Oakland Gal's Profile
Where to eat in kalamazoo and Three Rivers, Michigan?
Food Dance Cafe - Always creative and healthy. Kid-Adult friendly, too. Try them for breakfast!
Mom's Birthday Restaurant Recommendation [DTW]
Consider the Clawson Steak House. It's a good American classic - Been in business for over 50 years. Good steaks and a "retro" feel to the place. It's always been a favorite with the cocktail crowd!
Suggestions for an apple picking & winery day trip in SW Michigan
Coloma is an exit off I-94 which has treats for all. Check out www.colomacountry.com. You will find a wonderful orchard and cider mill along with my two favorite wineries, Karma Vista and Contessa. Both wineries are family owned and provide some of the tastiest wines and most beautiful vistas in SW Michigan. Just up the road is the Choclate Garden which offers handmade truffels which are unbelievable. Enjoy our beautiful State!
Concert at The Palace, Auburn Hills Where to eat?
Second Alfoccino's. It's nothing fancy - but you will get in and out quickly and they are located close to the Palace. Good, basic Italian. Sort of a neighborhood type place. Another idea is to actually have dinner at the Palace. Their restaurant is excellent - but expensive.
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Alfoccino Restaurant
2225 N Opdyke Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326
Reporting to you live from Holland, Michigan
Next visit to Holland, be sure to stay at the Crimson Cottage Inn the Woods - just outside of Holland. The BEST scones ever and a lovely, large and friendly place.
Looking for simple farm stand on the side of the road
Oakland Township, 4 miles north of Meadowbrook Hall, has a wonderful stand on Orion Road, between Rochester and Lake Orion. The farmers make an effort to know every buyers name and the corn is so fresh that it is still warm from the day's sunshine. The best cantelope I ever had came from those farmer's fields!
Good moderately priced eats between New Buffalo and Bellaire
Be sure to stop by Tabor Hill Winery in Buchanan. They have a beautiful restaurant with stunning views of the vineyards. Lunch or a glass of wine would be lovely. Be sure to check out their hours before you go - they are not always open! www.taborhill.com
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Tabor Hill Winery and Restaurant
185 Mount Tabor Rd, Buchanan, MI 49107
Got Heirloom Tomatoes in Metro Detroit?
Interested in a road trip to Northern Oakland County? August 27 and 28th is the 3rd Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival at Miller's Big Red in Romeo. We enjoyed the BEST tomato bisque we ever tasted last year and they cook up and have on display for purchase a rainbow of tomatoes which, I bet, you have never seen. This isn't anything fancy - just a lot of "off the vine" goodness, tour of tomato fields and some live jazz.
Restaurants in/right near Oxford, MI
The more north you travel in Oakland country, the harder it is to find great places! However, Red Knapps, right in the center of town, is a perfect "Up North" type of place with a warm, homey, log-home style decor. They have WONDERFUL fresh-baked pizzas and one of the best burgers (with home made buns, I might add) around. Stay away from pasta - but salads are big and fresh with the pricing for all food pretty within budget. Victoria Delights is a wonderful "ladies' tea" type place - which is perfect to take Mom out for lunch. Very creative cuisine and great desserts. Stick with Sagebrush Cantina, in Lake Orion, and skip Casa Real!
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Casa Real
21 S Washington St, Oxford, MI 48371
Sagebrush Cantina
28 S Broadway St, Lake Orion, MI 48362
Soup, Chili and other great bowls of joy in SE Michigan
Tomato Bisque at Forest Grill and Dill Pickle Soup at Polonia - YUM!
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Polonia Restaurant
2934 Yemans St, Hamtramck, MI 48212
Forest Grill Restaurant
735 Forest Ave Ste 100, Birmingham, MI 48009
stratford festival 2010
Enjoyed a brief visit to this beautiful city. The theater experience at the Festival was wonderful! CH recommendations are always right on target. Although we didn't dine there, Rene's and Bijou appear to have the most creative cuisine, in spite of their tiny size. We enjoyed the thin crust pizza at Pazzo and had a good basic pasta at Fellini's. Got a sandwich to go, prior to the theater, at York Street Kitchen and waited 25 minutes for it! Good food - but too much of a wait. All is all, it was a fun visit and the Caversham House B&B was the right place to stay!
