I've actually eaten Bernie O's food many times, but since I just had their food again I can write a current review.
For those not in the know, Bernie O's is a pizza/sandwich shop in North Muskegon. People love this place. They've been open a relatively short time (almost 2 years, I believe) and they've built up a good business with many loyal customers. Just the other day I asked a friend what his favorite restaurant is and without hesitation the answer was Bernie O's. So they must be doing something right.
Being from the Chicago area, much of my taste in food and ALL of my taste in pizza is based on what I grew up with. I am a very harsh critic when it comes to pizza, and eventually I will get around to comparing some of the local pizza places here. In the meantime, Bernie O's deserves a proper review.
The focal point of Bernie O's is their collection of rather bizarre specialty pizzas. Sure, they make "regular" pizzas too, but they're quite proud of the specialties. So far I've tried a couple of the less-weird ones and they're good. I have trouble calling them pizza but they are tasty. The one I had the other night was their French Dip pizza, which is exactly what it is. Pizza dough and cheese (no sauce), with sliced roast beef, mushrooms and onions, complete with au jus for dipping. And I hate to admit it but I really enjoyed it. It goes against everything I believe a pizza should be. But damn it was good. I had also ordered some cheese breadsticks just to be on the safe side (in case the pizza didn't work for me), and I must say those were good too - though I had to eat most of them as leftovers.
Their regular, normal, real pizza is decent. Far from the best I've had, but much farther from the worst I've had. I'm not a huge fan of their crust unless I'm in the mood for it, and then I am a fan. The sauce is good, they're generous enough with the toppings. Overall it's a good pizza but nothing I'd do cartwheels over. It's one of the better pizzas I've had since moving here, but not the best. So I think their strength really does lie in their specialty pizzas, which run the gamut from interesting to what the hell are they thinking.
Try this on for size - their "ultimate pizza" called The Twist:
Cheese and pizza crust, honey mustard sauce, breaded chicken, bacon, pineapple, tomato, yellow and jalapeno peppers, all topped with ranch dressing. People somehow go nuts for this pizza. I don't get it, but more power to them.
One pizza has mashed potatoes on it. Another has dried cherries. And they do love their ranch dressing. This is all very difficult for a pizza purist like me to accept, but it seems to be working for them. The place is busy. The customers keep going back.
Their sandwiches run along the same lines as their pizzas. They have some fairly normal sandwiches, and then they have some... different ones. So far I haven't been able to try some of the weirder sandwich choices, because I'm pickier about what sandwiches I like. I tend to go for the French Dip myself, which has been hit or miss and they can be a bit overly onion-happy. Sometimes it's incredibly good, other times I think I won't be ordering it again but I always seem to be willing to give them another chance, and when I do I'm always glad I did. I also must say it's a huge sandwich and very filling. It's a good value compared to what you get for the money at other places. You certainly aren't left feeling still hungry.
One thing I'm very picky about is a restaurant's cleanliness. No worries here - in fact, the entire kitchen is visible to the customer, showing they have nothing to hide. Clean place, friendly staff, and overall quite good food. I definitely recommend it, but the Chicago in me can't say it's the best. A good, solid 4 stars.
Bernie O's is located at 321 Center @ Ruddiman in North Muskegon. Call them at 231-744-4900. You can also visit their website (which is in desperate need of work) here: http://www.bernieos.com/
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Burger Chains
I haven't had a chance to do some good, quality eating of late. There will be plenty more for me to write about as I go along here, and in the beginning some of my entries may have to be about places I've been to in the recent past but before I decided to write about them. In the future my reviews will have the date of my visit. My initial reviews probably won't.
As I sit and ponder my next review, I'm returning once again to the world of fast food. This time it's not so much a review of a restaurant as it is an overview of some of the national (or regional) burger chains I've been to. It'll give you an idea of my taste and how I come to my own conclusions about restaurants.
I'd say that everyone loves a good burger, but that wouldn't be fair to my vegetarian friends (or to those who simply don't like burgers). I think it's safe to say though that most red-blooded Americans have a weak spot for a nice, greasy hunk of ground meat on a bun. I know it's always been a major weakness of mine, which is why I'm not a vegetarian anymore myself. I did it for six years and it was mostly a great thing, but I caved in to a burger craving and never looked back.
One thing I have to say is that a craving for a good real burger is rarely satisfied by a chain restaurant. Fried or grilled, there's something about a burger made at home that most restaurants have never been able to capture. There's a certain taste in a homemade burger that is conspicuously missing from restaurant burgers. The weird thing is it's there when you have burgers at someone else's house, so it's not like it's some proprietary thing we do with our own burgers that makes them better than everyone else's. No, it's just the restaurants and I have no idea what that undefinable thing is that they're missing. It's just not there.
That said, when we go to a burger joint we usually have a good idea of what we're getting ourselves into. We have low expectations before we even reach the parking lot. Once we've decided on fast food burgers, it's usually just a matter of whose version of a burger we want to subject ourselves to. Some are better than others, and some have a flavor that can only be had at that particular place and nowhere else in the known universe.
I'm not rating restaurants as a whole or going deep into menu selections here. This is just about burgers, and it's just about resturant burgers alone - not as compared to the much preferred homemade burger...
