Lunch menu is way overpriced! Grilled chicken sandwich with fries $14.99. I've had way better in other establishments for half the price. Will admit the rolls are great and assume this is what I'm being charged for? Have not had the dinner menu but will hesitate going again with the prices being so inflated. read more

Amazing dinner last night! Our waiter Skyler never missed a beat. He was on top of everything through the entire meal. Rob stopped by our table to ask how everything was. Great food, Great service. Cannot wait to go back for another meal and dessert. read more

had not been here in a couple of years. always loved it - especially the veggie plate which of course has now been discontinued. there are only a couple vegetarian items on the menu. i chose the goat cheese ravioli. came with a side salad; about half a cup of greens. house dressing with dried berries was good. ravioli was just OK. obviously home made but little filling and lots of pasta sheet. dressed with a sauted spinach/mushroom red sauce. quite bland and servings are not the tradition Michigan size, but on the petite side. expecting just a tad more for $13 lunch. (the photos below must be the dinner portions!) i no longer consider it a go-to for special occasions. but would probably return under the right circumstances. local Antonios are truly better and most likely a better buy. read more

Friday night dinner decided on what I thought was the best place in Chelsea got there around 8p and not real busy thought that was a good sign when things went down hill - ordered an Screwdriver came with a lime, ordered a salad (came with dinner) allergic to blue cheese asked for another .. the waitress didn't bring it -ordered the mixed grill plate - don't bother - tenderloin 1/2 thick small, chicken flat small (looked like out of the box) veggies and shrimp were good .. waitress ignored us after the salad issues .. water person was nice .. except got warm water .. Not worth the $100 price tag read more

I am very particular when it comes to restaurants and this one has never come up short. My family and I have been dining here since they opened over 10 years ago. We always receive great service and great food. read more

Common Grill is not only amazingly delicious, they are hands-down the best restaurant I've ever encountered for people with food allergies. They take it so seriously, putting the customer at total ease with a designated spot in the kitchen for allergy awareness to wiping down the counter by the cashier before placing any boxed up food there labeled allergy aware. It is so nice to see a restaurant care so much about the safety of its patrons. Thank you Common Grill! read more

Consistently really, really good. Excellent servers, good wine list, fresh seafood, and very fresh greens. I haven't had a salad so fresh and perfect (e.g. perfectly chilled, not too cold, not warm) in ages. My family had shrimp cocktail and a lobster egg roll for appetizers, and my dad had the seafood chowder which he raved about and apparently always has to have when he comes in. They have amazing bread and really delicious, salty whipped butter. I had boulliabaisse for my entree and was too full to eat the whole thing, but it was delicious. My mom had seafood risotto, my dad had a burger which he claims is the best burger he's ever had. Even though we were all really full, we had to try some of the desserts. My mom had a banana pudding thing which reminded me of something a 1950's housewife would make (the whipped cream was really good, though), I had lemon ricotta cheesecake which we all agreed was the best dessert of the three we had, and my dad had pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. Clearly, you have to come here ready to be a little gluttonous and let your hair down a bit. My mom's dessert was comp'd since it was her birthday. read more

Amazing. Worth leaving Ann Arbor for. :)

I've been coming here for close to twenty years. While not every meal is a five-star, there's no place I'd rather go to spend a bill on my wife and I and not regret it. Faves: Ribeye, walleye, house salad with blue cheese dressing (the dressing is the important part), mussels. The bread is one of the lures but I think it used to be better (it used to be cooked more - now it's too doughey). Service is typically A+. Sunday brunch is fantastic and reasonable. read more

Surprising find. Seafood was very good. 4 stars on that alone. The service was acceptable but a place like this really should be held to a higher standard. Waitress forgot to bring out our oysters and was really not as attentive as we would have liked. Plan on going back though and repeat business really is what speaks most loudly. read more

The dishes here are totally unpretentious and yet the flavors are exquisite. I've lived in New York, London, Boston, and Philadelphia, and this is some of the best food I've ever eaten. Kudos, Common Grill! read more

Excellent. Can't wait to go back again to try a different dish. Sat at the bar and had wonderful service.

