Food

New Hella's Cafe in Detroit's venerable Greektown (though "Greek street" might be a more applicable title) has been around for 105 years according to a sign in the front window. That makes it the oldest restaurant in Greektown, which is saying something for a neighborhood that first called itself Greektown in 1903.

The decor certainly feels as old as the restaurant, but if you're a fan of cheap and easy Greek food at incredibly affordable prices, then New Hella's is for you. What's more, they've been serving Saganaki for over 100 years, so they're obviously doing something right.

If you're not a frequent patron of Greek diners you should check out the "famous" Hella's Trio...a generous helping of Spinach Pie, Pastisio and Moussaka. Sure, those are the Greek equivalent of fast-food, but I have a hard time disliking them none the less. In fact, Moussaka is one of those foods that you'll enjoy no matter how many times you've eaten it. I'm sure it's heretical to make this comparison, but to me, Moussaka is the Greek equivalent of Shepherd's Pie. It's loaded with beef, covered in mush, and drenched in tomato sauce...what's not to like?!

We skipped dessert because the Astoria Pastry shop is only a few feet down the street from Hella's and when you've got a 2 hour drive from Downtown Detroit back to your house in East Grand Rapids, nothing gets you home faster than a few pieces of Astoria's incredible Baklava. I had a Chocolate Eclair too, just to make sure they were good (boy oh boy were they), and Megan had a Chocolate Canoli for the same reason (again, major thumbs up).

Overall, compared to a few years ago, it seems that Greektown's enjoyed a bit of a revival. I don't know if it was the Super Bowl, the casino or both, but there are more businesses open, and the entire place feels a little more energetic. The only downside I could see is fewer Greek restaurants and more sports bars. Oh well.

Sundays in Grand Rapids are a challenge for those of us looking for a family-friendly meal in a relative hurry.  Sure Mangiamo's is open (and they have a killer "family night" special), but we were in a hurry and friends had to get to the airport in 90 minutes (and we had to leave time for some ice cream at Jersey Junction before they took off).

So there I was, with Megan, Anabel, a friend and her 3 kids (of varying ages) looking for a decent quick meal on a Sunday afternoon.  At least one child had mentioned a desire for a hot dog.  I couldn't have paid him to suggest something I was more qualified to provide.  Alas, if you've ever tried to find a hot dog on a Sunday afternoon then you've probably been through the same quick analysis as me: 

• Kabookie's, with the promise of hot dogs for the kiddies (and me), burgers/sandwiches for the adults:  Closed.
  
• Yesterdog, which I talked-up, drove everyone too and naively assumed would be open...Closed.
• Dog Pit, which pioneered the artful use of Tabasco as an integral component of a good hot-dog:  Closed (and too far away to be a realistic option given our time constraints and ice-cream jones).

In stepped the newly minted Eastown Cafe (at the former location of the Eastown Deli).  Owned by the famous Sami (of Sami's Gyros and Sami's Party Store) who is quietly taking over Eastown one quality restaurant at a time, the Eastown Cafe offers no-frills American food (burgers, paninis, salads, etc) in a very informal atmosphere (think Culver's...order at the counter, sit down, they'll bring your food out when it's ready).   The kicker?  They had a hot dog on the kids' menu, so William and Anna got hot dogs while the adults got Portobello Panninis.

Life was good and so was the food.  Great?  Of course not.  Perfect for a small cafe in a neighborhood rife with eccentric eateries by lacking a burger-joint since the demise of the Wealthy St. Grill?  You betcha.

I had a corned-beef Reuben sandwich on marble rye bread.  It was good, but like the rest of the food, not incredible.   The onion rings I had on the side were of the "big batter" variety and made a nice accompaniment to my meal.  Service was quick, polite, accurate and we were in and out in less than 45 minutes...which makes a big difference when you've got a 13 month-old with you at dinner.

Finally, one note:  They had a REAL HIGH CHAIR.  This alone is enough to make the Eastown Cafe one restaurant on a short list of places we can actually take Anabel.  Those disgusting wooden ones seem like germ factories and have no trays so Anabel like to each the lap-bar.  Disgusting.

I got on a hot dog kick a few weeks ago. A co-worker of mine and I decided to once and for all finish our analysis of the various Hot Dog options in Grand Rapids. My true love of the venerable Yesterdog probably stacked the deck in its favor to begin with, and rather than drag this out, I'll just start right out saying that Yesterdog is the hands-down champion. We've been to Dog Pit and Ritz Koney before and already covered that ground.

This week, on consecutive days, I visited Dog Town 2 (courtesy of the folks from Dog Town in Ada) and Kabookie's in East Grand Rapids (which serves more than hot dogs). First, let's discuss Dog Town. It's located at the corner of Stockbridge and 4th Street, across the street from Kopper Top (where I ate last Friday). They had 2 things going for them right from the moment we stepped in the door: Dollar-dogs on Mondays, and steamed buns (a concept Yesterdog uses to its fullest). The dogs were good. Better than Ritz, but not as good as Dog Pit or Yesterdog. The chili was a dead-ringer for Ritz chili which will endear them to 50% of their customers, but probably anger the other (I'm not a huge fan). Their Chicago Dogs were quite good, and included hot peppers (a big plus). Dog Town had Tabasco on the table, another big plus. In the end only two things kept the Dog Pit ahead of Dog Town for 2nd place on my hot-dogs-of-Grand-Rapids list: Tabasco-by-default at the Dog Pit is a big winner, and the chili.

