Michigan

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: ‘It’s home’ says regular of Kalamazoo’s Nina’s Café

Published

3 years ago

June 9, 2022

Michigan’s Best Local Eats: ‘It’s home’ says regular of Kalamazoo’s Nina’s Café

KALAMAZOO, MI — Lois Ellis began bringing her daughter Terri Sage to Carousel Ice Cream within the Nineteen Sixties.

Almost 60 years have handed, and Carousel is lengthy gone, however Ellis nonetheless brings her daughter to the positioning the place the ice cream parlor as soon as stood. One in every of many regulars who frequent Nina’s Café, at 1710 W. Predominant St. in Tiffany’s Village purchasing heart, Ellis makes it a behavior to eat on the cafe a number of occasions per week.

When requested why she retains coming again, she mentioned: “The environment. It’s residence.”

There’s additionally one thing to be mentioned for the cafe’s choice of breakfast sandwiches, French Toast with cinnamon butter and the American Fries, she mentioned.

Certain sufficient, Ellis, like so many others who frequent the comfy diner — which seats simply shy of fifty friends — is greeted by identify upon arrival.

“About 70% of our clients are regulars. Now we have those who come for breakfast after which again for lunch‚” mentioned Todd Meyer, who opened Nina’s in 1998 together with his spouse Pam, naming it after the couple’s solely youngster after which 1-year-old daughter.

Nina is now 25 and has no real interest in sometime taking up the restaurant, Meyer mentioned, however she does prefer to make strategies as to how he ought to run it once in a while, reminding him her identify is on it.

Except for loyal clients, Meyer mentioned, the restaurant is constructed on loyal employees, though they did undergo a little bit of a changeover because of the pandemic. Nonetheless, there’s staff like 32-year-old front-of-the-house supervisor Cheyenne Hill, who has been greeting and caring for Nina’s friends since she was 15 years outdated.

“She is aware of all of the regulars and what they need and the way they need it. Most of them don’t even know what they need,” Meyer mentioned of Hill, with amusing.

Choices are each plentiful and inexpensive at Nina’s with favorites together with the breakfast moist burrito, Buffalo rooster hash, the specialty waffles — of which a complete web page of the menu is devoted to — and the French Toast, which is made with one’s alternative of house-made banana nut or white bread.

Along with a web page filled with waffle choices — that options all the things from waffles benedict to bacon waffles to southwest corn waffles, to the “Elvis,” consisting of banana, peanut butter and chocolate syrup.

Nina’s additionally presents greater than two dozen six-egg omelet on the menu. Selections vary from shrimp and cream cheese to meat lovers to spinach and feta, ham and cheese and extra.

Breakfast and lunch are each served throughout all open hours at Nina’s. For these on the lookout for lunch, the cafe has an intensive burger menu, 16 totally different wraps to select from and loads of different sandwich choices, together with grilled chili canine, BLT canine, New York canine and Chicago canine. Half sandwiches, served with a cup of home made soup or chili are favorites for these on the lookout for lighter fare, Meyer mentioned.

And whereas Carousel Ice Cream has not been a part of the restaurant’s identify since 2003 — it opened as Nina’s Café and Carousel Ice Cream. Visitors can nonetheless see a wall-sized portray from the outdated ice cream store once they stroll in and so they can nonetheless deal with themselves to a wide range of ice cream deserts, from totally different sundae picks to strawberry shortcake to floats and extra.

“There had been two companies, Carousel and an ethnic restaurant, (Eurasia), each of which had gone out of enterprise earlier than we moved in,” Meyer mentioned. “We advised the proprietor of the purchasing heart we wished to take each and put in a breakfast restaurant. On the time, that they had the rights to Carousel Ice Cream and, as a part of the settlement, they mentioned that we needed to preserve have ice cream and preserve Carousel within the identify for 5 years.”

So, for the primary 5 years, Nina’s operated as a breakfast and lunch spot by day and stayed open till 10 p.m. serving ice cream. As soon as the settlement ran its course, they dropped Carousel and centered on the cafe.

“With out the ice cream who is aware of if this factor would have gotten off the bottom,” Meyer mentioned. “In some methods, we predict that settlement was a blessing in disguise. Individuals knew Carousel Ice Cream, so that they got here in for ice cream after which they have been like ‘oh you serve meals?’”

As for the individuals they serve, they’re the principle motive individuals like Hill have labored at Nina’s so lengthy, the front-of-house supervisor mentioned.

“Since I’ve been right here since I used to be youthful, I’ve plenty of regulars,” she mentioned. “Plus, my proprietor, my boss is sort of a second dad to me. I’ve been right here by means of all three of my children being born. So yeah, it’s like a household.”

Nina’s is open from 6:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and eight a.m. – 2 p.m. Sunday. The café is closed on Mondays. For extra info, go to ninas-cafe.com or name 269-373-NINA (6462).

The restaurant, because it does every year, will likely be closed the week of July 11. The household is taking its annual week-long trip to the Higher Peninsula and provides its staff some relaxation.