Very busy place, good service and good food. I had the parmesan crusted lake superior whitefish and it was quite good-very fresh and well cooked. It was on a bed of vegetables and lobster and the lobster included was very good. It is a bit pricey, but not out of line with other "better' restaurants. The only real issue I have with it is that it is very loud. The noise in the place makes it difficult to have a conversation at the table. Because of that i would not recommend it as a place to take a date. read more

My husband and I went to the common grill for our Valentine's Day date. The food was amazing. Our service, not so much. We were treated as though we were incapable of paying for a meal and tip at such a nice restaurant. We were ignored on several occasions and not offered refills or desserts until it was time for us to go home. We would probably go again for the quality of the food; definitely not the service we received. read more

very rude phone staff. Very silly, short sighted reservation system. very poor phone system. Line busy for over 1 hour at their stated "call ahead list". And then when reached, were very short on the phone. Will not be going to this establishment. Food is grossly overrated. and overpriced. read more

The Common Grill is consistently at the top of their game. The food is always delicious, prepared just right, and a great value for such excellent food. Desserts are the best in the Ann Arbor area, drinks are delectable, and the rolls are famous in the area. Dinner sized salads are perfect for health conscious dining choices and at the same time have interesting ingredient combos. This is our favorite restaurant! read more

This place is my favorite - there are several vegetarian options (and they will alter existing items if it's possible), the service is good, the food is interesting and varied, and the drink selection is great. Everyone we've brought here has loved it. read more

We've been here many times. This time it was very disappointing. I think we were still on the lunch menu and they were out of most everything. Sad because this was supposed to be a celebration. read more

Remembered this restaurant from visiting this area years ago. Recently ate there again and was so pleased that the food was every bit as good as I had remembered. Everything was wonderful! read more

Over the past several years, my wife and I have eaten at the Grill, as guests of our brother and sister -in-law, who are residents of the area. It is a favorite of theirs. The food is excellent, comparable to the better restaurants we have frequented in NYC and Philly, both of which are located near where we live. HOWEVER, the noise level is totally unacceptable and makes ordinary conversation absolutely impossible. A rapid fire gun range is less noisy. Our recommendation is if you want to eat good food without damaging your ear drums, is that you wear either ear muffs or ear plugs when dining there. Obviously ownership who are riding the crest of success, don't see the necessity of making a capital improvement to the faulty, dangerous acoustics. Beware, eating at the grill can be bad for your health. read more

The worst excuse of a "fine dining" meal ever. I have never been a fan but last nights meal seals the deal. NEVER going back. A Party of 12 and three had to send their food back. Burned fish, undercooked fish, etc. I have always thought they were over rated and over priced but at least the food used to be halfway decent. Still overpriced but portions so small they should be considered appetizers. DONE! Go across the street to Smokehouse 52 if you want a real treat. read more

While we do not get here often enough, this is one of our favorite restaurants. Most recently, we stopped by on a Sunday evening...a lot less crowded than normal! I started with a lobster-corn chowder (which suddenly seems to be the "it" soup) which was very flavorful although just a bit thin...nonetheless, definitely a keeper. The chowder was followed by a seared pear salad which was not as good as I remembered (although my wife thought it was great). My entree was a lobster-shrimp scampi (a special) and was outstanding...great flavor, nicely seasoned w/a rice pilaf and fresh green beans. A really outstanding meal. My wife had a mixed grill (beef, chicken, and a skewer of shrimp) which was done to perfection and similarly outstanding. If you're in the market for great fish or a great experience in general, this is the place. ...and some of the best bread going! Cool little town w/none of the pretensions sometimes found in nearby Ann Arbor. read more

This time I had the Grill's Seafood Pasta and it was good but not exceptional. Last yr.I had something that had a hollandaise sauce which I hate but it was not stated on the menu. When the manager heard, he comped us a dessert. The service is always fantastic. read more

