and put that on top of the sandwich the flavor of the whole sandwich just popped.

I should also mention the fries. While the burgers and sandwiches normally come with chips, they do have 7 different kinds of fries to choose from (at an additional cost), including beer battered (yum!!) and sweet potato.

Champ's has a very neighborhood, local bar feel and since it so close to everything we do we will be going back there again.

We left very full and satisfied. Since it is bar food, even good bar food only gets 3 stars from me.

Cafe Luwak

2008-03-30T17:40:00.003-04:00

Cafe Luwak
42 E. Cross Ypsilanti, MI 48198
http://www.cafeluwak.com/

After seeing Cafe Luwak listed as Channel 4's "Best Sandwich" in Southeast Michigan we had to check out the place that beat out Dibella's.

I had been in this place numberous times when it was Miller's Ice Cream, but neither one of us has been there since it had become Cafe Luwak. Coffee, Sandwiches, and Ice Cream - how can that be bad?? So, we chose to have our "dinner date" for lunch.

I ordered the #30 - Take Three plus grilled onions. I have to admit that this was a damn good sandwich. The bread was soft, the meat was shaved, and the entire thing was flavorful. Ira had the #6 - Game Face, but had it grilled. I tried his, but liked mine better :-) However, he really enjoyed his.

We finished off our meals with a Tin Roof Sundae for me and a Chocolate Shake for Ira. Of course these were made with Stroh's Ice Cream, so it was pretty hard to beat and a wonderful end to a meal. So much so that our late lunch also covered dinner. I was so full after that meal that I never had anything else to eat the rest of the night.

While I do highly recommend Cafe Luwak, it is still hard to beat the subs at Dibella's :-)

Joe's Gizzard City

2008-03-16T20:17:00.004-04:00

This review is a bit of an exception. Ira and I are both fans of the show Diners, Drive-in's, and Dives and they did a segment on Joe's Gizzard City in Potterville. Since we are both a fan of gizzards and it was in Michigan, we were intrigued. This restaurant is almost an hour from our house or a little more. I stopped here and ate a couple of weeks ago on my way home from Olivet College and we both ate there today after the Lansing Golf Show.

Joe's Gizzard City
120 W Main St.Potterville, MI 48876
http://www.gizzardcity.com/

As the name says, this place is known for their chicken gizzards, but actually they got their start and fame with fried chicken. In my two visits, I had gizzards both times. They have 5 different styles, but I like the cajun and the garlic with herb flavors. Ira had the combo plate which consists of gizzards and fried chicken. While we did not order any dessert this time, I did have the fried oreo cookies on my first visit and they were wonderful.

This place deep fry's everything - gizzards, chicken, burger patty or the whole entire burger, hot dogs, oreo's, cheesecake, twinkies, etc. This is not a restaurant to eat at if you are on a diet or watching your cholesterol. Ira and I are both pretty healthy eaters so our bodies were not real happy with us after we ate all the wonderfully fried food, but sometimes you just need to live it up.

The food is great and this little dive is friendly. You just need to limit your visits to keep your heart ticking and your waistline slim.

Check out the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives segment -

Cady's Grill

2008-03-02T15:01:00.004-05:00

Cady's Grill and Bar - CLOSED
36 E. Cross St., Ypsilanti, MI 48198
http://www.cadysgrill.com/docs/cadysmenu2-08.pdf

Ira and I ventured out for a our monthly date Saturday night. Ira chose Cady's Grill for our dinner and it was a great choice. Now, I do have to admit that since this restaurant is located in Depot Town in Ypsilanti and I am pretty sure the building is as old as the town, it smells like a 200 year old building. But, the smell was gone within 5 minutes.

The atmosphere is romantic and comfortable. We chose the Fircracker Shrimp for our appetizer, which I believe was one of the specials and may not be on their regular menu. But, it was very good. I also ordered a Georgia Peach martini - yummy!! For dinner I had the Seafood Platter - coconut shrimp, lake perch, cod, calamari, and fries. I ate everything except for a few of the fries and half of the cod. After all, fried cod is pretty much on evey menu across America. I was very happy with my dinner, drink, and service. Ira ordered the Prime Rib (only available Fri and Sat) with mashed redskin potatoes and he completely cleaned his plate. The dinners did not come with a soup or salad option to start, but I actually appreciated this because we had room for dessert and did not feel uncomfortably full when we left.

