Peace on Arth...with sausage factory parking in the rear!

This month (November) we chose Michigan's Little Bavaria! Frankenmuth is an awesome place. Anytime of year really, but late fall early winter is the best time. We went to Bronner's first, because...really? How can you miss the place that has 360 days of Christmas! We all got some great ornaments and we saw some disturbing things. Sexy Santa was something I could've lived without seeing. Ever. Just sayin'.

We did not go the popular route and eat at Bavarian Inn or Zhenders. We chose the Sullivan's Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill on the recommendation of one of Mom's co-workers. We've never really been impressed with the "special chicken dinners" in Frankenmuth and we don't understand the hype surrounding it.

Place: Sullivan's Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill
Location: Frankenmuth, MI (behind Bronner's)

Our first stop was Bronner's. We found so many cute ornaments! We even found one of a Quesadilla for Jeri and we had it personalized with her name! She loved it. The ladies that do all that personalization deserve an award or some candy or something. They did a great job.

When we finally made it out of the mad house that is a Christmas Store one month before Christmas, we headed over to the restaurant. And ordered some drinks!

White Cheddar Ale Soup

Highlights

Teaching Mom about photobombs!

White Cheddar Ale Soup - Three of us ordered the soup. And we loved it. We love cheese as it is, but this soup was so good, I'd go back just for that soup alone. And pair it with the fresh warm rolls that they sent out? Heaven. Especially on a cold day!

Lemons! - Just for the face Jeri makes when she eats them. They had lemon slices with our water. And the water was in some really nice and fancy glasses! Which made us really anticipate the other drinks! Jeri needed extra lemons, cause she has some fascination with them.

Chicken Schnitzel - "I'm gonna order Chicken Schnitzel just cause I like to say "schnitzel" - Marti. And she did too! Also, none of us could correctly describe capers, but Marti got them anyway. Yay! for trying new things Marti!

The Ratings: On a Scale From 1 to 5

Chicken Schnitzel

Waitstaff

I feel like I need to start prefacing this section with an asterisk. *Almost all of us have either been a waitress or are currently waitresses. So we are very critical of this part. So please take it with a grain of salt and with the knowledge that we are going to be more critical than the average person.

Mom - 4; She was attentive when we actually saw her.

Jeri - 2; I had an empty glass! How rude.

Terra - 4; Our waitress was okay, but the boy waiter that stopped his running to the kitchen to take our picture? He was awesome! Overall they seem to have some pretty good staff.

Susie - 3; Not very attentive and it wasn't very busy.

Marti - 3

Food Quality

The Border

Mom - The Border (A taco salad); 5; It's a taco-splosion in my mouth!

Jeri - Basset Flat Iron; 5; Even though I didn't actually eat anything, it smelled amazing! (She was working a good buzz and didn't want to mess it up. We can respect that!)

Terra - Basset Flat Iron; 3; I loved the soup that came with the steak. They didn't have mashed potatoes till two. But it wasn't mentioned on the menu! So I had to get a baked potato. It was okay. The steak had lovely mushrooms on it, but the steak itself wasn't very flavorful.

Susie - Stuffed Chicken Florentine; 3; It wasn't cheesy enough.

Marti - Chicken Schnitzel; 5; The soup was amazing and the chicken was pretty good too.

Basset Flat Iron

Food Value (Was it worth what we paid?)

Mom- $9.99; Yes

Jeri - $17.99; Yes

Terra - $17.99; No

Susie - $14.99; No

Marti - $15.99; Yes

Drinks (Out of 10)

Mom - Pirates Porter (an ale); 8

Jeri - Long Beach; 10; New favorite! I had 2!

Stuffed Chicken Florentine

Terra - Long Beach; 10; I loved it! It was strong and it kicked in fast!

Susie - White Zinfandel; 10; You can't go wrong with a white wine.

Marti - Malibu & Pineapple Juice; 10; Tasty and you can never go wrong with pineapple juice and Malibu!

Overall

Mom - 5; Fun!

