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Grand Rapids, Michigan

Discuss beer travel and regional information, including the best bars and places to check out around in Canada and around the world, and other chat that is not specific to Ontario.

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cratez
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Grand Rapids, Michigan

Post by cratez »

Heading here for a weekend in mid-October with nicktbm and our significant others. Currently have our eyes set on Founders, Brewery Vivant, HopCat, Graydon's Crossing, Siciliano's Market, and International Beverage Selections, but we're willing to go wherever we can get good food and drinks and a welcoming crowd. Have a couple questions for Towellers who have been to Grand Rapids in the last couple of years:

Are there any spots that you would suggest over the ones we have in mind?

Any particular times that are "best" to visit some of these places i.e. in order to avoid lineups, get a seat at the bar, be served food, etc?

Daytime tourist attractions - which ones would you recommend?

Any bars/brewpubs/stores that we should avoid?

Answers to one or all of these questions are highly appreciated, and I promise not to post the word "any" in this thread again. :lol:

Cheers

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grub
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Post by grub »

i love grand rapids. certainly my favourite "local-ish" beer destination and we end up there at least a couple of times a year.

you're definitely on the right track, and in fact have a couple that i've yet to visit. our trip usually begins with a stop at founders on the way into town, then a checkin at the hotel (the holiday in just across the river from downtown is close and reasonable), and walking over to hopcat for the rest of the night.

daytime is generally breakfast+coffee at the bagel beanery (or if you're really hungry, wolfgangs is tasty and has insane portions). shopping at sicillianos and other spots around town. martha's vineyard can be pricey, but doesn't sell out of hot stuff as fast, and has good food. also don't miss the bakery next door - the cookies alone are worth the visit, and the sourdough is supposedly from an original sanfran strain that came across long long ago.

i find founders is the best for a lunch/afternoon visit but can't say i've been there at a "bad" time. hopcat gets nuts in the evening, but that's part of the charm.

haven't hit vivant yet, but it's on the list and we'll make it next time. friends of ours run both the Meanwhile (which is also a nice cozy craft spot) and Pyramid Scheme (concert venue that i've yet to visit but apparently has good taps in the front bar).

if you are going for more than a couple days, consider an afternoon trip down to Benton Harbour and visit the Livery. it's a little over a 1 hour drive, but a great spot with tasty food (best nacho platter ever - looks small but DENSE!) and good beer.

i've yet to find anywhere to avoid in GR. it's a fun city.

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cratez
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Post by cratez »

grub wrote: our trip usually begins with a stop at founders on the way into town...and walking over to hopcat for the rest of the night.

daytime is generally breakfast+coffee at the bagel beanery (or if you're really hungry, wolfgangs is tasty and has insane portions). shopping at sicillianos and other spots around town. martha's vineyard can be pricey, but doesn't sell out of hot stuff as fast, and has good food. also don't miss the bakery next door - the cookies alone are worth the visit, and the sourdough is supposedly from an original sanfran strain that came across long long ago.

i find founders is the best for a lunch/afternoon visit but can't say i've been there at a "bad" time. hopcat gets nuts in the evening, but that's part of the charm.

haven't hit vivant yet, but it's on the list and we'll make it next time.

consider an afternoon trip down to Benton Harbour and visit the Livery. it's a little over a 1 hour drive, but a great spot with tasty food (best nacho platter ever - looks small but DENSE!) and good beer.

i've yet to find anywhere to avoid in GR. it's a fun city.
I appreciate the advice Russ. Martha's bakery will make for a good afternoon stop on Saturday or Sunday (that sourdough is on my hit list!). In terms of getting good seats and beating the crowds at HopCat and Founders, it looks like we're just gonna have to roll with the punches since Hoptoberfest and the Harvest Ale Party are both on while we're in town. But as long as we can get our drinks in decent time, it should be a lot of fun. Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park was suggested to me as a nice daytime tourist attraction; if there's a lack of interest in that, Benton Harbor and The Livery might be in the cards. Thanks for the recos!

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Post by Lackey »

Vivant is a cool spot and worth checking out. Beer was really nice. We were there on a busy Saturday night and would recommend hitting it in the afternoon.

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Post by Kish84 »

Leaving tomorrow around 6am for a night, then off to Chicago.

Pretty excited as last year when we went there was a snowstorm and we only got to go to Founders. Lot's of great recommendations here, only plans that are for sure are International Beverage Company, Siciliano's, Founder's and Hopcat. And possibly either Graydon's Crossing, or Brewery Vivant as another destination.

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Post by groulxsome »

grub wrote:our trip usually begins with a stop at founders on the way into town, then a checkin at the hotel (the holiday in just across the river from downtown is close and reasonable), and walking over to hopcat for the rest of the night.

shopping at sicillianos
I was looking though the forums for some confirmation that my ideas on what to do for little mini-vacation to Grand Rapids (just one night!) were grounded in some reality. The quote above was my plan exactly! Anything else critical for a little 24 hour stop-over? Any alternatives if Hop Cat is too packed to seat us?[/b]

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grub
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Post by grub »

there's a ton of bars in the downtown core, and many have some local offerings. another good spot really close to HopCat is Pyramid Scheme (one block east, one block south). concert venue, but the front bar usually has a ton of Shorts stuff on. it seems that many of the local spots have at least one craft tap, so it's hard to go wrong.

there's going to be a big Toronto contingent in GR this weekend... know a bunch of us are going down tomorrow and staying for the weekend, so you might see some oddly familiar faces about town!
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Cass
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Post by Cass »

Grand Rapids - GREAT spot! Stopped in for the night yesterday on the way to Chicago, my first visit.

