113 N. Farmer StreetNew computer systems are always fun, right?
Our company is overhauling computers, software, etc. so that means days and days of training. I was asked if I wanted to do the training in Grand Rapids or in Kalamazoo. I chose Grand Rapids not thinking we were still in pandemic mode and it was going to be over Zoom. By the time I realized that, it was too late. I was committed to training in Grand Rapids.
I work a second shift on Monday nights and my training lined up with that. I started my day in Grand Rapids with a training session at 3:00 and headed back to Kalamazoo for the rest of my shift once I was done around 5:00.
I wasn’t in a super big hurry. My co-worker had already done some things that would make my night easier and he didn’t need me to rush back….which means…dinner time!
I’ve been seeing posts from a place in Otsego that looked really good. They open at 4 PM and most of the time when I drive through Otsego, it’s well before that. I figured I had time so I’d make a quick detour on my way back to Kalamazoo.
Mac’s Place opened in March of this year on Farmer Street just north of W. Allegan Street/M-89. The two story grey building isn’t marked very well with just a sign in the window so I actually missed it the first time I drove by. I went around the block and parked in the municipal lot on Farmer Street then went walking to find the shop.
The building has previously been a bar. It was J.R. McGonigle’s for quite a while before Doug’s Bar & Grill. That’s pretty obvious when you walk in. There’s been some changes but there is still a really big that is now used as an order counter. It still has the footrails and the hooks under the bar to hang your coat but there are no bar stools anymore.
The menu is on a chalkboard on the wall. There are a number of every day options but each day of the week also has something special. I stopped in on a Monday night so the special was a Bag of Burgers or Mac’s BLT. Bags of burgers is actually quite tempting but I didn’t need multiple burgers. I went with the Cuban Sammy instead.
The cost of the sandwich was just under $14. The lady taking my order said it’d be ready in less than 10 minutes so I took a seat at one of the pub tables in the dining room to wait for the sandwich to be bagged up.
I needed to get back to Kalamazoo so I got in the car and got on the road. I opened up the to-go box figuring I could eat the fries on the way. I was really surprised at just how many were in the box. The fries were just simple crinkle cut frozen fries but there were so many in the box they completely covered the sandwich.
I got stuck in traffic around D Avenue and the smell of the sandwich was just too much. I took a chance and decided to see how juicy/messy the sandwich would be. It didn’t look like I was going to drip all over myself so I took a bite.
The sandwich is a pretty typical Cuban…grilled bread, pickles, pulled pork, Swiss cheese…but there was one major difference. Instead of mustard, the sandwich had mayo. This was a shock to my tongue when I bit in. I was expecting mustard. They didn’t have ingredients listed for the Cuban on the menu board so I had no idea until I took the first bite. The sandwich was really full of flavor so I didn’t really mind the condiment switch. The pulled pork was really juicy and was grilled to add a little char flavor to it. The bun appeared to be a pretty standard white sub bun but it was pressed and grilled up really nicely too. Even as a guy who doesn’t like mayo, I polished this sandwich off pretty quickly because it was just too good to let mayo get in the way.
I like Mac’s Place. The menu is pretty great everyday but to make things better, each night has a tasty looking special. Of course, I’d like to find time on a Sunday to try the brisket but I’ll gladly stop in anytime I’m driving through Otsego.