Daytrip to Southwest Michigan

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-Farm to Table Food and Fresh Local Produce Up the Lake

According to some of the farms in Western Michigan strawberry season is near! June 11th to be exact though I'm sure some spots have already started harvesting them. It just so happens that last year around this time we took a ride to make a daytrip out of both the beach and strawberries. This is about a 2 hour ride from the city so unless you cant sit still for that time period there's no reason not to get away to an area sporting some of the best beaches and berries in the country. Pure Michigan.

South Haven, MI

We stopped in at Salt of the Earth in Fennville after the sand. We got some cocktails and decided to try some fresh cut fries and a pizza. Of course we were told how good it was and I guess the chef has been playing around with the dough for a while now and is happy with where its at. I ate 3/4's of it by myself so I didn't hate it I'm just not a big fan of the thicker cut puffier crust pizzas like these. I prefer mine tavern thin or similar to those found at woodfire stops. The toppings were good as were the fries and it all made for a nice snack which came with friendly service. Cute place.

Salt of the Earth in Fennville

Fresh Cut Fries

Whole Hog: Fresh Garlic Sausage - House Bacon - Sopressata

I've featured Earl's Farm in Fennville on here before in an article on 'Eatin Up Lake Michigan' and it's good enough to get another shoutout. The fourth generation farm is open everyday this summer.

Earl's Berry Farm in Fennville, MI

"Earl’s Farm Market offers their berries U-Pick and/or freshly picked waiting for you to pick up.  In 2003, the bakery and ice cream shop were added, along with the Michigan farm market. The farm market sells locally grown Michigan produce." In my experiences there whatever season it is the product will be good. Whether strawberries, or blueberries Earl's does them well. The strawberries from last year were outstanding, I took a case to-go. Be sure to stop into their kitchen room for a classic rendition of Strawberry shortcake, talk about great. Love this place.

Summer in Pure Michigan

Salt of the Earth
114 E Main St
Fennville, MI 49408
(269) 561-7258

Earl's Farm Market
1630 Blue Star Highway
Fennville, MI 49408
(269) 227-2074

Mexican Inn

-Grubbing in Chicago
Where the locals eat.

Were going back to the eastside of Chi to the Mexican Inn, a staple of the area, its been at the corner of 95th and Ewing along the Lake Michigan Circle tour route since 1961 and owned by the same family since then too. This is a spot I have been intrigued with since my high school days of going to Michigan City and taking US Route 12/20 and passing by this locals favorite that always caught my eye with its past era looks. A food friend of mine from LTH who knows more about southside Chicago and its food history than everyone else combined said the place is "a culinary museum, dishing up food exactly like they served in the '60s and '70s" and that's exactly how it looks from the outside when cruising by. I cant verify it but I've also heard that this might be Chicago's longest running Mexican restaurant which is impressive since we have as many as anyplace outside Mexico. I stopped in a while back to the triangular building to finally knock this spot off my list and I am glad to bring it back to my readers.


a locals favorite in Hegewisch/Eastside of Chicago

When I stopped in here with another buddy of mine we got the same feeling the outside gives you upon walking inside. It feels like stepping back into time with the classic Tex-Mex cafeteria feeling to it. Its hard to believe that Mexican food didn't really become popular in the US until the 60's and even then the food we called Mexican was more like Tex-Mex and yes there is a difference and both are very good in they're own right. Since then we have seen not just Mexican food like tacos and tortas pop up all over but been lucky enough to have all sorts of selection with different regional variations served at different restaurants throughout Chicagoland. Today however we visit one of Chicago's old school Mexican joints that very much has that Tex-Mex flare in both the menu and ambiance. You wont find anything you've never seen or eaten before on it's menu but that doesn't mean its not worth a mention.


Inside the Inn

I've mentioned it on here before but I'll say it again in case your not familiar with the neighborhood Mexican In is located in, it is very old school and one of the few neighborhoods in Chicago that feels like not much has changed. This goes for both the houses and businesses as well as other things that make the eastside a place I enjoy going to. We visited the Inn around 430p one evening and when we entered we were the only two people in there under 30. There was nobody in the 31-59 age range and everyone else was over 60 most eating dinner. Like I said about the neighborhood, not much has changed including the people, lots of old timers. Like any good sitdown Mexican joint your a started with chips and salsa on the house as you are given your menus. The salsas arent pictured but were what you would expect them to be like back in the 60's. They are housemade and I enjoyed them and so do regulars who buy containers to go. The menu has expanded over the years but we were there for the Tex-Mex like menu items for the most part and that's what we were going to order. Here is a rundown of our meal, eat by eat.


Steak tacos

^We started out by ordering two steak tacos with the traditional condiments of onion and cilantro on its customary corn tortilla just to compare what those were like to other authentic Mexican taquerias around town. While they weren't awful they were nothing special. Steak was made on a griddle as opposed to the favored way of a grill and not something I'd get again.


