800 E. Michigan AvenueHad to meet a co-worker in Lansing one day last week.
It was actually a crazy long day. I had an assignment in Kalamazoo at 10 AM then had to go to Lansing for an evening assignment. I ended up not getting home until after midnight.
I did my morning assignment then left for Lansing about 12:30. I was meeting my co-worker on the west side of town around 3:00 so I had some time.
That time is best spent grabbing lunch.
I headed towards downtown Lansing to find Babe’s Corner on the corner of East Michigan Avenue and Hosmer Street on the bottom floor of The Willis Apartments. When I lived in Lansing 15 years ago, this space was a party store. In between then and now, it was also a coffee shop. The small sandwich shop moved in in 2021 and has been getting some pretty rave reviews. Lansing friends keep talking about going there when they get a chance and since I had the chance, I figured I should too.
Babe’s is a pretty typical sandwich shop. It’s a simple space with an order counter right inside the door. The menu can be a bit overwhelming because the names of the subs don’t give you any indication what’s on them. They’re all named after influential women in the owner’s lives. You have to read the ingredient list for each one which can take some time. I came prepared though. I figured out what I wanted sitting in my car by looking at their online ordering menu. At that point, it was silly for me to order online though because I was literally sitting in front of the building.
I put in an order for a 6″ Margaret sandwich. The cost was right around $12 and that’s just the sandwich. You can add on chips and a drink for a few bucks more. I grabbed a seat in the dining room to wait. There are only a handful of tables in a really rustic space highlighting the old bricks and wood floor of the building. I really should have just eaten there but I ended up grabbing it to go and ate in my car at the park and ride on Grand River Avenue.
The Margaret is turkey, prosciutto, muenster cheese, lettuce, tomato, banana peppers and “Bang Bang” sauce which is listed as a spicy mayo on a hoagie roll from Great Harvest Bread Company. Right in the descriptions, they claim a half will feed 1-2 people and a whole will feed 3-4….I mean…call me fat, right? I stuck with the 6″ but probably could have eaten the 12″. The sandwich is pretty large but I wouldn’t say any bigger than hoagies from a comparable restaurant. Everything on the sandwich had a super fresh taste to it although a lot of that was masked by the mayo. I’m always someone who could use a little less mayo than what is on there. It didn’t take away from the sandwich though. It had a nice spicy kick to it which elevated the rest of the ingredients.
Babe’s Corner is delicious. It’s always nice to be able to find new sandwich shops with new combinations and new ways of taking on a simple hoagie. The shop is a little ways from downtown but worth the extra five minutes to get down Michigan Avenue to get something fresh and delicious for lunch.