Mexicali Rose

Mexicali Rose, located right on the River in Wisconsin Dells, has great food to go along with the amazing view of the river and dam. We happened to stumble upon this restaurant while driving around looking for places to explore in the area and we were all very glad that we stopped here.

The outside seating area, that I don't believe was open yet regardless, looked about ready to fall apart. Even if it was a hot day I'm not sure I would sit out there because it doesn't look like a lot of care is still being put into that area...unless this past winter really tore that up. The inside however, was as you would expect. Everything was clean and had touches of Hispanic/Latino/Mexican decor throughout.

We were seated and told that they were short a cook, so that it might be a while before we got our food and they asked if that was okay. Although we were all starved the food smelled so good that we all agreed to stay.

For dinner I ordered the chicken tamales. They were unbelievable. They were a tad bit dry towards the outside (I added some salsa on top and it was perfect), but the inside was soft and the chicken was seasoned well. They came on a bed of rice, which was also very good. I'm not too sure about why they added shredded cheddar on the side. I would have preferred some shredded queso blanco or homemade cheese sauce, but it was delicious regardless. That and eating tamales feels like you are unwrapping an edible present...

There were a few hiccups here and there with service, but our waiter was very apologetic and kept bringing us more chips and salsa while we waited. The manager also brought us out a pitcher of what I believed to be strawberry margaritas? And I mean a beer pitcher full of it. We ended up getting 10% off of the bill for the wait (even though we kept telling them it was fine) and got offered free desserts, to which we turned down only because we were all stuffed! This is definitely a great place to stop and relax, watch some people fish and have a bite to eat!

A link to their main website is below:

Mexicali Rose, Main Site

Wisconsin Brew Pub

 

Last week, I had the opportunity to get out of the Upper Peninsula for a few days and go on my nephews "Spring Break". I put that into quotes, because we left with a whole lot of snow, and went to Wisconsin Dells, to which there wasn't any. We stayed at the Kalahari Resort, which was HUGE. This was my first time to the Dells, and minus me being a person who hates crowded places, I had a lot of fun.

On our first night of vacation we decided to check out the Wisconsin Brew Pub located inside the resort. If I ever open up a restaurant, this would be the type of food I would serve. Talk about the most RANDOM ingredients put together to create one dish, and you know what? It worked!

Let me describe some of the dishes that they have on the menu. Two people at our table ordered the "Bavarian Beer Mountain". This was grilled Kielbasa set on top of mashed potatoes, doused in a stout beer cream sauce, with mushrooms and onions. I stole a bite of the mashed potatoes with the beer sauce and it was delicious. Another dish that stuck out is the "Diamond Grilled Cranberry BBQ Salmon", which I hate fish, and almost ordered. It is a homemade BBQ sauce grilled salmon, with a house made cranberry relish, and steamed broccoli. Almost everything on the menu I would eat, and want to try, but I would have to stay at the Dells for a few weeks and eat there every meal to do it (and let's be honest, the Kalahari is NOT a cheap place to stay....).

For dinner I ordered the Pepper Jack Pico Chicken Sandwich. I really wanted a burger, but chicken at the same time, and a sandwich that hopefully wasn't too greasy. I nailed it. On top of the bun was a juicy piece of grilled chicken, with melted pepper-jack cheese, topped with pico de gallo, fresh sliced avocado and salsa verde. It came with a pickle spear, and normally a side order of fries. I am not a huge fan of fries, but I love me some cheese curds.....so I made the right choice and substituted! It was all amazing. I can't even find the words to explain how good this sandwich was. And they toasted the inside of the bun but didn't slather it in melted butter or oil, which I HATE a greasy bun.

For "dessert", I ordered the Yahara Bay Espresso Martini. It wasn't bad, even though it was served in a champagne glass, and I am a lover of coffee. But this drink was on the  borderline bitter side. They didn't lie when they said there was a straight shot of espresso in there. What they don't tell you is that there is no sweetness, and even the whipped cream on top (that also wasn't sweet) didn't help. What can you do? It's booze, you ordered it, so you drink it....

If you are staying at the Kalahari I highly recommend this restaurant as a go to for a meal. Do NOT go here however, if you have a headache or can't stand loud restaurants. We couldn't hear people down at the end of our table, it was that loud. The food was surprisingly decent priced, and made everyone's stomach very happy. I mean come on....who wouldn't love a place that serves burgers with cheese curds INSIDE of the burger?

