Restaurants in East Lansing

Upon entering Damon's Grill, guests must first pass under a quartet of bronze athletes immortalized in midpass or midswing. Once inside, the aroma of grilled steaks, ribs, fish, and chicken pulls them in one of two directions: toward quieter dining spaces, or toward the raucous energy of the clubhouse bar. In the clubhouse, revelers gather around the eatery's exclusively operated DTV––an entertainment system comprised of flat-screen TVs beaming with live sports and news broadcasts. Using tabletop speakers, guests control the audio station, volume, and frequency to curb the behavior of any nearby rabid canines. They can also compete with each other and players nationally with sports and trivia games. For outside gatherings, Damon's Grill's culinary crews assemble plated menus, buffets, and grilled meat packages.

When it came time for him to break out on his own, Riccardo Biella chose not to go very far. After 10 years of working in his family’s restaurants, he opened Olivera’s in 2002, melding the cuisines of Italy and the United States and adding some Mexican touches, in a cavernous space framed by exposed stone and dark brown wainscoting. Pasta dishes with house-made sauce slide onto tables alongside steak and seafood entrees, and pizzas roll into strategically placed and propped-open laptop bags to deliver kalamata olives, feta, bacon, and baby spinach. Signature burritos come drenched in spiced sauce that's made from scratch and paired with sides of sour cream and salsa, the latter of which is also made in-house.

Sports games flash across the faces of a smattering of flat-screen televisions, arranged so that almost every seat in the house has a good view of the NBA slam-dunk contest or the NFL touchdown dance-off.

At Fuel Vegetarian a vegan can bite into an American-style burger with a Peruvian-seasoned patty and gooey layer of cheese. The completely vegetarian, raw, and vegan-friendly restaurant crafts meat-free versions of classic tastes from places such as Italy, Cuba, Ethiopia, and Louisiana. Executive chef Denise Miller creates a list of regionally themed plates such as the southern stack, which includes cream of wheat-crusted substitution chicken strewn across a bed of black-eyed peas and collard greens. Along with using local and sustainable ingredients, Fuel Vegetarian gives back to the community by donating $0.60 to local nonprofits every time a customer orders a dessert or successfully licks their elbow.

When The Melting Pot originally opened in 1975 just outside Orlando, diners had just three options: swiss-cheese fondue, beef fondue, or chocolate fondue. The restaurant first expanded four years later, when an enterprising waiter at the initial location opened up a new outpost in Tallahassee. Today, the company—now owned by that original waiter, Mark Johnston, and his brothers Mike and Bob—stretches across North America with more than 140 restaurants linked by underground tunnels. The restaurant's menu has also expanded, and patrons can now expect six varieties of hot dipping cheese, paired with salads, meats, and molten chocolate.

Twenty-four hours a day, the chefs of Sandhill Café pacify growling tummies with a menu that spans the spectrum of American comfort food classics, from stacks of fluffy pancakes to bacon-cheddar cheeseburgers. Whether entertaining late-night hankerings for fried chicken and waffles, or celebrating Opposite Day by eating dinner for breakfast, diners can immerse themselves in the café’s laid-back, neighborhood feel, marked by its dark hardwood floors, subtle lighting, and TVs showing hotly contested staring contests.