Stop in at Tony's I-75 Restaurant

I was up in Frankenmuth last week for a few days and on the way back we stopped to eat at Tony's I-75 Restaurant in Birch Run (yeah, where the huge outlet mall is) on the recommendation from my in-laws. Tony's serves typical American fare with a diner-style atmosphere. The prices weren't too bad either so if you spent most of your money at the outlet mall you'll still have enough for a meal that will not leave you hungry. Did I mention the portions?

This is what Tony's is known for - big huge amounts of food. You can get an extra plate for only $.55. I strongly suggest doing so.

We split an order of Belgian pancakes, three eggs, hashbrowns (must have been at least three potatoes worth), and a pound of bacon (I kid you not - it was really a pound) three ways and still left with a take home container full of bacon.

The quantity was good, but how was the quality?

I thought it was right up there with any similar diner-style restaurant. Shoot, I figure you can't go wrong with a place that serves breakfast all day.

Good food, great portions, and fast & friendly service. We had our orders in about 5-7 minutes. They deep fry the bacon which explains how we received our order so quickly.

On an average day they go through 700 pounds of bacon. The typical weekend sees them sell about 1,000 pounds of hashbrowns.

Do yourself a favor and stop in at Tony's the next time you are passing through - it's definitely a unique place to eat.

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You have got to try the Cinnamon Swirl Latte at Beaner's

I signed up with the Beaner's E-wards program last year and every week I receive a couple of coupon offers. Some of them are only valid at specific locations (annoying) in the area, but most of them can be used at any Beaner's location. Anyway, last week I received a buy-one-get-one coupon for a new drink - the Cinnamon Swirl Latte. Oh man, that was the best coffee I have had from Beaner's.

They add a shot of vanilla and a shot of cinnamon flavoring to the espresso. It is topped off with a generous dollop of whipped cream, a drizzle of some sort of sweetener, and sprinkled with ground cinnamon.

Man, I wish I was sipping one right now. It was so good. It kind of helped to make a cold wintry day in April not feel so bad.

Remember this when you eat your corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day

A little known fact for you to spout out at the dinner table on St. Patrick's Day - Over 46,000,000 pounds of cabbage are harvested annually in Michigan.

For Lent if you get tired of fish, try muskrat

Um, yeah. So I came across this video from the Detroit Free Press where columnist Mike Wendland reports that

It was French fur trappers who introduced the muskrat as a food source to southeastern Michigan in the 18th century. French settlers later appealed to their bishop to allow muskrat to be a fish substitute. And every Lent, there are still those who love their rat.

The 2.5 minute video shows how Kola's Food Factory in Riverview cooks them up. From what I could see in the video it appears the entire (skinned) muskrat is fried up in a skillet with a ton of butter. Mike Wendland interviews a patron at Kola's eating a muskrat and the guy offers him a bite.

The look on Mike's face says it all. Plus the comment of his, "it tastes just like squirrel" won't exactly get me interested anytime soon.

I knew that folks still ate muskrat. I just didn't know that there were restaurants here in Michigan that served it up.

Interesting. But you won't catch me eating anything with "rat" in its name.

Watch the video here at www.freep.com.

Best cup of coffee in Michigan

This story in the Detroit News got me thinking about the best place to get a cup of coffee here in Michigan. The article states that " Consumer Reports taste test found McDonald's Corp.'s coffee tastes better and costs less than brew from Starbucks Corp., Burger King Holdings Inc. and Dunkin' Donuts Inc." I like to drink my coffee black, but McDonald's coffee has seemed so strong in the past that yesterday when I had a cup of joe from McDonald's I added one cream and sugar. I have to say, it was a pretty good cup of coffee. I don't think it was the best I have ever had by any means although the price would be hard to beat.

Here is a brief (so many coffee shops, so little time) list of some of my favorite places to get my coffee fix across Michigan. The list is in no particular order - I love them all :).

• North Woods Coffee Co. - Coldwater
• The Bean Counter - New Buffalo
• L. A.'s Coffee Cafe - Three Rivers
• Java Joe's - St. Ignace
• Nicky's Coffee Bar at the Stray Dog Bookshop - Three Rivers
• Beaners Coffee (yeah it's a franchise, but it started in East Lansing and that is where I fell in love with it)

There are so many other coffee shops that I see and jot down in my memory bank as places to try out sometime. I wish I had the time to stop at them all, but alas I do not.

Feel free to add to this list in the comments for coffee shops in Michigan that you absolutely love. I will certainly add them to my list.

Have a very happy Friday!