McDonald's:
Is there a person anywhere in the free world that hasn't been to McDonald's? Sometimes I think there's a good reason for their continued and unprecedented success, and other times it baffles my mind. Of all the burgers available, a McDonald's burger is probably the the least burgerly of them. Yes, I fully accept that it is 100% real beef. I don't think the company is scamming us into eating some bizarre substitution or by-product. But beyond the general appearance there is almost no relation between a McDonald's burger and a real burger. They have a different texture, they're extremely salty and greasy, and even as I'm hungrily eating one I feel a little sick at the same time. Eating McDonald's to satisfy a real burger craving is about as effective as eating baked halibut. It's like wanting a nice cold beer and drinking lukewarm prune juice. There's nothing wrong with baked halibut or prune juice, but they're not getting you where you want to be. Not even close. So they get a D for their burgers in that light, but there's a catch.
Nothing tastes like a McDonald's burger. The only place you can get it is at McDonald's. You can't get that flavor at any other restaurant, and you can't recreate it at home. McDonald's is McDonald's and that's that. And sometimes you just crave McDonald's. Lucky you, there's a McDonald's right down the street, and a little further down the street, and even a little further down the street. Satisfying a McDonald's craving is easier than picking your nose. And the great thing is that some stores may be cleaner than others, some may be faster than others, and some may always give you fresh fries while others always seem to have been sitting just a bit too long (ok, don't get me started on their fries), but when you order a burger at one, it tastes EXACTLY THE SAME as it does at every other one. It's hard to be disappointed at McDonald's when McDonald's is what you want. And for that they get an A. Averaged out, they're somewhere between a C+ and a B-.
Burger King:
It's sad what's become of Burger King. They have had the worst marketing department in the history of business marketing for the past 25 years or so, and they haven't figured it out. They have the worst commercials going all the way back to that weird geeky guy named Herb everyone was supposed to be looking for in the 1980s. It was a monstrous failure for them, and apparently they refuse to learn a lesson - every ad campaign I've seen from them since has been almost as bad. They keep putting out bad commercial after bad commercial and wondering why they aren't making more money. Ummmm, maybe it's because your commercials make people want to avoid you??? The real shame in this is that Burger King burgers are actually quite good. Sure, they've made more marketing mistakes by trying to expand their menu to carrying their version of every food item known to man (and doing a lousy job of it). And they had their huge marketing campaign about how good their fries are when they're really just about the worst fries available anywhere. But dammit, their burgers are great and if they'd just concentrate on them and make a decent commercial about it, they'd be in much better shape. Maybe not as sappy as the old "hold the pickles, hold the lettuce..." jingle in the 70s, but back then it was effective. If you haven't had Burger King in a while and there's one that's still open near you, give it a try. You might be surprised how good it really is. But do yourself a favor and order the onion rings. Stay away from the fries. B+
Checkers:
The first time I tried Checkers was 15 years ago in Dallas, and I admit I was a little put off by their slogan at the time: "One taste and you're ours". Seemed a bit cocky and overconfident to me. That is, until I tasted the burger. They were totally right. I've been a Checkers fan ever since. While not quite capturing the essence of a good homemade burger, I think they come closer than most. And while I assume that most burger places are essentially the same in using frozen beef patties and shipped-in ingredients, somehow Checkers burgers seem fresher than all the other places. If I'm not careful, I can almost trick myself into believing that I'm eating a fresh and healthy meal there. Though I do like Burger King, when I get that generic "I want a burger" urge, Checkers is almost always top of the list of choices for me. I've lived in parts of the country where Checkers doesn't have stores, and at times have actually been upset about it. I was thrilled to find them here. One drawback is you either eat in your car or take it somewhere else because it's drive-through only, but since that keeps their costs down I'm ok with it. And their fries are truly awful. Everything else I've had on their menu is fine, but it's all about the burgers baby. They need to work on their consistency a bit - some days are better than others but it's never bad. Checkers is a must. If you haven't been there, drop everything and go. You'll be pleased. A-
Wendy's:
When the Wendy's chain first became national I liked them. Granted, I was just a kid at the time, so if it was food that was good enough for me. Since then, I've seen the chain get worse and worse, then a little better again. For a long period there, they could have offered to let me eat there for free and I'd have declined. The beef quality got pretty bad, sometimes you'd get a close to raw burger and have to take it back. Over the last several years they've improved but I still rarely feel compelled to eat there. Given the choice between a Wendy's a block away and a Checkers 10 miles away, I'll opt for Checkers every time. But Wendy's has improved - I'll give them that. I'm not disgusted by them anymore. I just think there's much better (and cheaper) out there. C--
Mr. Quick:
I don't know if Mr. Quick is strictly a regional chain or a group of regionally owned franchises in a larger chain. There are other Mr. Quick's around the country, but they may not be related at all. All that matters right now is that there are 5 Muskegon locations. I've only been to one of them, and I'm not especially impressed. I'm told they tend to be busy early in the day, which is a time that I'm not functioning yet. I've only been there later in the day, and have always been the only customer there at that time. Nevermind that "Mr. Quick" is a misnomer, at least as far as the service is concerned. Being the only customer, I have yet to get in and out quickly. But this is about burgers, not all the other stuff. The burgers are ok. Just ok. Very greasy and mostly flavorless, they'll do in a pinch when other options aren't available. I doubt I'll ever have an actual Mr. Quick craving. Not much else I can say about them, except have them cook your fries well-done. Then they're not so bad. Otherwise you get these limp, undercooked things they call fries but are closer to greasy potato noodles. Yummy. D+
That's enough for this installment. I'll follow up with another post to review a few places I didn't include here, as well as a few places that don't have local stores but should be mentioned since we eat at burger joints when we travel too. Enjoy your burgers.
