Salmon was overdone. Took an hour to get our entree. Way overpriced. We had a great waitress but that was the only good part

Excellent dinner and sangria on the water! It was nice to be able to have a little normalcy in the middle of this pandemic. Ahi tuna salad was delicious! read more

Had a great dinner, I had the mahi tuna salad, my wife had the herb chicken. Lauren was a great server, enjoyed the great view of the lake, it was very loud, but that normally means everyone is having a great time. Will come back again! read more

Great restaurant with quality food. It is a beautiful place to dine in and we also enjoy ordering takeout from them

I came into blue water not knowing what to expect, And the host Robin was so kind to us. the restaurant was so busy but she assured us we would be sat as fast as possible! we went out for my friends birthday and was happily surprised to know they have birthday specials. the restaurant is beautiful and cozy. we were seated by the fire which i enjoyed because i was freezing! our waitress lauren was a ball of joy, she was the sweetest and made my friends birthday even better. from the host to the food runner, the ambience, and food, we couldn't have had a better experience read more

Husband and I had dinner here on a Friday night. We expected it to be busy, and it was, but the hostess told us it was only going to be about a twenty minute wait, and we were fine with that. We headed over to the bar to wait and lucked out on two seats opening up, so we decided to eat there. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable, but I was disappointed that they couldn't make a vegan chocolate martini. (I know they host special vegan dinners here, so I went in with high expectations.) The beer selection was also subpar in my opinion. December in Grand Rapids means porters and stouts and more than half should come from local breweries. Not ONE! So I settled for red wine. We had a very tasty appetizer, but the portion was very small. I ordered a vegan noodle dish, which was also very tasty but far too small. My husband had whitefish, and he brought home leftovers. My final impression was that for the price we paid.... I left hungry. Very disappointed in the portion sizes of the healthy food (which makes no sense to me). read more

Came here tonight with the family to enjoy a great meal and celebrate my son's birthday. Everybody tried something different from the smoked trout pizza to the Bluewater Grill burger the octopus and scallop special and the blackened chicken salad. Everything was great! If you are a member of the G List you get your birthday meal free. Good service and great food. We continue to enjoy the Blue Water Grill. Trust. read more

Beautiful location overlooking the river. You can sit inside or more wonderful outdoor dining options are available. The food matched the location and the beauty of the architecture. Our waitress Beth did such a great job. All three of us split the food selections. Perfect summer dinner. We ordered the panzanella salad. Fresh fresh fresh. Homemade croutons that were splendid. We also ordered the sweet potato fries with blue cheese and balsamic reduction. Excellent! Finished it off with a BBQ pizza. Crispy, chewy pizza done right. You will really enjoy this place. Casual comfortable dining or dress it up with pearls, both feel right as you dine here. Did I mention the view? read more

The food and atmosphere here is top notch The wait staff is great and Robin made sure our experience was a great one.. would highly recommend this place to everyone read more

Selection was diverse, food was delicious, atmosphere was relaxing, staff was friendly and accommodating, and the price was reasonable. We all shared a couple desserts ...My only complaint was the cheesecake tasted as though it had been frozen, but the peanut butter pie was delicious. read more

It has been several years since have eaten at Bluewater. On our earlier visits, the food was excellent and I had heard that it had declined. I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. My wife and I both had the salmon which was great and my daughter had a margharita pizza. The service was good but not exceptional. All in all, I would plan on eating here sgain read more

Dining there last Saturday evening at 6:30 with my family of 5 I was very disappointed. We all had different entree's that were served at once. Mine was a steak, potato, grilled veggie entree with mushroom gravy. The gravy was gelled (cold) and the veggies were limp telling me they were over grilled. Three meals were room temp and two of the five meals were acceptable. Our waitress/bartender was very inattentive. I will say the young men serving water were superb. We might have just hit it at the wrong time; but it will be our last. read more

Food was amazing, price wasn't too bad. Got right in, got to eat on the patio, really loved the atmosphere, and the people there. Perfect for a date night. Really loved it read more

Best way to spend our 15 year anniversary, with family, great food, atmosphere, and service with Alesha! . Thanks

We love the menu and the service here! Their Sunday brunch is our favorite! Their is love music at the open air bar on the water in the summer. This is a great place to enjoy the water and good food! read more

