The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing, and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger. Under some definitions, and in some cultures, a burger is considered a sandwich.
Tzatziki, also known as cacık or tarator, is a class of dip, soup, or sauce found in the cuisines of Southeastern Europe and West Asia. It is made of salted strained yogurt or diluted yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sometimes with lemon juice, and herbs such as dill, mint, parsley and thyme. It is served as a cold appetiser (meze), a side dish, and as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros sandwiches and other foods.
Cucumber soup is a traditional Polish and Lithuanian soup. It is made from sour, salted cucumbers and potato. Occasionally, rice is substituted for the potatoes.
Boston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania. Since 2020, it has been owned by Engage Brands, LLC, a company of Rohan Group. Also, frozen meals and side dishes are sold nationally under the Boston Market brand name in food markets. The chain was known for rotisserie chickens, and later branched out into other meats such as turkey, meatloaf, and ham. A common meal had a meat with a few sides such as potatoes, cream spinach, mac n' cheese, and accompanied by a corn bread. Stores sometimes had seasonal specials and they also had a line of sandwiches. It was popular in the 1990s and early 21st century but by the 2020s was in a rapid decline, and by 2024 there was only a couple dozen stores left.
Meijer Inc. is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwestern United States. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan, which is a part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962. About half of the company's 259 stores are located in Michigan, particularly in its birthplace of West Michigan; the others are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin. The chain is ranked by Forbes as the 14th-largest private company in the United States, and is the country's 23rd-largest retailer by revenue as of 2023.
Sheetz, Inc. is an American chain of convenience stores. Its stores, which are open 24/7 year-round, offer made-to-order fast food, and most include a gas station, while a few locations are full-scale truck stops, offering showers and a laundromat. The family-owned company has over 21,000 employees, and operates more than 750 company-owned stores located in Central and Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan.
Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. is an American multinational chain of pizza restaurants that was founded in 1959. Little Caesars is the third largest pizza chain by total sales in the United States behind Pizza Hut and Domino's. It operates and franchises pizza restaurants in the United States and internationally in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The company is owned by Ilitch Holdings, and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.
Biggby Coffee is an American coffeehouse franchise based in Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1995 in the city of East Lansing, Michigan, by Bob Fish and Mary Roszel as Beaner's Coffee. By the end of the 1990s, the company had three locations in Lansing, and began to expand during the 21st century by means of franchising. Between 2007 and 2008, the chain was officially renamed Biggby Coffee due to corporate concerns over the meaning of the word "beaner"; the name Biggby was derived from the letter B in the company's logo. As of mid-2024, the chain had over 390 locations throughout the United States.
Meridian Mall is a super-regional shopping mall located in Okemos, Meridian Township, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan, United States.
Kwik Trip is a chain of convenience stores founded in 1965 that has locations throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan under the name Kwik Trip, and in Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota under the name Kwik Star, although the Dixon, Illinois, location operates as Kwik Trip. The company also operates stores under the name Tobacco Outlet Plus, Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery, Hearty Platter, Kwik Spirits, and Stop-N-Go. Kwik Trip, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Lansing Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Delta Charter Township, Michigan, United States, just outside Lansing, the state capital of Michigan. Opened in July 1969, the same year as its crosstown competitor Meridian Mall, Lansing Mall consists of 830,052 square feet (77,114.4 m2) of gross leasable area, with approximately 60 stores and restaurants, as well as a food court. Its original anchor stores were Wurzburg's, Federal's, and Montgomery Ward. Only three years after opening, Wurzburg's and Federal's were replaced by J.W. Knapp Company (Knapp's) and Robert Hall Village respectively. In 1979, the Robert Hall space was then vacated as part of an expansion project that also added a new mall wing ending in Hudson's, while J. C. Penney replaced Knapp's a year later and Mervyn's joined in 1987. The mall's anchor stores remained unchanged between then and the first decade of the 21st century: Hudson's was renamed to Marshall Field's, which itself later became Macy's, while the bankrupted Montgomery Ward and Mervyn's were replaced with Younkers and a Regal Entertainment Group movie theater. Following the closures of Macy's and Younkers, the mall's only operational anchor store is J. C. Penney. Other major tenants include Dunham's Sports, Barnes & Noble, a food court, and a 12-screen movie theater. The mall is managed and owned by Kohan Retail Investment Group and Summit Properties USA.
Tubby's is an American restaurant chain and franchise based in Clinton Township, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1968 in nearby St. Clair Shores, the chain operates more than 70 stores throughout Michigan, primarily in the Detroit metropolitan area. The chain primarily serves submarine sandwiches and salads, own specific chips, along with soft drinks, french fries and soup, and is known for its grilled subs.
The cuisine of Michigan is part of the broader regional cuisine of the Midwestern United States. It is reflective of the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the state, and draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Native North America.
Big John Steak & Onion, aka BJs & Onion or Steak and Onion and formerly Slick-Chick, Inc., is a regional sub sandwich chain. The name came from a nickname that the founder, John E. Klobucar, had received from his friends. The chain is considered a restaurant icon of the Flint Area.
National Coney Island is a Coney Island-style restaurant based in Michigan that specializes in Greek-American cuisine. It is a corporation that has more than 20 National Coney Island locations in the Metro Detroit area.
llaoIIao is a Spanish frozen yogurt franchise brand founded in Denia in the province of Alicante, Spain. As of March 2016, llaollao is present in more than 180 establishments. Currently, llaollao is present in 25 countries on four continents including several countries in Europe and Latin America, Morocco, El Salvador, Australia, China, Russia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Japan, United States and Brunei Darussalam.
Dave's Hot Chicken is an American fast casual restaurant chain specializing in Nashville-style hot chicken.
