Pasta Pasta

762 West Main Street
(269) 345-6755

Tuesday-Friday – 11:30am-2:30pm/4pm-10pm Sunday/Monday – 4pm-9pm Saturday - 4-10pm

This restarurant is located at the far east end of West Main where it joins West Michigan Avenue, so technically I think we can still call it downtown. They are a member of the Kalamazoo Buy Local Alliance–businesses working together to promote local restaurants and stimulate the area’s economy. The food is fresh and all homemade. It’s a bit pricey, but there’s no reason to skip a meal here because you can always find a coupon for this place, and it’s usually “buy one, get one half off” on any entree. The website even has an online coupon that you can print off.  There are also coupons in the Superbook, Great Deals magazine, and most all of the other coupon books that get mailed to houses in the area.  The meals are not cheap food, but the homemade is worth it, especially if you are using a coupon. The lunch menu offers the same variety of food at less cost. The dinner menu offers larger portions for a bit more money. They also have a decent wine menu with prices anywhere from $15-$30/ bottle, and they often feature wines on their specials at half off.

They always post current specials on their website and also write them on a board outside the restaurant. The current specials are: Tuesday thru Thursday (11:30am-2:30pm) – $5.95 All-You-Can-Eat Soup & Salad,   Tuesday – Half-Off Wine List Available,   Wednesday – $5.95 All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti and Marinara,  and Thursday – New York Strip Dinner – $9.99.

Olde Peninsula Brewpub

200 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo
(269) 343-2739
Open Mon-Tue 11am-11pm; Wed-Thu 11am-12am; Fri-Sat 11am-1am; Sun 12pm-1am

Olde Peninsula is Kalamazoo’s 1st brewpub! but it’s the food (and beer) that will keep you going back for more. One menu item unique to Olde Peninsula that stands above the rest is the brewpub dip. It’s like no other. $6.99 for a full order served with chips and pita points.

Happy hour is Mon-Fri 3-7 and every night 10-close. They have drink specials and $1 off full-size dips, onion rings, and hummus. And yes, the onion rings and fries are battered with their own beer batter. These three foods and beer are really all you need for a good night, but they offer many other options as well. They also offer sandwiches, burgers, salads, and calzones for around $8. Their grilled pizzas are about $9 each.

They always have at least 5 of their beers brewed in house and many times of the year feature a seasonal brew. One advantage to drinking at Old Peninsula is that you can order a 5 oz. taste of a beer for $0.99. It’s kind of nice if you want to try a new beer but don’t want to spend the money on buying a whole pint of something you don’t like. They also offer a sampler that lets you choose up to 5 samplers. They brew their own root beer as well, so there’s something for all ages at OP.

Check this place out!

People’s Food Co-Op

  436 South Burdick Street, Kalamazoo

 269-342-5686

 Open daily 9-8 

I would be remiss if I didn’t include the People’s Food Co-op on this blog. It’s not a restaurant, per se, but they have lots of great food. There is a selection of deli foods ready to eat (sandwiches, salads, soups, etc), but the store is really all about the vast selection of foods that are locally grown and mostly organic.  Their selection of fresh, locally grown organic produce rivals the bigger grocery stores in town.  They also have groceries, snacks, dairy, bulk herbs and spices, and frozen foods.  They stock personal care items, vitamins, and supplements as well.

The management also tries to cut costs wherever they can. They encourage shoppers to bring their own bags and containers for bulk products, use as little packaging as possible, recycle 80% of their solid waste, and compost deli and produce waste. It is truly an eco-friendly store, and they not only practice this but also work to educate the community.

There are always specials available, but the best deals are available to those who are members of the co-op. (Although anyone can shop there.) Consider becoming a member of the co-op to get the best deals and first notice of specials. Check the website for all the details.

The Wine Loft

Wine Loft   161 East Michigan Avenue  269-343-9227

All day Tuesdays, half off all bottles of wine under $100.  Wines vary in price from about $20 up to $200.

Wednesday nights are college nights.  Drink specials vary weekly.

70 wines by the glass, over 250 by the bottle. If you don’t know much about wine, their staff is educated enough to help you make choices. I wouldn’t go so far as to classify them as experts, but they mostly understand the basics and can get you started in the right direction.

Entrees are pricey, but they do offer some pretty decently priced appetizers to pair up with the wines. A few examples: Charcuterie board $12, Artisan cheese plate $12, Corn and crab bisque $5 (and it’s LOADED with crab), and Bleu cheese-wrapped figs $8.

They have a nice outdoor patio with comfortable seating. The indoors is lowly lit with plenty of couches. Overall it’s a very relaxed atmosphere.

Check out the website here.

Bell’s Eccentric Cafe

355 East Kalamazoo Avenue

(269) 382-2332

There IS more to Bell’s than beer. Appetizers all about $5. Sandwiches around $7. Daily specials listed on the chalkboard. Make sure to try their beer brats made with their own beer.  They often have live music on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Some of the shows are free but can go up to about $7 for the cover. Click to see a complete Menu.

