4206 Stadium DriveMy family was pretty sad when Moe’s Southwest Grill closed on Stadium Drive. For whatever reason, that was the taco place they preferred. I never complained, I liked it to but I was never as big of a fan of it as they were.
The building on Stadium Drive sat empty for quite a while before a new banner popped up for a Detroit area cheesesteak chain. I’m not a huge cheesesteak guy (I hate onions) but as I started poking around for info, I got more and more excited.
Lefty’s Cheesesteak opened two locations in the Kalamazoo area just a couple of weeks apart. The Portage location opened first followed by the Kalamazoo location on Stadium Drive near Lakesedge Drive in the Knollwood Neighborhood. This building has gone from a pharmacy, to Moe’s Southwest Grill to now Lefty’s Cheesesteak.
Getting food from Lefty’s is pretty convenient. They have online ordering which we’ve used in the past plus a drive through that Moe’s didn’t have. I was driving when I decided on Lefty’s for lunch and there weren’t many cars in the parking lot so I just went inside.
If you ate at Moe’s, Lefty’s will look vaguely familiar. They’ve clearly done some work inside but the setup is pretty similar. The kitchen is still out in the open and you order at the same place as you did at Moe’s. The menu is on the wall next to the cash register but it’s on TV screens now instead of hanging on the wall.
The reason my kids loved Moe’s was the large semi-circle booth near the pick up area. My daughter would always stand up on the bench and yell “Welcome to Moe’s” along with the crew whenever someone new walked in while we were eating. It was her favorite thing. That whole seating area is now gone. It’s just a large open area where you can wait for your food.
The rest of the dining room has stayed pretty similar. The decor has changed but the set up remains the same.
There’s still so much on the menu I want to try. I’ve heard good things about the wings but I have a hard time not ordering a hoagie when I go to Lefty’s.
I kept it simple this time and just ordered a half Leftie’s Cheesesteak without the onions. This is their simple sandwich with just ribeye steak and a blend of White American and Swiss cheeses (and onions if you actually like onions). I read Reddit threads on this place that just blast them for flavorless bread and bland cheesesteaks but I have to say I disagree with part of that. There’s not much flavor in the bread but I really like the meat and cheese part of the sandwich. The hoagie roll is filled to the point of overflowing of tender thinly sliced steak. The cheese mixture kind of holds everything together and while you may not see it, the cheese flavor really pops through.
I also ordered the cheese fries to go along with my sandwich. These were pretty simple and not really anything special. The fries are just frozen fast food fries and the cheese sauce is probably just canned cheese. They’re good in that comforting way cheap canned food can be.
I like Lefty’s Cheesesteak for what it is. A quick, hearty meal. You all know I’m an Italian beef snob so I get the “well, it’s not a Philly Cheesesteak” argument but I don’t eat a lot of cheesesteaks so that’s not something that I really even worry about. It’s not like Kalamazoo has a lot of cheesesteak options and for me, more sandwich options are always a welcome addition. This Lefty’s is pretty close to my house and I’ve eaten there a few times already. My kids aren’t as in to it as they were Moe’s but to me, this is a definite upgrade.