It's one of my favorite restaurants! They make a delicious martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives and they have many vegan options! It's a win win! read more

My husband and I received a gift card for Gilmore Collection and chose to come to Blue Water Grill. We could not have chosen better! Our experience was amazing - from the beautiful view to friendly and attentive servers to amazing food with reasonable portion sizes. You even get free bread (delicious, soft, perfectly-sized loaves) before your meal. Yep, I'm a fan! As a lactose-intolerant vegetarian, it always makes me nervous to eat at new restaurants, but I had half a dozen or more options here, so my worries were quickly quelled. I went with the Indian-inspired coconut curry which was amazing and very savory. My husband ordered a chicken dish and was very pleased with the portion size as well as the mashed potatoes and other veggies. You know a chef has whipped up something spectacular when your veggie-opposed partner says, "I don't even know what I'm eating, but I like it!" I was also amazed at how short the wait times were. No wait for a table on a Sunday evening at 6 PM. No wait for a server to bring us beverages, and a very, very short wait for our food. We had a wonderful, romantic dinner here and recommend it to others looking for a reasonably priced fine dining experience in Grand Rapids. read more

Indubitably the most scrumptiously delicious entreè of my year. The pizza. Insatiable.

Blue Water's food and service are consistently excellent. Love the salmon sandwich and Brussel sprouts. Our server, Brandi, was so friendly and helpful today. read more

I had my engagement party here and it was absolutely amazing!!! The staff was so so so nice and accommodating. They served a group of 13 people without issue! They let us bring our own dessert and the server took pictures for us. I highly recommend this place the the food was delicious! read more

Delicious pecan walleye. Nice setting. I Would eat there again! Popular place but were seated fairly quickly . Prices are good. read more

Used the online waitlist. People were outside or in cars waiting for their table. Spaced out for dining. Atmosphere and food was great as always. read more

Absolutely enjoyed our lunch at Blue Water. From the drinks to the food every bite was awesome. We had the Blu Bar Eggs rolls were off the hook tasty explosions of delight in your mouth. I had the superfood sauté and the flavors in that surpassed my expectations. My husband had the Alfredo pizza with goat Cheese with bacon and chicken; it was so delicious. My son had the chicken tacos and he said they were fantastic. Will make the hour trip on our next special occasion. Loved it!! read more

I've always been a fan of Blue Water. I live in NY now but when I'm home my mom and I like to come here for cocktails and dinner. Love the root chips with goat cheese fondue, as well as the Blu Bar egg rolls. They have a nice wine list- when I visited they had Chianti (Red Italian) which is my favorite. My waitress, Bethany, was incredibly sweet and honest with her opinions. Sometimes waitstaff say they like more expensive items to get a bigger tip, but I could tell she was being genuine (after working as a waitress myself it's easy to determine who is honest and who is not). She also comped my little sisters Calamari, which she foolishly ordered despite her picky taste buds. I had the French dip, which was amazing. Overall, I'd say it's a great place with a wonderful atmosphere and attentive staff! read more

No longer does FREE Birthday dinners! Please take all of the Gilmore Restaurants off the 10 Best Free Birthday Dinners Website! Used to go here for my birthday for years... read more