As I sit and ponder my next review, I'm returning once again to the world of fast food. This time it's not so much a review of a restaurant as it is an overview of some of the national (or regional) burger chains I've been to. It'll give you an idea of my taste and how I come to my own conclusions about restaurants.
I'd say that everyone loves a good burger, but that wouldn't be fair to my vegetarian friends (or to those who simply don't like burgers). I think it's safe to say though that most red-blooded Americans have a weak spot for a nice, greasy hunk of ground meat on a bun. I know it's always been a major weakness of mine, which is why I'm not a vegetarian anymore myself. I did it for six years and it was mostly a great thing, but I caved in to a burger craving and never looked back.
One thing I have to say is that a craving for a good real burger is rarely satisfied by a chain restaurant. Fried or grilled, there's something about a burger made at home that most restaurants have never been able to capture. There's a certain taste in a homemade burger that is conspicuously missing from restaurant burgers. The weird thing is it's there when you have burgers at someone else's house, so it's not like it's some proprietary thing we do with our own burgers that makes them better than everyone else's. No, it's just the restaurants and I have no idea what that undefinable thing is that they're missing. It's just not there.
That said, when we go to a burger joint we usually have a good idea of what we're getting ourselves into. We have low expectations before we even reach the parking lot. Once we've decided on fast food burgers, it's usually just a matter of whose version of a burger we want to subject ourselves to. Some are better than others, and some have a flavor that can only be had at that particular place and nowhere else in the known universe.
I'm not rating restaurants as a whole or going deep into menu selections here. This is just about burgers, and it's just about resturant burgers alone - not as compared to the much preferred homemade burger...
McDonald's:
Is there a person anywhere in the free world that hasn't been to McDonald's? Sometimes I think there's a good reason for their continued and unprecedented success, and other times it baffles my mind. Of all the burgers available, a McDonald's burger is probably the the least burgerly of them. Yes, I fully accept that it is 100% real beef. I don't think the company is scamming us into eating some bizarre substitution or by-product. But beyond the general appearance there is almost no relation between a McDonald's burger and a real burger. They have a different texture, they're extremely salty and greasy, and even as I'm hungrily eating one I feel a little sick at the same time. Eating McDonald's to satisfy a real burger craving is about as effective as eating baked halibut. It's like wanting a nice cold beer and drinking lukewarm prune juice. There's nothing wrong with baked halibut or prune juice, but they're not getting you where you want to be. Not even close. So they get a D for their burgers in that light, but there's a catch.
Nothing tastes like a McDonald's burger. The only place you can get it is at McDonald's. You can't get that flavor at any other restaurant, and you can't recreate it at home. McDonald's is McDonald's and that's that. And sometimes you just crave McDonald's. Lucky you, there's a McDonald's right down the street, and a little further down the street, and even a little further down the street. Satisfying a McDonald's craving is easier than picking your nose. And the great thing is that some stores may be cleaner than others, some may be faster than others, and some may always give you fresh fries while others always seem to have been sitting just a bit too long (ok, don't get me started on their fries), but when you order a burger at one, it tastes EXACTLY THE SAME as it does at every other one. It's hard to be disappointed at McDonald's when McDonald's is what you want. And for that they get an A. Averaged out, they're somewhere between a C+ and a B-.
Burger King:
It's sad what's become of Burger King. They have had the worst marketing department in the history of business marketing for the past 25 years or so, and they haven't figured it out. They have the worst commercials going all the way back to that weird geeky guy named Herb everyone was supposed to be looking for in the 1980s. It was a monstrous failure for them, and apparently they refuse to learn a lesson - every ad campaign I've seen from them since has been almost as bad. They keep putting out bad commercial after bad commercial and wondering why they aren't making more money. Ummmm, maybe it's because your commercials make people want to avoid you??? The real shame in this is that Burger King burgers are actually quite good. Sure, they've made more marketing mistakes by trying to expand their menu to carrying their version of every food item known to man (and doing a lousy job of it). And they had their huge marketing campaign about how good their fries are when they're really just about the worst fries available anywhere. But dammit, their burgers are great and if they'd just concentrate on them and make a decent commercial about it, they'd be in much better shape. Maybe not as sappy as the old "hold the pickles, hold the lettuce..." jingle in the 70s, but back then it was effective. If you haven't had Burger King in a while and there's one that's still open near you, give it a try. You might be surprised how good it really is. But do yourself a favor and order the onion rings. Stay away from the fries. B+
Checkers:
