Pesto's - Flint

Without prior knowledge of Pesto's, you might drive by the rather unassuming building at the corner of Dye and Miller roads. It sits on the edge of the shopping district around Genesee Valley Shopping Center away from all of their chain restaurant competitors. Armed with only a small awning and a sign that list their daily specials. Don't let any of this fool you. What awaits you on the inside is worth it.

When you walk inside you enter an intimate setting with seats for probably no more than 45 people. The decor is very eclectic, with different tables and chairs, and the walls are lined with mirrors and Mardi Gras posters.

On tonight's visit we had a delicious dinner! My wife ordered a crock of Cheese Crusted French Onion Soup to start with, which was shared with our youngest son. He liked it too! I had a side salad.

That was followed by Chicken Artichoke Salad for my wife. It had arugula lettuce, grilled tomatoes, kalamata olives, topped with a garlic dressing, and a garlic stick on the side. Our son had Pizza, which we both sampled and liked. I decided on the Parmesan Crusted White Fish, with linguine noodles, tomato sauce, and it also came with a garlic stick on the side.

As usual the food and service was great!

Now I must confess we have ate here before and it is one of our favorite stops. Our only complaint seems to continue to be that they have a mushroom fetish, and they offer the fungi in too many dishes. On a previous visit we were talking to one of the waitresses, and learned that everything there is homemade. From the lunches and dinners to the desserts. The House Specialty is Chicken Pot Pie. It comes with garden vegetables, chunks of white and dark chicken meat in a rich gravy, flowing out of a phyllo shell. I've had this many times and it's and excellent choice.

Oh the desserts! I love a great dessert as much as the next person, but here, they are something special. I don't usually "save room for dessert", but here I do. The glass dessert case, yes "desserts under glass", is in the back next to the kitchen. Which is next to the waitress station. Which is next to the cashier... remember I told you this place was small. We ordered an Eclair - my favorite, and a slice of Chocolate Cheese Cake. Both were a perfect ending to the night!

Our Tip:

Pesto's is one of the best kept secrets of Flint, Michigan. The meals are fantastic. I think my wife said it all when at the end of our dinner she said, "I love this place!"

The Lost Symbol of our youth

Country Boy is for sale!!!

Anyone who grew up in Goodrich or Davison in the last 20 years is sure to remember Country Boy, or Country Son as it was called in the later years. It was a 24 hour diner just off of I-69 and M-15 in Davison.

For my friends and I, it was a place to go and get a great omelet, good sandwich, or a tasty burger. Only for us it was a trip that usually took place after 2am. It was the place to go after the house party was disbanded by someones parents, or the field party was broken up by the police. It was the next to final stop of the night after the bartender yelled out "Last Call! You don't have to go home but you can't stay here!"

We had our regular area to sit in - in the door and to the left. We'd find a booth and pour ourselves into it. We even had a regular waitress - Laura. She was the waitress who was always way too happy to be working at that time of the night. She knew most of us by name, and could guess our order on occasion. She always knew how to work us for a good tip.

The food there was top shelf greasy spoon. As I mentioned earlier the omelets were great, as well as the biscuits and gravy, which I believe was my normal order. The burgers were very good and the sandwiches were too.

Come with me on my walk down memory lane...
One friend who always made sure the staff knew that he wanted mustard on his burger, but no mayo!
Sitting down after we had ordered our food, got up to go to the bathroom. Then coming back to someone passed out face down in their fries.
My friends younger brother going to the bathroom... girls bathroom that is.
Having an extra dollar or two to put into the jukebox, then hoping it would work.
And of corse the conversations about people, jobs, school, politics, and religion. Oh please, not religion!

The only constant in life is change. With that we all eventually lose pieces of our past. Perhaps someone will buy it and help a new generation form some lasting memories.


Good bye to our old greasy spoon!

Lucky's Steak House

We had the pleasure of celebrating my sister's birthday recently, and she chose Lucky's Steak House in Davison, Michigan as our meeting place. Lucky's is a small chain of steak houses here in southeast Michigan. They have a faithful following among their local customers. Should you be going there for dinner, be forewarned, unless you are in a big group (10 or more), they don't take reservations on the weekend. This usually means be prepared to wait for a little bit, or try to enjoy a drink at the bar while a table opens up.

We only had a short wait before we were seated. Our waitress came over quickly and took our drink order. After she was done and started to turn away I had to stop her because she forgot our youngest son. This seemed odd due to the fact that he is still teething and didn't want to sit still. She returned with the drinks and took our food order, but again forgot our son. I had to remind her that he to was going to eat. Our waitress obviously had somewhere else more important to be.

One of the things you get with dinner are "Garlic Bread Sticks" with herb butter, and they are fabulous! We found that the butter was one of the things that kept our son happy here. So much so that he was dipping his fingers in and sucking his fingers, and licking the butter from the bowl. Thankfully there was more than one butter dish. Honestly if it wasn't my kid I would've been totally grossed out by the whole thing. Sorry fellow diners.My wife started off with a salad. I had a cup of "Chicken Pot Pie" soup. Our son has become somewhat of a soup connoisseur lately. When it came he demanded that he get to eat it. Long story short, he stole my soup. When I did get a chance to steal back a spoonful, I realized that it was an excellent beginning to the meal.

For dinner I ordered the "Grilled Florida Mahi Mahi", with mussels, sea scallops in a tomato sauce, with "Potato Au Gratin" on the side. My wife had the "Pecan Crusted Grouper", with broccoli and asparagus, topped with roasted pecan honey butter sauce. Everything was perfect!Our son ordered the "Chicken Fingers with Fries". Although due to his temper that night, he didn't want to touch his meal until the next day.

The only complaint that came from our table in regards to the food was from my mom. She said "this steak is too big". This has never been, nor will it ever be a complaint from us.On previous visits to this location we have ordered the "Aged Prime Rib" more than once. Each time we have been sorely disappointed. Being that this is a steak house one could assume that this would be a great option, but it has proven to be one of the worst versions of the dish we have ever sank our teeth into. On the other hand we have also enjoyed steaks and ribs here before as well.

Our Tip: Go! Enjoy! Lucky's cooks up some excellent dishes. Just stay away from the prime rib. Despite this most recent visit, the wait staff here has never given us a reason not to tip.