The Gilmore Collection: Quantity Over Quality. Sure, you can have a restaurant in every corner of GR....it's just sad that they aren't, I dunno, good. I hadn't made it to Blue Water Grill before, really for no good reason. Just didn't get there. Finally, with a group of five great women, we made our way there for dinner and drinks. Thank goodness we had good company, because just about everything else about this visit was awful. Our server seemed nice enough, but was just sort of clueless. She seemed genuinely surprised that I wanted to order a drink after sitting for about five minutes at our table (I was the 5th to arrive and the other women were already about halfway through their drinks). She also acted as though ordering our food after about 20 minutes at the table was a surprising request, as well. But we did. Our visit coincided with GR Restaurant Week, and all of us chose to order from the pre-fixe menu available for it. After all, the event was meant to showcase the best of what the restaurants have to offer, and allowed each of us to try items for three full courses. I was beyond excited to try the flash fried lobster rangoon with habanero chili glaze and Asian slaw, because everything about that phrase screams "My Favorite Things." Sadly, the rangoons were overcooked, the lobster was imperceptible, and the habanero glaze while the right amount of spicy, was also really bitter. The crab rigatoni claimed to be "lump crab, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, tomato vodka cream sauce, rigatoni pasta, asparagus." There was no lumps of crab to be found anywhere, but rather a somewhat crab-like taste throughout the forgettable sauce--I might have seen a shred or two of crabmeat, but really...not so much. I've lived on the east coast and in a major city--no WAY could you get away with that being a crab dish anywhere else. I picked at the dish, but mostly just kept drinking my sparkling wine split (which was delicious). For dessert I selected the Michigan Apple tart, which was a dense tart crust filled with some weird shortening/butter substance, maybe 6 slices of apple, and some vanilla ice cream. Sadly, the ice cream was the best part. For the record, my four companions all ordered other combinations of the available 'feature' menu, and all were also pretty disappointed. It was apparent that this restaurant put no care or effort into its offerings for this special event, meant to bring in new people previously unaware of its menu. Complete strikeout for Blue Water Grill. read more

My husband and I decided to eat at Blue Water last night. After waiting an extended period of time for an outdoor table with a water view, we were seated in the back corner of the patio near the parking lot with a view of a brick wall. I feel like that space probably shouldn't even be used for seating. I was disappointed in the seating location and service, so we ordered an appetizer and left. read more

By far, Gilmore's most inconsistant restaurant in GR. While the service is generally very good and the space is attractive, the food ranges from inedible to very good. At this pricepoint that is not acceptable. I was sitting with several owners of GR restaurants. The group was praising the consistencly of Roses yet we were all dismayed by Bluewater's continuing food problems. The menu is well designed, and the ingredients in the dishes are fresh and full of flavor. It is the execution of the menu that drives the disasterous meals. The only consistant part of the menu is the salads. We had a dinner visit that included: cold meats and cheeses that should be hot. The steaks and burgers were not cooked as ordered and served with cold, limp fries?. The potentially delicious bean soup that is served at room temp. mac n cheese that had butter , milk and no cheese? On the other hand, I just went for lunch yesterday and had a terriffic grilled chicken sandwich. I would say the lunch visits have been better than the dinners. Roll the dice and check out Bluewater. read more

I really enjoyed my meal at the Blue Water Grill. Set by a beautiful lake myself and my wife needed to organise a meal for 25. We went and had lunch to test it out. We were seated outside upstairs on a beautiful sunny day over looking the lake. The interiors are blue and blacks, the restaurant seems very open and airy. I ordered the spoon spinach salad, a beautiful salad with berries and blue cheese. All the flavours were there and they really all complemented each other. Reagan had the grilled cheese sandwich which came with a beautiful tomato dipping sauce. Both meals were delicious. We enquired about doing a meal for 25 with a member of staff who was very helpful. I called back a couple of times to re-organise the meal and the staff were very helpful and accommodating. We decided on a family style meal for the 25, the crab dip and the focaccia breads coming first, both delicious. The beet salad was gorgeous, I'm not a fan of beets but could not get enough of this. The Chicken Quesadillas were my wife's favourites, and then came the mains....phew...lots of eating going on here!!! A vegetable platter, pork and I honestly can't remember the rest. The pork was my favourite and we washed it down with some local Michigan wines. All 25 of the guest really really enjoyed the meal and I ended the meal by proposing to my wife. All in all a very memorable and enjoyable night! read more

This is a lovely, upscale dining option on the north end of town. Owned by the popular Gilmore Group, their menu is consistent with other Gilmore Restaurants with tastes and menu originality that suits the dinning Grand Rapids' scene. In the winter months you are welcomed in with a cozy, roaring fire in entrance fireplace. In the summer months you can sit either in the main restaurant area upstairs, or the more causal, open-air patio below. Both options offer spectacular views of the water right outside. Summer or winter, I always order the Ahi Tuna salad. It's thick chucks of tuna on a bed of spinach with Mango's fills me up but leaves room for wine or desert to finish the meal. The staff has always been attentive and responsive to my needs. They have seating options for large and small groups. Typically, there isn't much of a wait for a seat either. I usually see some kids when I come in, but it's mostly couples and small groups of adults having dinner and drinks. read more