For dessert, we ordered a chocolate chip tortilla thing that was basically deep fried chocolate chip cookie dough with ice cream and whipped cream. Very tasty, but I did feel like it was more tortilla than cookie dough.

I give the whole meal a 4 star rating. The food was good, the service was great, the meal was moderately priced, and the restaurant had a pleasant atmosphere. We will gladly go back to Cady's.

Casey's Tavern

2008-02-28T21:17:00.003-05:00

Casey's Tavern 304 Depot Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104
http://www.caseys-tavern.com/frames/menu/menu.pdf

Ira and I went to Casey's Tavern over a wekk ago and I am just now getting to the review. Although this was not planned and we missed last month because I was ill, this was somewhat of a make up.

So, let's see if I can remember all the details. First, it was Saturday night and packed - good sign!! We waited 30 - 40 minutes for a table, and of course, since it is winter, everyone waiting was waiting in the restaurant. Which all in all, is not very big. So it was like being packed into a can, but we ordered two beers, found a corner, and waited for a table.

After we were seated we started with the fried artichoke hearts as an appetizer, these weren't bad, but my opinion is that they did lack a little flavor. Ira ordered a burger and I chose the Casey's Dip. Ira was pleased with his burger and I recall liking my sandwich, but frankly I had to go back and review the menu to remember what I ordered, so obviously it was not memorable.

I did also order some fresh, homemade onion rings to go with my sandwich. Good, greasy, and big. So, I didn't come close to eating all of these.

We did walk out full and satisified and since it is so close to home I would go back here for a beer and a burger.

I rate it 3 stars.

Vegas

2008-02-02T18:08:00.001-05:00

Since my review will be slightly postponed due to illness. I thought I would recommend some great places that we ate at in Vegas.

Nobu at Hard Rock - okay, I have never had any interest in sushi. But, I was invited on someone else's reservation so, I was going to try it full force. Chopsticks and all, I really enjoyed it. It helped that I had good friends to help me along, but it was fun and the food was good.

La Salsa Cantina - There are 4 of these in Vegas, but we ate at the one across from New York New York, twice. Once for appetizers and yard long margaritas, they even mixed the flavors in my margarita for me - Raspberry Mango. It was tasty and I immediately took a nap after drinking about 75% of it. But, it was their breakfast menu that had me yearning to go back. So, on our last day in Vegas, we went back for breakfast. I absolutely love Huevos Rancheros, and you just cannot find those in Michigan. And, let me tell you, they did not disappoint. Ira and I finished everything on our plates - huevos rancheros, beans, and potatoes. Even, my tasty breakfast boody mary :-)

House of Blues at Mandalay Bay - The food here was okay. I throw this into the same category of Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood. You go to these places for the atmosphere, not so much for the food.

Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay - After going to the evening dance club, I was surprised to find out that they serve food. And, OMG, do they serve food. There weere three of us and we all ordered the fire pit. Salad, plantains, beans, and...pork, turkey, salmon, chorizo, lamb, angus beef, chicken, and vegetables. The salmon tasted a bit too fishy for my taste, but everything else was fantastic. Not to mention the fabulous rum drinks that they serve, hence the name of the retaurant/bar.

Metzger's Restaurant

2007-12-26T22:53:00.000-05:00

Metzger's Restaurant
Baxter Plaza on Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI
Menu - http://www.metzgers.net/ourmenu.htm

Ira is our guest reviewer this week....
Since it was my turn to choose the restaurant, and my first successful attempt at choosing a restaurant, Sharon decided I should write this week's review. I promise that I will try to sound as much like Carrie Bradshaw as possible ;-)

In this festive time of year, as we merrily shop for loved(and not so loved) ones, we must stop and take time for the things that really matter. For me, one of those things is our dinners. It is fun to try new places, and actually trying different foods. My choice this month was Metger's Restaurant in Ann Arbor.