Jeri - 5; The food smelled amazing! I was so tempted to lick it! I can't wait till tomorrow so I can eat it. Tequila!

Long Beach!

Terra - 4; The soup was awesome and my drink was amazeballs. And you gotta love a roller coaster in the bathroom! Right girls?

Susie - 3; I had more fun in Bronner's

Marti - 5; Tequila?! I never know what to say. LOL. 

All in all it was a great time! We got to go shopping before and after. There are so many great little shops in downtown Frankenmuth. If you want to know the back story about the title ( and it's super funny! At least it was when we were bombed on Long Beaches!) or about the roller coaster, ask in the comments and we'll tell you. Want to suggest a place we should try in Southeast Michigan? Put that in the comments too. See you next month.

Terra

Sexy Santa!

Garfield's - Mondays Suck. Except it wasn't a Monday.

Turkey Avocado Club

This took an extra long time to get out. Sorry about that. But personal life intruded. This month we decidedon the pub restaurant Garfield's in the Birchwood Mall. We've each been there once before, but never together. And we had a weird feeling there was a reason we hadn't been back. We weren't mistaken.

I'm gonna say right off the bat. The food saved the experience. This was an AMAZING lunch, food-wise. If we could've we would've complimented the chef and fired everyone else. Including the bartender. But we'll get to that.

Restaurant: Garfield's
Location: Birchwood Mall, Pine Grove Ave, Fort Gratiot, MI

We had no Susie this time around . She spent Spring Break in Ohio with her sons. The slacker. So it was just Mom, Jeri, Marti, and me. Or is that "I"? Whatever. Everyone, except for Susie. This is the month I forget what things are called , "I need a...what's it called? Oh yeah! A box." and Dora the Explorer is revisited. Even reading Midori on a menu cause's us to go into this bit. It's becoming a thing. Mom asked, "What's Midori?" and we said, "Remember? Dora the Explorer?" And she got it right away.

Garfield's was chosen because, Hey!, shopping when we're done! And I needed to get my nails did. And there's always a nail salon or two in the mall. And we were pretty sure they had the prerequisite alcoholic drinks.

Highlights

Drawing on the Table!

Chicken Quesadilla Heaven - They had chicken quesadilla everything. "Aw Hell!!" - Marti. Even a salad. Which one of us ordered. Chicken quesadilla's are never a bad thing. We could all use more in our lives.

Cranberry Walnut Salad

Crayons! - Garfield's is one of those places that has crayons at the table and you can draw on the tablecloth. We love that. I helps with SUPER long wait. Just sayin'.


Candied Walnuts - The candied walnuts on the Cranberry Walnut Salad are amazing. "I could eat just a giant plate of this!" - Mom. Jeri agreed. I guess the salad was pretty amazing. Marti and I didn't partake. I'm not a fan of feta cheese, which was on the salad. Marti and I like basic house salads. Jeri and Mom like those weird salads.

The Ratings: On a Scale From 1 to 5

Waitstaff
We all gave our waitress, Mel, a 1. Don't worry. We still tipped. We understand that maybe some days are

French Onion Soup

off days. But an effort should still be made to make the customers experience a good one.

We remembered why we hadn't been back. The service had been awful. And it hadn't changed. She didn't listen to us at all. I ordered a baked potato and the others had a salad or soup. I asked for it to be brought out with the starters. She brought out Loaded Baked Potato Soup instead. When I said that's not what I ordered, she said she take it back and fix the order. So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. When we finally got a chance to ask where my potato was she said that it was gonna come out with our lunches. Which is not what we asked or expected.

When our food did finally arrive, Marti and I had to ask for the fries that came with our lunch. She thought we didn't want them.

We rarely saw her. And it's not like it was busy. There were maybe five other tables in the whole restaurant. When we asked for the check and paid, she never brought the change or receipt back. After we finally tracked her down, again, she said she had assumed that the change was her tip. Which just seemed rude. Don't you usually give the customer a chance to decided their own tip on small parties? Who just assumes the change is your tip?

