KatyE

My husband and I have been to Louis Benton Steakhouse several times now, and we loved it every time but once. The dry-aged steaks are fantastic, the lobster bisque is to die for, and the desserts have never let us down. Oh, and the shrimp in the shrimp cocktail? They are seriously the best. Huge, perfectly cooked, flavorful….so unlike what you get at many places.
Unfortunately, we had one bad experience. It was the last time we were there for dinner, and the steak was slightly undercooked (more medium-rare than medium…I wouldn’t normally care, but I was pregnant), and the bisque just wasn’t quite as rich and delicious. In a lesser restaurant, these minor things wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but when my husband and I are spending $150 on a meal (for us, a once-a-year anniversary treat), we kind of expect perfection. When the meal was over, we asked the manager if the chef was new, because the meal had been so much better in the past. She said that he was not new, and offered us free dessert to take home (we had already left our table).
I can not bring myself to give a negative review, despite the previous comments. Out of about five dinners at Louis Benton, we’ve only had one disappointment. Every other time, we’ve been amazed at the service, ambiance and especially the fantastic food. We went back for just dessert and coffee recently, and we were as happy as ever. The coffee is excellent, and the desserts are phenomenal. I only wish that they would bring back the cake that we had on our first visit. It was a white cake that had a coconut sauce. This was about four years ago, so I’m having a hard time remembering the specifics. What I do remember is that I haven’t had a better dessert before or since. So if anyone at Louis Benton reads this—Bring back the coconut cake!!!!!

I’ve been to the Beltline Bar several times, and I’ve found that if you get the wet burrito, you’ll leave happy. If you venture into the fajitas or elsewhere, not so much. I don’t go there often, because my husband doesn’t care for the atmosphere (it tends to be smoky no matter where you are), but if I have a chance to do lunch with friends, I get over there for the wet burrito. Good beans and salsa, too….although the salsa isn’t free there! Get with it, people!

My family and I went to the Omelette Shoppe for a Saturday Morning breakfast. We were given a spacious table, slightly away from other patrons, which is a relief when you have small children. The coffee was good. That’s a must.
Next, breakfast. I had the European Omelette. It was wonderful. The asparagus was perfectly cooked, crisp-tender and at peak flavor. It was well-balanced in the omelet…not overpowering, but quite present. The toast along with the omelet was good as well. I don’t remember what my husband had, but I remember that he was very happy with it. Probably hash & eggs, knowing him.
Perhaps the best thing about our visit was the way that our children were treated. Often overlooked, at best kept busy with crayons, kids usually have to eat something covered with whipped cream or swimming in cheese. Here, my son ordered the French toast and it looked delicious (not like an afterthought). Unfortunately, it was not quite what he was expecting, and as he is a picky eater, he sat looking at it. We didn’t say anything, because there was nothing wrong with the meal, but the waiter noticed that he had not eaten much, and asked if he didn’t like it. He then asked if he might like pancakes better, and promptly took the toast back to the kitchen and soon returned with pancakes…no butter, just as my son requested. Keep in mind, my son is six. To see that kind of service performed for a six-year-old was impressive to me. It must have impressed him, too. He asked to go back recently.

What a disappointment. On my birthday, of all days, my husband and I decided to try a new (to us) restaurant. He had heard about Olives from someone, so we looked up the website. The menu looked fantastic, so we called to get a table. We were there within 5 minutes of our expected time, but the waitress, who even remembered talking to my husband, had already given our table away. A few minutes later, she waved us over. Yes, she waved. She didn’t come over and ask us to follow her. This is not a huge restaurant. It wouldn’t have been asking too much. Anyway, we settled, with our three kids, into a very cramped table.
The menu still looked great, and we should know, since we had more than enough time to look at it. After at least 15 minutes, the waitress finally came to take our drink order. We bothered her to take our food order, as well. She asked my husband and both older kids if they wanted fries or chips, but she didn’t mention that their meals came with chips, and that fries were a $2.00 upcharge. Nice surprise when we got our bill later. Frankly, asking my husband is one thing. He’s an adult and can make those choices. But to ask my kids, to give them a choice, without our permission, is bad form. Since we ordered an appetizer (goat cheese—not terribly kid-friendly), she asked if we would like her to bring the kids’ food out as soon as it was ready. Great idea. Unfortunately, 15 minutes later we had a bowl of fries unceremoniously plopped onto our table. “On the house” she says. Okay, but why? And to tell you the truth, we’d rather have the food we’d ordered, and guess what? There are fries with 3 out of the four meals coming. However, we were happy to have the fries to keep our kids’ mouths busy. If you think it’s rough waiting for a long time to get your food, try doing it with three kids under 7. Well, we finished the fries, and spent another 10 minutes after that waiting. Our appetizer came out, and we enjoyed it, but it wasn’t spectacular. We’ve had the same thing at Vitale’s on Leonard and it was better. Anyway, after we were finished, the kids’ meals came out. We then sat and watched them eat. Do you know how slowly little kids eat? And still, we watched them finish their meals, and still waited a few minutes for our meals to come out. Then they sat and watched us eat.
I wish I could say that it was worth the wait. My husband ordered the Whimpy Burger, which was described as three mini burgers with bacon and bleu cheese. He didn’t realize that they meant bacon on one of them, and bleu cheese on another, but that’s what he got. I ordered a chicken dish (can’t remember what it’s called, and it’s been taken off the menu…..kudos to them for that, at least), which was stuffed with a goat cheese mixture and served with a red pepper cream sauce. I honestly can’t remember what it was served with, which kind of speaks for itself. The chicken was dry, and the sauce was bland and somewhat pastey. It was definately too thick to help with the dryness of the meat. It was a disappointing end to a long night.
But the worst was yet to come. We had a certificate from restaurant.com, which we had given to the waitress, and which she failed too deduct. We realized this at the same time that we saw the upcharge for the fries. Here’s a question: If you are trying to make up for some delay in the kitchen, wouldn’t it make more sense to comp our appetizer than to give us a bowl of the same thing that three of us already ordered with our meal? Or offer a free dessert? Something? There wasn’t even an apology for the long wait.
What’s worse is that I gave the management two chances to make it right. We didn’t say anything that night, because we had three little ones to get home, eat some cake, and get to bed. But a couple of days later, I emailed the manager and detailed our experience to him. I fully expected to hear back with at least an apology. Well, that was nearly two months ago, and nothing. We also received a survey from restaurant.com, and I rated it honestly and left a note that I had already left word with the manager about our experience, and still, nothing. It’s truly hard for me to believe that a restaurant that couldn’t care less about their customers’ experience, doesn’t have great food, and has lousy service is still in business. I’m telling you, avoid this restaurant at all costs. You can do so much better elsewhere. Why, you ask, did I give them two stars instead of one? We didn’t get food poisoning. You have to give credit where credit is due, after all.

