Fantastic Food and Hundreds of Beer- Box Bar, Plymouth MI.

We lived in Plymouth, just after we got married, and loved the downtown atmosphere.  One of the places we frequented was the Box Bar.  We love this place. So when my girlfriend and I were looking for a place to stop and eat on our way back from Detroit, we both suggested the Box Bar! (She too loves this place!)

The Box Bar seems to have always been in Plymouth.  It was a small bar next to Kellogg park for years and then expanded in the 90s allowing for more dining space and room for parties and functions.  The main dining room has high ceilings and two large projection screens for the sport of the day.  There are shelves aroung the room that hold beer steins from around the world and the original sign is hanging over the host stand.

The back wall is lined with every bottled beer you can think of.  The selection is enormous. They have a multitude of draft beers as well.  Of course they have local beers on draft too!!





One of the coolest things about the Box Bar is how they serve the beverages.  Each soda or non-alcoholic beverage is served in a mini pitcher!  Huge hit with kids and those of us who love big sodas!

The menu is very large and bound like a book.  It sports items from burgers and nachos to bangers and mash and stews.    There is so much variety it is hard to choose; Mexican fare, burgers, barbeque, soups, salads, sandwiches, entrees and more.

We started with the nachos of course!  The nachos here are awesome!!!!  VERY cheesy  and meaty and topped with guacamole and sour cream.  Yummy!

I decided to order from the special menu, I couldn't resist the idea Guiness Beef Stew.  Beef, carrots, celery in a Guiness based beef gravy over a baked potato, topped with fried onions! Really who wouldn't want that!!! It was gigantic!!!  Every bite was a rich and full of flavor.  I ate a little too much, yet still had left overs for the next day!



My girlfriend ordered the meatball sandwich. This isn't your ordinary meatball sandwich. Instead of a roll the meatballs are baked into a bread bowl and topped with mozzerella.  Wow!!! and Wow again!  My girlfriend loved it!!!    

The kids menu is great and not only offers chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese but pasta and even PB&J.  Just be aware that like the adult menu the portions are huge. Each dish comes with a side of appleasauce.

The kids really liked their meals which made the meal better for the us!   We were so happy that we chose to eat at the Box Bar!!  This is a great place to take your family, meet friends for beers or watch a game.  Everyone will be happy with a visit to the Box Bar! 

Korean Noodles to die for! Tomukun Noodle Bar, Ann Arbor

I was meeting my Sister-in-law for lunch and we had planned on steak but it was really cold so I suggested we go to the noodle place on Liberty for something warm.  Great decision!!!  Tomukun Korean Noodle Bar is amazing!!!  It is a very beautiful and quaint place to meet someone for lunch or dinner.   The service is excellent, and menu offers a wide variety of noodles from ramen, to udon, Pho and stir fry.

We ordered an appetizer of course!  Love love calamari, so of course I ordered the Salt and Pepper calamari.  The squid is lightly fried  and served with onions, garlic and salt and pepper and a few jalapenos to spice it up.  It was delicious!!!  Tender calamari that was fried to perfection with out a greasy after taste.  

I ordered noodles of course!  The best dish is always the house specialty so I ordered the House Pho.  Rice noodles, beef, tripe, beef meatballs, oxtail, garlic, cilantro, and onions in a beef broth.  They serve the chili oil on the side allowing the customer to add to their taste.  I appreciated this, as I am sometimes a bit wimpy with heat.
This dish was so good!  The blend of the different meats and seasonings was delicious!    I even liked the tripe!!!!  Who would have thought that possible!  It was an absolutely huge bowl, so I was delighted to have left overs for the following day!


My sister-in-law ordered the Chow Fun Noodles with chicken.  The noodles are stir fried with vegetables in a ginger soy sauce.  Yummy!!!  How they keep the noodles al dente while stir frying, is a mystery but well enjoyed!  The sauce was great and had a bit of a kick to it!  I will definitely be getting this dish in the future.

I wish we had more people with us, so I could have sampled more of the fantastic offerings.  I guess I will have to bring my family back here soon because I was a very happy girl at Tomukun Noodle Bar.  Or perhaps we could sample more of what they have to offer at the Tomukun Korean BBQ next door.  Either way any visitor to Tomuku will go home happy.

Fantastic New York Style Deli and Diner in Mid Michigan-State Side Deli

You walk into the Okemos location of State Side Deli and you feel like you are in a New York Diner. We were greeted by the owner, a very sweet woman, who told us to sit wherever we would like.  My daughters loved that we got to pick own seats.  The menu is fantastic!  You can order breakfast all day!  I would have, if I hadn't had breakfast for dinner the night before.  The rest of the menu is a combo of diner and deli food; Corn beef sandwiches, soups, salads, burgers.  There wasn't an item on the list I didn't want to eat.  I knew exactly what to get my son, the BLT, his all time favorite sandwich.  They have a kids menu so one of my daughters was set with the kids chicken tender meal.  My other daughter surprised me by ordering the chili in a bread bowl!  I love her sense of adventure.

We got fried pickles to start!  I was so excited to see that they had them.  Very few places do.  They were so good!  They were crispy and seasoned well.  I really dislike mushy fried food so these made me very happy!  They come with a ranch dipping sauce because who doesn't love to dip!

My picky one got her chicken strips and I prayed she liked them.  She said, "Mommy these are real chicken, you have to try them"!  She actually ate two of them!
That is huge! Guess she liked them.

The bowl of chili was a success too!  I was worried at first, because it looked nothing like my chili and you know how kids are, but she said "Mommy that looks so good"!  She was right!! And it tasted good too!!

I went for the big prize, and a local favorite,
The Price Is Right.  Really that is the name!  What a sandwich it is!  Corned beef and pastrami with swiss and coleslaw on grilled rye!  Totally New York and perfect!  I actually ate the whole thing!  Don't judge me, please!  It was so good!!! Moist corn beef and spicy pastrami with creamy coleslaw on warm toasted rye, awesome good.

Just as we were finishing up, my girls discovered that they had smoothies.  Well that is a semi healthy dessert so why not.  This was really the icing on the cake (or lack there of) for my girls!  They loved this place!

After my son had his BLT, he agreed.  Extra thick bacon in abundance!  He had half for dinner and was super excited to have the other half for lunch today.  We were all happy at State Side Deli and will be headed back soon for breakfast!