Restaurants in Okemos

The cherry-red Diners, Drive-ins and Dives convertible idles beside a giant rooster statue in the Gizzard City parking lot. Inside the diner, Food Network's Guy Fieri stands over a deep fryer, a full burger battered in his gloved hand. With a sizzle and a grin, Guy drops the entire creation into scalding oil, yielding Joe's Gizzard City's newest creation, the Triple D burger. After spending years battering chicken in his grandmother's secret blend of ingredients, co-owner Joe Bristol Jr. decided to experiment with the hot oil, and now deep fries hot dogs, Oreos, and even whole burgers. But the eatery isn’t called Gizzard City for nothing. Pressure cooked in garlic and celery powder until tender, Joe's namesake chicken gizzards arrive to tables cloaked in Cajun spices or crowded into the cheese-filled confines of an omelet.

Hesitant diners begin to sample gizzards, cautiously at first, but then letting forth happy sighs that reverberate off neon beer signs, a projection TV, and a weathered wooden bar. The staff operates on the same irreverent attitude that led them to deep-fry a Twinkie, joking with one another and playfully asking guests to help with the dishes. Booths the deep red hue of a lobster with lost cue cards cradle lingering patrons who chat with Joe Jr. about his numerous Tennessee Country Music Association awards.

The chefs at Wrought Iron Grill design dishes that are artfully executed down to the last detail. Take, for example, the housemade barbecue sauce that complements the grilled pineapple and black forest ham on the Maui Wowie pizza, or the veal demi-glace they make to flavor hand-cut, marrow-encrusted filet mignon. They also take care to incorporate local ingredients, coating wild-caught scallops with Michigan morel mushrooms and flash-frying fillets of Michigan perch.

Housed in the five-story brick structure that once held Woodard Furniture Company, Wrought Iron Grill's decor harks back to the building's industrial past. Flooring reclaimed from a welding room tops the bar, and 110-year-old windows hang over the heads of bartenders as they pour Michigan beers and mix drinks such as signature bloody marys garnished with spicy Mandingo pickles, 45th Parallel asparagus, and jumbo shrimp. Live bands often play atop the building's loading dock, allowing singers to be conveniently wheeled away after they've finished performing.

In an effort to find a healthy alternative to fast food without sacrificing speediness, the creators of Pita Pit began assembling their signature sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks. At each location customers can sample thin pitas that encircle lean, grilled meats and fresh veggies. Sandwich selections span the spectrum from gyro meat and falafel to turkey and prime rib. The staff empowers customers to make healthy choices by displaying nutrition information for its bread and meats, and by offering a selection of healthy sandwiches.

When Eagles Nest owner Sarah Sowles says her restaurant is filled with smiling faces, she means it—the grins of well-fed customers brighten the first page of her lunch-and-breakfast menu. She aims to keep her morning patrons happy with favorites such as wet breakfast burritos that glisten beneath a ladleful of sausage gravy and custom three-egg omelets that can be filled with corned beef or veggies. And since her café serves breakfast all day, guests can stop in anytime for a stack of blueberry pancakes or some biscuits and gravy. Diners have plenty of options for lunch, too. They can customize burgers, capping prime-steak patties with a choice of three toppings before having their name branded into the bun. Also on the menu are wraps that envelop buffalo chicken and ranch dressing and baja citrus chicken salads that layer pecans and cranberries beneath a raspberry vinaigrette.

Hailing from humble beginnings in a renovated Mississippian gas station, McAlister's Deli has revolutionized the concept of fast food with healthy fare recognized by Parents in 2009. Premium ingredients, such as Black Angus roast beef and black forest ham pile upon stuffed potatoes or artisan bread, sating hungers and silencing stomachs before they recite bank account numbers. As patrons wait for servers to deliver meals, they sip signature sweet tea, swirled together onsite daily from pure cane sugar and a rainforest-certified black-tea blend as dictated by a closely guarded recipe.

The chefs at the American-inspired XIAO China Grille & Lounge lavish chicken and seafood with ginger soy sauce, coconut milk, and orange zest, while raw-fish maestros tempt tongues with elaborate rolls at a new sushi bar. Chopsticks manipulate teriyaki-glazed morsels out of bento boxes and into mouths or annoying companions’ briefcases, and knives slice into marinated, Korean-style barbecue steaks or beef spiced with red chilies. The sushi bar sets taste buds to sea with crab, eel, and shrimp that mingle in more than 35 rolls and six combo assortments. After tipping their hats to the soaring golden Buddha sculpture on their way in, patrons lounge, nosh, and finally reveal their intergalactic origins amid red walls, wood-paneled booths, and poles etched with Chinese characters.