We don’t usually venture out on Valentine’s day weekend, but circumstances require us to be out of town this year.  After waiting until the last minute, we (unsurprisingly) had trouble snagging a dinner reservation.  If you’re in the same boat, don’t panic – opentable.com still shows availability for a party of two at quite a few of my favorite midwestern restaurants.

Act fast, as these reservations won’t be available for long!  Keep in mind that some of these places may feature a “special” (i.e., limited and extra expensive) menu, so be sure to call ahead to avoid disappointment.

1.  Scholar’s Inn -  Indianapolis, IN – February 13th and 14th, availability from 8:00 p.m. onward.

2.  La Scala – Lafayette, IN – February 14th only, scattered availability between 6:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

3.  Kil@Wat – Milwaukee, WI – February 13th, availability from 9:30 p.m. onward; February 14th, scattered availability all evening.

4.  1913 Room – Grand Rapids, MI – February 14th only, availability at 6:00 p.m. and from 9:00 p.m. onward.

5.  Cielo Restaurant – St. Louis, MO – February 13th, availability at 5:30 p.m. and from 9:15 p.m. onward; February availability from 8:30 p.m. onward.

6.  Rhapsody – Chicago, IL – February 13th, availability at 6:00 p.m. and from 8:30 p.m. onward, February 14th availability through 7:45 p.m.

In the alternative to venturing out for dinner, you can always do what we usually do and curl up on the couch with a pizza and some movie theater-sized boxes of candy!  One year we even went to McDonald’s, and it was a blast.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m a sucker for nostalgia-filled places and for hotdogs, rendering me unable to resist a lunchtime stop at Grand Rapids’ Yesterdog, an affordable restaurant devoted to the good old days.  The restaurant itself isn’t that old – it was opened in 1976 – but you could have fooled me based on the extremely low prices and kitsch-heavy decor. 

Ordering lunch at Yesterdog is a bit intimidating for first timers.  Multiple servers take your hot dog, chips, and drink orders, so know exactly what you want for each when before you go up to the counter. 

Keep in mind this is a cash-only establishment.  Fortunately, you won’t need a lot of money.  A Yesterdog (chili, onion, chili, ketchup, and mustard) will set you back just $1.80.  Vegetarians can order the Veggie (cheese, kraut, onion, pickle, ketchup, mustard, no dog) for $2.00.  The most expensive thing on the menu is the Killerdog (chili, cheese, kraut, onion, pickle, ketchup, and mustard) is only $2.30!  Add chips and a drink for less than $2.00.

Yesterdog has extremely ample seating for a hot dog joint, and most of it was full during our visit.  We found this sole booth in a back room.  The restaurant looks “well-loved”, with graffiti carved literally everywhere.  To be honest, the place is a little grimy for my taste and feels as much like a campus bar as a peppy thirties diner.  At least it has character? 

We were rather boring in our ordering due to having just eaten a late morning snack at Frederick Meijer Gardens.  Pictured: a plain Yesterdog, one with ketchup only, sodas, chips, and cheese curls of a variety I’d never tried before. 

To be honest, the cheese curds were the highlight.  The hot dogs had no real flavor for a visitor used to plump Chicago dogs, and the buns were soggy.  While Yesterdog was a fun, gimmicky experience to enjoy once, I am unlikely to go back.  At least the whole meal was under $10.00!

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this Grand Rapids botanical garden/sculpture park with its mixture of art and nature is AWESOME.  You can find my full review here. However, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I took an awful lot during our visit.  Enjoy!

I’m feeling a wee bit “tapas’d out” at the moment, having had quite a few meals of the small plate variety in recent history.  For this reason, we opted to visit the highly rated San Chez Tapas Bistro for its larger-portioned breakfast menu instead. 

San Chez is just a five minute walk from most downtown hotels, including the JW Marriott, Amway Grand Plaza, and Courtyard.  The restaurant and surrounding neighborhood were pretty sleepy at 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning although with all the bars nearby I imagine the scene would be very different on a Saturday night.

As you can see, we did not require reservations.  The restaurant wasn’t totally empty though – there were four or five full tables clustered against the windows behind where I stood to take this photo.  This relative emptiness worked to our advantage as we received prompt and friendly service throughout our time at San Chez.

At the suggestion of our server, we started with a “breakfast appetizer” of a cinnamon pecan roll with orange cream cheese glaze.  It was great, if a wee bit heavy on the icing, and a good way to keep hunger pangs at bay while we waited for the main event.  Other pastry options I would have liked to try included Morroccan m’hancha and an almond croissant stuffed with marzipan. 

The menu contains a wide variety of American and Mediterranean-inspired dishes.  I picked the “traditional breakfast” but spiced up the eggs with cheddar and manchego.  They were perfectly cooked – fluffy and smothered in cheese!  The bacon was good too and the sourdough toast was probably the highlight of the meal.  The only disappointment?  The home fries, which were overcooked and fairly bland.  I had been seriously considering a dish centered around these potatoes and I’m glad I changed my mind.

The hubby picked the cinnamon French toast, which as you can see came in a skillet.  It was basically still cooking when we got it and was really, really hot initially.  Once the toast cooled, he liked it a lot.  It was definitely much more moist than regular French toast.

Our meal for two cost around $20.00 before tip.  We were in and out in an hour and could have been through sooner.  Overall, I would say San Chez Bistro is both a safe bet and something a little different for brunch in Grand Rapids.