Drive-bys: Recent Summer Food

A couple of quick bits about various places for not-good-for-you but good for your soul treats:

Fried fish and shrimp and onion rings: my favorite is Olympic Broil, which is in the old drive-in on Seymour Street in northwest Lansing. (Technically it's at 1320 N Grand River Ave, just north of the intersection of Grand River and Grand River. Below that intersection, the street is called Seymour. For those of us on the East Side, it's on the way to the airport.) They have great batter dipped fish and onion rings, as well as the usual burgers and fries and shrimp baskets and some Greek specialties.

However, I also just tried the place called just "Fish and Chips" at 2418 E Michigan Ave, a few blocks west of Frandor. Their cod was pretty ordinary fast foodish, but the perch was great. The chip were greasy but big and thick, and though I didn't try the shrimp, I took a quick bit of their cocktail sauce and found that it wasn't just ketchup - there's real horseradish in there. I'll be checking out the whitefish and catfish later on, and give you a better review. Oh, and the hush puppies I had with my order were good too. (Which is not true of the last time I was there many years ago.)


And ICE CREAM!

The soft-serve ice cream place in Old Town formerly known as Tate's Freeze is open again under the name of Arctic Corner. It's at 314 E. Grand River Ave. - that's the southwest corner of East Grand River and Center St., kitty corner from the soul food restaurant that used to be Vernadine's (and the old Lamai's before that). Here is a rather sloppy but thoroughly enjoyable Turtle Sundae that I had during a recent rainstorm.

Of course, when it comes to old fashioned soft-serve, you can't beat the Tasty Twist at 1307 E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing. We always stop for a small cone dipped in chocolate whenever we actually have room left in our stomachs. I don't have a picture because you can't set the cone down to take the picture as easily as a sundae. (Okay, that's an excuse, usually I'm too busy eating the cone to take the picture.)

Sparty's Coney Island

(Editors Note: Sparty's no long allows smoking! There is no downside anymore! Except cholesterol, that is.)

300 N Clippert St. (in the Frandor Shopping Center -- in the Video To Go area, next to Aladdins.)

Sparty's Coney Island is the kind of old fashioned greasy spoon diner/grill that places like Johnny Rockets WISH they could be. This is the kind of place that has pictures of local sports teams on the wall, and a big banner for the hockey team they sponsor -- The Coney Island Blue Dawgs. The kind of place with worn formica and too much smoke, and they used to have an Elvis clock -- the kind where the legs swing back and forth to keep time. (That's gone this year. I'm sad.)

And the food is old-fashioned good solid grill food. Burgers, dogs, sausages, gyros, plus BLTs, shrimp baskets and homemade soups. They feature two kinds of Coney Dogs -- "Detroit Soupy and Spicy" or "Flint Meaty". Their fries are REAL fries, the kind you used to be able to get at drugstores and grills everywhere, but now nobody has.

And as with any good old-fashioned grill, they have a truly full breakfast menu: from Sausage Biscuits with Gravy, to Blueberry Pancakes to old fashioned Oatmeal. All good, all bad for you, all at a reasonable price.

Unforutnately the atmosphere here is a little too authentic -- this is a place where all the smokers hang out, and though they do have a non-smoking section, it doesn't really make any difference. Heck, even when there are no smokers in the place, it's saturated with smoke. Because of the smoke, I only go here once or twice a year to have a hotdog and real fries.

However, when I feel like good old-fashioned grilled/fried food, there is another good grill in town: Olympic Broil, at 1320 N Grand River in North Lansing (on the block where Grand River crosses itself and becomes a north/south road -- really an extension of Seymour St.) No smoke, and they feature hand-dipped onion rings and fish filets. (More about them another time.)