Let me recommend: Bill’s Hot Dog Stand in Ypsilanti.
It’s a drive-in. Open your window and eat in the parking lot. Get their dogs with everything on it + a mug of root beer. If you don’t eat dogs, at least get the root beer!!! I don’t even like root beer that much, but I now dream about the root beer from Bill’s.
Absolute reasonable prices, too: got 4 dogs & 2 mugs of root beer for around 10$ total!
What’s your recommendation for unexpectedly good food in Michigan?
Niang Myanmar here in Lansing wasn’t a place I ever expected to find when I moved here. I’ve never heard of another Burmese restaurant. They have pickled tea leaf salad, and fried bottle gourd, among a number of other delicious dishes I’d never heard of. Great prices too. Terrible location though lol
Oh nice! I may have to drive there just to check it out. One of my wife’s and my favorite restaurants in SF was a Burmese restaurant called Mandalay.
There’s a Japanese place in Novi called Nagomi that is pretty great. When you walk in it looks like you’re in the wrong place because what you see barely looks like a restaurant, just an empty event hall that is a bit run down. The ordering process is confusing to everybody on their first time, but it works really great once you figure it out. The food is awesome. My family goes pretty regularly. I love the pork misoitame, the ramen can be amazing on the right day, and I love the chicken katsu curry with cheese. Their sesame balls are hit or miss. They have a rotating selection of Japanese drinks, with ramune always in stock, and sometimes suntori nonalcoholic beer. They usually play funny Japanese shows with pranks or fails. It’s pretty common to see groups of con-goers dressed up after attending a con of some kind. Also there’s a public access RC race car track right across the street by the water tower, which is great for families to spectate at, or drive on if you remembered to bring an rc car.
What’s the ordering process like?
There are pictures of the food on a long table and on the wall above it. There are little squares of paper with the name of the food, and things like “extra noodles” or “add egg” and “here or togo”. You get one piece of paper for each item you want, and then fill it out, and give them your stack of paper.
Charlie’s S & S in Waterford is a tiny hole in the wall but the food is amazing. I got catfish, yams and okra. Wife got smothered pork chops. Everything was great. Need to go back more often.
The Root Beer Stand in Kalamazoo is similar, great prices and I love their chili dogs and root beer.
Water Street Coffee had the best single origin espresso I’ve ever had. Downtown Water street location.
Rice Paddy - little hole-in-the-wall Thai take out restaurant in Marquette (upper peninsula). Best Thai food I’ve had to-date.
Grain of salt: this was over a decade ago, so no idea if they’re run by the same people / to the same quality today. Or if that building is even still standing.
/shrug
On the wrong side of Muskegon, at W. Sherman and Sanford Street there is a really good “Chicken Coop”. I’m told that other Chicken Coops may not be as good, but the Muskegon one never let me down. It is take-out only. Very cramped. Get the gizzards. You might also want any of the fish meals, and look for seasonal specials like deep fried asparagus in the spring (pretty much everything is deep fried). It is not haute cuisine, but surprisingly good comfort food for a fair price – not super cheap, but still a good value for what you get.
I’m intrigued by the “gizzards” option, ngl.
Yeah, it is hard to find gizzards on most menus. If french fries are going to be too starchy, gizzards have the same sort of bite-size quality for snacking enjoyment. If you like hot sauce, it works well on gizzards, but imho they are perfect as-is straight out of the fryer and don’t need any sauce at all.
I dont know if you guys have heard of this one, it makes top ten in the state lists frequently, but it was down the street my entire life and I just discovered it. Ernies in Oak Park has insane sandwiches
As a Cincinnati chili enjoyer, the handful of Coney Island type places I’ve been to in Detroit were pretty good.
Haven’t been up there in ages, I really should change that.
La Probadita in Hart, MI
Ok, I’ve got a few that I’d recommend for unexpectedly good:
Maryland Fried Chicken - Imlay City Country Smokehouse - Imlay City Jayell’s BBQ - Romeo Las Tortugas - Sterling Heights Rosita’s Treats (Columbian food) - Shelby Township
