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Located on the ground floor of the J.W. Marriott, Six One Six swirls around the front of the building and overlooks the Grand River. We’ve been here several times before and it’s always been a positive experience.
The restaurant is horseshoe shaped, and the decor is warm and tasteful. Open lounge seating along the windows greets customers first. From here, one moves into the bar or down a short hall, both of which coalesce into the dining room. The bar faces the river and has a few high tables for two right at the windows. It moves seamlessly into the dining room, which continues along the windows, contains a few center booths, moves past a chef’s counter with an open kitchen, and circles back to a small semi-private draped dining area. In addition, outdoor seating is available on what they call the “jdek”. The entire atmosphere is sophisticated and swanky.
From our table we could see the river and the restaurant’s garden. Like several other restaurants in Grand Rapids (e.g., The Winchester, Blue Water Grill), Six One Six emphasizes buying and serving local food, and this philosophy carried them into growing their own. At each of these restaurants, one is free to walk about the garden and look at the soon-to-be ingredients in your next dish.
The lunch menu is small, interesting, and creative: seven appetizers and eight entrees. We started with California Rolls: dungeness crab (west coast crab named after Dungeness, Washington), cucumber, avocado, and lemon mayonnaise. It came beautifully prepared and presented. The flavors combined wonderfully and the crab tasted fresh.
Our first main dish was the brick oven grinder: smoked ham, spicy coppa, sopressata, oregano aioli, and provolone, accompanied by a very attractive spring market salad. The sandwich arrived smoking hot and delicious. It had a subtle salty/sweet taste and was enthusiastically consumed. The salad was fresh and flavorful.
Our second selection was the wild ramp and morel quiche that was prepared with dancing goat creamery chevre. When asked where they were getting morels in July, our server thought that they had been preserved in some way, maybe pickled (I guess we could have asked the same thing about ramps). Accompanying the quiche were some mixed greens: mud lake cress, trillium petite lettuce, and icicle radish, with a little balsamic dressing. (If you’re unfamiliar with some of these descriptors, it’s because they are names of local farms, noted for chemical-free product.) The quiche was exquisite. The fresh goat cheese blended superbly with the eggs and it was cooked to perfection. But the mixed greens were made too bitter by the cress; cress tends to become that way during the heat of summer, and we’ve certainly had plenty of that recently.
Service was satisfactory. When our server figured out that we were leisurely diners, she stopped coming by every five minutes but remained professional and friendly. Park in the J.W. Marriott parking garage and the restaurant will validate your ticket. Multiple menus are online along with additional information about the restaurant. But you should sample this ambience in person.
@ilovethejw
www.ilove616.com
We’re fans of this restaurant but haven’t been there since 12/30/09 (see previous review). We’ve attempted to have dinner there many times on various weekends, but could never get in. (If by some chance you would get in, you won’t be able to hear over the din.) It’s a popular spot, no doubt about it. So lunch is a better bet, and a later lunch time is all the better. Today was a sunny day in the 70's and we wanted outdoor dining. It was time to revisit The Winchester.
The patio alongside the restaurant is long and narrow; it holds four tables for 4 near the front and another three for 4 in the rear. Four small tables for 2 are attached to the exterior wall and a long counter runs through the middle with about two dozen bar stools facing each other. There’s also a counter along the parking lot side with about eight bar stools. Although that counter was in the sun, diners face the small parking lot; not so great. The sunny tables for 4 were all occupied so we opted for a table for 2 against the wall. After about 10 minutes, one table was freed up and we quickly moved to the sunny side of the patio. From our point of view, adding more tables and reducing the counters would be an improvement, but claiming to be more pub than restaurant, the Winchester is probably fine with how things are.
The menu doesn’t match the online menu but we enjoyed the humorous preface to the undercooked food warning, “the legal stuff.” (They really should say, you won’t get anything medium-rare, sorry.) The menu isn’t very large but for us that’s a positive; they concentrate on making a few dishes really well.
We started with the Pierogies: handmade, containing butternut squash and goat cheese, and served with braised cabbage, drawn brown butter, and Sobie Meats (local producer) bacon. You may have had Pierogies during Pulaski days or otherwise, but these are the Winchester version and are incredibly delicious. The dough was perfect - thin and not overdone. It was a real taste treat.
Our first main dish was Surf and Turf: grilled tri-tip steak, handmade crab cakes, avocado puree, and smoked paprika aioli. In our experience, when we order beef medium-rare, our odds are less than 50% that we’ll get it. Today was no exception. The steak still retained flavor but was medium at best, and closer to medium well. Tri-trip steak was an interesting offering (see hanger steak at Blue Water Grill); it’s a part of the cow that used to be consigned to ground beef or soup meat. The trick is that it’s so lean it is easy to overcook, as it was today. The avocado puree was a little overwhelming for the very good crab cakes but was easily corrected by portion-control.