A link to their Facebook page and website is below:

Wisconsin Brew Pub, Facebook Page
Wisconsin Brew Pub, Kalahari Website
(To access the menu, scroll down to the bottom of the page on the Kalahari website.)

Das Steinhaus

Finally, after I don't know how many months of wanting to eat at Das Steinhaus in Marquette, I had the opportunity! I hadn't been in that building since it was the old New York Deli (actually, for me about 10 years or more). It has never been necessarily a "large" space, in fact, it's pretty small, but they made great use of the space that is there.

For an appetizer, we ordered the Charcuterie Plate. The plate comes with two in house mustard's, one being more of a hot Dijon style with a horseradish type of a kick, the other being sweet and more like a stone ground mustard with mustard seeds. There were four types of meat, which included duck peppercorn salami, spec, truffle salami, and uncured. My favorite was the truffle salami (I love things with a hint of truffle). It also is served with cornichons and fresh bread.

For dinner I ordered the Jager Schnitzel. The spatzel underneath is topped with a breaded pork cutlet, smothered with a mushroom rahmsauce, and I added an egg for $1 extra. Add the egg, it is worth it! It also comes with a side of red cabbage. If you can get a little bit of everything on the fork together, it is amazing. My only negative comment would be that I wanted more of the sauce! It was on the dry side.

I only ate half of my dinner to make sure that I had room for dessert. All of them sounded amazing. Everyone else ordered the creme brulee cheesecake, but I am a choco-holic through and through. I ordered the chocolate port flourless cake. It is so rich that I couldn't finish it all! And sadly, it didn't taste like anything but chocolate, but it was still really good.

The menu changes as the local ingredients do and are printed out on a daily basis. They use fresh ingredients and all of the recipes are homemade. I would love to come here to eat again and get the "Four Course Tasting Menu" to be on the more adventurous side (and there are no substitutions). If the pictures themselves aren't enough to get your mouth watering, take it from almost everybody that has written a review on Das Steinhaus. It is absolutely delicious!

A link to their Facebook page and main website is below.

Steinhaus, Facebook Page
Steinhaus, main website

Venice Pub and Pizzeria

I have been very hesitant to eat here again. Before the ownership and name switched over to something new, I wasn't a huge fan of The Venice Supper Club. At one point in time I'm sure it was amazing. You could tell that there used to be a dance floor and half of the inside looked original to when it started. But other than the pizza, which was amazing, there was never really any flavor to the food. Ishpeming has so many Italian restaurants that you really have to have something to make yourself stand out to get people coming back for more. I never had that connection.

Now that it has been a few years since things have changed, we decided to give it a try again. I found the menu on their Facebook Page and we called in and ordered pickup. I didn't get to see how the inside has changed, other than from other people's photos posted on TripAdvisor and Urbanspoon, but the food has definitely changed for the better.

For an appetizer we ordered the Chili Cheese Fries. Oh my goodness.... they were perfect since I was craving something cheesy. The chili wasn't spicy and was loaded with meat and beans. The picture doesn't even do justice to how much cheese was actually melted on top of these. A great way to start off dinner.

For my main meal I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo. I was very skeptical at first before opening the lid because I was expecting to see what you get at most places, which is noddles literally DROWNING in white sauce. This is exactly how it looked when I took the lid off. The Alfredo sauce was so light and buttery that it was just enough to coat the noodles. It was almost more of a butter cheese sauce than a normal Alfredo made with cream or milk that ends up being really heavy.

I have heard many mixed reviews from people about the new menu here and I will have to say, making my own opinion obviously, that they have changed for the better. I will definitely be getting food from here again, and next time I will have to physically go and eat dinner there now that I know that the food is worth going!

A link to their Facebook page is below (I couldn't find, and maybe they don't have a main website yet).

Venice Pub and Pizzeria

Teriyaki Bowl

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen this while driving through Marquette, and always wondered how it was. It looks like a little fast food style restaurant from the outside so I had never bothered to eat there. My husband and I had to run to a few stores in town and decided to give it a try. I am glad we did!

The inside of the restaurant, although small, is very clean and organized. The decor can be described as modern/rustic/oriental. There are wood accents everywhere, with oriental pieces thrown in, and fun chalkboard walls in the back. We decided to sit towards the back so I could get a good picture of the "Specials" board.

One of the drinks we ordered was the Thai Ice Tea. It was amazing! And I am NOT usually a tea person.