My review is wavering between 2.5-3 stars. My first visit about 1 year ago was great! Everything was wonderful. The food, service, drinks, it was all very good and a great start to our evening of dinner then the theater. My most recent visit (today 2/7) was just OK. Let me start with the pros: - Seated immediately (early dinner after our 2pm show at Purple Rose) My sister did ask for a better table. Initial, she was ushered to the very back..... in a 1/2 full dining room) - Our server (forgot her name) was very friendly and very helpful. - Ordered 2 appetizers: Whitefish spread with rosemary chips (SO GOOD!!!!) and the shrimp cocktail, we ordered it the year before and again SO GOOD! Both plated very nicely. - The complimentary bread was as usual, great. - Drinks, appetizers and bread came out very quickly---thanks to our great waitress. - Dessert was VERY GOOD too. We ordered a bread pudding and creame brulee. Now the cons: - The pear side salad which comes with your entree had 2 super small slivers of pear, WAAAAY too much vinaigrette and it was very, very sloppy plating. - My sister ordered the seafood soup and it was good and a very fair price ($5) for the bowl. - My dinner, the bouillabaisse was on the verge of being way too salty. There were 2 clams (one which was so salty that I gaged and usually, I am not that sensitive to salt--I'm a little obsessed with soy sauce--haha!) and this particular clam made me cough and grab for my drink. Overall, it was pretty salty. But the flavor was good and the grilled bread was very good as well. I asked for a side of rice to help absorb the broth. - My moms seafood pasta was pretty good, but nothing that WOWED us. - My sisters chopped salad was very fresh nice veggies, but when you order a chopped salad, we had this vision of it being CHOPPED, nice small yummy pieces, it looked like a typical side salad....not 'chopped'. We all agreed, that it seems that appetizers seem to be consistent and good. Entrees, not so consistent and this visit 2 were disappointing. My sister has dined here 4 times and she agreed that entrees, seem very inconsistent on their execution and taste. Overall, I think we might go with ordering: soup, enjoy their house made bread, order several appetizers and order a few desserts to share. read more

We have been coming to the Common Grill for 25 years for brunch and special occasions. We have told hundreds of people how good the restaurant is. Last Saturday night we went for dinner. We no longer go for brunch because the brunch menu has changed and no longer appeals to us (eggs benedict). While we were disappointed, we always knew the walleye would be perfect. In fact I bought the original cook book for that recipe and make it at home as well. Saturday night it was horrible. It was heavily breaded and fried to a crisp. We no longer believe the drive is warranted since you have let down the quality of one of your signature dishes. I have to say, however, you have some of the most professional waitstaff - real professionals. We always eat at the bar and our waiter was superb. Sorry to see your quality suffer. read more

We met for a breakfast about three years ago at the common grill I spent fifty six dollars for five of us to leave hungry. the atmosphere was loud they had a band playing and it was a horrible experience. I called craig commons several times to let him know how disappointed I was and he said this. MY WIFE says I should offer you half off the next time you come in. AS if I would ever come back in. to be clear its a overpriced, loud, place and they can not cook green beans. they perfer to warm them and put butter on them. read more

I was really disappointed with my visit, ive been here quite a few times going up to Detroit. The lunch menu was not like the website stated with different sandwiches, hardly any sandwiches at all. The perch was just okay, I've had better elsewhere. I felt the menu was overpriced for lunch ($25 to 30 for a lunch entree) and not a great selection. Would I make a special trip into Chelsea again....no, sorry to say. Wait service was good. read more

One of our favorite places to eat. Excellent service...always. Staff remember what drinks we order. Very friendly. Perch is to die for. So tender with the best butter caper sauce. My husband is more adventurous and has tried many daily specials....with no complaints. Tuscan Pear salad is a must try. I substitute it for the house salad every time. Desserts are the perfect ending to an amazing meal....all made in house. Can't say enough about The Common Grill. Wonderful. You won't be disappointed. read more

Went here for the first time in over 7 years to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary on Sat and left feeling disappointed. The bread was soggy and my salmon portion was very small. Felt very rushed as well. I used to love this place and hadn't been there in a long time, but not sure that I would return again. read more

Over rated and over priced. Quality of food directly affected by chef's presence and goes down when he is not on the premises. Not a good sign. read more

Writing this review alone makes my mouth water. I've been dining here since I was in the womb. It's our go to "celebration" restaurant. I always get the shrimp/lobster fettuccine or the mixed grille (both fabulous choices). Then, I gorge on the fancy house salad and rolls before my meal. The house cherry coke is lovely too. The atmosphere is great; it's fun to sit at the bar and watch the kitchen or walk in and immediately smell the amazing house bread baking. I will never tire of this place, and you won't either. read more