I wanted to try something different from the standard American food, wasn't in the mood for Mexican or Italian food and, PF Changs is on the "cannot choose list". So I decided that maybe German food would be a little out of the box. Sharon was hesitant at first, but you all know the rules.

I am a little familiar with German food, having been stationed there in the Army, but Sharon really didn't know anything, which was fun for me.

We decided on deep fried mushrooms for an appetizer, cause who doesn't like those right? I ordered a Franziskaner Weissbier(which is a wheat beer), and Sharon chose to have a Bell's Amber. Both beers were tasty, but I think she wished that she would have ordered what I had. She thought it tasted like root beer. I have to admit it reminded me of Germany.

We were having trouble trying to decide to on the entrée, so we figured that we'd order a double platter which gave us a choice of soup or salad, 4 sides, 4 meats. We both had salads as they were out of French Onion soup(at 6:45). The meats were bratwurst, knackwurst, mettwurst, and weiner schnitzle(veal pounded, breaded and fried), and the sides were German potato salad, spaetzle(a small dumpling), red cabbage, and sauerkraut.

I have to say that I am glad that we chose this restaurant. My favorite meal in Germany was the Wiener Schnitzel, and this didn't disappoint, it was cooked well and had a good flavor to it. Sharon fell in love with the potato salad, and I even ate sauerkraut. I think the only thing that we agreed left something to be desired was the bratwurst. Neither of us felt it had much flavor.

For dessert we had to have to apple struedel but were so full from the meal that we got it to go. It was light and flaky, but I have to be honest, I couldn't eat all of mine because I was too full(Sharon ate all of hers though-lol).

I think we would agree that this restaurant is a must try for the adventurous soul who wants to try something a little different. Or the person who longs for a little cooking from Deutschland. Either way, if asked I would say try it.

Oh yeah, Miranda has man issues, Samantha's a whore, and Charlotte is waiting for a dream that'll never happen. Oh, and I saw Mr. Big.

------Ira

The Metro Cafe

2007-12-09T16:04:00.001-05:00

CLOSED
The Metro Cafe - http://www.metrocafea2.com/
303 Detroit Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

This was our planned dinner for this month (actually there will be two this month, watch for another posting in 2 weeks). I actually found this restaurant through Channel 4's Best of Southeastern Michigan poll.

The Metro Cafe is located in Kerrytown, on the corner of Detroit St and Catherine Ave in Ann Arbor. It has a very modern setting, martinis, and a jazz pianist so, I automatically started the evening optimistic. They bring fresh baked rolls, that were absolutely yummy. We started with the crab rangoon dip and two martinis. Ira had the classic martini, while I enjoyed the raspberry tart martini. The dip had fresh crab and alot of it, served with fried wontons. The appetizer was very good.

There are two things I especially like about their menu, they have a little bit of something for everyone - salads, sandwiches, duck, lamb, lobster, etc. The other thing is that they have two different size meals - small plates and large plates. For our meals, Ira chose the lamb chops and I had the shrimp and lobster plantain cakes (both small plate meals). Ira has only had lamb chops once before, so he ordered them on the waiters recommendation of medium rare, after he was eating them he felt that they should have been cooked longer. My plantain cakes were delicious, along with my second martini. For dessert we ordered the lava cake, which was warm, creamy, and wonderful.

Due to the lamb, Ira gave them 4 stars, while I give them 5 - so concensus is 4 1/2 stars.

El Patio

2007-12-09T15:52:00.000-05:00

El Patio Mexican Restaurant - 7622 Highland Road, Waterford MI 48327
http://www.elpatiomexicanrestaurant.com/

Another unexpected stop on our way to Great Lakes Crossing on Friday. We rolled in around 11:30 and were the 3rd table of customers in the restaurant. Fortunately, it did start to fill up while we are there. The service was top notch - our chips and salsa were on the table before we sat down and before our drinks were ever half way gone there was a waiter asking if we needed a refill. As nice as this was, honestly, it did start to get a bit annoying after awhile.