For an appetizer we ordered the pot stickers, pan fried (you can also get them steamed). They had a good crunch on the outside but the pork on the inside was still a nice soft texture and not overcooked. The dipping sauce that they give you is amazing. If I had to make a good guess what was in it, I would guess soy sauce, ginger, and maybe lemongrass? Great start to the meal.

My husband ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Bowl over rice, and said it was good. For my main meal I chose the "General Chicken Sesame" from the specials board. I did technically order it over noodles, not rice, but when it got delivered it was a "what the heck" decision to just eat it anyway. I ordered a "1" on the spice level and for me I'm glad I did because when the sriracha first hit my lips it was an instant heat wave. As I kept eating and throwing in the green onion, lettuce and cilantro, the heat started to mellow. I also added a touch of soy sauce, which they supply at the table, so that the rice was flavored with something.

I will definitely be going back here. I am not a huge fan of the random Chinese and oriental restaurants in the area, because they always taste over greasy and packed with frozen ingredients. Everything from the Teriyaki Bowl tasted fresh, and other than the sauces you can literally see every fresh ingredient used to make your dish. If you haven't tried them out yet and you like the type of cuisine, you must! It also looks like they are trying to start an "order online" option as well as online reservations.

A link to their main website and Facebook page are below:

Teriyaki Bowl, Main Site
Teriyaki Bowl, Facebook Page

The Ambassador

 

One of the most popular stops and places to eat in Houghton, Michigan is The Ambassador. Converted from a tap bar  to a restaurant in 1965, this place is serving up some awesome pizzas, as well as pasta, sandwiches and salads. My husband was in Houghton for a three day class at Tech, and was kind (or smart...) enough to bring home some pizzas!

One of my favorite pizzas from Ambassador is the Greek pizza (always without the green olives...). This is a typical Greek pizza that you would find anywhere else, but tasty regardless. It is literally loaded with feta cheese, fresh spinach, tomato, black olives and melted cheese.What I love about this kind of pizza, is that the thin crust and lack of sauce really lets you taste all of the ingredients.

The best item, in my opinion, that they serve on their menu is the Tostada pizza. This thin crust pizza is piled high with spiced ground beef, colby cheese, lettuce, tomato and cheddar cheese. Everything is topped with a swirl of hot sauce. It is almost like eating a Mexican 7 layer dip, only better because it is already hand held with no chip necessary! I would not be surprised if this is one of the most frequently ordered item on the menu. It is one of the few things that I crave when I am in the Houghton area.

Most who have been to the area have probably already heard of the Ambassador, and have probably already had the pleasure of eating there. Make sure you have time to wait for a table, because they are usually packed (that is how good it is). For those who have never been here, a link to their main website and Facebook page are below!

The Ambassador, Main Site
The Ambassador, Facebook Page

Carla's Cozy Inn

This past weekend I was staying out at my camp in Michigamme, MI. One of my favorite restaurants always closes for the Winter, and the only other option in Michigamme to eat at is Mt. Shasta, which lately we haven't even considered an option (nor did it look open regardless). Rather than driving back into Ishpeming, we decided to go in the other direction and try out a little place that my husband and mom both had remembered served food. I had heard about it once or twice but I had never been there before. About seven minutes towards Baraga from Michigamme, is Carla's Cozy Inn in Nestoria, Michigan.

The outside looks like an old bar that you can tell has a lot of history behind it. When we walked inside it was small, but in a cozy way. There was a fire going in a wood stove in the back corner, practically everything was made out of wood and had a cozy cabin feeling. They even have a pool table (which I happen to love pool). The menu is small, with an appetizer section, a "basket" section which includes chicken and seafood (including fresh fish), and a large section of "from the grill". The item that caught my eye was the Mushroom Swiss Burger.

LOOK at that burger! A patty of beef with melted Swiss and loaded with mushrooms served on a toasted bun. I am very picky when it comes to beef burgers. I like mine medium, with barely any pink in the middle. Normally they get set in front of me and someone cooked all the life out of it and it is as dry as can be. Let me show you a better picture of this burger on the inside....

Even in the picture you can see how juicy this burger is and how much it is glistening! (And no, that is not because of grease....trust me.) This was the first burger made with beef that I have had in over 6 months at LEAST, and it was absolutely amazing. Now that we know how close it is when we are in Michigamme, we will definitely be going back for more, and I can't wait to try another juicy burger!

A link to their Facebook page is below, that also has pictures of their menu:

Carla's Cozy Inn, Facebook Page