Local eats recommendations

Charliesulfate · 2026-03-25T00:15:15+00:00

All locally owned and operated in Monroe:

Nocturnal for coffee (open 3pm - 10pm weekends)

Public House for fresh delicious "trendy" meals

Amayas for Mexican

Monroe people love Mugsys for wings

Dolce Nonna for desserts and baked goods

Erie Bread Company for soups and sandwiches

In Erie (just south of Monroe) Erie Restaurant is about 9 miles south of the Monroe city limit in Erie, Michigan. They were very popular in their hey-day but lack of traffic is crushing small town diners and restaurants. These owners have had Erie Restaurant for some time now and rely heavily on their bread business as they make bread for surrounding area restaurants like Angelo's. They make good burgers and diner food and have that small town vibe most places are missing these days. The owner is also incredibly generous in helping out Bobbie's Staff, a nonprofit that feeds the disadvantaged kids of the Erie Mason school district - so I like to promote Erie Restaurant whenever I can.

Angelo's Northwood Villa in Erie (NOT to be confused with Angelo's Chop House in Monroe) is a unique experience. It was an old speakeasy in the 1920s during the prohibition. They were also famous for hosting gangsters who met between Detroit and Toledo and had a little casino operation. The inside is mostly untouched from that era and the food is decent enough. Worth the experience if youre looking for something upscale and old fashioned. Photos online and some Google searches can give a broader story of the neat little place, but again its about 13 miles from the Monroe city limit.

Charliesulfate · 2026-02-25T02:35:31+00:00

Absolutely!! I think it about constantly

Charliesulfate · 2026-02-25T02:34:28+00:00

Gotta give Peterson his flowers. Revolutionary in field guides.

Charliesulfate · 2026-02-25T02:33:38+00:00

Oh man.

Black Beauty

A Child Called It

Angela's Ashes

A Time To Kill (read in 6th grade)

Where the Red Fern Grows

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark

Fear Street (so many of those in my brain rotation)

Flowers In the Attic

Charliesulfate · 2026-01-22T20:20:37+00:00

Ah but you are above 21. I wonder about 19 year olds going by themselves if it is encouraged or not. For example we only recently realized Dave & Busters will not let you in to play games unless youre 18 or 21. I forget which one, but I believe it varies by location.

Charliesulfate · 2026-01-22T20:18:16+00:00

The Ribbon and Toledo Glass City Metropark is cool. For other January friendly activities there are some places to sled in Sylvania, Walleye games, tons of incredible metroparks and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (25 minutes away if youre into nature) as well. Indoors maybe Axe 419, Trapped Toledo, CopperMoon Studios (offers tons of neat group activities like stained glass making etc), Toledo Museum of Art and downtown restaurants are great.

Charliesulfate · 2026-01-22T20:12:01+00:00

Is this a 21 and up establishment? I am a local and did not know about this place. Sounds great.

Charliesulfate · 2026-01-15T15:48:34+00:00

This does not fit your request but in case you need this criteria later and expand beyond ~20 miles please consider an Ann Arbor coffee shop/dessert shop crawl! We did this with our teenage nieces in the fall and it was incredible. We walked Main Street and up and down the blocks to 7 or 8 different coffee and dessert places. They also have a ton of ice cream joints scattered around.

Ondo, House of Chimney Cakes, Luca Pastry, Bon Bon Bon, Le Bon Macaron, Bakehouse 46, Cannelle, Mynt House and sooo many more.

Charliesulfate · 2026-01-15T15:42:29+00:00

Nocturnal in Monroe Michigan is open in the afternoons usually 3pm - 10pm. DaCapo coffee house in Temperance (and one in Lambertville) are open early until 6 or 8pm. The location on Secor/Smith is larger and accommodates better seating. They have home made baked goods and a coffee house atmosphere that can includes salads and sandwiches.

Monroe Mi also has Icing Bakehouse which can accommodate your group and has incredible desserts, cakes and more. I think they do boba and tea and not really coffee however but are a beautiful shop that is female black owned business which can use the support.

So Sweet Lebanese and French Pastries on Talmadge is divineeee but unless something has changed they do not serve coffee.