Additionally on MLive:

Michigan’s Greatest Native Eats: Gull Lake Distilling Co. presents seasonal spirits, expansive beer backyard

Michigan’s Greatest Native Eats: Chicago Type Pizza in Portage retains sauce recipe beneath lock and key

Michigan’s Greatest Native Eats: ‘Extra than simply pancakes’ at Uncle Ernie’s Pancake Home

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Michigan

Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Recapping Spartans’ Win Over Washington

Published

8 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Recapping Spartans’ Win Over Washington

No. 16 Michigan State just keeps winning, and it’s doing so against quality Big Ten teams.

The Spartans steamrolled Washington at the Breslin Center on Thursday, besting the visitors, 88-54. They did so in front of a vibrant home crowd on what was the annual Alumni Night.

With the victory, Michigan State improves to 13-2 on the year, 4-0 in Big Ten play and 8-0 on its home court. It is also extended its win streak to eight games.

Our Aidan Champion recaps the win on this postgame edition of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast.

You can watch the episode below:

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media after Thursday’s contest.

Below is a partial transcript from Izzo’s opening statement:

Izzo: “Well, when you have a game like that, it’s hard to even know what to say except — that was Matt Larson that said it walking up the steps — I hope every media person, every alum, every student and every fan, appreciates the specialness we have here. The alumni reunions that we have every year are incredible, but for that many former Izzone members to come back over 20 and 30 years was special. Special for me, I think special for my team. And I almost felt sorry for Washington; I mean, they probably thought they were coming in here and there’d be no students. And that group was so good and so fired up; there was no entitlement, none of them left, none of them transferred. They were unbelievable. And I could have stayed there for a half hour after and thanked each and every one of them. But in all the things that happen, please appreciate that this place is different. It’s different. You can say it about places all over — this place is damn different. And I’m just thankful for them, I’m thankful for our marketing people, I’m thankful for our Izzone coach and I’m thankful for all the people that put in the work to get this thing done. I don’t want to make it bigger than the game, but for Tom Izzo, it’s bigger than the game. And when Matt said it to me walking up the steps, I thought it was special.”

Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

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Michigan

Michigan State football lands Division II transfer WR Rodney Bullard from Valdosta State

Published

16 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Michigan State football lands Division II transfer WR Rodney Bullard from Valdosta State

Jonathan Smith continues to replenish his roster and Michigan State football’s receiver room.

The Spartans picked up a pledge Thursday from wideout Rod Bullard, a transfer from Division II Valdosta State in Georgia. The 6-foot, 170-pound native of Albany, Georgia, has two years of eligibility remaining after redshirting in 2022 and playing 28 games the past two seasons.

As a sophomore in the fall, Bullard caught 42 passes for 1,001 yards with 12 touchdowns and an average of 23.8 yards per catch. The Blazers lost to Ferris State in the Division II national title game, and Bullard had three catches for 15 yards in the 49-14 loss.

In 2023, he had 43 catches for 566 yards and seven scores and returned 16 kicks for a 24.8-yard average with a 99-yard touchdown return.

Bullard is the 14th transfer and third incoming receiver, joining Chrishon McCray (Kent State) and Omari Kelly (Middle Tennessee State). The Spartans lost wideouts Jaron Glover (Mississippi State), Jaelen Smith (Texas-San Antonio), Aziah Johnson (North Carolina) and Antonio Gates Jr. (undecided) among 13 outbound transfers from their 2024 team that finished 5-7 and missed a bowl game for the third straight season.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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Michigan basketball signee enrolls early, will practice with team

Published

24 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Michigan basketball signee enrolls early, will practice with team

A member of the Michigan men’s basketball 2025 recruiting class is already on campus.

Oscar Goodman, a 6-foot-7 forward from New Zealand, is enrolled for the winter semester, which started on Wednesday, a team spokesperson said. Goodman will not appear in games this season but will be allowed to practice and participate in other team activities.

The spokesperson said this was not a typical “reclassification” — when an athlete graduates early and competes in college a season ahead of a typical schedule — but a byproduct of New Zealand’s school calendar.

Goodman will be listed as a freshman on the roster (he wasn’t listed on the online version as of Thursday morning) and a redshirt freshman next season. The rest of the Wolverines returned to campus on Wednesday after a week-long stay in Los Angeles, where they beat USC and UCLA.

“Oscar arrives in Ann Arbor as an accomplished international player and prospect, who was just named to the New Zealand senior national team,” Michigan coach Dusty May said in a statement upon Goodman’s signing in November.

“He comes from a tight-knit family that values everything that we want our program to be about. His training at the NBA (Global) Academy, as well as his eagerness and ability to compete, will allow him to affect our program positively from day one.”

Goodman, from Opunake, is ranked as the No. 75 player in the 2025 class according to the 247Sports composite. He was an all-star at the 2024 FIBA under-17 World Cup after averaging 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, and three assists per game.

Michigan’s 2025 class also includes Orchard Lake St. Mary’s guard Trey McKenney, the No. 1 player in Michigan and No. 19 prospect nationally, and wing Winters Grady (No. 82), an Oregon native currently playing for Prolific Prep in Napa, California. They figure to arrive in Ann Arbor in the summer.

BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.

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