The first time I tried Checkers was 15 years ago in Dallas, and I admit I was a little put off by their slogan at the time: "One taste and you're ours". Seemed a bit cocky and overconfident to me. That is, until I tasted the burger. They were totally right. I've been a Checkers fan ever since. While not quite capturing the essence of a good homemade burger, I think they come closer than most. And while I assume that most burger places are essentially the same in using frozen beef patties and shipped-in ingredients, somehow Checkers burgers seem fresher than all the other places. If I'm not careful, I can almost trick myself into believing that I'm eating a fresh and healthy meal there. Though I do like Burger King, when I get that generic "I want a burger" urge, Checkers is almost always top of the list of choices for me. I've lived in parts of the country where Checkers doesn't have stores, and at times have actually been upset about it. I was thrilled to find them here. One drawback is you either eat in your car or take it somewhere else because it's drive-through only, but since that keeps their costs down I'm ok with it. And their fries are truly awful. Everything else I've had on their menu is fine, but it's all about the burgers baby. They need to work on their consistency a bit - some days are better than others but it's never bad. Checkers is a must. If you haven't been there, drop everything and go. You'll be pleased. A-
Wendy's:
When the Wendy's chain first became national I liked them. Granted, I was just a kid at the time, so if it was food that was good enough for me. Since then, I've seen the chain get worse and worse, then a little better again. For a long period there, they could have offered to let me eat there for free and I'd have declined. The beef quality got pretty bad, sometimes you'd get a close to raw burger and have to take it back. Over the last several years they've improved but I still rarely feel compelled to eat there. Given the choice between a Wendy's a block away and a Checkers 10 miles away, I'll opt for Checkers every time. But Wendy's has improved - I'll give them that. I'm not disgusted by them anymore. I just think there's much better (and cheaper) out there. C--
Mr. Quick:
I don't know if Mr. Quick is strictly a regional chain or a group of regionally owned franchises in a larger chain. There are other Mr. Quick's around the country, but they may not be related at all. All that matters right now is that there are 5 Muskegon locations. I've only been to one of them, and I'm not especially impressed. I'm told they tend to be busy early in the day, which is a time that I'm not functioning yet. I've only been there later in the day, and have always been the only customer there at that time. Nevermind that "Mr. Quick" is a misnomer, at least as far as the service is concerned. Being the only customer, I have yet to get in and out quickly. But this is about burgers, not all the other stuff. The burgers are ok. Just ok. Very greasy and mostly flavorless, they'll do in a pinch when other options aren't available. I doubt I'll ever have an actual Mr. Quick craving. Not much else I can say about them, except have them cook your fries well-done. Then they're not so bad. Otherwise you get these limp, undercooked things they call fries but are closer to greasy potato noodles. Yummy. D+
That's enough for this installment. I'll follow up with another post to review a few places I didn't include here, as well as a few places that don't have local stores but should be mentioned since we eat at burger joints when we travel too. Enjoy your burgers.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Stack's - Grand Haven
Ok, part of me wants to admit I might be a little biased with this review. And another part of me admits that when it comes to food I have no biases - I take my food seriously, dammit. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
I'm originally from Chicago, and Stack's serves food that isn't often seen outside of Chicago. So there's my bias. I LOVE Chicago food, and it has been the thing I've missed most since leaving Chicago. My bias could work for or against them though. Am I so hell-bent on Chicago food that just being able to eat it makes me happy, or is Chicago food such a part of me that I would be hyper-critical of anything claiming to be "Chicago"?
Fortunately, I don't think either applies. If I'm being hyper-critical, it only means that they must be really good for me to like them. And if it's only because I'm happy to eat Chicago food, then that's fine with me because it's my blog. If I'm happy, I'm going to say so.
I'm happy.
But just to set things straight, I would probably lean toward being hyper-critical. I do take my food seriously, and I'm not especially forgiving. It's my nature. Thankfully, there's nothing I have to be forgiving about with Stack's.
"Chicago food", in this sense, means Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-style hot dogs. Well, it's more than just those two items, but if you've spent any amount of time in the Chicago area you've surely seen the hot dog stands and the (sometimes) hole-in-the-wall places with the Italian beef sign. As the world becomes more and more mired in corporate chaindom, many of the small restaurants get pushed out of business. But since Chicago hot dogs and Italian beefs are such a regional phenomenon, the national chains aren't going after them. Which on one hand is wonderful because it preserves what I think is something important about food in Chicago, but on the other hand makes it really difficult to find outside Chicago.
Unless you find yourself in Grand Haven, Michigan, of all places.
The typical joint in Chicago has a lot more on the menu than they do at Stack's, so there are some things I still miss. Won't ANYBODY serve pizza puffs outside of Illinois? If you know what I mean then you know what I mean. If you don't, hopefully someday you will. Most of these places in Chicago have a ton of fried food, and many of them sell gyros too. Since gyros are easily found elswhere in the area it's no great omission here. Stack's concentrates on the basics, and, according to the owner, doesn't want to have a freezer full of stuff destined for the deep fryer. So, no pizza puffs for you.
Chicago-style hot dogs aren't terribly difficult to find, but GOOD Chicago-style hot dogs are another story. Some places get close enough to satisfy a craving, but don't quite get it right. At Stack's it's the real deal. Vienna hot dog, steamed poppy seed bun, mustard (no ketchup, you wimp! Ok, you can have ketchup but don't tell anyone), tomato, pickle spear, relish, onions, and the all-important sport peppers and celery salt. It's as good as any hot dog in Chicago.