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York Street Kitchen
41 York St, Stratford, ON N5A1A1, CA
Pazzo
70 Ontario St, Stratford, ON N5A, CA
Detroit for a day URGENT
Check out Beans and Cornbread (www.beanscornbread) in Southfield... Great photos and food!
What's terrific in Kalamazoo??
Oakwood Bistro - tiny, quiet and great food
Bravo! - Not to be missed wood-fired pizza
Food Dance Cafe - Fun and interesting use of veggies!
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Oakwood Bistro
3003 Oakland Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Food Dance Cafe
401 E Michigan Ave Ste 100, Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Bostonians coming to Detroit for the weekend
The beautiful Detroit Institute of Arts has a wonderful dining room which is dellicious and fun. Don't miss the big cookies! Cuisine, located behind the Fisher building, is a wonderful place for cocktails and hearty appetizers. The Original Pancake House, on Woodward, in Birmingham is not to be missed for a satisfying breakfast. You will love New Buffalo and be sure to stop by some of the wineries on the way west. Tabor Hill Restaurant & Winery (www.taborhill) is a fantastic place to relax!
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The Pancake House
15648 W County Road B, Hayward, WI 54843
Looking for strawberries in SW Michigan
Jollay Orchards right off the I-94 expressway in Coloma. They have it all!
Ann Arbor to Chicago - where to stop for good eats.
Just west of Paw Paw is a little jewel, Coloma, which you will find some treats right off the expressway. Check out www.colomacountry.com and be sure not to miss Contessa Wine Cellars for some fun sipping and Karma Vista for party wines and great views. The Chocolate Garden is right next door and you will discover the best truffles you have ever had!
Can't Miss Eats in Saugatuck & Traverse City
Holland is just up the road a piece from Saugatuck. Check out Butch's in the center of town for a delicious meal. A wonderful treat... Also, the Crimson Cottage in the Woods (www.crimsoncottageinn.com) is a relaxing, well-appointed place with excellent food and friendly innkeepers. A much better value than you will find in Saugatuck!
Good Tex Mex or Mexican in Metro Detroit area
Check out Mi Zarape in the north Woodward corridor at Square Lake and Opdyke. It's in a former Applebee's location hidden from site by the Centerpointe Marriott hotel in Pontiac (www.ii-1.com/mizarape_home). Wonderfully fresh and reasonable. Sometimes, you just don't want to make the drive down to SW Detroit!
RIP Cannella Patisserie & Creperie [Detroit]
Absolutely the best french bread this side of Paris, France. What a shame. It was a jewel among chain restaurants. Please, Cannella, open somewhere close soon!
Thanksgiving Dinner SW Michigan/NE Indiana?
Conside visiting Tabor Hills winery in Buchanan. Not sure if they serve Thanksgiving Dinner - you might have to check with the restaurant (www.taborhill.com) - but it's a beautiful place with wonderful food. A worthwhile visit to the country!
Rowe Inn, Ellsworth MI
On the way North to Harbor Springs, consider a visit (lunch or dinner) to the Cook's House in Traverse City. Tiny, intimate and wonderfully creative cuisine. Reservations are necessary! If you sit at the front table, you can see the chef cook up his magic. They use local produce and meats. One of the best meals I remember!
Detroit Suggestions?
Lino's in Rochester is our go-to place for old school Italian - mid-priced. Cozy and lots of food. Also, consider the Rochester Chop House for good fish, steaks and a fun bar. It's right in town and lots of the cute shops are open late on weekends. Bistro Bordeau, in Auburn Hills, serves up comfortable American/Euro food with excellent service. Red Knapp's, in Oxford - north of Rochester, has fabulous home-made hamburgers with great buns and huge pizzas. They also have a quaint patio which serves very tall cold beer. Welcome to the Northcountry!
Dinner Near Pontiac - Need Recs!
Moose Preserve on Woodward near Pontiac has a terrific patio for al fresco dining. It's an Up North feeling place with good burgers and huge salads.
Road trip from New Orleans to Michigan - recommendations?
Take a winding trail north through SW Michigan from New Buffalo and find some wonderful wineries and enjoy Michigan at its finest. Tabor Hill, in Buchanan, has a beautiful dining room overlooking its vineyards (www.taborhill.com). Continue north through Saugatuck and Holland - Michigan's version of "seaside." Enjoy a host of eateries and artist crafts. You won't be disappointed!