Shredded beef taco with lettuce, tomato on flour tortilla

^I enjoyed these tacos which are regularly made by mothers all throughout Texas and other places where AmeriMex is popular. Pretty typical with its toppings and flavor and served on a flour tortilla which is the more common used tortilla in Tex-Mex recipes. While they weren't order yourself a few more good they were homey and the taste came without the slaving and cooking in the kitchen.


Crispy hard shell ground beef tacos

^My favorite item of the visit. Another Tex-Mex staple you just cant find these many places anymore and the spots that do have them use those awful store bought hard shells and are too lazy to fry them fresh. Sure just like the taco above its a simple recipe and the ground beef could be seasoned up a notch but the combination of the beef with the lettuce, tomato and cheese on a fresh fried hard shell taco does it for me. Yes they're easy to make at home but I would eat these there too just like the locals do if I lived in the area.


Tamales with gravy

^Once again we have a menu item that's more Tex-Mex than Mexican. Yes tamales are Mexican and made everywhere in Mexico, these tamales were made like those served at Tex-Mex joints and made with a corn meal batter and had a thin and almost crumbly outer layer. I'm not an exert in real Tex-Mex from Texas but I do make alot of recipes using Robb Walsh's Tex-Mex cookbook which is legit as it gets. I liked these but thought the gravy could have been better. Again it wasn't seasoned enough and blander than I like but also again they weren't bad.


Ground Beef enchiladas

^Well, well once again we have a popular item in Tex-Mex cuisine. Although enchiladas are eaten in various parts of Mexico the style of Mexican Inn's version was in the style of enchiladas I would put in the Tex-Mex category. The gravy was pretty much the same stuff they used on the tamales so they didn't wow me but they were eaten.


Soft Cheese (tortilla w/ choice of filling topped with their special cheese sauce)

^I thought these were interesting, I wouldn't have them again but then again I didn't grow up on these since I'm not from the area. The family that owns Mexican Inn is from Mexico but when they opened the restaurant it was these type of dishes Americans recognized as Mexican and were going crazy for so most of these items were on the original menu and are not what most Mexicans eat. As time has gone by and Chicago has seen its Mexican population rise they have been able to add more authentic items they make for family dinners to the menu but have kept the original ones and the original customers have kept coming back. The family travels back to Mexico each year so the place is closed from January thru March. I love it for its character as much as anything. There arent many places like this that have survived time. If you ever drive by the triangular building and see the "Mexican Inn" neon, stop in for a hard shell taco or two.


It might not all be authentic Mexican but its a real locals type spot

Mexican Inn
9510 South Ewing Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60617
(773) 734-8957

Eating BIG in Racine, WI

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-The Local Eats of Racine WI

Whats up y'all? BIG post here today. So you might remember an old post from a little over a year ago titled "Eating BIG in Kenosha" and big it was. Well today were headed north, only a few miles, to Kenosha's bordering town on the lake, Racine Wisconsin and we're in for some BIG eats. Racine isn't a place untraveled on here. Its been visited before for two other absolute Hall of Fame eating gems: Kewpees and Well's Brothers.


Founded in 1841 and located along Lake Michigan

When you go thru or into Racine you take a little step back in time and can feel that this town has some history and that's also evident from all of the old school places to eat that remain like those mentioned above and those we will visit today. Racine became well known right before the Civil War for its opposition to slavery. Many slaves gained freedom by passing thru Racine and it was the site of a heavy protest in 1854 when an escaped slave who had made a home there had been tracked down by US Marshall's and jailed in Milwaukee. It would take 100 men from Racine to organize what turned out to be 5,000 'sconnies to storm the jail and free him and help him escape to Canada. After this the town began to get waves of immigration from many Germans, Danes and Czechs and then African-Americans came in large numbers after World War 1 and Mexicans started coming around 1925.


Haven't made into Frosty Freddy's...yet

Racine was a factory town from the get go and its harbor was a main component to the shipping industry in the 1800's so Racine has been home to many industrial companies and an automobile manufacturing center. Many of the buildings remain today and its a fun little town to drive thru or visit for the day. There are old tied-houses and quite a few Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses and buildings. Its also where Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler and adult film star Max Hardcore hail from. It is also the headquarters and home of S.C Johnson & Son. If you go here in the summertime, the public beaches are clean and beautiful and a great place to spend the morning followed by some exploring in the afternoon. Make sure you eat. Racine, like any town in Wisconsin, has some great eats.

Lee's Deli


a locals favorite for subs/bombers

Lee's Deli has been a staple of Racine for decades. Its one of those spots that's been in its town forever and has had half the people from there work there in high school and some people have been working there forever. Its currently owned by a guy who bought it in 1985 and he too worked there as a teen in high school. They serve sub sandwiches and a popular item in the Kenosha/Racine area called a bomber. I have a full round up of bombers coming later on but they are basically meatball or Italian beef sandwiches loaded with red sauce, cheese and hot peppers and can be found at quite a few of the places in the area. Lee's is a spot people come home to Racine and go to. The subs haven't changed and as the owner is quoted "people come back to Racine and they want pizza from Well's Brothers, Kringle and a sub from Lee's Deli" as the years have gone on it went from just a sausage shop to a sub sandwich shop to now a full blown deli with sides, hot sandwiches and other treats added into the mix.