For me, the whole point of Stack's is the combo sandwich. I have been to Stack's many times already, and that sandwich has kept me from trying most of the rest of the menu. I go with the best of intentions (ok, this time I'm going to try _____) and when I get to the counter all that matters is the combo sandwich. A combo is both an Italian sausage link and sliced Italian beef on a Turano roll, much like French bread. My preference is to have that then dipped into the seasoned juice (or jus, if you prefer), so it's a soggy mess. Then I have it topped off with hot giardiniera - a Chicago-Italian hot pepper mix that would be way too hot for the average person. There's a mild version too though. This, throughout my life, has been the ultimate sandwich, and Stack's version is far from disappointing. I've had their combo many times now and it is always heaven for me. The only thing I might do differently is to spice up the juice a bit more, but it is close to perfect as it is.
You can, of course, get either the beef or the sausage as a sandwich itself, and there are different ways to have them. Some people prefer to have marinara sauce and melted mozzerella, some like grilled onions and "sweet peppers", which are basically stewed green bell peppers. However it would work best for you, if you haven't had an Italian beef sandwich you have no idea what you're missing out on.
Oh, and they have great french fries. The best around in my opinion, unless you will only eat McDonald's fries.
Other menu items include a meatball sandwich (not bad, better than most around but I'll stick with the combo), a great chicken sandwich that isn't really Chicago but it's good, Polish sausage (not something I care for anyway so I haven't tried it here, but it's a menu must if you're claiming to be Chicago), soups, chili, a few things for the kids, and other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting. Like I said, it's hard for me to get past the combo.
Prices are on the good side of reasonable. It's not Taco Bell cheap, but two adults and a kid could easily fill up on less than $20 and be much more satisfied than you would have been at Taco Bell anyway. High marks for cleanliness and friendliness, and food quality is unwaveringly good. The building is small with only 5 tables for eating, so it's usually a nice and quiet place to eat. It's not the fastest fast food around, but any wait is well worth it.
So it's pretty obvious that I like this restaurant, and I want to see them succeed. Given their location they're missing out on a lot of drive-by traffic, so a lot of people don't know they're there. Do yourself a favor and check this place out, and if enough of us keep going there they can do us the favor of sticking around. I say 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. That's a VERY high rating from me.
Stack's is located at 1050 Jackson in Grand Haven, in front of Home Depot and across from Rycenga's. Open Mon-Sat from 10:30 to 7:30. For more information visit http://stacksbeef.com/
I'm originally from Chicago, and Stack's serves food that isn't often seen outside of Chicago. So there's my bias. I LOVE Chicago food, and it has been the thing I've missed most since leaving Chicago. My bias could work for or against them though. Am I so hell-bent on Chicago food that just being able to eat it makes me happy, or is Chicago food such a part of me that I would be hyper-critical of anything claiming to be "Chicago"?
Fortunately, I don't think either applies. If I'm being hyper-critical, it only means that they must be really good for me to like them. And if it's only because I'm happy to eat Chicago food, then that's fine with me because it's my blog. If I'm happy, I'm going to say so.
I'm happy.
But just to set things straight, I would probably lean toward being hyper-critical. I do take my food seriously, and I'm not especially forgiving. It's my nature. Thankfully, there's nothing I have to be forgiving about with Stack's.
"Chicago food", in this sense, means Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-style hot dogs. Well, it's more than just those two items, but if you've spent any amount of time in the Chicago area you've surely seen the hot dog stands and the (sometimes) hole-in-the-wall places with the Italian beef sign. As the world becomes more and more mired in corporate chaindom, many of the small restaurants get pushed out of business. But since Chicago hot dogs and Italian beefs are such a regional phenomenon, the national chains aren't going after them. Which on one hand is wonderful because it preserves what I think is something important about food in Chicago, but on the other hand makes it really difficult to find outside Chicago.
Unless you find yourself in Grand Haven, Michigan, of all places.
The typical joint in Chicago has a lot more on the menu than they do at Stack's, so there are some things I still miss. Won't ANYBODY serve pizza puffs outside of Illinois? If you know what I mean then you know what I mean. If you don't, hopefully someday you will. Most of these places in Chicago have a ton of fried food, and many of them sell gyros too. Since gyros are easily found elswhere in the area it's no great omission here. Stack's concentrates on the basics, and, according to the owner, doesn't want to have a freezer full of stuff destined for the deep fryer. So, no pizza puffs for you.
Chicago-style hot dogs aren't terribly difficult to find, but GOOD Chicago-style hot dogs are another story. Some places get close enough to satisfy a craving, but don't quite get it right. At Stack's it's the real deal. Vienna hot dog, steamed poppy seed bun, mustard (no ketchup, you wimp! Ok, you can have ketchup but don't tell anyone), tomato, pickle spear, relish, onions, and the all-important sport peppers and celery salt. It's as good as any hot dog in Chicago.
For me, the whole point of Stack's is the combo sandwich. I have been to Stack's many times already, and that sandwich has kept me from trying most of the rest of the menu. I go with the best of intentions (ok, this time I'm going to try _____) and when I get to the counter all that matters is the combo sandwich. A combo is both an Italian sausage link and sliced Italian beef on a Turano roll, much like French bread. My preference is to have that then dipped into the seasoned juice (or jus, if you prefer), so it's a soggy mess. Then I have it topped off with hot giardiniera - a Chicago-Italian hot pepper mix that would be way too hot for the average person. There's a mild version too though. This, throughout my life, has been the ultimate sandwich, and Stack's version is far from disappointing. I've had their combo many times now and it is always heaven for me. The only thing I might do differently is to spice up the juice a bit more, but it is close to perfect as it is.
