Denny's; Novi, Michigan

I had another doctors appointment today and that meant another stop with my friend Cliff for a bite to eat.  This time I knew where I was, out in Novi, Michigan (just north of I-96), so we decided on eating at Denny's, an old classic eatery.  For me Denny's was always famous for a few dishes and those where their Grand Slam breakfasts, Eggs Over My Hammy, their tasty coffee and pie.

Now unfortunately for me I was not feeling wonderful so I knew I would not be ordering anything very large but I was checking things out from the moment I approached the restaurant.  And the first problem came the moment I walked through the front door and that was the foul smell that washed over me like a tsunami.  I am sorry my friends, but I CANNOT IMAGINE ANYONE WANTING TO EAT A PIECE OF COCONUT CREAM PIE WITH THE STENCH OF URINAL CAKES IN THE AIR.  This vile smell permeated the entire restaurant.  I asked the waitress about it and she said that was the normal odor, it made me want to puke!  

The next strike was the cleanliness, which will receive a 0.  Our table was lined with a green film in the edges that came off when my arm rubbed it.  I have NO IDEA what it was!  Next, we come the crawling ants and beetles on the booths and chairs, I killed three.

The waitress was nice enough until I asked about the smell; she then became very defensive.

As for the food let me start with the coffee.  It was so bitter that I could not drink it.  It is my belief that the staff reused the coffee filters, but there is no way to verify this.  Eventually I moved my coffee cup aside and ordered an orange juice which was quite yummy.  For food I had a bagel and cream cheese and a order of turkey bacon.  The turkey bacon had to be sent back to be crisped up but when it came back it was great.  It was thick cut and that made it very appetizing.

Cliff ordered the Ultimate Bacon Breakfast which consisted of two eggs over medium, hash brown six pieces of bacon and wheat toast.  he was happy.  He though the coffee was fair, but in his words it was the cream that made the coffee.

The decor of this Denny's was the same as every other Denny's.

Overall I would recommend you do not visit this restaurant.  I would take you money elsewhere as there are plenty of stores nearby in this shopping district.

Overall:

Service:                       **(2 1/2)

Food:                           *1(1 1/2)

Affordability:              ***(3)

Cleanliness:                 (0)

Decor:                         **(2)

Overall                        (1/2)

The Village Place; Waterford, Michigan

The Village Place has a special place in my heart.  Not the Waterford location (Elizabeth Lake Rd & Cooley Lake Rd) per se, but the West Bloomfield store, for I had a job there as a dishwasher when I was only 15 years old.  Yes, I remember dish-dogging in a sweaty nasty back room and having a huuuuuuge crush on this super hot waitress (sorry honey) name Nicole (hey, I was only 15).  


Today, my friend and spiritual brother Cliff drove me to a doctors appointment and on the way home we stopped to eat at one of the two Waterford locations of The Village Place (aka. VP).  The second location is on Dixie Highway just south of Andersonville Road.  As this was to be my first meal in almost 36 hours I was really looking forward to it.


Now the VP has had the same look to it since the fifth day of Creation.  I truly believe that the owners hold to the belief that hiring an interior designer and having someone paint the walls is the same thing.  The location I was at even had a 1970's cigarette dispensing machine...like ya'...c'mon dude!  At least there was no cigarettes for sale, they simply use the old thing as some type of table for old dusty plants, and yes they where dusty.  And as we are on the subject, the cleanliness was not very impressive, inside or outside the lavatories.

Prior to discussing the food, I should be clear on one thing, VP is not in existence or known for their fine Chef Ramsey cuisine.  VP is a diner of "all-around" proportions serving a variety of foods; a sampler if you will.  That is what draws me.  Though there is a few dishes that I do love and I will mention those at the end, for those dishes are from the Waterford-Dixie Highway location.

For a meal Cliff ordered the Village Platter Salad.  This salad was quite large and began on a bed of iceberg lettuce.  Let me add this important fact, there was a lot of iceberg lettuce.  On top of the ruffage there was some shredded swiss cheese and then a scoop of chicken salad.  Actually Cliff had a choice of chicken salad, tuna or crab salad.  Along with salad there came a side of cottage cheese and a grilled pita bread.  For his choice of salad dressing Cliff chose a honey mustard.  I am a fan of honey mustard so I decided to taste it, and my friends I was so close to gagging it was V-I-L-E!  Cliff did not utilize the dressing but he did enjoy his salad.

