foodies

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 3 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating spotlights a couple restaurants in Michigan, where we visited for a NASCAR race.

We discovered a gem, the Breakfast Club in Farmington Hills, a home town family restaurant serving up breakfast and lunch to the locals.

I chose the Meat Lovers Bowl. Sausage, bacon, ham, and eggs topped with cheese and served over diced potatoes with a side of sausage gravy and fresh fruit. This breakfast was great! Crispy potatoes, perfectly cooked poached eggs, and a hearty heaping of meat and cheese. I used the sausage gravy for dipping the crispy potatoes.

Meat Lovers Bowl

Dora here. I ordered The Greasy Spoon. Hash browns, melted cheese, caramelized onions, topped with two eggs and served with toast and fresh fruit. Let me say I’m not a huge breakfast fan. I’m usually quite happy with a bowl of cereal. And this was so much food! Everything was tasty and filling, but I could’ve made a meal on the walnut cherry toast. Yowza! Crispy yet chewy, and buttery with bits of fruit and nuts. Delicious! 

Service was quick and friendly, and hubby’s late special order of a poached egg rather than scrambled didn’t upset. Actually, the waitress responded that they take care of their customers. And that was obvious with the chocolate covered strawberries that come complimentary with the checks. YUM! What a sweet way to start the day. And we can certainly understand why this restaurant is a local favorite.

Complimentary chocolate covered strawberries

We rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

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The next day we scouted out a local pizza place. Buddy’s Pizza in Livonia, with their deep dish offerings, sounded right up our foodie alley.

Be warned, though. Don’t wait until 7 PM on a Friday night and expect to get right in. This place was jammed!

Their pizzas come in squares of 4 or 8. We opted for 2×4’s, a Meat Deluxe with pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, bacon, and seasoned ground beef, and a Pepperoni. Both pizzas were outstanding, not greasy, and full of flavor.

4 sq pepperoni
4 sq Meat Deluxe
Dora here. I confess that I tend to be somewhat of a pizza snob. I don’t like pizzas smothered in sauce or cheese, and my fave is thick and doughy. These pies were not doughy, but crispy and not too cheesy or saucy. Surprisingly awesome, and I can definitely understand why they were packed! Slice out a wedge of time, though, because the pies took forevah!

We rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

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Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers

This edition of “Excited about Eating” takes us back to the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood of Charlotte, to a restaurant recently featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive ins and Dives,” Intermezzo Pizzeria and Café. This European style restaurant serves hand-tossed pizza and traditional Serbian dishes. It reminded me of some of the cafes we visited on our past trips to Europe. 


Dora here. Yeah, especially the cozy interior with brick exposed walls and only a smattering of tables and booths surrounding a hearth-like bar. But they don’t need many interior tables with this generous outdoor patio!

Exterior

After DDD’s feature, I was all set to order the cabbage rolls (Sarma), but they were out. So, at the waiter’s helpful recommendation, I ordered Karadjordjeva, a ham and cheese schnitzel breaded and pan fried, served with skillet potatoes and tartar sauce, although not the typical American tartar sauce, with a definite hint of dill. Similar to Cordon Bleu, but elevated a few notches, especially with the drizzle of lemon on the top. 

Karadjordjeva

Dora here. I ordered the Burek, ground beef and onions baked in Fillo dough. An unusual combination, right? But isn’t it beautiful? Nothing spicy or too complex. After a few bites what came to mind was comfort food, much like Mac ‘n Cheese is to Americans. Between Ernie and I, we finished off the whole thing. Didn’t touch the salad, but that cucumber mixture made for a nice dipping sauce.

Burek

I’d definitely order the Karadjordjeva again, but I’d also like to try the Sarma or the Piroska. And the pizza… 

Dora here. Guess that means we’ll be going back. lol

We rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

Click to add a blog post for Intermezzo Pizzeria and Cafe on Zomato

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to the South End neighborhood of Charlotte to Tupelo Honey Café which is located on the second floor in a renovated historic building near Charlotte’s light rail. The interior is a mix of industrial and rustic with lots of wood, exposed brick walls, and high ceilings.

Exterior
Interior
Dora here. Don’t you just love the interior? This is my kinda place. Parking around noon on Saturday was non-existent in the lot behind the restaurant, but no worries. There’s free on-street parking on the other side of the light rail. Also, the 35-minute wait only ended up being 15 minutes. Another score!

Rather than table bread, Tupelo serves scratch-made biscuits with blueberry jam. These biscuits were great, crispy and buttery and warm, and the blueberry jam was the perfect pairing. We would have preferred to eat ours prior to the meal, but with a packed dining room, they came out with our meal. Dora here. I don’t care what time they got to the table. I could’ve stuffed myself with these biscuits! The food did seem to take awhile, but service was very attentive and gracious.

I chose the Tupelo Farm Fresh Burger with cheddar cheese, lettuce, house-made pickles and a secret sauce along with fried okra and tomatoes. The burger was outstanding, grilled perfectly, tasty, and the secret sauce brought it all together. The okra and tomatoes were fresh, lightly battered with just the right amount of crunch.

Tupelo Farm Fresh Burger

Dora here. So many choices! But I finally decided on the Charleston Chicken Sandwich, a marinated grilled chicken breast with lettuce, Havarti cheese on sourdough wheat bread with a side of mac-n-cheese. Doesn’t that sound great? The chicken was oh-so-tender and juicy, and I really liked the cranberry flavored mayo. First time eating sourdough wheat bread, and I liked it. The mac-n-cheese was creamy with just the right amount of firmness and kick. 

Charleston Chicken Sandwich

I would rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food. Definitely worth a return visit!

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