Our second dish was Chicken Bhuna: blackened chicken breast with red curry spiced tomato sauce, haricot verts (french green beans), and basmati rice. A few minutes after we ordered, our server returned to offer an alternative for the rice: mashed potatoes or a vegetable medley. The chef had informed her that the rice would be 13 minutes to prepare. We’re fine with 13 minutes (and loved the specificity) and it was definitely worth the wait. The dish was great - nice spice level, tasty chicken, fresh beans from their garden across the street, and perfectly prepared rice. It was a wonderful combination and blending of flavors.
Each dish was beautifully presented, and service was prompt and friendly but not rushed; our tab was under $40.00. If you appreciate creative cuisine based on fresh, locally produced ingredients, you will love The Winchester, particularly on a nice, sunny day on the patio.
And one last note: the owners took the name of the restaurant from the hilarious, zombie cult classic, “Shaun of the Dead,” which is a wonderful touch. "Come and get it - it’s a running buffet!" "If we hole up, I wanna be somewhere familiar, I wanna know where the exits are, and I wanna be allowed to smoke."
It’s not a buffet, and you can’t smoke, but you can quite comfortably hole up here. And don’t say the zed-word.
www.winchestergr.com
The restaurant is located in a strip mall across from Woodland Mall. We’ve tried it once before and many people rave about it. From what we could find out, it’s not a national chain but it felt like one with its nondescript decor. The room is large; tables and booths wrap around and there are a couple of semi-private dining areas enclosed in the front and the rear of the restaurant. It was crowded but there was no waiting. We were brought to our table and hot on our heels was a server with chips and salsa; salsa was thin and without much flavor. Another server appeared immediately to take our beverage order, and returned quickly to take our food order. We had barely scanned the menu and told him we needed a few more minutes. This was the first time we made this mistake. Twenty minutes later he came back to take our appetizer order. When that was delivered, he wanted to take our lunch order but we weren’t ready. Yes, our second mistake. Appetizer selections consisted mainly of nachos and dips, so we chose choriquesadillas, which ended up being our favorite part of the meal. Two soft tortillas stuffed with chorizo and cheese, served with lettuce (way too much), sour cream, and guacamole were not very spicy but were still nicely done. Besides appetizers, the menu offered kids’ plates, quesadillas, specials, favorites, fajitas, seafood, twenty-five combination plates, vegetarian dishes, eight different burritos, and ten lunch specials. In addition, on most tables stood a paper menu with daily specials: each day of the week has a featured dish and drink.The menu is too big, and having specials and favorites as separate categories is just confusing. We went with “favorite” items and the first was the “special dinner.” It seemed like a good choice since it offered five different items to taste, accompanied by rice and beans. First up, a chalupa - a lame tostada without meat. Second, a burrito, ordered with beef and beans that arrived without beans. Third, enchilada. Fourth, beef taco, and last, a tamale, the worst of the bunch. The cornmeal wrapping was bland and mushy, poor flavor and texture. Everything else was improved with some hot sauce (chile habanero).Our second dish was fried chimichangas: two flour tortillas with chicken (recommended by our server), served with beans, lots of lettuce, one tasteless tomato, sour cream, and guacamole. Again, a huge serving but needing hot sauce.So to summarize: tortillas are good, beans are heavily salted, food is otherwise bland, quantities are vast, prices are low, and service is intended to rush you in and out. If this is what you like, and you like Little Mexico, you’ll love El Arriero.
This is part of the Gilmore Collection and one of our favorite locations; great architecture with low horizontal lines and open interiors, and it’s on a lake (ok, it’s man-made but it’s still water). The two-story restaurant has an upper level bar and dining room - both with surrounding windows - and an outdoor patio. The lower level is open air with tables under an overhang, a bar screened from direct sun by a protective ceiling, and some waterside seating under the sun.
Service has been great every time we’ve been here and today was no exception; the entire staff is friendly and helpful. The menu is creative and buttressed by what is locally produced. Last year they planted a small garden on their property but were foiled by tomato blight. This year they’ve expanded the garden all along their lake front and moved the tomato plants to a new site. Peppers, lettuce, basil, and much more will be served up fresh this summer.
Last time we were here we settled for the lower level patio but today we waited for about ten minutes to get a table on the upper level patio. The one open lakeside table was umbrella-less so we took one three back that gave us a little protection on this hot day. The patio is narrow with tables almost single file heading back away from the lake. Along side these tables are about three more, in a second row. And that was a problem.
The rows are too close together, particularly when a large group of just-out-of-school teachers took up two tables and thought they were free to push back from the table, resulting in their chairs interfering with the narrow walk area. Wait staff continually and dexterously maneuvered around them and the result was a constant “bump” into one of our chairs. Thankfully the school’s-out-for-summer-teachers had finished eating and soon left, packing their liquor with them.
