El Azteco- Margaritas, Cheese dip and Topopo, oh my!

If you are visiting East Lansing, you have to stop at El Azteco.  Located in the heart of the dining and shopping on Ann Street, El Az, as the frequent diners call it, has been around since 1976.  The chips and tortillas are made fresh daily for their restaurants (they have another location on Saginaw Hwy in Lansing).  El Az offers indoor and roof seating.  The decor is simple with booths and tables amid stucco walls and Mexican decor on the lower level and picnic style tables on the roof.  The roof is a local legend of sorts with a special garden motif that is constantly changing and growing.  In the warm months it is a great place to chill with family or friends!

Of course, you need to start your meal with a margarita, (this is an on the rocks kind of place), and each table is served chips and salsa (a weaker version is available on request).  However, you need to order the cheese dip!  This is one of the greatest cheese dips ever!  Thick and creamy with a spicy kick, made with cottage cheese, sour cream, Munster cheese and spices.  It's cottage cheese consistency makes it easier to eat than other cheese dips as well.  Look how yummy it is:

So now that you are full of chips and cheese dip you are ready for your food!  You cannot leave El Az without ordering the Topopo Salad!  This is an El Azteco original:  a bed of homemade chips topped with frijoles, guacamole, and cheese.  You are saying those are just nachos, oh no, you are mistaken.  They then top that with lettuce, cheese, peas, tomatoes and a light dressing.  They disguise this amazing party on a plate by calling it salad.  The only salad about it is the lettuce and cheese.  Does this look like salad to you?

They have a half and full version. I have yet to dent the half but if you get it as an appetizer with a group, the full would be great!

They also have amazing enchiladas and beef tacos.  You can even get an enchilada Jocoque, instead of chicken or beef, it is filled with their original cheese dip.  OMG!  

My girlfriend and I got the Topopo salad (we can't go without ordering it) and the combination platter.  

A beef taco, fresh corn tortilla, (somehow soft and crispy at the same time) beef, lettuce, tomato and queso cheese,  2 enchiladas (choice of beef, chicken or Jocoque) a tamale, frijoles and rice.  The tamale is filled with corn masa and seasoned beef!  Needless to say, we had left overs after but we enjoyed every bite!! ( and my husband, son and I enjoyed the rest later).

The combination platter comes with a sopapilla as well!  Unlike many of the sopapillas, I have had in the past, this one is light and flaky and not doughy and greasy.  It is soft and warm and dusted with cinnamon and sugar and of course served with honey.  I only got one bite, before it was devoured by my daughter and her friend! Make sure you ask for it though, it is not automatically brought to you.  

El Azteco also has a great kids menu including nachos, quesadillas, beef tacos and more.  The portions are perfect for little guests and are as good as the adult entrees.  Here is the kid's quesadilla:

We were all very happy after our meal at El Azteco!  

Chapelure: Coffee, tea and the sweetest of treats!!!

I can't believe it has taken me so long to write about one of my favorite places to get sweets: Chapelure!
Nestled in the corner of Hannah Plaza on Hagadorn in East Lansing, Chapelure is the perfect place for people to meet up for a cup of coffee or tea in a pleasant environment that also serves fantastic pastries and cakes.  Chapelure is not your typical coffee shop.  Owners Tae and Soogee Ahn, have created a place that is elegant and relaxing where you can get a simple cup of coffee, specialty coffee or an exotic tea (they serve loose tea to provide the best flavor).  However, you cannot walk in to Chapelure without being tempted by their amazing pastries or desserts.  Their pastry case is incredible.  Just look at it!

Am I right?  I always want to buy everything in the case.  I am a huge fan of their macaroons (shown in the upper left corner), especially the chai tea and green tea flavors.  They are crisp on the outside, gooey and moist on the inside and filled with delectable cream!  OMG!!!  I could eat these all day!  

My kids are in love with the mousse cups!   They are so rich and creamy.  My daughter and I are partial to the mango mousse.  I mean who wouldn't love mango mousse!  How delicious do they look?

 

The pastries are not just delicious but beautiful.  They take extreme care to make the desserts creative  and attractive.  Sometimes it looks too good to eat.
If you want to kick back with a relaxing cup of tea or meet someone for coffee this is your place.  This is also your place if you are in need of a dessert for a gathering, birthday or special occasion.  I am always a happy girl when I get a Chapelure treat!

