Restaurant Review

[GR Jackson]

I went to Brewery Vivant and had an excellent time. The overall experience was great. Service was good, beer was good, food was good. I do agree that the overall feeling of the place did resemble a castle and could use a little something more, but I didn't mind the minimal decor.

[fotoman311]

Anyone have ideas on a place to take my wife's parents for their 40th anniversary? We will have a party of 6 adults + a 4 year old and a 6 month old. We'd like something a little upscale, but the small children are what make it a little more challenging. My father-in-law is generally a meat and potatoes kind of guy, doesn't like dressing on his salad, etc.

Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

[Hoeks]

I would suggest the following establishments:

Downtown: Bistro Bella Vita

Gaslight: Olives, Roses

Rockford: Reds on the River

As an FYI, I just went to Leo's with my 1yr old niece. I called ahead, and the young ones are more than welcome.

Anyone have ideas on a place to take my wife's parents for their 40th anniversary? We will have a party of 6 adults + a 4 year old and a 6 month old. We'd like something a little upscale, but the small children are what make it a little more challenging. My father-in-law is generally a meat and potatoes kind of guy, doesn't like dressing on his salad, etc.

Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

[Raildudes dad]

I would suggest the following establishments:

Downtown: Bistro Bella Vita

Gaslight: Olives, Roses

Rockford: Reds on the River

As an FYI, I just went to Leo's with my 1yr old niece. I called ahead, and the young ones are more than welcome.

Our family can vouch for Leo's. My daughter and I order the shark, swordfish or other fish not caught locally (neither of us like scallops or lobster). My wife orders the filet or prime rib. She had the prime rib on my birthday in July and it was absolutely delicious ( I sampled a couple bites ) The F-I-L will like the beef entrees and their potato items, the house salad is excellent with cherries, feta cheese etc but if he's plain lettuce, no dressing he might not like it. (The do have a lettuce salad). There were families with small children there that night.

[John E]

Anyone have ideas on a place to take my wife's parents for their 40th anniversary? We will have a party of 6 adults + a 4 year old and a 6 month old. We'd like something a little upscale, but the small children are what make it a little more challenging. My father-in-law is generally a meat and potatoes kind of guy, doesn't like dressing on his salad, etc.

Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

Texas Roadhouse on the south side of 28th Street just East of Lake Eastbrook Blvd. which is East of the East Beltline is totally awesome. Peanut buckets on the table with fresh bread basket with cnnamon butter. Great food and totally awesome service. Their birthday "singing treatment" is super cool. They have a sports bar in the middle but it is a nice fun family atmosphere. Their food is extremely flavorful, if not chef cooked, it is like it. Their steaks don't even need steak sauce and their ribs are excellent.

[fotoman311]

Our family can vouch for Leo's. My daughter and I order the shark, swordfish or other fish not caught locally (neither of us like scallops or lobster). My wife orders the filet or prime rib. She had the prime rib on my birthday in July and it was absolutely delicious ( I sampled a couple bites ) The F-I-L will like the beef entrees and their potato items, the house salad is excellent with cherries, feta cheese etc but if he's plain lettuce, no dressing he might not like it. (The do have a lettuce salad). There were families with small children there that night.

Unfortunately, I was just reminded that the anniversary is on a Sunday and Leo's is closed. I was getting myself a little excited about going there, because it's a place I've been wanting to try for at least a couple of years now.

[GRDadof3]

Unfortunately, I was just reminded that the anniversary is on a Sunday and Leo's is closed. I was getting myself a little excited about going there, because it's a place I've been wanting to try for at least a couple of years now.

Blue Water Grill. We take the kids there all the time, but it's definitely hip/upscale but not too upscale. Lots of outdoor seating overlooking the lake too if the weather is nice.

[gvsusean]

Texas Roadhouse on the south side of 28th Street just East of Lake Eastbrook Blvd. which is East of the East Beltline is totally awesome. Peanut buckets on the table with fresh bread basket with cnnamon butter. Great food and totally awesome service. Their birthday "singing treatment" is super cool. They have a sports bar in the middle but it is a nice fun family atmosphere. Their food is extremely flavorful, if not chef cooked, it is like it. Their steaks don't even need steak sauce and their ribs are excellent.

i used to work at logans roadhouse (same thing) .. those rolls have like 20g of fat each... that restaurant is fine if you want to eat the same thing that any of the other competitors are offering a mile down the road in either direction...

[walker]

Back in the late sixties and early seventies, when I was young and first on my own, one of my favorite restaurants was a place called the Bierstube which was immediately to the east of the Wealthy Theatre. If you wanted to feel hip in those days you’d start your evening at the Bierstube with a couple of steins and a dinner of sauerbraten then go watch an artsy European film next door at the Wealthy. Bierstube was a friendly place where if you parked in the back they’d let you walk in through the back door through the kitchen rather than having to go around to the front door.

This review isn’t about the Bierstube though, it’s about a place called Dill’s in Middleville and how I came to discover it. Back when I was a regular at the Bierstube there were always two or three other German restaurants where you could get good sauerbraten (along with the Cypress Cellars in the basement of the Pantland which wasn’t particularly German.) But while today we have an abundance of ethnic restaurants that you could not find in Grand Rapids back then, the German restaurants have all disappeared.

So feeling like some sauerbraten and not knowing any restaurants that had it regularly anymore, I Goggled “Grand Rapids” and sauerbraten and it returned Dill’s in Middleville. I’ve taken the drive out there three times now for the sauerbraten and enjoyed it each time. My wife got the rueben each time. Of course they have other things on their menu but we are old and stuck in our ways, once we find something we like we stick to it. According to their website, it is run by a father and son, Norbert and Bryan Dill, who used to cook for Schnitzelbank. On two of my visits Bryan Dill came out of the kitchen to visit with the customers. The food was excellent but they weren’t too busy the times we were there. It is hard to think they wouldn’t be doing better along Wealthy Street, perhaps next to the Wealthy Theatre.

I’m not a beer aficionado like many here, so the beers weren’t familiar to me but they list about a dozen brands of imported beers (presumably German.) So if you are hankering for some German beer and cuisine, until someone opens a German restaurant again on Wealthy Street, you might want to take a little drive out to Middleville.

Here are links which show their menu along with photos of Dill’s and more about them:

http://www.dillsrest....com/index.html

http://www.facebook....taurant?sk=wall

Here’s what the Bierstube looked like back in my day:

http://www.viget.org...4wealthysec.jpg

And here is an earlier photo I found of what I think is a smaller Bierstube way before my time:

http://www.grcmc.org...Bloom-bloom.jpg