Haven't been back in a couple years. Wait staff very friendly & responsive. Because of the hard surfaced walls, the noise travels. Sounding much like a 1960's cafeteria. I'd suggest hanging fiber artworks, quilts, weaving by some of the local artists. The bread served upon sitting was nice, above average, butter was also above average. We both ordered the "Grill's Burger". $15. On Yelp menu it was $13. House pear salad with gorgonzola was delicious, fries were yummy. The hamburger how ever was a fail. Mine was over salted. Med. rare was bloody, needed more time. I should have said try again. The bun & burger fell apart and turned into a forked dish. I had ordered blue cheese & tried to figure if that was making it too salty tasting. My wife's wasn't too salty, she had ordered cheddar cheese. She didn't have an issue with the blood oozing out. Mentioning it was a very rare burger. "Homemade bread" made a better bun option than that which was served with the burger. Menu said an onion roll, it wasn't. A soft bun. I left with a bad taste and last impressions linger a long time. read more

This is my favorite restaurant... met friends for dinner here a couple of years ago for a birthday celebration and simply fell in love. There is just something really special about this place, from the time you walk in you're instantly at ease and engulfed in warmth. The décor, although very modest, can best be compared to a beautiful fall day. The neutral tones and deep rich colors add to the "family meal" feel while simultaneously projecting a sense of "upscale pampering" often reserved for the once per year special occasion celebrations. Now on to the good stuff.... The service is superb and the food is amazing! Your meal starts with a basket of fresh baked bread. There are truly no words to describe how good this bread is. Once you start you will not be able to stop eating it so be prepared to take some of your entrée home. (No exaggeration here, it's that good!) Finally.... the selection of entrees is more diverse than I've seen elsewhere. There are numerous entrée choices available for vegetarians as well as all others and ALL are delicious. For lack of having any criticisms directly related to this establishment I would only advise planning a little extra time to find parking especially on Friday & Saturday evenings. read more

Hoping that what we experienced was an off night, but clearly this is not a kitchen staff who can handle a dinner rush, or they don't know any better, or both. We both ordered entrees with the pear/Gorgonzola salad to start. My salad look "squished" which it was because they pre-prep their salads and then stack them up. Poor presentation and the lettuce was only meh. My partner had the seafood pasta which she rated a 7, if not a little oily. Good amount of seafood. I had the scallops, and oy. Totally overcooked to the point of being rubbery, and the overall presentation was poor and unappetizing. There was some green slimy garnish used that I could not identify. I sent the entree back. For $30 I expect something tasty, elegant, and well prepared. Granted, the manager handled it professionally and I ended up with a lobster roll, which was quite good, as I didn't want them to cook another piece of fish for me. read more

We came to Common Grill tonight having heard good reviews from our friends. Unfortunately we were disappointed. The bar service left a lot to be desired. They were slow and unfriendly. After we were seated, we ordered the calamari with wasabi sauce as our appetizer. The calamari were soggy. The pear gorgonzola salad was overwhelmed with a disproprtionately large amount of vinaigrette dressing. We ordered the pan fried perch with lemon caper butter entree and the lemon almond butter sole entree. The coating on the perch was soggy and left a sensation of wet clumpy flour on your tongue. The fish was covered in a large amount of extremely salty/briney capers that seemed to be poured on top of the fish straight from the bottle. The sole was decent. The sides lacked any flavor at all. The asparagus was boiled and lacked seasoning. The thick woody ends had not been trimmed off. The "roasted potatoes" also were soft with a boiled consistency and were doused in butter and lacked any seasoning or flavor. The sauteed spinach had the same lack of flavor. The only decent side was the mashed potatoes. We opted not to order dessert given how little we enjoyed our dinner. we ended up paying $75 for a completely unenjoyable dinner. I would not recommend this place unless you enjoy bland food. read more

Fantastic restaurant. I've been here countless times both for lunch and for dinner. The lunch menu (contrary to what a fellow reviewer stated) is very inexpensive. The entree items range from $12-$15 (NOT $25-$30-take a better look next time...or perhaps you're not at the right place..???). The dinner menu is a little pricier but you get plentiful portions for this price. The dinner rolls are addicting-you will want more and more. I especially love the Walleye, the Goat Cheese Ravioli and the Chicken Saltimobocca. If you're a salad eater-you can't go wrong with the Blackened Steak Salad which includes Jalapeno Cornbread Croutons which are TO DIE for!! This owner needs additional restaurants....but perhaps the uniqueness of this fantastic restaurant sets it apart from all the others out there. The staff is friendly and helpful and seem to go out of their way to make your visit exceptional. I highly recommend you visit-guaranteed you'll want to go back. read more

