Butcher's Union, 438 Bridge St NW ~ 5/18/17

It's been open less than a year and we first visited back in February. We liked it even then. Just don't try to enter through the middle door.

This is the old Monte's Lounge reborn into a very cool restaurant. The dining room and bar run front to back, side by side, and have an old speakeasy feel to them. (The owners, who owned Monte's, also own O'Toole's, now with outside seating, and have sold Rockwell/Republic on Division.)

A portion of the ceiling in the back was cut out to create a courtyard and we were happy to see it coming last February,

but we were happier to be sitting in it today, and charming it is.

There were 11 tables for 4 out there and it is much nicer than sitting at the few tables outside on Bridge Street with the cars driving by.

The menu changes with the seasons and we saw some items we remembered from last time but others were new. Here's a quick run-down from our February visit: Caribbean Spiced Meat Pies, Smoked Pastrami, and a BBELT (bacon, bacon pate, egg, lettuce, & tomato). All were superb, especially the Meat Pies, and our service.

Fast forward to today, and we started with the Mild Mannered Meatballs served over Polenta. We couldn't get enough, especially of the Polenta. The meatballs were nicely seasoned and not overly salted.

Next up was the Summer Strawberry Romaine Salad with Chicken, sprinkled with quinoa and covered with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette. All in all, a wonderful and fresh combination.

This is a meat and whiskey place and while we held back on the whiskey this time, we didn't on the meat. Here are the Double Cheeseburger and the Smokehouse Barbeque Pork sandwiches.

The burger was not ordered to taste (not asked, not requested) and came medium well but was still juicy with tons of flavor. The apple barbeque sauce and cole slaw made the pork sandwich a delicious mess but the side of snap peas was a mistake as they were not chewable. When they get older, they get more fibrous so that was unfortunate.

Just in case you were wondering, here is your whiskey list, from back in February. That list remains for another night.

Your tab comes with a postcard, which is cute but I'm not sure how many postcards are still used these days.

The dining room doors open to the street, which we love. You're almost outside.

This is a great atmosphere with excellent food and service, and blue skies smiling.

  

Cranker's Restaurant & Brewery, 454 68th St SW - 9/17/13

Sometimes we meander around to see what we might find and today we happened upon Cranker's via a smart phone. It looked like an old drive-through something and we discovered it was a Schlotzsky's Deli in its previous life.  Back in 2008, the Crank family purchased it and opened another Cranker's Coney Island.

Last year the family added a brewery to its Big Rapids location, and this year they did the same to their Mount Pleasant and Grand Rapids locations. We haven't been to the other locations, but this restaurant has a very weird vibe to it.

Walk in and it will feel like you are in a New Beginnings or Anna's House, and the menu confirms your feelings - a full breakfast menu, a 15-minute guaranteed lunch menu, and lots of retired people in the restaurant - but with beer! There are about 21 booths located in 5 short rows, and behind that, the kitchen and small brewery. A very small outdoor patio is also available.

There is a small bar tucked in the corner but no one was partaking of its goodness this afternoon but us, and we thoroughly enjoyed the Ambrosia Honey Kolsch and Professor IPA.

The 6-beer menu suggests pairings with menu items, which is so appreciated, but the appetizers consisted of typical bar food, except for the Saganaki, so that was our choice.

We subsequently decided to go with burgers, and thanks to Stella's, it's difficult to resist a stuffed burger, particularly when it's filled with cheddar cheese and jalapeno peppers.

Our other choice was the simpler, but not much smaller, bacon cheeseburger.

The Cranker's version of onion rings (Lager rings) was most impressive, with thickly cut onions, well-presented.

The soundtrack playing easy listening, pop hits was fine for us but I doubt anyone else in the place, other than staff, recognized any of the songs. We're assuming that a different crowd rolls in at night. Our server was excellent - friendly and efficient - and pretty much worked the room herself with a little assistance from a manager and the take-out window order-taker.

When we asked about seeing the brewery, we were told that most of the beer is brewed at the Big Rapids location but a little is brewed here (with its 3-barrel nano-brewery). Lastly, this sign was bothersome grammatically.

They have several facebook pages, a twitter presence, and an outdated urban spoon page. We feel the need to visit them in Big Rapids.