Burrito Chain Blowout

Once Chipotle stormed onto the American dining scene, many “me too” burrito joints joined into the fray.  Here we will determine, once and for all, who makes the supreme burrito!

Let’s have a look at the contestants:

Chipotle Mexican Grill
East Lansing and Lansing Mall
www.chipotle.com 

No, it’s not pronounced, “chuh-poll-tay” but it is the joint that sets the standard.   Without any real advertising this Denver-based company threw up restaurants in every major city, focusing on trendy “town centers,” yuppie neighborhoods, and upscale malls.  The menu is simple and the ingredients are above-average.  Diners are presented with an array of Tobasco sauces (one of which is chipotle flavored (flavored like the smoked pepper, not the restaurant)) with which to smother their food.  The guacamole is above average and the chips suit it well.  The meats are spicy and, if eaten freshly off the griddle, are great.  I think what puts it over the top is the rice with a bit of cilantro mixed in.  They also serve beer!

The high quality food and simple, yet clean atmosphere raises the bar for fast Mexican food.  Be sure to find a Chipotle staffed with Central/South Americans, if you can, as they tend to spice up the meat a little more.

But, are you willing to sell your soul to a national chain brought to you by McDonald’s investment?

Qdoba Mexican Grill
Various locations
www.qdoba.com 

If Chipotle is the Mercedes W463 of burritos, then Qdoba is the Ford Festiva.  Pretty basic, and gets you where you want to go (face stuffed full of meat and spices).  No gimmicks, just meat, veggies and maybe some movie theater-quality nacho cheese thrown in.  The MSU Union location was recently closed, presumably due to its substandard fare.

Panchero’s Mexican… You Guessed It, Grill
Various locations
www.pancheros.com 

I can just imagine the marketing meeting.  “How can we compete against Chipotle?  I know!  Let’s make the tortillas right in front of the diner!  That’s so much more fresh! And fun!”  Well, sadly, the wait for a tortilla to finish frying is quite a negative experience.  Especially when the other ingredients lack in quality.  The Guacamole, while fresh, is uninspiring and the chips don’t do much to help it out.  The ingredients are slightly higher quality than Qdoba, but don’t match Chipotle.

BTB Burrito (formerly, Big Ten Burrito)
403 E. Grand River Ave, East Lansing, MI
www.bigtenburrito.com 

A burrito joint started in Ann Arbor, located here in East Lansing.  Unique, modern atmosphere with basic seating at long picnic tables.  Skinny burritos.  Quite cheap.  A decent meal for the price.  There are also plenty of other offerings here, but I haven’t ventured beyond the burrito.

New York Burrito
216 S Washington Sq, Lansing, MI 
www.newyorkburrito.com 

New York City?  That really chaps my hide!  There is a New York Burrito combined in an unholy marriage with a sub shop in downtown Lansing.  Just finding the correct line to stand in is initially confusing.  The burritos here are comparable to Qdoba.  Don’t waste your time.  Oh wait, that’s easy because, like every other downtown business, it closes at 6pm, so you’ll never have a chance to visit!  Fun fact: New York Burrito is headquartered in Utah.

And the Winner Is…

As a Mac fan, I have to say that Chipotle is the Apple Computers of burritos.  They’ve set an innovative standard and have managed to keep the quality up.  In a strong second I would put Big Ten Burrito and Panchero’s in a distant third.

Grand Traverse Pie Company

Grand Traverse Pie Company - Okemos
http://www.gtpie.com
3536 Meridian Crossings, Okemos, MI 48864
Phone: 517-381-7437
Hours: M-Fri 6:30am-8:30pm, Sat 8:00-8:30, Sun 10:00-6:00

Grand Traverse Pie Company - East Lansing
1403 E Grand River Ave, East Lansing, MI 48823
Phone: 517-203-3304
Hours: M-Sat 6:30am-10:00pm, Sun 7:00-7:00

One thing you learn when you move to Michigan is that you must pronounce some town names incorrectly in order to blend in.  For instance:

Charlotte is “shar-lot” not “shar-lut” (don’t confuse it with that city in North Carolina!)
Delhi is “dell-high” not “deli” (they have to differentiate themselves, otherwise people might accidently fly half way around the world to India)
Grand Traverse is “grand trav-erse” not “grand truh-verse” (they must have meant to name it “Grand Travis”)
Traverse City is pronounced accordingly

One of the popular vacation spots in Michigan is Traverse City, the epicenter of Cherry production in the state.  Every year there is a cherry festival that draws a multitude of tourists.  The Grand Traverse bay area also features plenty of beaches and water sports.

