210 Cascade BoulevardGetting done at the rink before 3:00 PM on a competition day is a rarity.
We were in East Lansing for the Howard E. Van Camp Invitational at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube. Both kids were skating at some point over the weekend but Friday was just the first of L’s two events.
Each of L’s events has two segments. On Friday, the segments were fairly close together. There was only a couple of hours in between so she was done for the day by 3:00.
We had decided just to get a hotel in Lansing. We had to be back at the rink at 7 AM on Saturday and we knew that L was going to want to stay at the rink all night to watch her friends.
My parents had also made the drive up from Illinois like they usually do for this competition. J and I used to live in Lansing so they’re familiar with that drive and like to be able to watch the kids skate. My brother still lives in the community we grew up in so my parents get to see my nieces play sports pretty much every night of the week. Obviously, a three hour drive makes it harder for them to see my kids but they do make it to four to five of their competitions every year.
Everyone was hungry by the time L got done…but of course, she didn’t want to leave the rink. We decided to just leave her there and go get something to eat.
This also happened to be St. Patrick’s Day weekend and MHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals at the Breslin Center so East Lansing was packed. I knew we had to get away from Grand River Avenue but I didn’t want to go too far.
I found the Old Bag of Nails Pub in Lansing. The small Ohio chain has one location in Michigan. This one on Cascade Boulevard just off East Michigan Avenue across the street from the Frandor Shopping Center. This building, along with all of the hotel and apartment buildings around it, are new within the last couple of years. When J and I lived in Lansing (16 years ago), this was just a wide open field with green grass and trees. Not so much anymore.
The building is kind of on an island. There is an oval shaped road that kind of goes between the AC Hotel and the University Edge Student Living Building. The Old Bag of Nails is in between them. Parking was kind of confusing at first. There are some spots on Cascade Boulevard and some angled spots by the hotel. J drove separately from my parents and me. She found a spot by the restaurant. We found a spot by the hotel. There is also a surface lot we didn’t really see right away accessible from Red Cedar Parkway to the south or Dori Lane to the west. Like I said, the restaurant is on an Island between the two one says that make up Cascade Boulevard.
When I picked The Old Bag of Nails, I had no idea it was a chain. There are 14 locations in Ohio and this one in Michigan. The original location is in Worthington, OH.
I also didn’t know this was a hybrid Irish and British Pub. I wasn’t trying to pick an Irish Pub for St. Patrick’s Day Weekend, but I just kind of did.
The restaurant is set up like a pretty typical pub. There’s a big U-Shaped bar at one end of the space. Heavy wood tables and chairs surround the bar area and there are booths along the walls. The decor is that kind of upscale pub look with hard wood floors and exposed ceilings. J had went in to get a table while we parked. We found her in a booth along one of the walls when we got inside.
College basketball was in full swing as the Big Ten Tournament was happening that Saturday. There are TV’s throughout the space and hanging above the bar.
Each of the booths also has it’s own TV which B loved…even though he couldn’t turn the channel. Not sure what he wanted to watch but he had to watch basketball.
We weren’t given any kind of tap list and I didn’t see one on the table. Instead of asking, I just ordered a Coke. J and B did the same. My parents stuck to water.
The menu is pub fare with that upscale twist. There was a lot that looked good to me but I ordered the The Gaylord Burger. This sandwich is a simple burger with cheddar cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce. Everything about this sandwich was delicious. The bun was soft but dense. The meat was juicy and flavorful. The cheese was melted on top of the crispy bacon strips to hold them in place. The BBQ sauce was sweet and tangy and didn’t overwhelm the rest of the sandwich. There is an option for either steak fries or skinny fries. I chose the steak fries. These are skin on steak fries with a healthy does of salt and pepper seasoning. There was a lot of discussion at the table about which fry was better but I like the heartier steak fries so I was happy with my choice.
J ordered the Chicken Tender Basket. She got three large pieces of hand battered chicken breasts. These were such good tenders. They were crispy and juicy and didn’t need to be dipped in anything. J ate one and a half of the tenders then I brought the rest back to the hotel. They were so good but I didn’t want to eat them all there in case someone was hungry later in the night. J went with the skinny fries. These were also skin on fries with a heavy dose of seasoning on them. They were super crispy on the outside and like air in the middle. J prefers this kind of fry so it was a good choice for her.
B got the kids’ cheeseburger meal. It was a simple, smaller sandwich with just a burger patty and cheese. He also got the skinny fries but he doesn’t really like fries so I ate some of them and brought the rest to the hotel with me alongside J’s chicken tenders.
My dad ordered the French Dip. I was also considering this one. The sandwich is thin sliced prime rib with grilled onions and swiss cheese plus au jus for dipping. His review was, “it was better than the meal I had (at Texas Coral) last night” so I take that as he liked it.
My mom ordered the Philly Cheesesteak. This is another sandwich with prime rib, onions, peppers, mushrooms and white American cheese. She told me more than once after we left how good the sandwich was.
The cost for the five of us was right around $70.
I just randomly picked the Old Bag of Nails just based off the pictures I saw on Google and the menu. It looked good but I had never heard of it before. I just wanted something fairly close to East Lansing because I knew J and B were wanting to go back to the rink after we ate. I was done for the day, I went to the hotel with a full belly. This was a great choice for a relaxed, delicious meal.