The salsa was very tasty and we ordered a chorizo and cheese appetizer, which was also very good. Ira ordered huevos rancheros which he liked alot. I have only had authentic huevos rancheros in Texas and Mexico, so I was a bit hesitant, but the meal was quite good. I ordered my standard (and safe) cheese enchiladas. I was a bit disappointed in these, they seem to lack flavor to me. However, since everything else was good, I would be happy to return and try a different dish.

Ira gives them 4 1/2 stars and I give them 4 stars, so we give El Patio a 4 1/4 stars.

Aleko's

2007-11-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

We made an unplanned and unscheduled stop last night at Aleko's Restaurant & Tavern. So, since this visit has now knocked them off of our list of non-chain restaurants, I felt it was only fair to give them a review.

Aleko's is supposedly known for their ribs and pasta. My son vouches that their ribs are very good, but given our appetites the night before Thanksgiving we settled for a smaller items. I had their Cajun Shrimp Club. This was very tasty and spicy - just like I like it. Ira had their burger and said it was pretty good. We enjoyed our sandwiches and fries with a beer each and were pleased and full. The atmosphere was very nice and I can say that their parking lot is usually packed if either one of us drives by on the weekends. Since this was just a quick stop, we did not try any appetizers or desserts. But, since we enjoyed what we did have I will give them a 4 stars out of 5. I am sure we will go back and after a more thorough visit I may re-rate them at that time.

Aleko's Restaurant and Tavern - 7476 M-36 (Hamburg Plaza) Hamburg, MI 48139

Bugsy's Sports Pub

2007-11-11T22:24:00.001-05:00

This weekend was not supposed to be Bugsy's Sports Pub, it was supposed to be Bella Luna, but to our surprise Bella Luna is closed on Sundays. So, we will be saving that dinner for the end of December. Due to a matter of location, we chose Bugsy's Sports Pub. Now, I like a sports bar more than the average female, but let's be honest it is not exactly the place to expect fine dining, but here is the review...

Bugsy's Sports Pub - CLOSED
106 S. Lafayette, South Lyon, MI 48178

As for decor, it was modern and represented Michigan and Detroit sports. However, it is a pub, so it was smokier than I like. Most sports bars do at least have a non-smoking section, but if they had one I didn't see it.

The menu had a lot of variety - pizza, pasta, burgers, salad, wraps, mexican, seafood, steaks, and burgers. Whatever you have a taste for they should have it or something close. We started with cream of mushroom soup which was very tasty. I don't necessarily agree with serving the soup before the appetizer, but I think it was to space out the courses since the dip needed to be warmed up while the soup was already ready. Our appetizer was spinach and artichoke dip. I will just say better than Applebee's, but my homemade dip and The Blarney Stone still reign at the top. So, it was better than average, but not superior.

Lastly, our meals, which both get an average rating at best. My boyfriend had ribs with fries and I had fried walleye with a baked potato. While both the meals were okay, we agreed that they both lacked flavor.

All in all, I would give it a 2 1/2 out of 5, but in reality it's a sports bar, so it is what it is. The bonus of our unexpected and unresearched dinner is that our Blue Moon's were $1.50 each. I am not sure if this was a mistake, but if it wasn't, that alone would make me visit Bugsy's again just for the beer.

Mariachi Mexican Restaurant

2007-11-09T16:31:00.001-05:00

Mariachi Mexican Restaurant - CLOSED
1759 N Canton Center Rd, Canton, MI 48187

My first thought when we walked in was...small. However, once we were seated for dinner we forgot how small the place is. The menu has a lot of options from fresh guacamole to burritos to carnitas to shrimp. The staff is superfriendly and because the restaurant is small they are easy to find. The free salsa and chips are fresh and fabulous.

We had the appetizer of chorizo con queso which was fantastic. I had the chicken burrito which was wonderful and my boyfriend had the pork carnitas which he could not stop eating. We ended our dinner with the fried ice cream which we may have finished in record time. Summary - 100 different tequilas ($4 - $35 per shot), various drink options, friendly staff, and great food. We will definitely visit this restaurant again.

I give it 5 stars.

Menu - http://www.mariachimexican.com/menu.html