Doesn't seem to be mentioned here, but just up the street from HopCat is Grand Rapids Brewing, our first stop which is a nice, large brewpub with a bunch of beers on tap. We had the flight which is a great deal for $6.

We moved on to HopCat which is all it way hyped to be, and had a Michigan IPA special due to IPA day for $3/glass. Also had the Grand Royale sandwich which was something else. Got to try all kinds of MI brews.

After that we walked over to Founders, which is undergoing a major expansion & construction. Awesome spot. Great vibe, busy but not too packed and had live music yesterday. All kinds of their beers available. Really a tap room like nothing we find back home - breweries just don't do it this way in Ontario.

At this point we were winding down, but we did a last stop based upon a friend's reco at Mojo's Duelling Piano Bar, which is certainly a unique experience and definitely fun. Helps that glasses of Two Hearted are also only $3.

Anyway, not much time to explore as we're off to Chicago this morning. But what a great night! A really nice downtown with lots of life and very walkable. Will be back for sure.

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cratez
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Post by cratez »

Cass wrote: After that we walked over to Founders, which is undergoing a major expansion & construction. Awesome spot. Great vibe, busy but not too packed and had live music yesterday. All kinds of their beers available. Really a tap room like nothing we find back home - breweries just don't do it this way in Ontario.
Couldn't agree more. They've somehow managed to integrate live music, pool tables, a party-like atmosphere, and a predominantly college crowd with the enjoyment of craft beer, and create an environment that's still welcoming to the nerdiest of beer geeks. Not many places can pull that off.
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Cass
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Post by Cass »

Yeah, it's quite something. We actually stopped for a 2nd night in GR on the way home to break up the drive. Even on a Monday outside of the school year the place was full.

It's a brewery that's a destination without being over the top about it (no offense Stone). I can't think of a brewery in Ontario (not counting Toronto brewery-pubs) that comes even close to what they are.

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Post by aofe »

I was in Grand Rapids on Sunday, here are some of my thoughts:

Rishi's International Beverage
- A good beer and liquor store. Bit outside of downtown. Mainly carries Michigan and US craft

Brewery Vivant
- Went there at noon, so it was quite empty. Good selection of beers that they pair with cheese.

Founders
- Went there around 5 on Sunday, bit crowded but we sat at the bar. Looks like they expanded recently. Service was a bit slow but staff knew quite a bit. Good mix of regular and seasonals.

Grand Rapids Brewing Company
- Nice spot, very busy. Sadly the beers were average.

HopCat
- Surprisingly not busy on Sunday evening. Taps were mainly in house brewed and Michigan beers. Bottle list was quite extensive with a couple rare ones. Staff was really knowledgeable, but clearly seemed tired from working all day. The "Crack Fries" were pretty good.

All in all, Grand Rapids is worth checking out.

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Cass
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Post by Cass »

Thanks for the notes. Going to the AHA conference next month and working on a home page article about some of the city's beer highlights.

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FEUO
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Post by FEUO »

Been to GR a couple times.
My thoughts and favorite things:
- HopCat: awesome when its not jammed. Great taps, great bottle selection, staff super knowledgeable, crack fries (already mentioned), cool vibe. Even when its crazy the staff manages to keep up.
- Founders: bigger and badder than ever. Tap selection is good, but you won't be seeing rarer stuff on tap unless something is about to go down (party-wise), is going down, or just happened and the kegs didn't kick.
- Grand Rapids: haven't been, tasted a couple beers of theirs at beer festivals and wasn't overly impressed so never bothered to stop in.
- Brewery Vivant: not right downtown so a cab is necessary. But later on a Saturday night in the winter (when everyone wants a cab) you will be hosed. Seems like cabs go to Vivant to drop, not to pick up unless called. But the beer is fantastic as are the DUCK NACHOS. Highly recommended. Awesome atmostphere and interior (former funeral home and chapel).
- the Mitten: haven't been yet but keep hearing about the beer getting better and to-die-for pizza.
- Perrin: also out of the way a bit. Stale, industrial, beer is ok. Not worth the trip or the hype. They have a lot of money behind them.

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Cass
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Post by Cass »

Looks like the #6 bus goes almost past Vivant's front door:

http://www.ridetherapid.org/ride/system-map
http://www.ridetherapid.org/ride/routes/6/

Runs past midnight which is pretty good.

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grub
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Post by grub »

If you're going to Vivant, I also suggest checking out Meanwhile, which is a few blocks away (full disclosure: my friend's partner and her brother run the joint). nice little place with some pinball machines and almost all michigan taps. last winter we were alternating pitchers of hopslam and red's rye. but yeah, getting a cab back to downtown can be a challenge.

and while i'm promoting their venues, if you're into pinball and/or craft beer, make sure you check out Pyramid Scheme (co-owned by them and the HopCat folks). about a block or two from HopCat. ton of machines, bunch of craft taps, usually with a heavy Shorts contingent. It's also a concert venue in back. A great alternative if HopCat is rammed. When they have shows it can get a bit nuts before/after, but in the middle the front bar is fairly quiet.
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