Korea House is modestly situated along the western face of the Trowbridge Plaza. Mirrored window film gives the exterior a distinctive, though opaque, look. One is happy to read the black sign with orange lettering near the door with the reassuring message, “Yes, We are Open.”

Many of us seem to have an assembly-line mentality when it comes to dining out, and perhaps that’s understandable in a car town: We want to eat cheap, fast and in vast quantities. Maybe it’s an American thing, like in retail, in which we sometimes consume just to consume. Around here, we sometimes eat just to eat.

The East Lansing Food Co-op is looking good these days, thanks largely to extensive renovations that took a year to come to fruition.

The promise of broasted chicken is that it is moister, tastes better than other chain chicken shacks and has less fat and fewer calories than other fried chicken — though, as one of my dining companions pointed out, that’s a bit like saying you smoke light cigarettes because they’re better for your lungs.

Hank’s offers everything from ox tails to neck bones, chicken wings, gyros, corned beef, tacos and, on the weekends, hand-tossed specialty pizzas.

Emil's Italian Restaurant emphasizes its family heritage and calls itself a family-friendly eatery. With the soft lighting and intimate booths, many also consider it a romantic destination for first dates or anniversaries. Others liken the atmosphere to something out of a Martin Scorsese mob film, especially when entering from the back door.

Early on New Year’s Eve morning, plates of eggs, pancakes and bacon were stacking up at the order window for loyal patrons visiting Sawyer’s Gourmet Pancake House the day before it turned off its griddle for good.

Red Cedar opened earlier this year adjacent to the Brookfield Plaza, at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Hagadorn Road.

'euro;'I'euro;'ve been barbecuing all enough flavor from the rub (sans MSG and binders, Mendoza notes) all by itself, any extra sauce would be my life, doing brisket in the backyard since I was 5 years King of the Grill 4400 N. Grand River Ave., overkill in my book.

The name Grumpy s Diner conjures up a sour-faced old man waving off complaints as he barks at waitresses through an order window. I expected sassy service, brittle bacon and overcooked eggs.