First up: chicken drummets, flash-fried and served with shaved scallions, sweet chili sauce, and wonton chips. This was an excellent concoction and the wontons were probably the best we’ve ever had - lightly deep-fried with just the right balance between chewy and crispy - and the chili sauce made the dish.
The menu does not exactly coincide with the online menu, and there was also a small paper menu on each table with seasonal features: three dishes, two wines, two cocktails, and one beer. We tend to favor features but none of these caught our interest (bruschetta, spinach salad, and morel mushroom pizza). Since morels are not currently in season, we were curious about the pizza. Upon questioning, a server who had stopped by with water thought they were probably from Iowa. Close enough.
We went full bore for our main dishes, Surf and Turf, and New York strip. The surf was a wonderful risotto with bay scallops and mushrooms, and the turf was hanger steak (very interesting offering as there is only one per animal). The risotto was a masterpiece but the steak with red wine reduction did not fare as well. The red wine sauce totally overpowered the otherwise perfectly prepared meat.
The grass fed New York strip was accompanied by grilled shitake mushrooms, potatoes, onions, and peppers, and with the bleu cheese butter was an excellent dish. Both steaks were served medium rare and were well presented.
Our tab was under $50.00 with tip, a lovely breeze rustled the umbrellas, a pontoon boat from one of the lake condos floated by, we sipped our Bloody Marys - yes, this was good.
www.thegilmorecollection.com/bluewatergrill.html
Several years ago, we came across this place en route to another restaurant, and we’ve returned several times. Like some of the other restaurants under the same ownership (e.g., J. Gardellas), this has a great pub atmosphere and offers cordial, intimate settings.
The restaurant is divided into three sections. The bar and the dining area form a large “L,” with the dining room the smaller part. Both are filled with dark wood - columns, floors, booths, tables, and the bar itself, along with other interesting detail and decor. Off the bar, several openings connect to what we called the “porch” that held around ten tables of varying sizes. But the wood is gone; the floor is tiled, we sat on wicker chairs (too low for me), and windows are everywhere; the inside wall is old exterior brick, painted yellow. So it’s a nice, bright, sunny place to dine but totally lacks the ambiance of the rest of the roadhouse. And it’s loud, as it is really just one big room with nothing to divide one party from another. It’s all in what you’re looking for - and next time we’ll request to be seated in one of the other two areas. (Think about the “porch” at the Cottage Bar - seating of last resort.)
There were fourteen appetizers ($6.00 - $9.00) and they didn’t hold many surprises. One of the more interesting-sounding was Bang Thai Shrimp: shrimp lightly breaded and flash fried, Thai chili sauce, shredded lettuce, and chow main noodles. It was a superb dish; the chili sauce was very zestful and the addition of the noodles made a great textural combination. When we found ourselves with a few left over, we realized they served about a dozen of them - not the usual appetizer offering (earlier this week we received six at San Chez). However, we had to ask for small plates on which to eat them.
The rest of the menu consisted of soups, six salads, four wraps, six burgers, twelve sandwiches, and eight house specialties. Other than the specialties and the dinner menu, prices generally were below $10.00. Menus are online and the lunch menu varied slightly from the menu we saw today.
We both selected from the house specials, the first being Maple Bourbon ribs. This was a half rack, slow cooked, served with Maple Bourbon barbecue sauce (hence the name :). They were good and the meat pulled easily off the bone without resorting to eating with one’s hands. But they were a bit charred on the bottom. They were served with french fries and cole slaw, both fine but nothing extraordinary.
We’ve had recent discussions regarding the difficulty of finding well-prepared eggs. Is it because we are used to how we prepare them at home and it’s never the same? Can an omelette be made with the eggs actually tasting good and not overdone, or they are just there to contain the added ingredients? Is it such a small space between underdone and overdone that only a top chef can achieve perfection? Weighty egg questions...
So our second dish had to be the Chorizo Omelette: three eggs, chorizo sausage, black beans, corn, peppers, onions, and Colby Jack cheese. It was served with salsa, sour cream, and fried red skin potatoes. The ingredients were a savory treat, particularly with the added salsa. The eggs? Slightly overdone and no flavor. Egg issue to be continued...
