Towne Plaza

At October 19, 2012
By Nick
In Eats
1

Northern Swag Gathering at Towne Plaza

For this particular post, we thought we’d share some perspective from a few of our Northern Swag contributors. After all, aren’t three opinions better than one?

Brian:

I love pork. I love its greasy, fatty awesomeness. There have been periods of time in my life when I abstained from meat consumption and each of those times ended with a pork smorgasbord. Towne Plaza’s menu is what I would describe as pork-centric. It’s actually shocking that I didn’t eat there sooner than I did, but as a general rule I try not to consume 10,000 calories in a single sitting, so I waited until I was physically forced to go eat lunch there by my boss, Kim.

All of the pigs are purchased locally, from a farm in Cadillac, and prepped in the back of the restaurant, which is impressive. My lunch did not disappoint. I had the BLT; seared pork belly, aioli, tomato, micro greens, on a baguette. I added fried eggs for $2, bringing the total for my sandwich to $13. Certainly on the pricier side, but worth every penny.

I had dinner at Towne Plaza recently as well and ordered the quinoa salad, which included; beets, cucumber, red onion, chevre, almonds, lemon, & olive oil. Also delicious, certainly on the healthier side, and at $9, not overly priced.

There is no draft beer on tap as of yet, a situation I hope is remedied soon. The bottle selection is a little on the boring side, but since they always seem to have 1 or 2 bottles of Short’s, I don’t have to go thirsty (yes, that is a picture of my beer I had during lunchtime, be jealous). I can’t personally speak to the wine and spirits offered.

Also worth noting, they serve breakfast until 2pm, which is awesome.

Kim:

When I heard the restaurant replacing Stonehouse Bread on Cass and State (less than a block from my office) was a pork place, I started to doubt the lucky powers of my tofu rabbit foot. For the past twenty years my diet has varied between either vegetarian or pescatarian, and I should come clean and admit to owning a t-shirt featuring an adorable pig with the quote “Please don’t eat me. I love you”.

But, alas, all was not lost. Towne Plaza, different than its predecessors, is open after work (for dinner) and serves alcohol. The addition of strung paper lanterns to the huge outdoor patio and the enticing offer of after-work drinks were enough to get me in the door. To my surprise, the menu included quite a few dishes that met my dietary constraints. A delicious in-season tomato salad with feta dressing, a very generously-portioned cheese plate, and a cozy squash bisque are a few that I’ve had and thoroughly enjoyed. I’d be amiss not to tell you about the amazing french toast that is part of the breakfast offerings until 2:00 p.m. I’m with Brian on this one, a breakfast-for-lunch option is a huge plus in my book too. My one critique: their Bloody Marys seem to have BBQ flavoring in them?? Nothing like a mid-lunch freak out when the idea that I may actually be drinking pig juice goes through my head (Yes, yes I did actually think that and I may have even said it out loud).

Nick:

I was going to start my statement by saying I love pork, but Brian beat me to the punch. But I do. Sometime I think in my head of all the delicious dishes and cuts of meat you can derive our porky friends (queue Bubba’s voice from Forest Gump talking about shrimp.)

It took me a little while to finally get myself down to Towne Plaza, but it hasn’t disappointed since. It’s actually one of my favorite breakfast places now. Easy to get to, plenty of parking (especially behind the building) and much more bang for the buck. My favorite breakfast items are the Eggs Benedict and the Smoke Salmon. Both are equally delicious and $12 for a generous sized portion of food. My family loves having breakfast on the large outdoor patio in the summer, and I’m already eagerly anticipating next spring when we can do so again.

I find that you can make lunch or dinner as affordable or expensive as you’d like. While they do have entree offerings that can be upwards of $20-30 a plate, you can also mix and match a delicious selection of salads and appetizers. On this particular visit, I enjoyed a potato salad special and plenty of escargot for $17.

I should note that I love the fact that it’s just a block down from the newly opened Om Cafe. In fact, I was even able to get a vegan friend of mine to come to Towne Plaza, and he enjoyed a couple dishes that were prepared for him in a vegan fashion. See, equal opportunity for everyone.