You can, of course, get either the beef or the sausage as a sandwich itself, and there are different ways to have them. Some people prefer to have marinara sauce and melted mozzerella, some like grilled onions and "sweet peppers", which are basically stewed green bell peppers. However it would work best for you, if you haven't had an Italian beef sandwich you have no idea what you're missing out on.
Oh, and they have great french fries. The best around in my opinion, unless you will only eat McDonald's fries.
Other menu items include a meatball sandwich (not bad, better than most around but I'll stick with the combo), a great chicken sandwich that isn't really Chicago but it's good, Polish sausage (not something I care for anyway so I haven't tried it here, but it's a menu must if you're claiming to be Chicago), soups, chili, a few things for the kids, and other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting. Like I said, it's hard for me to get past the combo.
Prices are on the good side of reasonable. It's not Taco Bell cheap, but two adults and a kid could easily fill up on less than $20 and be much more satisfied than you would have been at Taco Bell anyway. High marks for cleanliness and friendliness, and food quality is unwaveringly good. The building is small with only 5 tables for eating, so it's usually a nice and quiet place to eat. It's not the fastest fast food around, but any wait is well worth it.
So it's pretty obvious that I like this restaurant, and I want to see them succeed. Given their location they're missing out on a lot of drive-by traffic, so a lot of people don't know they're there. Do yourself a favor and check this place out, and if enough of us keep going there they can do us the favor of sticking around. I say 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. That's a VERY high rating from me.
Stack's is located at 1050 Jackson in Grand Haven, in front of Home Depot and across from Rycenga's. Open Mon-Sat from 10:30 to 7:30. For more information visit http://stacksbeef.com/
Who is Bob?
If you're at all curious about me, here's a little info.
As mentioned elsewhere, Bob isn't my real name. I don't use my real name online for privacy reasons. And if this blog is at all successful, then I'll be especially happy to remain anonymous to any restaurant owner that gets majorly pissed about something I write. It's no-holds-barred when I'm playing critic, and I don't want to have to worry about my safety when I'm saying things that I think need saying.
"Bob" came about when I was trying to think up a screen name so I could register on a website. I've had several screen names over the years, and I felt it was time for a new one. This happened to be one of those websites that includes chat, so I wanted to have a persona, rather than something like GL22443 or xXx_rocko_xXx. At that time in my life I enjoyed camping regularly, so "Bob the Camper" popped into my mind and I went with it. It wasn't until a month or so later (when people started making Bob the Builder comments) that I made the connection. Honestly, I had never heard of Bob the Builder, so the similarity was a total accident. I still don't really know anything about Bob the Builder, but the kids seem to like him. Anyway, over time a lot of people knew me as Bob, and so that's who I remain online.
I know a lot about restaurants, and I know a lot about food. For many years in my past I worked in various foodservice jobs. I've been a cook and a waiter and a bartender and a delivery person. I've worked in family restaurants, fine dining "establishments", and fast food joints. I've run the gamut from irritatingly quaint cuisine to steak and seafood to Italian and Mexican to pizza to hot dogs. I've seen everything. I've worked in places that had the highest cleanliness standards (believe it or not, Red Lobster has incredibly high kitchen standards, and I've worked in a couple of them at different times), and I've worked in places with rodent and roach problems.
I grew up in the Chicago area, but I've lived in many places and have eaten a lot of food in all of them. So far, no place I've been has compared to Chicago for variety and quality, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of crap food there too. Most of the worst food I've had was in Texas. For a state with so much over-inflated pride, it's especially misplaced in their food. Sure, there are some decent restaurants scattered about Texas, but apparently the mindset is that if you can call it barbecue and it's in Texas, then it must be the best in the world. Far from it, trust me. And there's the mexican food, which has mostly been bastardized into "Tex-Mex". I think most people would be shocked at just how good Mexican food can be if you leave the "Tex" out of it. And don't get me started on pizza. Texans have no clue what pizza is. In Texas, Pizza Hut is the best there is. Anywhere else, Pizza Hut is the lowest of the low.
So yes, I know food, and I have a lot of opinions about it. I like to eat, and I like to actually enjoy eating. I expect the food I pay for to make me happy. If it doesn't, I don't go back to that restaurant. Well... not only do I not go back, but now I write about it too. But critical and opinionated doesn't mean that all I do is complain. I don't want a blog full of nothing but places to avoid. There will be plenty of good stuff too, because I've found since moving to West Michigan that there's a lot of good food here too. Some of the best food I've had since leaving Chicago in fact. I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences, and I hope you get something out of reading.
One more thing... I use the term West Michigan because that's what this area is usually called. But West Michigan is a huge area. This will be concentrated mostly on the areas around and between Muskegon and Grand Rapids, so it will include places like Grand Haven and Holland and other surrounding towns. It also will only include places I want to try or know I already like, so I won't be reviewing places I wouldn't normally go to, unless it's to fill a request. Ok? Ok!
One more one more thing... I'm new to the blogging world, so hopefully my formatting and typos and stuff will get better as I go. I've already learned that using * * around a word here doesn't make the word appear in bold, as it does just about everywhere else in the computer world. Live and learn. Enough about me and my shortcomings now. On to the reviews...