What a great place for my husband and me to get away….without the kids! Not that kids aren’t welcome, it’s just that we like the casual, relaxed atmosphere and beautiful setting too much to miss it while we cut food into little bites, wipe faces and snap our fingers to keep the little ones acting properly in public. Nope. This place is just for us.
We haven’t even tried the patio, but it looks just lovely.
We’ve been happy with everything we’ve ordered here, from the wood-fired pizzas (Ancho Bbq Chicken = Yum) to the pastas (Chicken & Asparagus Capellini w/ gorgonzola cream sauce is heavenly), salads to lobster bisque (groan), everything has been wonderful.
But oh, the thing that makes me go back whenever we have a free night and access to a babysitter, is the Artichoke & Spinach Egg Rolls. Rather, the sweet & spicy bell pepper dip that comes with the rolls. How can I describe a little cup of red sauce that makes me so happy? Let’s just say that, after the egg rolls were gone, we stared at the plate, and proceeded to pick up the little spring lettuce leaves that were really only there to look pretty, and dip them in the sauce. Just something else to dip in the sauce! It saved our fingers from getting sticky. Oh, I’m so hungry just thinking about it. I’ve thought about trying to recreate the sauce and eggrolls at home, but I have a feeling I’d be too disappointed if they weren’t right. Okay, enough about the sauce.
I can’t wait to get back for a quiet evening of unrushed conversation, relaxation, pasta, and most importantly, egg rolls!

I went to Fred’s based on a review here. It was fantastic! The marinara tasted like it had been made from fresh, ripe tomatoes—in November. Everything we ate was wonderful. The second time was a little less fantastic, and the third time was a little better. One thing I can’t stand is a pasta dish that is drowning in thick sauce and cheese. I want to taste the pasta and other ingredients! Sometimes my dish at Fred’s has been perfect, other times….drowning. I can’t figure it out. I guess that I want to cut them some slack, because they do make so much in-house, that consistency can be a problem. It certainly happens to me at home! Sometimes it’s just better than others. But then, I would assume that there are no kids running around the kitchen at Fred’s, which is usually my problem.
I guess the best thing I can say about Fred’s is that I still want to go back. Obviously, the excellent outweighs the mediocre. And it has never fallen into the “bad” territory.
One thing that I find amusing is that, of all things, Fred’s Italian Restaurant has the absolute BEST WINGS in Grand Rapids. Seriously, they are big and meaty, flavorful with a good, but not completely overpowering heat, and EXCELLENT blue cheese dipping sauce. Obviously homemade, with big chunks of blue cheese that I fish out when my husband’s not looking. Go figure.

City Vu Bistro was recommended to my husband by a friend, and we were excited to try something new. The restaurant is located on the top floor of the City Flats Hotel in Holland. The decor is beautiful, modern, and spacious. We started with the Lobster & Crab Potstickers, and I have to say that they were fabulous. We were very happy with them, and we couldn’t wait for the main course. City Vu is apparently known for their flatbreads, and the menu is fantastic. So good, in fact, that we ordered three between us just because we couldn’t decide on only two. Even then, we had a hard time narrowing it down to the Seared duck breast, mole’, red onion, goat cheese and scallion fb, the four cheese and tomato sauce fb, and the roasted chicken, artichokes, roasted garlic, white sauce & white cheddar fb. Sounds good, eh? That’s what we thought. The problem was, it was all pretty much tasteless. The meats were dry and unseasoned…as though they’d been thrown under a broiler and forgotten until the timer went off. The use of the goat cheese was much too sparse, which was unfortunate, since it would have made up for some of the flavor lacking in the rest of the dish. I’m not sure where the white sauce was, because the chicken flatbread was quite dry altogether. The 4 cheese fb was probably the best, but even it was dry, bland and boring. We probably would have been happier with a cheese pizza. At least it would have been more moist. We thought we’d be going home with flatbread left over, but we decided it wasn’t worth taking home. It’s a nice idea, and nicely presented, but in the end I want it to taste good.
We decided to have dessert, partly because we wanted to end the evening on a high note, and partly because the hazelnut creme brulee sounded amazing. Wrong again. The custard was so thick and dense that it almost reminded me more of a soft cream cheese spread (consistency) than a custard. I could have cut it into neat portions with a knife. And there was no hint of hazelnut flavor…just kind of a mild, milky vanilla flavor. I couldn’t even get through half of it.
There is more to their menu than flatbreads, and since the potstickers were so good, I’d probably be willing to try something else, but only once. There are too many good restaurants to keep returning to one that is all style, no substance.