Located in the Vista Tech Center, The American Harvest Restaurant may be the schools best kept secret.  Unless you are in “the know”, you have probably never heard of it, yet it has been around for as far back as I can remember.  It was there in 1985, when I attended.  It is not just a restaurant, but a class that is part of the culinary program and all student must take.  The downfall is that it is not open all the time, only when class is in session.  Don’t mistake the cafeteria as the restaurant. The cafeteria and culinary program are 2 separate entities.  Culinary Arts does not prepare the food for the cafeteria.

This week we are in Commerce at the Benstein Grille.  The Benstein Grille is not a new destination. They have been around for over 8 years now . . . but it wasn’t until recently that we were able to get there to check them out.  Since they opened in April of 2015, they have gathered quite a following from locals in Commerce as well as the surrounding communities of Novi, Walled Lake, Wolverine Lake and Wixom.  The owners Mike Richardson and Glen Kaplan actually picked this location due to its proximity to all the surrounding communities. 

This week we are going to a little town, just outside of Kalamazoo, where husband and wife Dan and Brayden Bracken run their family owned restaurant: Chinn Chinn in Mattawan, MI. Brayden was 12 when her parents, John & Michelle Tsui, closed their original restaurant Peking Palace in Portage, MI in 2003. In 2004 they opened Chinn Chinn, and today Brayden runs the front of the house and her husband Dan runs the kitchen allowing her parents to step back and enjoy life.

This week we are going to the Hudson Cafe.   We have known of the Hudson Café for many years and have eaten at their downtown location a few times.  Just recently, they opened their 2nd location in Northville . A 3rd location is coming to Troy, later this year or early next year. 

They started in 2008 in Grand Rapids, aka Beer City USA, and are now opening their 11th location in Livonia on Monday July 24th. We are talking about Hop Cat. If you are not familiar with Hop Cat, you should definitely check them out. They are a craft Burger and Beer bar that features up to and over 100 beers on tap, many of them Michigan selections. They wanted a place where people could experience the “Michigan Beer Rainbow”.

In 1963 Dick Portillo invested $1100 (around $10,000-$11,000 today) in a 6 x 12 trailer and named it “The Dog House” in Villa Park, IL 2 miles west of Chicago. What started with hot dogs out of a trailer, has grown to the establishment they are today. With over 70 locations nationwide, Portillo’s is a fun and exciting destination for some delicious Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago Dogs and their famous chocolate cake and chocolate cake shakes.