Restaurants in Portage

Ice cream made fresh. Smoothies, shakes, ice cream pies, cupcakes and cake. All of our cakes are made with two layers of ice cream, and two layers of either, red velvet, chocolate or yellow cake then topped with whipped icing or ganache. We also have ice cream cupcakes and sandwich cookies.

Fazoli's expeditious culinary team assembles gondolas of oven-baked pastas and sandwiches for a palatable odyssey through comestible canals. Chicken submarinos ferry onions, peppers, provolone, and roasted red pepper toward mouths in bread battleships ($5.99), and the chicken piccata builds a noodle nest for grilled chicken with linguini in creamy marinara sauce, capers, and broccoli ($5.79). Diners can nosh on traditional Italian flavors with a plate of spaghetti in meat sauce or fettuccine alfredo ($5.99). Fazoli's bountiful menu also bursts at the seams with pizzas, fresh salads, and a supply of breadsticks that's as bottomless as a trapdoor in the Oval Office.

A New York–style deli, Soup'R Heros sates rumbling hunger mufflers with its menu of soups, sandwiches, salads, and more. Scale the condiment-encrusted peaks of a “Hero” sandwich—a 14" sub layered with deli meat sliced to order and your choice of toppings—such as the roast beef and turkey or the tuna salad ($6.75 for a half, $9.25 for a full). Or brave the treacherous topping slopes of the meatier “Super Hero,” which comes in varietals such as chicken salad and ham, salami, capicola, and pepperoni ($6.75 for a half, $9.25 for a full). Those with bread-based phobias can sup from Soup'R Heros’ selection of up to eight soups, which rotate daily.

Brewster's whets palates with applewood-smoked meats and a panoply of pub fare that can be selected from the menu. Pulled pork and beef brisket simmer for 14 hours in the smoker before emerging between buns for sandwiches ($6.99) or teaming up with sides on dinner-platter platoons ($10.99). Tex-Mex entrees available to massage taste buds include the chipotle chicken quesadilla ($7.99) and El Paso nachos ($8.99), inspired by the city in Texas from which they hale—Amsterdam. Diners can also peruse a battalion of bread-boosted hunger-trouncers, such as beefy burgers ($5.99–$7.99) and savory chicken wraps ($7.29).

When Amo Scotese first arrived on American soil at the age of 18, he carried with him not only his suitcase but a lifetime of experience in traditional Italian cuisine. Shortly after that day, more than 76 years ago, the Naples native and his wife, Rose, opened La Cantina Ristorante Italiano to showcase their family’s time-honored Italian dishes. Determined to keep the aroma of those recipes in Paw Paw’s collective nostrils, Amo and Rose’s children continue running the kitchen to this day, captaining chefs as they fold housemade sauces into the authentic pastas, pizzas, and specialty dishes that have been honed over generations. The restaurant's renowned meatballs were described by a reporter from the Kalamazoo Gazette as “simple and soothing, redolent of fennel, just enough for an evening and left a slight tingling in the mouth from a scant touch of red pepper flakes—a token to remember.” Staff sommeliers, meanwhile, stand by to assist clients in pairing dishes with selections from the extensive wine list, which spotlights fine Italian and international varieties.

Servers roll vintage serving carts out into the energetic dining room, where hundreds of chianti bottles dangle from the ceiling. Amo and Rose’s wedding portraits gaze out over the red-checkered tablecloths to pay respect to the restaurant’s history, the family’s trailblazers, and the dark period in America before colors existed.

Jaspare's Pizza and Fine Italian Food doesn't hide its specialties—pizza and Italian cuisine are exactly what diners have enjoyed since the first Jaspare’s opened in 1977. Made from scratch with ingredients imported from Italy by one exhausted gondolier, Jaspare’s pizza crust comes in thin, medium, and thick sizes. That crust—served plain or dusted with flavors such as garlic or Cajun spices—cushions customized toppings combos such as ground beef and banana peppers.

The pizzeria likewise curates nearly 15 specialty pies, topped with pairings such as ham and artichokes or grilled chicken and alfredo sauce. Other pizzeria and Italian favorites round out Jaspare’s menu, from pastas smothered in housemade sauces and meatballs to oven-roasted wings tossed in garlic parmesan sauce.