Brian's Restaurant Reviews (and other wry bits)
When you want to write about restaurants, you need a theme. Mine is going to be simple: Places you might actually eat on a regular basis. I won't pontificate about Fois Gras and I won't drone on and on about the merits of starched tablecloths. Rather, I will entertain you (hopefully) with tails of messy chili dogs and cheap-ass Chinese food. Sure, we might discuss Rose's on Reeds Lake (who doesn't like that place?), but for every East Grand Rapids lakefront dining experience reviewed I promise there will be a few Dog Pits and Red Geraniums thrown in. Also, I will not be reviewing nationally franchised restaurants. I just can't do it. Sorry.
My newest reviews are listed below. Click the restaurant titles to view the full review. Or, you can read all the reviews I've done.
Yeah, it's that cool: Each of my reviews stands on its own, sure. But how much fun is the internet if you cannot post your comments too? I'll tell you: NO FUN AT ALL. So on this site, I'm still going to tell you how I feel about the slop I shoveled down last night. But here, you get a chance to disagree (you're probably wrong) or agree (a better idea). All you need to do is register.
Restaurant Reviews
Reviewed on: 22 August 2007
Have you ever seen pictures of crazy-looking food and wondered to yourself "how do you even eat that?" Have you ever seen those same pictures and thought "I'm sure they don't have foofy, uppity, arrogant restaurants like that in my...more
Mariachi Restaurant (Canton, Michigan)
Reviewed on: 18 August 2007
When we lived in Kalamazoo, there was a hole-in-the-wall Mexican grocery-store/restaurant that I completely loved. Authentic food, everyone working there seemed to be family, and the atmosphere said "hey, velvet paintings of half-nude Aztec princess...more
Voilà Café or is it Café Voilà? (East Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Reviewed on: 23 June 2007
Sometimes price and size matter. We've eaten at Voila 3 times in the past 8 days. I think they've only been open for about 2 weeks, so if nothing else we're clearly supporting a new restaurant.Why on earth would you eat at the same place 3 t...more
Olive's (East Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Reviewed on: 14 May 2007
We had a great dinner here on Monday. It wasn't the first time we've eaten at Olive's, just the first time I've bothered to write about it.Something about tiny (in my book at least) local restaurants sets my heart aflutter before we even ...more
The Chop House (downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Reviewed on: 25 October 2006
Anniversary dinners are supposed to be special. With that in mind, we set out to find a killer steak in downtown Grand Rapids. I have one word for our dinner at The Chop House: Success.Sure, there's no excuse for charging almost $40 for a steak tha...more