As mentioned elsewhere, Bob isn't my real name. I don't use my real name online for privacy reasons. And if this blog is at all successful, then I'll be especially happy to remain anonymous to any restaurant owner that gets majorly pissed about something I write. It's no-holds-barred when I'm playing critic, and I don't want to have to worry about my safety when I'm saying things that I think need saying.
"Bob" came about when I was trying to think up a screen name so I could register on a website. I've had several screen names over the years, and I felt it was time for a new one. This happened to be one of those websites that includes chat, so I wanted to have a persona, rather than something like GL22443 or xXx_rocko_xXx. At that time in my life I enjoyed camping regularly, so "Bob the Camper" popped into my mind and I went with it. It wasn't until a month or so later (when people started making Bob the Builder comments) that I made the connection. Honestly, I had never heard of Bob the Builder, so the similarity was a total accident. I still don't really know anything about Bob the Builder, but the kids seem to like him. Anyway, over time a lot of people knew me as Bob, and so that's who I remain online.
I know a lot about restaurants, and I know a lot about food. For many years in my past I worked in various foodservice jobs. I've been a cook and a waiter and a bartender and a delivery person. I've worked in family restaurants, fine dining "establishments", and fast food joints. I've run the gamut from irritatingly quaint cuisine to steak and seafood to Italian and Mexican to pizza to hot dogs. I've seen everything. I've worked in places that had the highest cleanliness standards (believe it or not, Red Lobster has incredibly high kitchen standards, and I've worked in a couple of them at different times), and I've worked in places with rodent and roach problems.
I grew up in the Chicago area, but I've lived in many places and have eaten a lot of food in all of them. So far, no place I've been has compared to Chicago for variety and quality, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of crap food there too. Most of the worst food I've had was in Texas. For a state with so much over-inflated pride, it's especially misplaced in their food. Sure, there are some decent restaurants scattered about Texas, but apparently the mindset is that if you can call it barbecue and it's in Texas, then it must be the best in the world. Far from it, trust me. And there's the mexican food, which has mostly been bastardized into "Tex-Mex". I think most people would be shocked at just how good Mexican food can be if you leave the "Tex" out of it. And don't get me started on pizza. Texans have no clue what pizza is. In Texas, Pizza Hut is the best there is. Anywhere else, Pizza Hut is the lowest of the low.
So yes, I know food, and I have a lot of opinions about it. I like to eat, and I like to actually enjoy eating. I expect the food I pay for to make me happy. If it doesn't, I don't go back to that restaurant. Well... not only do I not go back, but now I write about it too. But critical and opinionated doesn't mean that all I do is complain. I don't want a blog full of nothing but places to avoid. There will be plenty of good stuff too, because I've found since moving to West Michigan that there's a lot of good food here too. Some of the best food I've had since leaving Chicago in fact. I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences, and I hope you get something out of reading.
One more thing... I use the term West Michigan because that's what this area is usually called. But West Michigan is a huge area. This will be concentrated mostly on the areas around and between Muskegon and Grand Rapids, so it will include places like Grand Haven and Holland and other surrounding towns. It also will only include places I want to try or know I already like, so I won't be reviewing places I wouldn't normally go to, unless it's to fill a request. Ok? Ok!
One more one more thing... I'm new to the blogging world, so hopefully my formatting and typos and stuff will get better as I go. I've already learned that using * * around a word here doesn't make the word appear in bold, as it does just about everywhere else in the computer world. Live and learn. Enough about me and my shortcomings now. On to the reviews...
What and Why: The Reason this Blog Exists
There are countless blogs in the world. Many are pointless ramblings from people that need attention from anybody anywhere; others serve important purposes. I hope this one won't be pointless, though that would be up to readers to decide. If there will be any readers at all... With the sheer number of blogs in existence, it's easy to be lost in the anonymity that such numbers offer. After all, if this was one of only a few blogs out there, it'd stand a much better chance of being noticed. As it is though, this blog has a specific, narrow purpose, so it won't be filled with pointless ramblings but will also have a more limited audience. So we'll see where it goes. I might write a few entries and give up, or it could become a monster in its own way.
I am Bob. Bob isn't my real name, but it's a screen name I came up with ages ago that sort of took on a life of its own. When I sit down at the computer, I somehow become "Bob". And so I am Bob.
In a very literal as well as a relative way, I live for food. There's no life without food anyway, but I really have a passion for it. Not in the Gordon Ramsay sense - I don't particularly like to cook. But I love to eat. And though I have great respect for Mr. Ramsay and his accomplishments, I probably wouldn't enjoy much of the food served in his restaurants. A $50 poached quail's egg just doesn't get me excited. I like real food. The kind of stuff that I don't have to save up for months to eat just once, that I don't have to dress up for or drive great distances to.
Food should be easy and cheap and... good. And that's the problem. There's a lot of not-good food out there. It's everywhere. It seems that the days of going to a restaurant knowing that the food must be good if the place is in business are long gone. People have let their standards drop, and nowadays lousy food is perfectly acceptable as long as other people are eating there. People always go where the other people are going, so if Macaroni Grill is busy, that must be the place to eat. Nevermind that the food sucks. And if the place next door is never busy, then it doesn't matter how good the food is - no one will find out because they're all at Macaroni Grill. It's sad because it sends a signal to these massive corporate chain restaurants that mediocre food is fine as long as they can get people in the door. Chain restaurants are usually the problem but not always. Some of them are actually quite good, while some of the independent restaurants should never have opened in the first place.