Food Quality

Chicken Quesadilla Salad

Mom - Half Turkey Cheddar Melt w/fries and Cranberry Walnut Salad; 5; Best. Salad. Ever. The candied walnuts were to die for. The sandwich was delicious and they had amazing fries.
Jeri - Chicken Quesadilla Salad and French Onion Soup; 5; Fresh homemade guacamole and tortilla strips on the salad. I stepped out the box by ordering a salad this month and I wasn't disappointed. I actually took a salad home. It was delicious.
Terra - BLT Sandwich w/fries and Baked Potato; 5; Amazing everything. The bacon was crispy and perfect. The toast was just right and the fries were awesome. I've never had a BLT that was so wonderful in my life. The potato was loaded with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and green onions and it was fantastic.
Marti - Turkey Avocado Club Sandwich w/fries and French Onion Soup; 5; Freaking delicious soup. Perfect bacon and bread. The avocado was a good addition. And it was all nice and melt-y.

BLT with Baked Potato

Food Value
Mom - $6.99; Way worth it. Perfect lunch price.
Jeri - $11.68; Worth it.
Terra - $7.49; Totally worth it.
Marti - $11.48; Worth it. Plus there were leftovers.

Drinks (Out of 10)
Mom - Chocolate Martini; $6.00; 5; It was kinda tiny. It looked nothing like the picture.
Jeri - Jamaican Me Crazy; $6.50; 5; There was no fancy glass or garnish like on the menu. It was plain
Terra - Pineapple Spritzer; $6.50; 2; I sent it back cause it was so nasty. My second drink was a Jamaican Me Crazy; $6.50; 9; There was no garnish. So it lost a point
Marti - Jamaican Me Crazy; $6.50; 9; There was no garnish. Presentation is important too.

We were not impressed with the bar overall. The drinks were plain and they took FOREVVVERRRR to arrive.We didn't even take pictures of our drinks our ourselves with our drinks. We were too disappointed in their appearances.

Turkey Cheddar Melt

Overall
Mom - 3
Jeri - 4; The waitress didn't take all the fun out of it.
Terra - 3
Marti - 3

We might go back. If we forget again that the service is horrible. If you only have an hour for lunch, avoid Garfield's. Between the wait time for the drinks and the food, it took longer than expected. The food truly did save the entire experience. It's the saving grace. If you have more than an hour and can brave through bad table service, go for it. You'll enjoy the food.

Terra

Panera Bread + Chili's = Happy Hour Success!

This month the vote went to Panera Bread. But since they don't have "happy hour drinks", we went to the Chili's next door for our drink. It worked well. So this month we have separate reviews for lunch and for drinks.

French Onion Soup

Restaurant: Panera Bread

Location: 26 Mile Rd, Shelby Twp, MI

Panera Bread is, at heart, a soup and sandwich cafe. They have great bread. I've never had a bad bread at Panera. The paninis and sandwiches are made well and the soups are delicious. I know from previous experience that they do a wonderful salad as well.

We did decide that we prefer restaurants with table service. Not that we didn't have a good experience with Panera, we have just become used to and enjoy the table service more. Though we all did agree that Panera could do with busing staff at least. We really didn't like having to clear our own dishes. Maybe we're just spoiled from the sit down places we've been to so far. 

The only other drawback is that Panera has made it so comfy inside. Combined with the free wifi, many students and business professionals come for lunch and stay a long time. With their laptops. And take up at least one full table per person sometimes two. We were hard pressed to find a table for all five of us and in the end we had to steal a chair from a table and add it to our booth. Panera is definitely not a "Large Party" type eatery.

Highlights

Surprise Whipped Cream! - Jeri ordered a Cafe Mocha and when she opened the lid there was whipped cream and chocolate drizzled on the top! Surprise chocolate is always good in our books. The Cafe Mocha itself was pretty tasty. and only $3.80, which is pretty reasonable 

Spicy Mustard - Mustard again. I hate mustard myself. But Susie and Jeri love the stuff. And Panera has some good brown spicy mustard that they really enjoyed. I'm not sure what it is with those two and their mustard, but I blame it on that greasy spoon diner in Dayton, Ohio we went to back in the late eighties. Cheeseburgers and Waffles. I'm just sayin'. 