Service was perfect - friendly and attentive - and our bill came in under $40.00. It’s worth the short ride to enjoy this charming pub.
www.thewalkerroadhouse.com
This very comfortable, casual restaurant is divided in two by a narrow hall; it used to separate the smoking bar area from the non-smoking room. We had lunch in the long, narrow bar that features a very lovely, old wooden bar, wooden booths, and about fifteen tables of various sizes. Big groups can be accommodated with a very large half booth and several large tables, and a more intimate setting can be found in one of the high-backed booths. The dark wainscoting shows some wear as does the wood floor, but both add to the charm. Five TVs are strategically placed throughout the room, and interesting, old photographs (sports, Grand Rapids, and more) adorn the walls. Restaurant interior photos can be found on their website and are much better than any we took today.It was fairly crowded when we entered and it looked like mostly neighborhood patrons with a few business groups. Three servers were handling everything, including the bar. They worked cooperatively as we were helped at various times by two of them, both friendly and polite. The young lady who ended up being our main server was the doppelganger of Kristin Chenoweth, although we don’t know if she can sing (we’ll just leave it at that).Our appetizer selection was Southwest egg rolls: black beans, chicken, and corn, wrapped in phyllo dough, and deep fried. The menu stated they were served with salsa but they came with chipotle ranch sauce. When we inquired, our server was surprised that salsa was listed because they “never serve that with the egg rolls”. She brought the salsa anyway - very thick and spicy - but the chipotle really did work better. Salsa overwhelmed the great flavors of the egg rolls. Phyllo dough by its very nature is light and these egg rolls were an excellent choice.Next up was the Mill Creek burger, ordered medium rare, and with fries. Unfortunately, it came medium well. Every accompaniment was good - bacon done just right with melted Colby cheese blending with the haystack onions. Fries were thick, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and lightly salted - fine fries. Too bad about the burger. Our other item was the Mill Stack: roast beef sauteed with mushrooms and bean sprouts, topped with melted mozzarella and served on a ciabatta square. It was a good meal; the beef was tender and the bean sprouts added an interesting, crunchy texture. Ciabatta was fresh. Homemade potato chips were included and they were over fried, many of them actually had a “burned” taste. Service was prompt and attentive but not rushed. Dinner and lunch menus vary slightly, and both are online. None of the items will surprise you except for maybe the mussels. Most items are under $8.00 with dinner going a bit higher. The menus we were brought at lunch time listed the website as www.millcreektavern.com - not quite. You will find them at the site listed below. The group that owns Mill Creek also owns a few other bars/pubs, J. Gardella’s, Bull’s Head, Walker Roadhouse, and more. We’re fans of all three, by the way. Next time you’re near Fifth Third Ball Park, try this neighborhood restaurant/bar and enjoy a warm, friendly, pub atmosphere.www.millcreektaverngr.com
For lunch locations, particularly in the summer, this is one of our default restaurants. We like the outdoor dining, the food, and the fact that we can get a seat. A fire took Graydon’s out of the running for a while but we were happy to see that it recently reopened.
It was a very warm day and although we wanted to sit on the second story deck, as in previous attempts we were told it wasn’t open. So we settled for the large ground level patio, which holds tables for two, four, and six. They’ve added a counter/bar facing Plainfield and a small couch/seating area. Indoor dining also provides a great atmosphere: dark, high-backed wooden booths and a beautiful dark wooden bar.
As they advertise, it’s a “cozy British Pub atmosphere” and a restaurant that’s “influenced by the days of the British colonies in India.” So the menu is eclectic: English Countryside meets Indian Colonial and mixes with American....miscellaneous. For example, appetizers range from Irish and Scotch offerings to Indian dishes and a California crab cake. And to our amusement, the much maligned, dry, flavorless, U.P. pasties are on the menu; these are probably good! Every item, except the sandwiches, is paired with selections from their extensive beer and wine inventories.
After starting with a couple of Founders’ brews, we ordered Ganjam Fritters (fresh plantains, potato, and Indian spices). They came with spicy peanut-sesame sauce, mustard seed yogurt sauce, and cucumber yogurt chutney, the last of which was cool respite for the other two. It was a good choice with fiery tastes.
Our first entree was the Nantucket, a crab cake sandwich with wasabi aioli, Indian pico de gallo, and spring mix, on a Kaiser roll. It was a creative combination and a wonderfully prepared sandwich, with the sauce blending nicely with the crab. The bun was toasted but not dried out - perfect. Sides are extra and the English Frittes (shoestring fries with garlic aioli) were ok. The special of the day was the Maharaja, three slider-size lamb meatball sandwiches. Another excellent choice.
Service was interesting at best. Our first waiter was standoffish and awkward. He disappeared before we ordered our appetizer and another very engaging, informative server appeared, offering helpful recommendations. He delivered the appetizers, by which time we still did not have plates or silverware. The situation was quickly remedied, he disappeared, and our original server finished out our time.
Appetizers and sandwiches are mostly under $10.00 and entrees just over; their menu can be viewed online. We stand by this restaurant and are waiting for the day we can dine on the second story deck!
(The owners of Graydon’s also own Cambridge House, Derby Station, J.D. Reardon’s, and Logan’s Alley.)
www.graydonscrossing.com
