Michigan has a lot of great small towns to check out. One of such towns is Leslie, MI which is located off US 127 between Lansing and Jackson. Leslie is a very small but nice community with some very local stores and restaurants. A very popular restaurant in the town is Crossroads Grill & Bar which serves great food for the entire family from salads, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, and Mexican food to great dinners such as steaks and chicken. As I am a fan of checking out local spots when it comes to restaurants, I was eager to try the food here.
I went on a Saturday, and as soon as I walked up to the restaurant, I saw a large sign advertising barbecue every Saturday. I sat down in the restaurant, and I noticed a lot of people already sitting down in the dining area as well as at the bar area with several TVs going. For the barbecue special, I noticed that they were serving up some baby back ribs along with some mac & cheese and red beans & rice. When I told the server my order, she was commenting to me on how delicious the ribs were. I am very picky when it comes to ribs as they need to be full of tender meat and flavor. Although my favorite style of ribs to date are the dry rub ribs you see in Memphis, I had a feeling that these would be really good too despite the fact that these are not dry rub.
Soon enough, the food was delivered to my table. The ribs were coated in barbecue sauce, and they looked quite tasty. The sides of mac & cheese and the red beans & rice looked pretty good, too. I first put my fork into the red beans & rice. They were quite warm, and they tasted pretty good. They were not spicy which was a little disappointing in comparison to other read beans & rice I have eaten, but the beans had a very good flavor with the rice. The mac & cheese was very tasty as it was thick with plenty of cheese. It was not my favorite, but it was very enjoyable. I saved the best for last; the baby back ribs were calling my name! I cut up the ribs into separate pieces, and I grabbed onto one of the ribs. As I took my first bite, I noticed so much great flavor in the sauce and in the meat. The meat was so tender it was easily coming off the bone. They were easily some of the best ribs I have ever eaten. Plus, the ribs had a lot of meat on them and very little fat.
After I had finished my meal, I knew that I had no room left for dessert. The cost of the meal was quite affordable given the amount of food which was on my plate. After I paid the bill, I left the restaurant quite full, and I knew that I would have to walk off my lunch at the Meridian-Baseline State Historic Park located a few miles out of town. Crossroads Grill & Bar is one of those restaurants which is worth making the trip from a larger metropolitan area such as Detroit or Grand Rapids. As Leslie, MI is just off of US 127, the restaurant makes a great pit stop if you are driving between Lansing and Jackson.
Check out my video review on Crossroads Grill & Bar on my YouTube channel!
Scottman895 Travel 