Wheelhouse, 67 Ottawa Ave SW ~ 6/1/16

Other than the 30 or so Wendys that Meritage Hospitality operates, they also own Twisted Rooster, Crooked Goose, and Freighters Eatery and Taproom (the latter in Port Huron). Each of the three is an individual restaurant, not a chain, but Wheelhouse is the first of their restaurants to be built from the ground up. And it's obvious. When you walk into Twisted Rooster, you know you're stepping into a place that used to be something else. But when we walked into Wheelhouse today we had a moment of deja vu when we were greeted by 4 hostesses at the hostess table.

This space is the ultimate in cool. The entry opens into a sweeping bar with high tops, seating for about 25 at the bar, and some dining tables.

Further to the left is what they call a porch, with windows opening, rattan furniture, and doors that can close off the room for private parties.

The decor is subdued and tasteful, and where we were seated in the bar dining area, we could look out at the Van Andel Arena. This has to be a great location for concert goers.

We started with these lovely crab cakes: jumbo lump crab, fennel with orange slaw, and peppadew aioli. The orange slaw and aioli made these the perfect crab cakes, and the presentation wasn't bad either.

Our first main dish was Grilled Prawns. They were not overcooked and beautifully combined with fried green tomatoes. They were not enhanced, however, by the roasted corn chow chow, aka, popcorn. The popcorn didn't add anything to the dish but a bit of visual variety. And the green onions would have been better chopped. Pretty to look at but difficult to consume. The dish was complemented nicely by the corn grit aioli and tomato vinaigrette.

The Spaghetti Carbonara gave us us nothing to complain about. Pancetta, garlic, parmesan and pecorino, egg, and parsley along with al dente pasta made a lovely dish, and one to be ordered again.

So the meal was great, service even better, and we were taken by this painting hanging on a wall leading into the porch. The color stands out in this otherwise black-brown-beige but very tasteful setting.

We were hoping it was a local building by a local artist but alas. It's a non-identified building by an artist in Texas that was enlarged on canvas for the restaurant. Still a nice accent but it could have been more interesting and local.

We checked out the dining room located at the right of entry as we left. Booths and a continuation of the same tasteful lighting and decor really recommend this restaurant, located at the base of the new Arena Place. And if the good food continues, this is sure to become a downtown favorite!

Crooked Goose, 355 Wilson Ave NW, Walker ~ 4/29/14

This place has been open since 2012 and we finally made our way there. Its location in a strip mall makes it feel like a national chain and you might continue to have that feeling when you first enter. Walk in the first door and you are greeted by a second, very heavy, needing-help-to-open glass door, through which we found the hostess desk.

The space is much smaller than its sister, Twisted Rooster, and is divided into bar and dining areas. The bar is attractive and holds a row of high tops. The dining area contains a row of booths and a row of tables with a combination of both in the back. Flat screen TVs are everywhere, at least 15 of them, and they showed sports (no surprise) and news (surprise). Music was playing but not at a volume that made us raise our voices. The dining area is set off from the bar by glass screens, which is a nice touch.

                                    

And, there are stuffed animal heads on the wall. We weren't clear on the purpose but were later informed that the management believe they contribute to the feeling of this being a neighborhood pub. You be the judge. We were promptly seated and just as promptly were waited upon. Our server was friendly and informative, and when she learned this was our first time there, she quickly reviewed the menu for us, emphasizing the local Michigan connections, and we loved that.

Appetizers were semi-interesting and the Gator Tail stood out: tender batter-fried spiced alligator tail with Ancho Aioli sauce. We asked our server about the Gator and she told us it tasted like chicken, but it didn’t. Its consistency was more like calamari, which was fine with us, but the batter was slightly salty. The sauce was a delicious enhancement, and altogether it was a fine and unique choice.

Shortly after our appetizer arrived, the manager stopped by to introduce himself and to bring us a complimentary Crooked Loaf, since he heard this was our first visit. The herb/garlic baked loaf of bread, served in a bag, was deliciously greasy, as was reflected on the bag (which also served as its own take-home container), and was a nice touch by the manager. The bread was piping hot, fresh, and flavorful. If you don’t get your own free loaf, please order it.

The menu is fairly large but after some consideration we decided first on the Red Hot Honey Chicken Club sandwich, described as follows: grilled chicken breast, smothered in red-hot honey sauce, chopped bacon, caramelized sweet onion, cheddar cheese, and lettuce and tomato on a sesame seed bun. Only the end of that description will remind you of the McDonald’s Big Mac :-)

Overall, it was a good sandwich with a large piece of chicken, a thick slice of cheese, and double tomato slices. But the chicken was a little bland and the sweet honey sauce wasn’t hot enough to quality as red hot. Steak fries were thick and nicely spiced.

Our second dish was the Crooked Chicken Pot Pie, which consisted of slow-braised chicken, sweet peas, carrots, and onion, topped with a crispy puff pastry. The menu lists asparagus as being included but our server gave us notice that asparagus was not yet available. We loved that the restaurant adjusts to in-season produce. The available vegetables were crisp and nicely prepared, and the pastry was better than you'll find in most pot pies anywhere. This is highly recommended.

The aforementioned Michigan emphasis extends to their rotating selection of Michigan craft beers, which we’ll have to return to enjoy. We liked this place and understand that they are catering to their Grand Valley student population with their TVs and happy hour offerings. That is their demographic. And dinner time probably will probably afford you a very different experience. But our service was lovely, and this manager actually responds to negative and positive comments on UrbanSpoon. The restaurant name was chosen at random to connect to Twisted Rooster, which was chosen at random (see Twisted Rooster link below).

The Crooked Goose is owned by Meritage Hospitality Group, which owns 100+ Wendys restaurants throughout the country, and also Twisted Rooster here in Grand Rapids. Using fast food money to open fresh food restaurants ~ alrighty. We support the latter but not the former. We'll be happy to return here but probably not to Twisted Rooster. Here is our visit there back in August, 2010:

Twisted Rooster 2010 

Find Crooked Goose on Facebook and visit them soon, at least for lunch.