skip to main |
skip to sidebar
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
Driving south down Division the week before, we spotted a couple of Mexican restaurants that we wanted to come back and try, and this was the first. We knew nothing about it and pulled into the rear parking lot. There was just one other vehicle in the lot, which is not something we like to see, on several levels. We walked in the back door and found a good-sized room with an empty lunch buffet on our right. On the left, upholstered booths lined the windows, tables filled the space in between, and on the far end of the room, very large booths take the middle space. The kitchen and counter were on the right, halfway into the room, with pictures of the food above the counter/kitchen opening.
We took a booth by the window far back into the restaurant and found ourselves seated near a Virgin Mary statue highlighted with colored lights, two booths on the right loaded with dirty dishes (must have been a busy lunch), a compact disc juke box, and very colorful artwork. Against the back wall was a large flat screen TV showing, with sound, soccer on ESPN de Portes. It’s not our idea of atmosphere but the decor may be culturally true, and unlike “Little Mexico” that tries to provide a Mexican food experience for Americans (Tex-Mex meets Aztec art), this is a restaurant serving Mexican food for Mexican people.
It was around 1:30 p.m. and the only other occupants were a couple with a small child. Sometime during our meal, they departed and two customers in hoodies arrived for take-out. From the looks we received, we knew we were an oddity here. Our server frequently lapsed into Spanish but was friendly and patient; chips and salsa were delivered promptly. The salsa was thinner than what we’re used to but the flavor was excellent with a nice spicy kick, and far above the average fare; no refills were brought (and we didn’t ask). Soda is served from cans - nothing on tap. Valentina Salsa Pi Cante is on the tables.
The lunch buffet was obviously over, and that was fine with us. The menu had four large pages (and a 5th page in mine that listed Chinese luncheon specials - really??) We bypassed the Chinese items and found a mole dish (enchilada mi tierra de mole), which consisted of four enchiladas with chicken, beef, or cheese, topped with cheese and sour cream, accompanied by rice, beans, and salad. Mole sauce creation is an art in itself and we couldn’t resist. We attempted to order it with beef but were twice told that it should be served with chicken. Who were we to disagree? Our second selection was fajitas a la Mexicana (marinated grilled steak with tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, rice, beans, and salad, on flour tortillas). Both dishes were wonderful, made up of fresh ingredients and great Mexican flavors - and definitely homemade tortillas. The small salad that accompanied our entrees was so much more than the token flavorless tomato slice on a piece of wilted lettuce that we’ve all experienced. This was fresh and crispy - chopped lettuce, tomato, avocado, and cilantro - a taste treat.
After we were served, our waitress disappeared. We helped ourselves to the takeout dishes that were stacked on the kitchen counter, and the cordial cook sent her back out with our bill. Well, not exactly. She went to the cash register, totaled up our meals, came back to our table, and told us what we owed. Entrees are under $10.00 for the most part, and the lunch buffet runs Monday - Friday for $5.99.
The restaurant has a drive-through window and that might be a good way to go for those that may be uncomfortable in this setting but want to enjoy an authentic Mexican meal.
It was recommended by a friend as being the best Thai food in Grand Rapids so we had to try it. After circling once through Towne & Country Plaza, we located the nondescript, little restaurant, and it’s a sliver of a space. The entrance is off the parking lot and the space extends up to windows facing Kalamazoo. Upon entry, you are welcomed by a table for seven and the restrooms. The room then divides into a hall of small tables for two on the left, with the kitchen running along on the right. The hall continues down to the aforesaid windows, and the kitchen ends in time to add three tables along these windows. In total, there were about 11 tables, the table for seven, three tables for four, and the rest for two. From the small table in the middle with two chairs, loaded with magazines, we’re assuming they do a bit of take-out service.
It was crowded when we walked in and we walked through and took the middle table by the windows. From this viewpoint, we could look back straight down into the kitchen. Decor is eclectic, ranging from warriors and deities to pictures of food and the popular Asian good-luck, beckoning cat (left paw up brings in customers). And with its somewhat mismatched curtains, this restaurant is not about ambiance but is all about the food. We could see an older woman doing most of the cooking and two younger women assisting in the kitchen or serving. Later on, a young man also surfaced in the kitchen. By the time we left, the restaurant was empty and they were all relaxing together at a table in the corner of the kitchen.
Our server was very friendly and helpful, prompt but never rushed us. We started off with the appetizer sampler that offered four appetizers, two of each, and it was a great way to try as much food as we could. The sampler had crab cheese (as good as Angel’s Thai Café, and those were good), goong tod (breaded shrimp, heavy breading), kai satay (chicken satay, just ok; peanut sauce couldn’t be detected and the curry was a little bitter), and kai tod (chicken wings, marinated in non-specified Thai herbs, with a slightly sweet sauce that was a tastebud treat). Although it wasn’t part of the sampler, spring rolls with sweet and sour chili sauce were also served, and they were delightful. Lightly deep fried, the ingredients were a harmonious balance of flavors and much better than others we’ve had, as was the accompanying sauce.
Choosing our main selections was more difficult as the menu is large (not a book like Angel’s, but big enough). The menu is divided as follows: Appetizers 1-9, Soup/Salad 1-6, Thai Curry 1-4, Thai Seafood 1-4, Thai Noodles 1-6, Thai Specialties 1-13, and on the website, Lunch Specials, items pulled from the written menu. As luck would have it, our choices ended up being “lunch specials”, which explained why we also received the spring rolls. Dishes are offered with choice of chicken, pork, tofu, or a combination, and for another dollar, you may select beef or shrimp. When we finally made our selections, our server asked us to choose our included dessert: cheesecake or ice cream sandwich.
Our first dish was pad prik, (red curry) with chicken, onion, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, and sweet basil. Second order (recommended by our server) was pad med ma muang, also with chicken (cashews, house sauce, onion, bell peppers, mushrooms). Both were incredibly good. Vegetables were obviously fresh and we saw the dishes being cooked - no overcooked, fast food here. But a word about the spice levels; our server explained that the levels ranged from one to ten. For women, she recommended level three and for men, level four. What? We both went bold and asked for level five - and it was just right. Both of us took some food home and were questioned as we asked for boxes - is it too hot? *sigh* The take-home boxes were the usual boxes found in most Asian restaurants but these had advertising on them from MetroPCS - most likely a mutually beneficial arrangement.
We wrote down a lot of information assuming that this little business would not have a website, but they do. The full menu is available, most items are under $10.00, and they also advertise catering services. Not ordered but brought to us was a thai sweet iced tea and a thai sweet iced coffee - we each claimed one - tasty, interesting, and yes, sweet. Our chosen cheesecake dessert came in the form of a plate offering small squares of chocolate chip, raspberry, and plain cheesecake. It was a brilliant, cool finish to a hot, spicy meal. Along with our bill came not only the non-fortune fortune cookies (“You are broad-mined (sic) and socially active” ), but also a sweet little sugar bowl with mints and a serving spoon - very nice touch.
So to summarize: this is probably the best Thai food you will find in Grand Rapids, at least to date. It’s not the full package of atmosphere + quality + service, but as Meatloaf once sang, “two out of three ain’t bad.”
www.thai expressgr.com