Amazing Italian Food on Historic Route 66-Fat Olives

My husband says I make the best pasta sauce he has ever eaten and so we rarely go to Italian restaurants.  I however, LOVE Italian food and press for it every time we travel.  While visiting Flagstaff, AZ, I had a craving for Italian food and found a little place in Route 66 called Fat Olives.  I love that name!  The restaurant is small but very pleasant and I loved the all wood decor.  We sat in a high backed booth, which we all enjoyed.  My kids like booths and my husband and I like the privacy (no one looking over the back of the booth).
The menu it simple but creative, offering the standards such as lasagna, and spaghetti and meatballs, but also specialty wood-fired pizzas and fun desserts.  They have a full service bar with an interesting addition of a wine tap!  I, of course, ordered wine!
We started with appetizers consisting of the flatbread and the bruschetta board.  My husband and I also got a salad with our meals.

Look at that bruschetta!!!  There were actually two pieces of each kind but two were grabbed before I was able to snap the picture.  And notice the hands grabbing the flatbread!  The bruschetta was tomato basil, pesto, basil, tomato and mozzarella and house smoked salmon, pesto, cucumber, red onion with dill cream!  It was amazing!!!  The pieces were gigantic and the flavors insane. The flatbread was soft and light with just the right amount of seasoning.  (I only got a small piece because some little people ate the whole thing!)
For the entree, I ordered the rigatoni and my husband ordered his favorite, lasagna.

We loved our meals!!!  My rigatoni had fennel sausage in it with a rich savory sauce (which my husband really liked!!).   The pasta was cooked to perfection (because no one likes mushy noodles).  The portions were just right leaving you satisfied but without a ton left over.  

Then came the dessert.  This beautiful creation is the Smores-ala-Fat Olives: wood fired pizza crust topped with marshmallows and Ghirardelli chocolate.  I had to hold back the kids in order to get a picture! Needless to say, this dessert as gone in a flash!  

We were all happy after our dining experience at Fat Olives!  My husband even suggested we go back the following night!  

Soup Spoon cafe is way more than just soup!

My sister was in town for the day giving a talk on campus and had less than an hour to meet up with me.  I suggested she meet me at the Soup Spoon Cafe because it was only a block from the hospital (on E. Michigan Ave. between Ferguson and Custer) and I was just getting done with work for the day.   We had both eaten already so we decided to get a drink and share a dessert.  Surprisingly, this little cafe has a full bar and several beers on tap (all local brews like Founders).  I chose wine and my sister thier iced tea blend. They do not have a dedicated dessert menu but offer something different daily which they write on a chalk board on the wall next to the beers on tap.  We ordered an orange goat cheese cheesecake.  OMG!   This was so good!   The goat cheese made it light and creamy and the orange have it almost an orangecicle flavor reminiscent of our childhood.

The atmosphere is relaxed and casual with rustic decorations and delightful staff.  Everyone is helpful and the lack of uniform for the staff gives it a homey feel.  It is a great place for breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks. You can bring your colleagues, family, date or friends. They try to use only local items on their menu supporting other Lansing area small businesses.

I was so happy with my first experience, that I was determined to make it back at my next chance to try one of the enticing items on the lunch menu.  As luck would have it, the following week, I found myself in need of a lunch to bring to the school to eat with my kids.  I ordered the BLT with avocado and chips.  Holy Bacon!!  Thick crisp pieces in abundance atop lettuce and tomato and avocado and drizzled with chipotle mayo.  The mayo have it a super kick!  My kids kept stealing my bacon and my chips. My picky eater loved their fresh made kettle chips.  I was happy and they were happy.

Needless to say, when my NP friend asked me to meet her for lunch I suggested the Soup Spoon.  We sat at the bar, which also serves the full menu.  Then came the hard task of deciding which item to order!   I was torn between the seafood chowder, naan pizza and the special-crab cake poboy.  When I went with my sister, the woman next to me ordered the crab cakes and they looked amazing so I decided on the crab cake poboy.  This item needs to be permanently on their menu.  Moist, perfectly seasoned crab cakes on a toasted asiago bun with peppers, onion, carrots and tomato with a chipotle aioli!  If I could have eaten two, I would have ordered another one!  So fantastic!! Take a look:

I am craving one now while writing this!!!  I was a happy girl with this lunch!!  I think I will make the Soup Spoon my go to lunch spot (and maybe breakfast and dinner as well).