Interested in the beer-making process as much as eating good food? Check out this video about the Bell’s brewing process.

Epic Bistro

359 South Kalamazoo Mall
Kalamazoo, MI 49007-4843
(269) 342-1300

The Deals:

Students: 15% off with ID.  There are often coupons in the Community Quarterly and Great Deals magazines. 40% off dinner for 2.

Epic Bistro boasts kalamazoo’s original wine bar, and Sunday is the day to try out the vast array of wines. Bottles are restaurant cost + $1.00! You can’t beat that at any other wine bar in the area.

Wood-fired pizzas are about $12 each with very unique topping choices including asparagus, fig jam, and chorizo to name a few. If you are looking for a pizza you won’t find anywhere else in Kalamazoo, Epic Bistro is the place to go. Appetizers, sandwhiches, and salads are all around $10. Entrees are a little pricey, but coupons are readily available for Epic Bistro.

                                                                                                         Click here to see the menu!

Old Burdick’s Bar and Grill

 

2747 South 11th Street
Kalamazoo, MI 49009-2177
(269) 372-1596

Old Burdick’s Bar and Grill started in Downtown Kalamazoo, so I will include it in this blog.  There are now two more locations in Kamalazoo other than downtown for your convenience. 

Old Burdick’s offers a wide variety of meals.  It’s listed as American fare, and the menu ranges from comfort food like meatloaf ($10)  to Michigan salmon ($17) to steaks (about $15) and just about everything in between.  The entire menu can be viewed here.

THE DEALS

• On Wednesday and Sunday students receive 50% off food and drinks with a student ID. 
• Kids under 12 eat free with each adult entrée purchased. 
• They offer a great deal on their late night menu on Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 1:30am.  The special is 50% off select appetizers (queso, other select dips, chicken fingers, salads, sandwiches).  Most are around $4.

It’s a great restaurant to take the family to, especially because your kids can eat for free.  They offer lots of Michigan beers as well to keep the money local.

Harvey’s on the Mall

416 South Burdick Street
Kalamazoo, MI 49007-5218
(269) 492-7506

Possibly the best stromboli in the world can be had right here in Kalamazoo.  I recently went out to dinner at Harvey’s on the Mall with some friends.  They said the stromboli is worth the trip and Monday nights from 9 to 1 is $2 You-Call-It’s.  I figured it would be worth it to check this place out for the sole purpose of finding more great deals at downtown Kalamazoo eateries for the readers of this blog.  Oh man, was it worth it!!  I’m a lover of good food.  And even more so, I am a lover a good, inexpensive food.  I ordered the Chicken Alfredo stromboli.  It’s grilled chicken, red and green peppers, and spinach all smothered with a creamy alfredo sauce.  The strombolis are cooked in their wood fired brick ovens, so the wait is just a little longer, but I can’t think of another time in my life when an extra five minutes made that much difference.  This is no Pizza Hut pocket pizza!  This stromboli had a near perfect crust.  The outside was crisped to perfection from the oven but still chewy on the inside.  It was packed with filling.  I shared this deliciousness with a friend as was glad I did.  I’m sure the other half would have been great the next day reheated, but my dinner ended up being pretty cheap by splitting.  The price?  $6.99!!!  For the entire thing.  All of their strombolis are $6.99 unless you are building your own, and then the price depends on how many ingredients you choose.  And FRESH, FRESH, FRESH.  Everything we had was fresh.  I added their homemade chips to my order for an extra 99¢.  They were also very fresh, perfectly seasoned and crisped, and cheap.  The $2 drink was good.  Better than most $2 You-Call-Its.  

And as far as keeping the money local…Friday nights it’s easy to do at Harvey’s.  They have $3 bottles of local beers (Bells, Arcadia, New Holland, Founders, and Shorts). 

Click here to preview the menu.

I have a few passions in life.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love good food.  So I figured there is nothing easier for me to blog about than that!  I have lived in the Kalamazoo area for almost nine years now and have enjoyed many of the restaurants unique to this area.  Times (read: my financial situation) have changed, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy the best of what Kalamazoo has to offer every once in awhile.

I don’t go out as often as I used to or as often as I would like to, but if I’m out, you will likely find me downtown Kalamazoo.  I do what I can to help our local economy.  I would much rather spend my money at a locally owned restaurant downtown than at a national chain.  I’ve made it my mission to find the best deals downtown, and I’d love to share that with other people in the area who are also interested in helping our local businesses.

We may not live in a large city, but that doesn’t hold our downtown area from offering the best of what you may find in a large city.  It offers a wide variety of foods, entertainment, and unique microbreweries.   And all of this ends up costing much less because we are a smaller city.  It’s the best of the big city with small city prices.