[Tim]

One of my favorite things to do when visiting our fair city is to eat at my favorite restaurants. Going out for a big pancake breakfast in particular is great, as you won't really find that here in Japan. We had four breakfasts and one dinner - my thoughts -

Lindo's - breakfast - both my dad and I had to send our dishes back as they were served cold. The place wasn't that busy - none of these places were - is it so hard to serve food that's hot? Not good.

Sophia's House Of Pancakes - you'd think with Pancakes in their name they'd do a better job with them. These would have been super had they been served hot. They weren't. Great service and everything else was good - but the tepid cakes were disappointing.

Memo's - Not too bad - pancakes served hot! Sausage links had obviously sat a while, but a good breakfast overall.

Swingbelly's - the worst. As a fan since they were out on the beach it pains me to say this, but Swingbelly's sucks. I ordered the Belly Burger - medium - it was served pink and cold. There were only three other tables with customers and our food took forever. Our "waitresses" were three slacker chicks who were reading books at unused tables. No one in our group liked what they were served. Crap food and horrible service = never again.

Mary's Country Kitchen - my family has been going to M&M since they were at 10th and Franklin, so I was really looking forward to just being in the restaurant again. Breakfast was excellent! Much like the old M&M breakfast - big fluffy and HOT pancakes. Everything else was great and excellent service! On a scale of 1 to 10 - 10.

Special mention - The Ritz Club - Ang posted a pic of my burger on the get-together thread - but this thing was awesome! It was huge so I could only eat about half of it - but delicious and very well made.

In general, serving food that's hot seems to be a real problem in MC restaurants. But as long as there are places lile MAry's and The Ritz Klub I'll still look forward to going out to eat the next time I'm home.

[eric.hanke]

The Hanke family sticks to places south of US 20. Our favorites are Bob Evens (breakfast), El Bracero (lunch) and Olive Garden (dinner).

We do journey north of "the border" for some awesome lunch and dinner fare at Sahara.

Hate to say I eat mostly at chain places, but with kids we require a restaurant with consistent food. Never know what your gonna get or who is gonna serve you at those "mom and pop" places. It is almost never the owner or someone who has a vested interest in the quality of food or method of service.

[Southsider2k12]

One of my favorite things to do when visiting our fair city is to eat at my favorite restaurants. Going out for a big pancake breakfast in particular is great, as you won't really find that here in Japan. We had four breakfasts and one dinner - my thoughts -

Lindo's - breakfast - both my dad and I had to send our dishes back as they were served cold. The place wasn't that busy - none of these places were - is it so hard to serve food that's hot? Not good.

Sophia's House Of Pancakes - you'd think with Pancakes in their name they'd do a better job with them. These would have been super had they been served hot. They weren't. Great service and everything else was good - but the tepid cakes were disappointing.

Memo's - Not too bad - pancakes served hot! Sausage links had obviously sat a while, but a good breakfast overall.

Swingbelly's - the worst. As a fan since they were out on the beach it pains me to say this, but Swingbelly's sucks. I ordered the Belly Burger - medium - it was served pink and cold. There were only three other tables with customers and our food took forever. Our "waitresses" were three slacker chicks who were reading books at unused tables. No one in our group liked what they were served. Crap food and horrible service = never again.

Mary's Country Kitchen - my family has been going to M&M since they were at 10th and Franklin, so I was really looking forward to just being in the restaurant again. Breakfast was excellent! Much like the old M&M breakfast - big fluffy and HOT pancakes. Everything else was great and excellent service! On a scale of 1 to 10 - 10.

Special mention - The Ritz Club - Ang posted a pic of my burger on the get-together thread - but this thing was awesome! It was huge so I could only eat about half of it - but delicious and very well made.

In general, serving food that's hot seems to be a real problem in MC restaurants. But as long as there are places lile MAry's and The Ritz Klub I'll still look forward to going out to eat the next time I'm home.

I love their burgers, and the service is usually pretty good. If I had to bet money, you got in on a night where the owner wasn't there. If Werner is around, he cooks, and the food is awesome. He also makes sure people are taken care of.

[Tim]

@Eric - having been gone from Our Fair City for over 25 years eating out while home is all about nostalgia. For me, anyway. The only reason I tried Sophia's was because the first two places we tried pancakes at were not good.

@SS - yeah, I have always loved Swingbelly's burgers. Much better than Redamak's, in my opinion. That's why this was such a disappointment. I've emailed the owner before, and plan to again. After so many years of excellent burgers one misstep won't put me off Swingbellys foreer.

[ChickenCityRoller]

Eating out in Michigan City - not good

[Tim]

Eating out in Michigan City - not good

Well - I haven't been there in 18 months, and 18 months ago all the places I mentioned were great. So Gomer got it right.

[Homey]

Stepping out of the city limits here...but we use to love Stray Dog in NB...but the last two times were horrendous. Anyone been there lately?

[diggler]

My personal breakfast preferences are: Dino's for omelettes, Denny's for french toast, Schoops for pancakes. Lindos and Sophias have good food and service as well. IHOPS ?? Fahgettaboudit

[Ang]

Stepping out of the city limits here...but we use to love Stray Dog in NB...but the last two times were horrendous. Anyone been there lately?

Not since July and things were pretty good at that time.

[taxthedeer]

We still enjoy dining out at the service organizations (VFW, FOP, St. Joe Club) on Friday nights every once in a while.

[Tim]

We still enjoy dining out at the service organizations (VFW, FOP, St. Joe Club) on Friday nights every once in a while.

Based on family comment I'd say that's a pretty good bet.