Friday, October 17, 2008
Home Store
OK, I spend a lot of time complaining about stores here, so I thought I'd say something nice for a change. We moved almost out in the country this year. The ironic thing is that after a move from a city to the suburbs we are now within walking distance of some pretty nice places.
Pat's is a combination hardware/grocery/dollar store. The grocery store is Spartan based and the hardware store is Doitbest based. It's about 15 minutes away. The service is very good and the quality of groceries is pretty good as well. Prices range from OK to low to expensive. As a penny-pincher, I've had really good luck with their reduce priced meats.
The hardware store is well supplied although with prices somewhat higher than the big-box stuff. And unfortunately the level of knowledge is about the same as the big-box places. There's one or two older workers who know what is going on, but there's also a couple of younger ones who are totally clueless. Overall, though, it's a nice place to shop and of course, being only 15 minutes walk away, very handy.
There's also a couple of nice places to eat within a couple blocks of Pats for when we get tired of cooking. The Second Street Sports Pub is just what the name sounds like, a small sports related bar. I usually go early on a weekend when it isn't too crowded. They have a very good BLT, that unfortunately was left off the new menu, but can still be ordered.
Another place is Antonio's, an Italian eatery. It's basic mid-west cooking, no fancy Italian stuff, but they offer pizza, spaghetti, lasagna along with burgers and a pretty good breakfast. Nothing fancy, but nice prices and good helpings. Just up the road is the Log Cabin, which to be honest, I have been afraid to go into. Most of the time there's a load of bikers parked outside, so I've just decided to leave it alone. A few blocks further, almost out of walking distance is the Riverside Restaurant. It caters to the older crowd, but is always busy and has good prices and average American food. We don't go here too often, but the pies are pretty good and I've heard the bread pudding is great.
Most everyone around here is nice and friendly and I really like that. A little bit of Leave it to Beaver or Happy Days come to life.