A bakery cafe local to Traverse City decided to take their store and make it into a chain.  There are two GTPCs around Lansing and several others scattered around the state.  The stores are set up similar to Panera, et al.  The menu offers an array of sandwiches and salads that are adequate.  However, the store shines in its offering of baked goods, all of which are made fresh each morning.  The fruit pies are pretty good, but they won’t match your grandma’s (or my wife’s) homemade pies.  They just seem a bit too sugary and soft.  My favorite dessert there is the peanut butter cup.  A cup-shaped peanut butter cookie, the inside filled with peanut butter and chocolate frosting.  The fruit-filled turnovers are also delicious.

There’s also free wireless internet and the usual selection of coffee.  

Biggby

Biggby
Various locations

www.biggby.com

The coffeehouse formerly known as Beaner’s started out in East Lansing.  The first Beaner’s opened was in the building that resembles an old-fashioned car dealership on Grand River Avenue, just west of campus.  This location is open 24 hours.  

You won’t see very many Starbucks stores in Lansing because Beaner’s/Biggby’s dominates the market.  Biggby’s seems to have a less formal atmosphere than Starbucks with cuter slogans and promotions and friendly, talkative staff.  Where Starbucks aims for an international, sophisticated feel, Biggby’s de-emphasizes the coffee itself and focuses on the flavored beans and sugary concoctions.  One example is the Butter Bear - a butterscotch-flavored latte with whipped cream, chunks of toffee, and a drizzling of caramel.  You won’t find your prize-winning pull of espresso here, but it’s a friendly place to grab a sweet latte.

Bonus points: free wireless internet (but there’s usually a fight for power outlets)

Welcome, Mid-Michigan Dining!

There are now three food blogs in the Lansing area (that I know of). This site, Lansing Food News, and now Mid-Michigan Dining.  Also, don’t forget about RestaurantDB.net - birthed in East Lansing (and a sponsor of my soccer team).  

Lansing has a great variety of eateries and it’s exciting to have more and more foodie bloggers.  I can’t possibly eat at and review every restaurant in town by myself!

Charlie Kang’s

Charlie Kang’s

127 E Grand River Ave, East Lansing, MI 48823
Phone: 517-332-4696
Hours: M-Thu 11:30-3:00 & 4:00-9:30, F-Sat 11:30-3:00 & 4:00-10:00, Sun 1:00-9:30

A Korean/Chinese restaurant with a “lodge” feel. The restaurant is owned by a Korean family, so I would trust the Korean food more. They serve Bibimbap in stone bowls along with pickled root vegetables and kimchi.

I used to hate Korean food. I used to live in Northern Virginia’s “Korea Town” but most of what I’d experienced was spicy blandness or soups containing a myriad of random sea creatures.  Not particularly appetizing. The Bibimbap I had at Kang’s, however, was spicy (thanks to copious amounts of pepper sauce) but wasn’t so bland. It’s a good, quick, hot meal that’s made interesting by the fact that it is cool ingredients cooked at your table within the hot bowl - be sure to stir it well!

NOISE City Guide

Today I ran into an interesting resource: the NOISE City Guide.  It’s a pretty comprehensive listing of restaurants and bars, including short descriptions.  They even have a version of the entire guide that can be installed on your iPod so you can quickly look up places to eat on the go.

Sansu

Sansu
http://www.sansu-sushi.com/
Hannah Plaza, 4750 S. Hagadorn Rd, Ste 10, East Lansing, MI 48823
Phone: 517-333-1933
Hours: M-Sat 11:30-2:30 & 4:30-10:00, Sun 3-10

Sansu is movin’ on up, but is staying on the East Side.  The last time I had been there, the restaurant was crammed into a corner of a strip of mall in Hannah Plaza and featured budget seating and decor.  While the atmosphere was bland, the food was good.

