Diamond Jim's

My son and his beautiful bride wanted us to try a new spot they found in their town of Midland, Michigan. Diamond Jim's. My son had been there many times and knew what to order, so I tried what he suggested.

We opened the meal with the appetizer of a cup of chili. This was a unique and tasty chili; it contained spaghetti pasta among other things. And it was satisfying indeed. Sometime visiting again, I may just want to get a bowl of the chili.

But upon our son and daughter-in-law's suggestion we got the Ollie Burger, Diamond Jim's premium product. And I can see why. This was a full beef patty with all the fixings. Lots of cheese, lettuce, 2 slices of tomato, onion, and other things, and a special house sauce. The house sauce has a bit of a bite to it that is quite satisfying.

This was a wonderful experience. The place was way understaffed but the waiter was working his butt off, and made it work perfectly. It has a full bar and several craft beers are associated and sold  from all over the state. This was a nice atmosphere and it was a terrific experience.

I will go back again, and guess what? I'll get that Ollie Burger. Now and always.

Grade: A-

Chapz Steak House

Chapz Steak House
Lakeview, Michigan.


We heard about an exciting new restaurant that is getting a lot of buzz in the area. It was recommended to me based on their ribs. So that's what I ordered. My wife figured since they were a steakhouse she'd go with the premium product. She ordered a 12 oz. Ribeye. There are pictures on the menu of how you are ordering your steak. Those pictures of at least one inch thick steaks showed that the medium well was the one she wanted. She also ordered the salad and baked potato.

I ordered the ribs, cole slaw, and mashed potatoes. The cole slaw was awesome. They served a very generous order of mashed potatoes served in a bowl on the side. The gravy was very good. And the ribs, were generous and excellent. They came with a great Carolina sweet sauce.

So my meal was excellent.

My wife's was a different story. First of all Chapz has way over thought the salad and have some sort of fancy lettuce that they've decided to leave in big leaf, was hard for her to cut, and she said tasted like grass. Now I'm not suggesting they go to the white Gordon Food stuff, but a nice fluffy green leaf would be great. Her baked potato was a baked potato. Hard to mess that up. And now to their premium product. They are a steak house after all. That medium well thing? That's just a picture on a menu the cooks have never looked at apparently. First of all there is no way on God's green Earth that her steak was 12 oz. I don't believe it was 8. Maybe 9, but that's optimistic. That thick steak on the menu? When it came it was maybe 3/8 or a 1/2 thick. And it was burnt beyond belief. Like Hiroshima the bowels of Hell burnt. No where near Medium it was way past Well Done. The  waiter who was fabulous offered to send it back but Penny didn't want to wait for another so she kept it. It was like trying to eat shoe leather. It cost around $20. This was one of the worst meals she's ever tried to endure.

So my meal was terrific, and her's was the worst ever. So what is a reviewer to do? I guess go again. That is if I can ever talk my wife into it.

Slow's Barbecue
The Marketplace
Grand Rapids, Michigan

I have been wanting to visit this place for the longest because I am such a fan of barbecue. I have been to barbecue joints all over the south, and really all over the nation. And initially I heard this was a good place.

Man was I lied to.

This place is first of all is going to die for being tragically hip. And it's funny. Northerners don't know how to eat barbecue so why they bother to come here befuddles me. The table next to me all of the people at their stuff without any sauce. Sheesh.

Anyway on to the specifics. First of all it'a all ala carte meaning they pinch you at every turn. We have paid ala carte before but each side we ordered was ample enough for two. But not here.

So we each ordered a side which of course was extra. I got the waffle fries [which I hate but what else goes with ribs?] and Penny got the cornbread.

When the cornbread came it was yellow, a signal that it's not good. If anyone has ever had the real-deal cornbread it comes white. It's awesome. And the yellow crap was small and certainly not worth $3.50. There were plenty of my waffle fries but most of them came home with me because really, nobody likes these. They aren't awesome hip. They suck.

I ordered the ribs and my wife ordered the sampler plate. These were the worst ribs I've ever had. I got the half rack and I didn't get enough meat to make a sandwich. The last two ribs were the only ones with any meat at all.

My wife's sampler plate came and the brisket was mostly fat. The pulled pork and the chicken were only so-so. Border line bland.

Our waiter had a man-bun so right off the place thinks it's cutting edge but one can't respect a man-bun any more than a hyphenated last name.

This place totally is ridiculously terrible. We dropped $50 bucks for a pathetic half rack of ribs, and a crappy sampler platter with bad fries and horrible cornbread [that wasn't even hot by the way.]