On Tuesday we headed to Kabookie's in East Grand Rapids' Gaslight Village with high hopes. I'd had a killer hamburger there previously (though I neglected to write about it) and was hoping their hot dogs would pass muster as well. They were good. Not great, but good enough that I'll be getting them again some time,I'm sure. The price was right (as it should be...they're selling hot dogs) at $4 for 2 dogs, chips and pop (plus I got a third dog....of course).

My three dogs of choice were the Kabookie Dog (I think....more on this in a moment), the Kraut Dog (a favorite of mine at both Dog Pit and Yesterdog) and the accurately named "Creamator (Motowner)" which was a detroit-style koney with a secret...the dog inside was deep-fried (if my physician reads this, he'll buy me a defribulator). The Kabookie Dog (or whatever it was called) was the only real dissapointment. I look at a good hot dog as the canvas on which fine art should be created. I'm sure, like all art, there are those that would vehemently disagree with me when I say that corn-relish has no business on a hot dog, but I calls'em like I sees'em and that was my feeling after dog #1.

Fortunately, Kabookie's rebounded nicely with a Kraut Dog that would beat Yesterdog hands down if the bun had been steamed. Nice kraut and a good spicy brown mustard made for a great dining treat. Dog three was the aforementioned Creamtor and frankly, I was creamated. The chili was good, the onions were nicely chopped and Kabookie's went back to standard yellow mustard (as any coney with "Mowtowner" in the name should)., but seriously folks, why deep-fry a hot dog?  At any rate, the food was good, the decor was appropriate for the location of the restaurant and I left with a nice full stomach.

So there we have it. I haven't tried the Grand Coney Island, but other than that, I think we've hit most of the hot dog joints that I'm aware of in Grand Rapids.

With that said, here's the final ranking:

1. Yesterdog - hands down winner on all counts. The Ultradog will eat you for lunch, all for only $1.80. I cannot believe I haven't blogged about them yet. Oh well, the rest of the world has.
   
2. Dog Pit - it's downtown, they'll put tabasco on anything (sometimes without even asking), everything costs $2 and it's cash only. The simplicity nearly brings me to tears every time I talk about it.
3. Dog Town - The newcomer steals third spot and we haven't even tried their famous "Ate-a-Dog" (get it? They're from Ada!)
4. Kabookie's - After a long analysis, I'm changing my mind here. My co-workers and I had originally put Ritz ahead of Kabookie's, but on the strength of their Kraut dog and faithful interpretation of a detroit coney island, I'm moving them up the list. Sorry Ritz.
5. Ritz Coney - $1 dogs on mondays sounded awesome until we tried Dog Town. I've been converted.
   

This friday, The Kopper Top grill (and bar) on Grand Rapids' polish west side (just down the street from the historic St. Adalbert's Basilica) had me saying "Ahh the ambiance of a time gone by...." No, I'm not talking about the 19th century, or even the Rockwellian depictions of the post-war baby boom. The Kopper Top brings you back to a different time, when bell bottoms were in (oh wait, they're in again), kids grew their hair over their ears (oh wait, they're doing that again) and the youth was the counter culture that sought to overthrow a conservative government (ahhh, there's the difference...the youth of today don't care). That's right, I'm speaking of 1970, and if the Kopper Top has redecorated since 1970, I'll eat my shorts (well, not really).

I swear I'm not addicted to hot dogs. Seriously. I've eaten at ethic restaurants whose idea of a kids menu was a hot dog or a grilled cheese (with fries!) and silently sworn that I'd never eat such drivel.

Then, here we were at lunch today (Monday) and I realized that I'd eaten sausage products every single day since Friday. That's 4 days running. Grab the defribultor now.

Anyway, I'm not here to tell you about today's $1 hot dogs from the Ritz Coney, yesterday's grilled brats from my backyard or Saturday's Kerby's (cooked by yours truly) at Anabel's birthday party. No, today's column harkens back to a simple time (last Friday) when I hadn't linked 4 days together (think morcilla) with feasts of cooked pork products.

Friday was our "payday lunch" wherein one member of my team takes the rest of us out to lunch. Friday's destination was the Dog Pit, a "more toppings is a good thing" type hot dog joint on Grand Rapids' favorite downtown street: Monroe Center. The Dog Pit is everything that Yesterdog is not: Clean, new, loaded with choices, and friendly. Even with all these things going against it, The Dog Pit still manages to serve up a great hot dog. What's more, they offer Tabasco as a topping on several of their fine creations (most notably the Junkyard Dog, my personal favorite) which sets them apart from their cross-town rivals.

One notable complaint: The buns aren't steamed. Yetserdog figured out years ago that steamed buns mean you can shove the dogs down faster (who savors a hot dog? Nobody, that's who.) and leave happier. If the Dog Pit steamed their buns, stopped cleaning for a few years and stayed open until 4am, they'd be as legendary as Yesterdog some day. In the meantime, if you're looking for a quick lunch downtown I'd say the Dog Pit is a very worthwhile stop.