As for myself I ordered The Village Place Special; a delicious order of three eggs (I got them poached) over wheat toast (or white, rye); with hash browns (or pancakes), turkey sausage patties (or pork sausage links or patties or bacon).  Overall quite tasty, but then this would be a hard one to mess up.


The service at the VP store was OK, the nice waiter argued with Cliff whether or not he was due his cottage cheese even going so far as to bring a menu up to the table to prove he was right (he was wrong, lol).  Other then that, the service was good.


The affordability of VP is about the same as any other restaurant of that caliber, meaning a store serving that same type of cuisine.  


As I said previously the cleanliness was bad as was the decor.


Now as for the Dixie Hwy location I highly recommend the Veal Parmesan Sandwich, the Crab Salad Sandwich and their Heart Healthy Frozen Yogurt.  For these items I would actually make a special trip.


Overall:


Service:                          **(2 1/2)               
Food:                              ***(3)
Affordability:                 ***(3)
Cleanliness:                     *(1)
Decor:                            *(1)


Overall:                          *(1 1/2)

Joe's Crab Shack; Auburn Hills, Michigan

I live in a "fun-to-eat" food family.  I have chronic pancreatitis, which means I eat low-fat foods, plus I am lactose intolerant.  Kolleen is severely allergic to shellfish and some paradise fruits like kiwi.  And Sarahfay is allergic to kiwi and is lactose intolerant when it comes to ice cream.  So when it comes to the eating of delicacies like crab and shrimp that dire task must fall to Sarahfay and myself. That's a shame...

It was just over a week ago when my daughter and I found ourselves at Joe's Crab Shack after our visit to Bass Pro Shop at Great Lakes Outlets in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  Joe's is one of those fun type of places where just being seated is an adventure.  The decor at Joe's can occupy one's mind for at least 15 minutes as the walls are covered with old pictures, signs and stuffed fish and sharks from the docks and sea.  The wait staff makes eating pretty fun as they come out to the floor to sing every 10 minutes or so.  On our trip our waitress even asked Sarahfay to come join the staff in a rendition of the song "At the Car Wash."  Unfortunately, Sarahfay was just a bit too embarrassed  but that would have been soooooooo cool!!!  Also pretty awesome in the decor was the kids playground out front.  I thought that might be pretty nice for a lot of families.

Sarahfay and I pretty much ordered the same thing, just in different sizes.  She got the kids Steampot and under for $10.00 it was a deal!  In that pot she had 6 crab legs, 4 large shrimp, redskin potatoes and a corn on the cob (Sarahfay likes to it calls it corn on the bone).  I had the Long Islander Steampot and it was much more expensive then I had thought when I ordered it; it was $23.95.  Yet, it had multiple crab legs, scallops (my favorite), mussels, redskin potatoes and corn on the cob.  Sarahfay and I both agreed this was one delicious meal.

The way the meal was served only enhanced the enjoyment of the dinner.  Instead of plates we were given a wax paper to destroy the shells on.  A communal bucket for the shell discards was placed in the center of the table.  The waitress also left a roll of paper towel on the table; believe me you will need this!  As for myself this meal was extra special since I got to teach Sarahfay the ins and out of how to crack and eat crab legs.

The cleanliness of Joe's was very nice.  I popped my head into the Men's Room just to take a look and it was well kept.

Overall I love Joe's, if anything would keep me away, other then my wife dying there, it would be the expensive prices.

Overall:

Service:                 ***** (5)

Food:                    ****(4)

Affordability:        **(2 1/2)

Cleanliness:          *****(5)

Decor:                   ****(4)

Overall:                 ****(4)

Green Apple; Waterford, Michigan

Every family has a restaurant they can call their "regular spot", the one place they go to more then any other eatery.  For the Hendin family that place is the Green Apple restaurant located at 4780 Dixie Highway (just south of Walton Blvd/Williams Lake Rd) in Waterford, Michigan.  We have always loved the Green Apple, for their fantastic breakfast specials, for their great kids specials (kids eat free Mondays - Wednesday evenings with adults), and with their great food.

So it was just the other day that my good friend Cliff took me to lunch to try to get some food in me as I am still recovering from my recent bout of pancreatitis.  I was not sure what or how much I would be able to eat, but I did know that if I could eat anywhere it would be at the Green Apple.