I've been to this restaurant probably 15 times and it has never - ever - disappointed. It is consistent and always yum with a capitol and highlighted "Y"! The hubby and I went last night for our anniversary. It is, in fact, so good we travel about 1 1/2 hrs each way to dine here. The bread is so addictive and I could make a meal of it alone. Hubby isn't a big bread guy, but he is when we go to the Common Grill. We ordered the Lobster Spring Rolls and the Crispy Fried Oysters. I think both are wonderful, but my husband - who is a huge fan of lobster - loves the spring roll and considered ordering another one (oink) until I talked him out of it. The salads that are served with the meals are great. I almost always get my favorite - Tuscan Pear w/Gorgonzola. God, I love this salad. My husband loves vinegrette-type dressings and always gets the house salad w/raspberry-maple vinegrette. I've had the Ceasar as well and it is always exceptional, but my love for the Tuscan pear salad typically means the Ceasar doesn't cross my palate. The piece de resistance, however, and the reason we drive three hours round trip to eat here is for me the paella and for my husband the bouillabaisse. I am a huge fan of paella and order it whenever it is on a menu. Most places it is a 6 or 7 at best because they over cook the seafood in it. Not so at the Common Grill and that is what I love about this place the most: They know how to cook fish and seafood to perfection and it is always incredibly fresh. Their paella is the best I've ever had. Hubby swears by the boillabaisse and it is very, very good, but I am always so focused on the paella in my own chow zone that I seldom stray. Yum, YUM, Y-U-M!!! Desserts are good as well, but nothing that is "best I've ever had" status. They make a mean - and sneaky - cosmopolitan as well. It may taste like juice/pop, but take my word, it's not! Dress code is what I'd call casual university professor as this place seems to lure many from UofM. This, in my view, is the perfect dress code - comfortable but not sloppy. No men in their with their hats on...thankfully. Five stars for this wonderful gem in Chelsea. read more

This is an incredibly bad place to eat for what they charge. I'd been there four times now and wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt but I always find myself wishing I'd just gone to Clearys or the Chelsea Grill and gotten my money's worth and a better atmosphere. The environment is best described as being as noisy as a sports bar without the televisions you'd be able to see in a sports bar. Then you get to the food. It was okay, but I could have gotten the same quality of food for less than half the price at other local establishments. Shoot, I'm at best a mediocre cook and I can do better than anything I've ever tasted there. To make it even worse, we went there with a $50.00 gift certificate on my 56th birthday and it was still a disappointing experience. The free dessert I got because I was the birthday boy tasted like one of those nasty high-fiber/low cal brownies masquerading as a high quality piece of chocolate cake and wasn't even worth the money I didn't spend on it-in fact it was an insult to my birthday. We ended up getting out of this dive for $4.00 because of the gift certificate and the free dessert and frankly I still think we got jobbed. Save your money and find someplace else to eat if you're in this area. read more

love the common grill, but, ...bring back the chilean sea bass with wasabi mashed potatoes and shrimp crouquets. i loved the asian flair in that dish read more

A good restraint gone BAD. My wife and I had dinner at the Common Grill in Chelsea Michigan on Thursday, June 25th at 4Pm. She ordered a seafood risotto and I had a seafood bouillabaisse. Both contained lobster. The lobster in both meals seemed old (possible freezer burned), extremely chewy and foul tasting to both my wife and myself. We put them on our bread plate and told the waitress, who advised the manager who said they would give us new lobster. The new lobster was as bad as the first lobster and we told the manager. I ate only one bite and told her she should try the lobster from the untouched pieces that she brought. She said she "[I] eat this dish once a week" and there was no reason to try the freshly cooked lobster. We both left the "new" lobster on the plate. The waitress told us that the manger would comp us by giving us a desert. I said that I do not eat deserts. Bottom line we had to pay for both meals (no discounts and no "we are sorry") the bad meals came to $64 and change. The rest of the seafood was adequate, but not good. My mistake was not to immediately return both dishes. First bad meal I have had there in years and probably the last time I will eat there and certainly will never eat their seafood again. read more