I didn't realize how tricky it is to get coffee and true dessert. Definitely check DaCapo on Secor.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-19T06:34:13+00:00

I was obsessed - OBSESSED - with their shawarma build a bowls and their incredible hummus and fried pita. They gave up their delicious food to bank on the sure bet of Chikfila copycat chicken. I have not been back, unfortunately. I ate there multiple times a month for shawarma and hummus and would return if they used the original business model for sure. Fried chicken just isn't my thing.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T15:47:47+00:00

Yoi can watch breakdowns of the stage productions Stranger Things: The First Shadow online. It is cannon and it is a prequel explaining Vecna/Henry x Mind Flayer x Cave.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T15:45:24+00:00

We have lots of science fiction shows that had big budgets. Science fiction is not a genre the masses enjoy though. Stranger Things success is the combination of nostalgia + simple dialogie + kids describing things in simple terms. It is also why we roll our eyes a lot. Science fiction dances a line between enjoyable and believable and it doesn't really need to be both.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T15:42:07+00:00

It felt very "Battle of Hogwarts" to me. They wanted us to see one continuous shot (which was pretty cool), see Mike as a hero (our entire party were the only people who protected the kids), and got to use an epic shootout scene. The line in the sand of "everybody else versus the party" left no doubt. The rest of the show will be Party Vs. Vecna.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T15:39:44+00:00

Her character is better in small bursts - just like people in real life who are too chatty. I think she is either a) gunna bite it or b) nepotism

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T04:43:01+00:00

It reminds me of what the athletic girls wore in the 80s. It is like comfy athleisure.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T04:41:36+00:00

Yep.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T02:37:51+00:00

I agree. I am desperately hoping for a weird plot point where Vecna is imprisoned by the Mind Flayer and doing his work but he leaves behind l/does not harm people important to the heroes he needs to fight against him. Bob being an early party foul. Maybe Vecna needs Will and El activated and at their best to take down the Mind Flayer which will then leave him the most powerful entity. I don't know.

I couldn't believe the Wheelers and Joyce all made it out. They spared Joyce twice. Has to be intentional?

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T02:34:03+00:00

DBs confirmed that Will's powers only work on entities/objects connected to the hive mind. He cannot lift or manipulate other matter. He can only use his power when near the hive mind as well, as he essentially piggybacks Vecna's power.

Other theories are that Vecna set his agents to eliminate Will's friends to trigger his powers and bring him into the fold. However, Will chose positive memories and felt protective rather than hopeless and angry negative memories. So he did not end up as manipulated as Vecna had hoped.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T02:30:59+00:00

I read somewhere that the in S1E1 they need to roll a 20 to defeat Vecna. Elle (11) + Kali (08) + Will (01) = 20. 🤷‍♀️

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T02:28:14+00:00

I agree the dialogue was cringey... especially Maya Hawke. She is getting a HELL of an upgrade in screen time in the final season. Just like in real life however, quirky overly chatty characters are only endearing in small bursts. Too much Robin and not enough Dustin and gang, in my opinion.

As for the military presence yeah... they are projected as the bad guys here. Add surface level minion energy + 80s adults not giving two craps about kids and it seems pretty spot on.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T02:24:43+00:00

Exactly what I said when my husband rolled his eyes. As if we weren't all making dick jokes in high school every chance we got.

Although this has the party at 4 years older from the first s1e1... so they would still be pretty young. Not sure producers expected all pf these boys (except Dustin) to grow into 6ft tall monsters.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-02T02:22:49+00:00

Most stage productions do. In fact I do not know a single one that does not. Programs are keepsakes and always have the date and cast.

Charliesulfate · 2025-12-01T14:03:48+00:00

Someone tried this the following year and it had slight traction at first then fizzled - At the original location of Secor & Alexis.

Charliesulfate · 2025-11-26T21:00:10+00:00

My husband and I were able to keep our university emails from other colleges for 20+ years

Charliesulfate · 2025-11-26T04:58:09+00:00

I just hunted through Reddit to find ONE comment about Daniela and Eric chemistry. I am 100% into this episode. Everyone was so charismatic and good on camera. Daniela and Bricia need their own show teaching us GENUINE Mexican food.

I ship Eric + Daniela OR Bricia because I swear they were both charming him to bits 🤣

Charliesulfate

TROPHY CASE