The sub sandwich part of the menu hasn't changed


Bombers mentioned above are a popular style of sandwich


The menu has expanded since its opening decades ago


Article from the Racine Journal Times...Subway in 2nd?!?!?!?

Lee's has daily deals and I think on the day I went here with my buddy it was buy one sub get the 2nd at half off and so we were already looking good. It had a nice constant flow of traffic and the people behind the counter were really helpful and we went with a Godfather, Gobbler and meatball Bomber along with one of my favorite sides of all time, German potato salad. The interesting part of the sandwiches over at Lee's is that they come with your choice dressing on them. Since it was a while back I stopped in I want to say the most popular told to us by the woman working was either the Russian or the French but I cant recall.


Pasta and potato salads to go with your sammys


Lee's has a great German potato salad, I quite enjoyed it


Our sandwiches ready for chowing


Peperoni, pastrami, capricola, mozzarella and provolone


With all the trimmings


The Gobbler


also with all the trimmings

Like everything else in Racine I could feel that Lee's hadn't changed much and the locals love it that way. The sandwiches were very filling and well priced and I have a feeling they will be a part of the community for many more years.


Meatball Bomber


My favorite of the trio
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Bendtsen's Bakery

The next stop in Racine is a place that could easily be considered a national treasure and not just a jewel of the town of Racine. Its said that Racine has the largest North American settlement of Danes outside Greenland. Its a town that happens to be well known for its Danish treats including one of my favorite baked goodies: Kringle. The pastry snack is popular throughout Scandinavia and a part of Racine's culture. There are a few bakeries that bake Kringle daily and also ship them throughout the United States. Perhaps the oldest and most well known of the bunch is Bendtsen's. It is the longest family owned bakery in Racine.


a locals favorite in Racine

Bendtsen's was founded by a man named Lauritz Bendtsen who grew up learning the pastry trade in the 1920's in Denmark. It was always his dream to open his own bakery and that became a reality in 1934 when he settled down in the US in a large Danish community in Racine, Wisconsin. Not a day has passed since then that they haven't been a family owned joint specializing in hand made Kringle and a favorite of generations of people from Racine. It doesn't matter if your from Racine or the other side of the globe, its hard not to like this place.


View of the inside of the bakery


Bendtsen's has received lots of love thru the years


Old Photo from inside

The fourth generation of Bendtsen's is keeping the Kringle craze alive and well. Traditionally the Kringle is made pretzel shaped but this practice was abandoned by US bakers who make them oval shaped to ditch the unfilled overlapping parts. The original definition of a Kringle was just butter layered pastries but over time and in the US a variety of fruit and nut flavors were added in. In order to make a true authentic Kringle you need time and love. Since it is a delicate pastry with sheets layered on top of each other, one must roll very slowly to make these as thinly as possible and they can take up to three days to prepare. But oh its so worth it. On top of the Kringle they also bake up some amazing pastries and doughnuts of all types.


Kringle packaged and ready for chowing


The Kringle menu at Bendtsen's

I have been enjoying Kringle since my college days in Madison where I was able to buy it at the grocery stores. However if you want the good stuff you gotta go to Racine and visit a bakery like Bendtsen's to taste why these are so beloved and shipped throughout the country to the people who cant live without them. Since I'm not a big chocolate guy, my favorite Kringle is the cherry cream cheese. I mean how could you not like it? Wisconsin is known for both its cherries and cheese and also its Kringles. Makes sense that a cherry cream cheese Kringle would be special right? I also love the blueberry and even the chocolate topped ones.


Fruits and cheese are popular filings


As are chocolate and cream


Blueberry Kringle ready for my love


Elephant ears were always a favorite of mine...of course they take it up a notch


Excellent...


I'm sure this is another old school recipe that's been used forever


They always bake for the occasion at Bendtsen's

Since I always gotta try a little bit of everything I was really happy when I saw the donut case and the many different kinds offered that I don't see too often. Homer Simpson might move the family to Racine if he ever gets a taste of these. I liked them all and boy he would too. Who wouldn't? If your from the Chicagoland area or anywhere near Racine then I would suggest the first day in summer your bored and want something to do that you take a trip to Racine and do some exploration and eating. I might see you there.


Very Good


Exceptional


Buttermilk Donut


Cheery Cake Donut


Inside the cherry cake donut


Kringle in all its glory
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Lee's Deli
2615 Washington Avenue
Racine, WI 53405-5001
(262) 634-2373



Bendtsen's Bakery
3200 Washington Avenue
Racine, WI 53405-3037
(262) 633-0365
Website