But oh, how times have changed!  The new Sansu, located next to the old, has gone upscale and competes among the higher-end restaurants in the area.  This is a great place for a date or a business meal.  A “traditional modern Japanese” look is achieved, complete with a dining area that  mimics a traditional Japanese eating style of sitting on the floor at a short table.  Don’t worry, though, you don’t have to kill your knees sitting cross-legged.  Instead, the wait staff will sacrifice their legs for you by stepping in and out of the pit “dug into” the floor that allow your legs to dangle at rest.  It’s a fun, unique experience for the diner.

Looking at the a la carte menu, it was difficult to judge quantities.  When in doubt, ask, or you’ll be eating two meals worth of sushi.  The combination sushi/sashimi platter was a great sampling of Sansu’s standard offerings.  While not the freshest sushi you’ll get, it is definitely top-notch and probably the best you’ll find in the area.  I didn’t opt for the flashy dishes served in volcano bowls, but they looked intriguing.  Be sure to specify hot sake if you like it that way.  There is a good selection of the drink.

The staff were all very friendly and I can see Sansu becoming a cornerstone of Lansing eateries.

Foods for Living

Foods for Living
www.foodsforliving.com
2655 Grand River, East Lansing, MI 48823
Phone: 517-324-9010

Hours: M-F 9am-8pm, Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 11am-6pm

Foods for Living has successfully bridged the gap between “freaky hippie store” and the mainstream, like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. You won’t find any bargains here, but you will find exactly what you’re looking for. It is a cornucopia of those hard-to-find natural foods and dietary supplements. While there is a great variety of non-perishable items, the produce selection was a bit limited. The store is bright and clean.

Bonus points: this isn’t a chain!

Espresso Royale

Espresso Royale
espressoroyale.com
527 E Grand River Ave, East Lansing, MI 48823
Phone: 517-332-5224

Hours: M-F 6:30am-12am, S-S 7:30am-12am

Espresso Royale is a bit like the Emo kid of coffee shops. It’s found around college campuses, offers drinks that are slightly off the mainstream, and attracts young hipster baristas. It’s edgy without abandoning the bourgeois.

There’s some plush seating mixed with tables and chairs, as well as a fireplace and a heated outdoor sitting area. Their wireless ethernet connection is flaky at times, either due to outages or customers playing World of Warcraft. You’ll find a healthy mix of college students and working adults.

They have a decent tea selection and serve sandwiches during meal times.

Some favorites: A steamer, which is frothed milk mixed with a flavored syrup, and the Spanish Latte, which is made with condensed milk.

Horrock’s Farm Market

Horrock’s Farm Market
www.shophorrocks.com
7420 W Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917
Phone: 517-323-3782

Horrock’s began as a simple, indoor farmer’s market selling low-cost, local produce. Today, Horrock’s has moved upscale and provides a compelling local alternative to the twin Juggernauts of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

Oh, Horrock’s, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

1. Many people think, “hey, I’m buying ‘organic’ food at Meijer or Whole Foods, that means I’m earth-friendly.” You can be more earth friendly by buying food that was grown locally. When your food doesn’t come from California, you’re not pumping tons of CO2 into the atmosphere to get that lettuce on your plate. Michigan ranks second behind California in the variety of produce it, er, produces and Horrock’s is the place to get it. True, Horrock’s does sell California produce, but when the season is right, you have the choice to buy local.
2. The store is powered by its own windmill.
3. It features a large gardening section with a great variety of plants, even aquatic plants!
4. Fresh, homemade bread, sans preservatives.
5. The best milk and other dairy products I have ever tasted (Bareman’s).
6. A diverse selection of wines and beers (although not the cheapest).
7. Bouquets of flowers that last for weeks in a vase.
8. A great place to find those odd ingredients.

Be sure to wear warm clothes. The dairy and meat sections are walk-in refrigerators.