As always, arriving at the Green Apple was arriving at a comfortable diner.  My family is known at this restaurant and Kolleen is actually on a first name basis with the owner.  Since Kolleen had her stomach surgery years ago she tends to eat little at meals so she has an agreement with the owner that she may order off of the kids menu.  To me that speaks of a friendliness to customer service.

Cliff and I arrived and sat down to order.  As we are both familiar wit the menu we knew what we were going to order.   For Cliff it was a Taco Salad and for myself it was going to be a Chicken Gyro with Fries and a side salad with ranch.

Though neither of us ordered it I do want to mention that the Green Apple does offer a wonderful lunch special.  They offer a daily choice of soups (all homemade) to be served in a bowl with a choice of sandwiches.  My favorite soups are the German Tomato, the White Chicken Chili and the Split Pea.  The sandwiches are also wonderful.  My favorite is their Egg Salad.

Cliff's Taco Salad arrived and it did look very impressive.  Cliff told me that everything on the plate tasted very fresh and nothing was frozen.  The taco meat had a wonderful seasoning to it.  There was an incredible blend of vegetables to the salad that did not end at lettuce, but included green peppers tomatoes and black olives.  There was also was an ample amount of a dual blend of Mexican cheeses.  The salsa was spiced nicely.  The tortilla bowl was fresh from the deep fryer and was not too greasy but crunchy and delicious.

My side salad that went with my Chicken Gyro platter does deserve some comment.  Unlike many side salads at various diner-like restaurants this salad had no wilted or brown lettuce.  I also appreciate the fresh tomato and cucumber slice that was added to the plate.  The ranch dressing was good, yet a bit watery, it could have been a bit thicker.

The Chicken Gyro was good.  The cooked chicken was fresh and that is what made the sandwich.  The pita was also fresh.  I personally would have preferred red onions to the white onions that were on the sandwich.  The tzatziki sauce for the sandwich was awesome and is what really made the meal special.  The French fries were also top notch, though there were not many on the plate.

Overall, I was satisfied with my meal at the Green Apple.  I have honestly been rarely disappointed from this establishment.

The cleanliness and decor are both good.

Overall:

Service:           ****

Food:              ****

Affordability:  ****

Clenliness:       ****

Decor:             ****

Overall:           **** (4)

Pita Way; Clarkston, Michigan

My wife Kolleen and I have always enjoyed Middle Eastern cuisine.  In fact, at another establishment we often frequent we would order a special Middle Eastern/Greek platter almost every time we eat there.  Today my wife surprised me with some take out from Pita Way, a small eat-in & carry out located at 6315 Sashabaw Rd (just south of I-75) in Clarkston, Michigan.  

As it often is  our restaurant choice today was aided by our membership in restaurant.com and the coupons they provide us for discount eating.  Remember, in addition to our medical  easting constraints we are also under the all too common financial noose that has hurt so many in today's economy.

As I was surprised by the food, I had no idea as to what food was coming, yet I was far from disappointed.

The first dish Kolleen ordered was my favorite of all Middle Eastern and Greek dishes, Grape Leaves.  These grape leaves were stuffed nicely with a cooked rice and meat and tomatoes; the flavor was delicious!  The grape leaves had the briny taste essential for all grape leaves, but it was not overpowering in any way.  The tahini sauce was also d-e-l-c-i-o-u-s.  I must be honest, I kind of think of myself as a connoisseur of grape leaves and I seriously have not tasted a better grape leave outside of Greektown in downtown Detroit.  The grape leaves may be ordered in one of two ways, meat or vegetarian.

Like most of the dishes at Pita Way the grape leaves may be ordered as a sandwich on pita bread or as a meal with yellow rice.  Extra meat is available.

The second meal that was ordered was the Chicken Kafta, which was ground chicken mixed with onions and parsley.  This meal was served as a sandwich.  The flavors of the chicken mixed with the taste of the  tahini worked well together.

The affordability of the meals was truly worth it as sandwiches ran at $4.99 and meals started at $5.79.  The cleanliness of the store was top notch.

Overall:

Service:                           ****

Food:                               ****

Affordability:                  ****

Cleanliness:                     *****

Decor:                             *** 

Overall:                           **** (4)