Staple for the husband and I. Beautiful view from the downstairs bar. Food is always excellent and staff alway friendly. Keep up the good work! read more

Went there for an early dinner...only to wait an unbelievably long time to be seated (75 minutes). We did not have a reservation, but the wait time estimates provided by the maitre d are grossly inaccurate (she said 30-45 minutes). We wanted to sit outside, and we were close to leaving the restaurant, but decided to stick it out. Our meals were really good. I enjoyed the walleye, but was surprised how limited their seafood selection is...especially considering they are seated on a lake! Their menu brags about serving sustainable local seafood. I think they mean, they serve 3 types of local sustainable seafood. They are another one of these restaurants that does this official-looking "GF" logo to identify gluten-free options, only to then disclose that these are not necessarily prepared in a manner that would be safe for someone who must eat gluten free. read more

Always friendly service and great attentive wait staff. Nice happy hour specials 3-6 and excellent food. Cozy atmosphere with fireplace and water view adds to the wonderful experience! read more

I went to Blue Water Grill for dinner with a friend visiting from out of town. My experience overall was good. We were at first seated along the side w/o a lake view. Our line of vision was at the parking lot. Since we are out of towners and knew we wouldn't have another opportunity to come back, we asked if we could wait for a table with a view of the lake and they accomodated us. Sitting outside was really wonderful and the atmosphere is quite pleasant. My friend enjoyed his Riesling, but my mojito was less than stellar, but the bartender tried to adjust it. The waitstaff gets extra points for being attentive. The food was decent, but not exceptional. I wish the calamari had a lighter breading. The one we had was thick and dark. My friend had the salmon special -- it was a salmon trio. The presentation was really nice. He was given a card that explained the differences among the salmon. However, the froth didn't provide a visually pleasing element on the plate. I had the seafood cappellini which was good. read more

One of the best places in town. Lovely decor. Great food. Terrific happy hours and specials. I've never had a bad meal here. The menu changes but has interesting appetizers, small plates, thin crust pizzas. Nice seafood offerings. read more

I always enjoy when I visit Grand Rapids but I was lucky enough to enjoy a meal at the Blue Water Grill with my girlfriend and her family. There are many positive attributes of this restaurant but I will just focus on the food. Wow. Grass Fed Meats...Gluten Free options...Chili crusted burger on a pretzel rolls... Amazing! I live in Downtown Chicago and finding a similar menu is very difficult. Bottom line: This restaurant is a gem and should not be missed! read more

The service was good and the food average. Not sure what happened to the menu, but as a part of the Gilmore Collection they can't seem to leave it alone. Never know what to expect when we go there or if there is anything on the menu that is appealing. We have had trouble with the service here in the past but this trip the service was excellent- too bad the food was not. read more

Salmon was burnt to black on one side, imparting an unpleasant char flavor, and portion was on the small side for area restaurants at this price point. My relatives enjoyed their dinner, but we all agreed that a meal at another local restaurant had topped this one. The waiter returned to the table every few minutes, sometimes interrupting our conversation. Beautiful decor and setting, but also a bit far from downtown Grand Rapids. Overpriced, given better alternatives in the area. read more

Probably my favorite restaurant in GR! The menu is varied and inlcudes grass-fed beef and gluten free options. Out of the several dishes I have tried, my taste experience has ranged from "pretty good" to "amazingly good." Overall, very delicious! However, the service can be hit or miss. I've had fairly good service overall, but some of the waitstaff has left me hanging. Also, this restaurant can get very, very crowded. I'd recommend either going on a weekday or during off hours....either that, or you should probably make a reservation. The ambiance is nice. The interior is clean and cozy. I really like the mosaic on the fireplace. And of course, the view of the lake is lovely. read more

I'll preface this by admitting: yes this is a Gilmore restaurant however it does have some attributes that should be applauded. For the side of town it is on, it is one of the best options. When you come here it can be pretty good or just ok, but it's really never bad. The ambience and overall feel is always good and the service is pretty good as well. It is a good place for a lunch meeting or for a quick dinner. I don't understand when people say it is upscale or fancy, because it really isn't, but it is a good option for a nice dinner in this area. Menu favorites include the lobster roll and the root chips. Having a you pick two for lunch is a nice touch also. read more