Avoid this place at all costs. I've never done this before, but

Grade: E
This place is terrible and I can't think of a single redeeming quality.

Pieology


This is so sophisticated that it appears to be a chain. What a great idea. One has to wonder did Subway see this and introduce pizzas or did Pieology see what Subway was trying to do and take it to the next level?

You basically walk in, select your crust, your butter, your sauce and then all the toppings. You pay.
They put them in the oven and you go pour your drink, get napkins, if you are smart grab the to go box and wait about 6 minutes. Your hot pizza it brought to your table. But all tables are too close to the door in the winter. So there's that.

I get the thin crust because this is the best thin crust in the business. Some people I'm with get the thick crust because they are somehow greedy, but the thin crust is much better. My wife tried the thick crust and next time the thin crust. She is sold - thin crust all the way.

This is a great concept done extremely well. Our only lament was why is there is not one in our town.

This is highly recommended. But I can't tell you where there are more.

Grade: A-

Amendment: Pieology, at least in Grand Rapids, has closed and are gone. Perhaps they didn't survive the pandemic. 

The Kirby Grille

We recently visited Grand Haven as an overnight get away. We tried to find the place of our first date and we picked a place that was now a high end grille. Later we determined that we were a block off of our calculations, but the place we actually went to back then is now closed.

So we ended up in this fine dining place. The entrees were $26 on up. Sides were all $6 each. But who cares? We don't do it everyday.

First off, my wife was intrigued by the espresso martini. She's a coffeeaholic. And it was wonderful. I had a beer. Not a craft beer that tastes like Squirt, but real beer. And then we both opted for the sirloin. And then mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus. It came family style so there was much more that two people could eat.

The atmosphere was very nice. Our server was very bland but very knowledgeable and I guess that's enough. He was very efficient and that is all one can ask.

Our steaks were very good, but certainly not medium as we ordered. No pink at all in the steak. Usually medium has a pink strip in the center. But this was medium well and that's generous. The mashed potatoes were so-so but the asparagus was great, but asparagus is hard to make badly.

So for dessert my bride had the Creme Brûlée. She does anytime she can. She is an expert. And this was the best she ever had. For dessert I had a real martini. Gin and vermouth, not the wannabe martini's with vodka. And yes "shaken, not stirred." Ben brought it to the table and shook our martini's for us.

Yum Yum. My Favorite dessert. 

 This is a great place for a fun time. And a great meal. All of it was awesome. So there it is.

Grade. A-

Pita Pit

I was recently in Ft. Myers Florida and one evening my brother and sister in law took me to a little spot they enjoy. It was called the Pita Pit. I suspected we would all be getting veggie falafels, but man, was I wrong. 

First one gets to choose the meat they desire. I chose Prime Rib. They throw that on the grill.  And then it gets a little subwayesque. Then there are decisions; I chose spinach, cucumbers, pickles, tomato, provolone cheese and mayonnaise. And then they put this amazing masterpiece together. It turns out like a burrito but much more tasty. And the pita has been specially designed so there are a couple flaps that hold it all together. 

They are lots less carbs with this meal than a burrito would be and this is a lot more enjoyable. One bite and I was hooked. Delicious. I can't recommend this place enough. I don't know if they are a chain or if this is it, but I suspect there is more than one. I wanted to get the address, but they didn't didn't have a business card. So I don't know the exact address but it is located at the corner of Fowler and Colonial.

This is delicious stuff and I can't recommend it enough. One of my only complaint is that there is not one in Greenville, Michigan. 

Grade: A-

Bravos!

Bravos!
East Beltine
Grand Rapids, Michigan

We were able to dine her with two of our dearest friends. I should mention that first. Because after all, they were the most important part of this meal. Anyhow, with reservations we were let into the restaurant.

Billy and I both got the Lasagna, which the obligatory gay waiter explained that was sort of their premium product. When it arrived, I was taken aback at the size of it. It was the size of a wet burrito in a Mexican Restaurant. It was very tasty, and although I never thought I could finish it, I did. So that says something about how tasty it was.

Bill's wife Sandy elected a chicken dish and she shared a small portion of it with me. It was very delectable indeed.

The lasagne was a nice sized portion. And it was tasty indeed. But seriously, reservations?


The Good: Easy parking. Great informative service.

The Bad: It's noisy in there. The acoustics leave a lot to be desired. It was difficult to carry on a normal conversation without practically hollering across the table.

The Ugly: For a just average loud restaurant experience, it requires reservations. Bravos!, you ain't all that. You are not a notch above Chili's or the Outback. Don't kid yourselves. But the food was really good.