Anybody who knows me can tell you that for someone who loves food, I'm incredibly picky and critical. And it's my right to be. I'm paying for these meals, aren't I? I have every right to have high expectations when my money is spent. And that's the other problem - people don't have high expectations anymore. If all the restaurants are crappy, then you start to accept that your night-out money will buy you crap. It doesn't have to be that way. It SHOULD'T be that way, and that's the whole point of this blog. If you're tired of taking the family out and spending all that money toward mediocre food, then you feel the way I do.
This is a food review blog for regular people in the West Michigan area. In time it may encompass more than restaurants, but for now that's what it's about. Whether it be fast food, family dining or even fine dining if it's not too ridiculous, I am going to give my opinions on the places I go to eat and the things I eat when I'm there. If something is horrible, you'll know it. If something is good, you'll know it.
This is not your typical food critic stuff. I don't care about wine. I don't care how many forks are in my place setting and worring about which one I'm supposed to use at any given time. If a place is pretentious I probably wouldn't set foot in there anyway, so I won't be writing about it. And nevermind the fact that most upscale restaurants serve lousy food - I can't afford to eat in them anyway. This is for people on a tighter budget who just want something decent to eat in exchange for their money. That's not unreasonable.
Since no one is paying me for this, it will start small and grow with time. Hopefully, eventually, people will make their own comments. If you have a place you'd like reviewed, let me know. What I hope do do is develop a list of places that are worth going to, so that we don't end up in the rut we all seem to end up in, where we only go to one or two restaurants because we know what to expect. It limits the choices we have as well as keeps us out of new restaurants that might be good if we knew enough about them to give them a chance. If no one gives them a chance, they shut down and we're left with what's left - a lot of mediocre crap. So help me out, take part if you can, or at least take advantage of the information here so we can make a difference in the choices we have.
I am Bob. Bob isn't my real name, but it's a screen name I came up with ages ago that sort of took on a life of its own. When I sit down at the computer, I somehow become "Bob". And so I am Bob.
In a very literal as well as a relative way, I live for food. There's no life without food anyway, but I really have a passion for it. Not in the Gordon Ramsay sense - I don't particularly like to cook. But I love to eat. And though I have great respect for Mr. Ramsay and his accomplishments, I probably wouldn't enjoy much of the food served in his restaurants. A $50 poached quail's egg just doesn't get me excited. I like real food. The kind of stuff that I don't have to save up for months to eat just once, that I don't have to dress up for or drive great distances to.
Food should be easy and cheap and... good. And that's the problem. There's a lot of not-good food out there. It's everywhere. It seems that the days of going to a restaurant knowing that the food must be good if the place is in business are long gone. People have let their standards drop, and nowadays lousy food is perfectly acceptable as long as other people are eating there. People always go where the other people are going, so if Macaroni Grill is busy, that must be the place to eat. Nevermind that the food sucks. And if the place next door is never busy, then it doesn't matter how good the food is - no one will find out because they're all at Macaroni Grill. It's sad because it sends a signal to these massive corporate chain restaurants that mediocre food is fine as long as they can get people in the door. Chain restaurants are usually the problem but not always. Some of them are actually quite good, while some of the independent restaurants should never have opened in the first place.
Anybody who knows me can tell you that for someone who loves food, I'm incredibly picky and critical. And it's my right to be. I'm paying for these meals, aren't I? I have every right to have high expectations when my money is spent. And that's the other problem - people don't have high expectations anymore. If all the restaurants are crappy, then you start to accept that your night-out money will buy you crap. It doesn't have to be that way. It SHOULD'T be that way, and that's the whole point of this blog. If you're tired of taking the family out and spending all that money toward mediocre food, then you feel the way I do.
This is a food review blog for regular people in the West Michigan area. In time it may encompass more than restaurants, but for now that's what it's about. Whether it be fast food, family dining or even fine dining if it's not too ridiculous, I am going to give my opinions on the places I go to eat and the things I eat when I'm there. If something is horrible, you'll know it. If something is good, you'll know it.
This is not your typical food critic stuff. I don't care about wine. I don't care how many forks are in my place setting and worring about which one I'm supposed to use at any given time. If a place is pretentious I probably wouldn't set foot in there anyway, so I won't be writing about it. And nevermind the fact that most upscale restaurants serve lousy food - I can't afford to eat in them anyway. This is for people on a tighter budget who just want something decent to eat in exchange for their money. That's not unreasonable.
Since no one is paying me for this, it will start small and grow with time. Hopefully, eventually, people will make their own comments. If you have a place you'd like reviewed, let me know. What I hope do do is develop a list of places that are worth going to, so that we don't end up in the rut we all seem to end up in, where we only go to one or two restaurants because we know what to expect. It limits the choices we have as well as keeps us out of new restaurants that might be good if we knew enough about them to give them a chance. If no one gives them a chance, they shut down and we're left with what's left - a lot of mediocre crap. So help me out, take part if you can, or at least take advantage of the information here so we can make a difference in the choices we have.
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