I don’t like to brag – OK, that’s a lie; I love to brag – but as you all know, I’m the one who is personally responsible for bringing a Taco Bell to Howell in the early 1990s.
I even wrote a book about it – which you can order RIGHT NOW by clicking here – called “A Taco Bell for Howell, and Other Livingston County Crusades.” It tells you in great detail how I was able to single-handedly bring the World’s Greatest Restaurant to our community more than 30 years ago. It also has a chapter in there about a guy who farted at a Hamburg Township Board meeting, so it’s truly a literary masterpiece.
Again, you can order a copy RIGHT HERE.
In any case, as you all well know, Howell recently celebrated another culinary milestone when the Panda Express opened on Latson Road, in front of Walmart and Lowe’s. It was greeted by the locals with the same kind of hoopla that’s usually reserved for a World Series championship or securing two tickets to see a Taylor Swift concert.
Now, to be totally transparent, unlike the Taco Bell accomplishment, I had nothing to do with bringing Panda Express to Howell. They didn’t even consult me or ask my opinion about it, if you can believe that.
And to be honest, I think I’ve only eaten at a Panda Express once or twice in my life whilst shopping at a mall, so it wasn’t high on my radar. But they’re here and plenty of other people are happy about it, so life is good.
So, now that we’ve got a Panda Express and not one but TWO Taco Bells, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “What MORE could Howell possibly need?”
Well, I have a few ideas – five of them, in fact. I’m about to give you my list of Five Things That Howell Needs Now That We’ve Finally Got a Panda Express, but I wanted to start with a disclaimer. I don’t have any other chain restaurants on my list, and that’s by design. I could say that we need an Olive Garden or a Chic-Fil-A or a couple more Taco Bells, but I’m not going to do that. We probably have enough chain restaurants now, so I’m going to plow some new ground here.
Without further ado, here’s the list:
Five Things That Howell Needs Now That We’ve Finally Got a Panda Express
1. A restaurant that stays open all night.
God bless our Howell restaurants, and I love them all, but almost all of them close their kitchens at 8 or 9 o’clock. We need a restaurant that stays open ALL NIGHT, and not just for the bar crowd, either. If I want an omelette at 2 in the morning, I should be able to get one!
I don’t believe we’ve had an all-night restaurant in Howell since Silverman’s closed down a few years back. We need another one – and if someone wants to reopen the Nugget, I’m all in!
2. A winter festival.
Howell has two great summer festivals – for balloons and melons – and a terrific Fantasy of Lights Parade over Thanksgiving weekend. We need something in the winter. An ice festival or a snow-fort-building contest or something like that. This is a pretty bleak place in February. We need something to look forward to.
3. A sports memorabilia store.
This is my list so I can put any damn thing on here that I want, and there’s nothing I love more than spending a couple hours browsing in a sports memorabilia and card store. There are some great ones in Lansing and Oakland County, but I want one in Howell. We’ve had a few great ones in the past, but nothing in the last 30 years or so. We need another one.
The flea market near the outlet mall always has some good stuff, but I want an entire store that just sells sports memorabilia and cards.
(EDIT: Cross this one off the list! The day after I wrote this, an announcement was made that a sports-card store was coming to downtown Howell. I’m taking full credit for wishing this into existence!)
4. Trader Joe’s.
There are no chain restaurants on my list, but I will put one chain store on here. A Whole Foods would also be great, but my wife informs me that a Trader Joe’s would be better, so I defer to her. Howell needs a Trader Joe’s.
5. Outdoor batting cages and a go-cart track.
I’m thinking one of those all-purpose outdoor recreation places like you see Up North at all the touristy spots. There also used to be one at the Okemos exit along I-96. We need one of these in Howell.
So, what’s YOUR opinion? Now that we’ve got a Panda Express, what do YOU think Howell needs next?
