Go To Kalamazoo For A Good Jackson Style Coney! - Coney Island Hot Dogs,Kalamaoo, Mi

Coney Dogs are not Chilli Dogs, and mixing up the two is just plain ignorance!    The real coney dogs were first made in Jackson, or Flint, Michigan...depending which side you are on.   They are the loose meat variety and not a bunch of tomato sauce dripping all over the place.  One of the cleanest places I ever had one of these delicious dogs though,  is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan at Coney Island Hot Dogs. 
The dogs here are cooked right next to the front window on a grill.  Then you get the sauce which isn't real spicy but it compliments the dog perfectly.  It is then topped with crisp white onions and mustard.  It was then wrapped in an aluminum foil wrapper that kept it smoking hot and juicy.  I give this dog pretty high ratings for cleanliness, fresh onions and properly cooked, tasty hot dog.  The only thing I think would make it better is if it had the snap of a natural casing, but that's just my taste.  Yours may vary.   Coney Island Hot Dogs have two locations.  We tried the one downtown.  You can find them at 266 E Michigan in Kalamazoo and in the Westwood Plaza at 4634 West Main in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  You can find them on the web at: http://www.coneyislandkalamazoo.com/

Pineapple On A Burger?? - Studio Grill, Kalamazoo,Michigan

bronco burger

"You're really going to get a hamburger with a pineapple on it??"  I once again had thought my wife had lost her mind.  My wife who once took a poll to see if people liked pineapple because she thought I was nuts for liking them.  I reminded her it was spicy. It had pepper jack cheese and Serrano sauce.  She wanted to try it but she told them to leave the pepper sauce off.  I went for the Bronco Burger, billed as a grilled cheese burger and belt all in one, with thoughts of trading my wife meals when she realized she had made a big mistake.                            

We were in the process of checking out some of the food in Kalamazoo and had chose the Studio Grill downtown.  They have quite a variety of stuffed burgers that caught my eye. They offer a burger stuffed with bbq sauce and cheddar cheese topped with bacon more cheddar cheese and more bbq sauce called the BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burger. They also have A Watson Burger,  that is stuffed with chorizo sausage, topped with chipotle pesto and pepper jack cheese.  Another "interesting" burger is the Nutty Butter Burger topped off with bacon and lots of peanut butter.  They have more stuffed burgers or you can freestyle and create your own. They also serve breakfast featuring various omelets.  

And pancakes.

It turned out that Rebbel made an excellent choice. The combination of savory spicy and sweet along with the juiciness of the pineapple slice was a great combination. My selection, though pretty tame, was good too.  The place was clean and service pretty fast.

pineapple burger

You can find the Studio Grill at 312 W. Michigan Ave Kalamazoo, Michigan. Find them on the web at www.studiogrillkalamazoo.com

Michigan's Best and Open Doughnut Place - Sweetwater's Donut Mill

Sweetwater's in Kalamazoo Mi

Here we were on a long holiday weekend and no cool place picked out to eat. I decided to look up some of the Michigan's best food on the net.  Right away there were lists from M Live.  I set  our site for the number one doughnut shop, and the number seven hamburger joints located in Jackson, Mi.  I would have gone for the number one but they were closed for the winter, so we decided for Jackson.  We pulled up to number one on the list to find out they are closed Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. Evidently life is good when you are the best so you don't have to work as often.  We decided to go to the number 7 hamburger joint.  Surely at number 7 they would have to work.  Pulled in to a vacant parking lot and a sign that said closed Mondays. We decided to check out their number two doughnut place down the road in Kalamazoo.

donuts,donuts,donuts

  The place I chose is called Sweetwater's Donut Mill.  Sweetwater's has 3 locations and they are open 24/7 which was a real selling point given our luck so far.  We chose 6 different doughnuts that turned out to be all very good.  I walked in and there before me were cases and cases filled with every doughnut you could imagine.  Sweetwater's offers such delicacies as a Carmello, Snickers, German Cake, and a Cloud doughnut. Too many to list all of them. In all fairness we bought the doughnuts at about 1:00 in the afternoon and while tasty, they weren't at the peak freshness.  The chocolate frosting my wife got had just the right amount of

half dozen box of yum!

crisp on the outside before reaching the nutmeg tasting cake inside.  I love that in a doughnut.   If you want to check out what I consider the best doughnut shop in Michigan,  at least the best doughnut shop  that is most likely to be open, you can find them at 3333 Stadium Dr, or the one we visited at 2138 Sprinkle Rd Kalamazoo. They also have a location at 2807 Capitol Rd. In Battle Creek Michigan. Find them on the web at..http://sweetwatersdonuts.com/