Atmosphere - The general atmosphere of Panera Bread is really good. They have comfortable seats (when you can find one), free wifi, and nice background music. It's a pleasant place to spend your lunch hour or meet with the girls.

The Ratings: On a Scale From 1 to 5

Waitstaff

There wasn't really waitstaff in the traditional sense of the word. Really, we just had the cashier. But we, being us, decided to rate and JUDGE! her anyway. Go figure. 

Mom - 4

Jeri - 5; "She tried, like, a hundred different phone numbers for my Panera card"

Terra - 4; She was kind of annoying and kept pushing the baked items, even though we repeatedly said no. I know they have to up-sell items, but after the third "no", give it a rest. 

Susie - 4

Marti - 4; She had a nasally voice.

Food Quality

Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Frontega Chicken Panini

Mom - Alfredo Tortellini and Roasted Turkey & Avocado BLT; 4; The sandwich was bland, which is surprising considering the type of sandwich it was.

Jeri - French Onion Soup and Chipolte Chicken Panini on the Demi Asiago bread; 5; The soup was delish!

Terra - Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Frontega Chicken Panini; 5; The best broccoli cheddar soup I've ever had. Not to mention the bread they give you to dip in your soup. I love it.

Susie - Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Sierra Turkey sandwich; 5; Love, love, love the bread that comes with the soup!

Marti - Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Sierra Turkey sandwich; 5; The soup is the best and the sandwich was really tasty!

Food Value

Jeri's Choice

Mom - $10.04; No, it wasn't really worth it. The tortellini portion was smaller than I expected.

Jeri - $7.79 for the food; No. The sandwich was quite small.

Terra - $7.79 for the food; Yes. The panini was very nice size and the soup portion was almost too much for me to eat in one sitting.

Susie - $6.79 for the food; Yes. The portions were quite large.

Marti - $6.79 for the food; Yes. It was well worth what was paid.

Bathroom

What bathroom? Seriously though. It was hard to find. It was okay as far as bathrooms go. Mostly clean. We liked the shelf that they had to set your purse on by the sink. I really hate when I'm forced to put my purse on the floor in a bathroom. There was some paper trash on the floor and the paper towel dispenser was malfunctioning. It got an average of 3 1/2 out of 5 from those of us that used the restroom.

Susie and Marti's choice

Overall

Mom - 4; I prefer table service and I hated busing my own table. But the food was tasty for the most part.

Jeri - 4; It was pretty good, but my sandwich was small.

Terra - 4; I too prefer table service. But the quality of the food was there.

Susie - 4; The background music was nice and the food tasty. I don't like having to buss my own table.

Marti - 4; The table was kinda small and the bread was the best.

Bar: Chili's
Location: 26 Mile Rd, Shelby Twp, MI

 After lunch we decided we needed to get our "happy" part of the happy hour. So we went next door to Chili's ("Wait. Where are we? Chipolte's?" - Terra).

We told the host that we were there to "Get Happy!", so he sat us right at the bar. Jeri did NOT want a frickin' Martini. But that's what she got.

Drinks
Mom - El Nino; 10; Herradura Reposado Tequila (100% Blue Agave), GranGala, Patrón Citrónge orange liqueur and fresh orange juice.; It was HUGE!
Jeri - Tropical Sunrise; 2; Hornitos Reposado Tequila (100% Blue Agave), DeKuyper melon liqueur, pineapple juice & a splash of grenadine.; It was too tequila-y tasting
Terra - Tropical Sunrise; 10; It was so pretty and tasty. The way the liquids were put in the glass made a rainbow!
Susie - Tropical Sunrise; 10; "It's a rainbow!"
Marti - Sex on the Beach; 9; It was okay, but I was jealous of the other drinks when they came.

The drinks averaged $8.00 and were mostly worth it. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided that next month's lunch will be at Chili's!


Terra

 

Tropical Sunrise

El Nino

Sex on the Beach