We had a great time on our GR Crime Tour! Our guide, Eirann, was both super knowledgeable and…read morereally funny, and we really enjoyed listening to them recount some of the lesser-known stories from Grand Rapids history. As residents who didn't grow up in this city, it was cool to learn more about it in an engaging way. Highly recommend you take a tour as well, you won't regret it!

I was walking around downtown Grand Rapids when this mural caught my attention. It's huge! It's…read morecolorful! It's called Raining Wisdom, and it was created by an artist named Abdoulaye Conde, who is from Guinea. I know this because there was a handy informational sign right by the mural. Grand Rapids hosts an annual international art competition called ArtPrize, and apparently, this mural won the top prize in 2023! That's a cool feather in Conde's cap. The mural depicts elephants in the African wilderness, which are the national animal of Guinea. You can learn more about the mural if you scan the QR code on the sign. But at the time, I wanted to just take in the artwork without knowing anything about it, like I usually do with public art. Sometimes, being ignorant is the best mindset for absorbing art properly.

First time visit and it was delicious! Beautiful truffles and bonbons. The S'mores Cup was…read moredecadent and the filling can get messy. The Basil Blue ice cream sammy has blueberry ice cream between two basil cake cookies and half dipped in white chocolate. It was messy but worth it! I loved this flavor combination and can't wait to try more. There are so many more pastries and desserts I want to try. The service was fantastic. There is no seating inside. There are two small patio tables with two chairs each out front. It's nicely shaded in the afternoon!

Great little dessert spot. Some things were a bit hard to eat like the ice cream sandwich with…read morechocolate chip cookies../ the textures just weren't quite right and hard to bite with how frozen the chocolate got. But the flavors were awesome.

The mural of Ethel B. Coe in downtown Grand Rapids is giving comic book vibes. So much so that I…read morewas a little surprised to learn that Coe has nothing to do with comic books. She was a community activist, musician, actor and civil rights leader, and did things like start organizations for mothers of preschool children, run for public office, and act in community plays. She was a renaissance woman, of sorts, so maybe it does make sense that the mural is painted like a comic book, because from what I've learned about Coe, she sounds like a super hero. This mural can be found on the wall behind GLC Live at 20 Monroe, a concert hall and event space. It's technically in the alley, and I had to walk around a guy taking a cig break to get a photo of this piece of public art. But it's big and bold and beautiful, much like Coe herself. The mural was painted by Esan Sommersell, a Grand Rapids artist.

You won't get a cutesy review of the City from me... I've lived here for over four decades, and…read morehave seen a real decline in how Grand Rapids is managed and the quality of life for residents. It's a town with a rich history, but you won't see much of it. Many of the older buildings were torn down for parking lots. (More on this issue below.) The former mayor (Ms. Bliss) did a lot of damage during her tenure. The rude demeanor that she constantly expressed didn't translate into any community improvements, nor open communication. A soccer stadium and amphitheatre were "approved" without any citizen input, other than a hotel tax vote that wasn't explained very well at all. Back to the parking issue... bottom line, there is a huge price to pay for it. Lots of errors from the City office, too. Over $80k in fees were taken by "mistake," but there was never anything done to make this right. Refunds won't be issued was the official stand from the City. Nice, huh? The 3-1-1 system is also a joke. For taxpayers, there should be immediate access to call a City department. Another feature from the prior administration. It's just not working. So, what are City employees doing other than sitting at their desk sipping coffee? I really don't know. Maybe planning more buildings or parking lots.

For my 1,500th review, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the city of Grand Rapids. I grew up…read morein the area and have lived in the city for over a decade, and I love it. There's always something to do in Grand Rapids - festivals, art exhibits, community events, outdoor activities, etc., along with so many local restaurants and other businesses. The population of GR proper is about 200,000, making it the second most populated city after Detroit. The metro area has a combined population of just over 1 million people. The city feels small, but has things you'd find in a bigger city, like sports teams, a thriving theatre scene, including Broadway Grand Rapids, nightlife, lots of hotels, many beautiful parks, museums and cultural centers, a symphony, opera, ballet company, and more. There are several universities in Grand Rapids, including Grand Valley State University, Kendall College of Art and Design, Aquinas College, and Grand Rapids Community College, just to name a few. Michigan State University has a medical school campus downtown, and Western Michigan University has a graduate school downtown as well. Founded in 1826, the area that is now Grand Rapids was originally settled by the Odawa near the Grand River. The city is known for its furniture industry, which thrived in the late 19th century. There's a great exhibit about the city's furniture industry at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. More recently, Grand Rapids is known as "Beer City USA" with 80+ breweries in the metro area, with more opening each year! There are many points of interest that visitors and locals enjoy: Calder Plaza, Rosa Parks Circle, Frederik Meijer Gardens, John Ball Zoo, the Meyer May House, fish ladder park, historic homes in Heritage Hill, and many farmers markets in the area. ArtPrize is an annual art competition that brings visitors and artists from all over the world. Popular neighborhoods to explore include Eastown, Heritage Hill, downtown, Creston, Midtown, and Uptown. Grand Rapids is a great place to live and visit!

A last minute decision to get food turned into a great night. I had the pesto pasta (delicious but…read morequite oily) and the salmon Caesar salad. The appetizers were great and the pizza puffs reheated great the next day! Our sever was so kind and helpful with my indecisiveness with trying to order. There are huge TVs everywhere and she was more than willing to move things around so I could see the games I wanted. It was a fun night! Their tequila espresso martini made our list as some of our favorites around town!

I went with a group of friends, 7 of us in total. Unfortunately, we hit the perfect storm and it…read morewas FUBAR. Granted it was July 4th, and the place was packed, but read on. There was an hour wait for a table. They gave us a beeper. We couldn't grab a drink inside at the bar to escape the heat, so we found another restaurant where we snuck in a back door and ordered drinks at the bar. The beeper went off after an hour and we made the 5 minute walk back to the first restaurant. We ordered drinks and appetizers. It took about 1/2 hour to get our drinks. The appetizers came out about 10 minutes later. We decided to order a Margarita pizza with added pepperoni and mushrooms. It sounded simple enough. About an hour later, the Margarita pizza showed up without pepperoni or mushrooms. We asked the waiter to take the pizza back and have the kitchen add the missing ingredients. Silly us. We figured they throw the missing ingredients on the pizza, reheat it in the oven for 5 minutes and bring it back. A half hour later, we asked our waiter about our pizza. He seemed new and a bit overwhelmed. He went to check on it. We never heard back. 15 minutes later we asked again. Nothing. Finally, 2 hours after we ordered the pizza, the pizza arrives, accompanied by the manager. She is very apologetic. They had tossed the 1st pizza, but never remade it. She comped us the pizza and we each got a free dessert. The food was fine. It was your typical Southern Italian-American food, meatballs, pizza knots, and calamari. The pizza was good thin crust pizza. There was a ton of pepperoni. (Maybe that was to make up for the long wait?) and barely any mushrooms. I was fine with that. No one complained. So it's ordinary food at an affordable price. The choices are limited downtown.

Thanks to Alex for such an insightful tour of the Grand Rapids Public Museum Archives. And thanks…read moreto Katy for setting up this amazing Yelp event! I really enjoyed seeing all of the many different items in Archives. It was everything from old mugshots and lamps to furniture, clothing, fossils ... and sooo much more. Everything had its place, was tagged and recorded in a database. This was an overall great experience!

This was by far my favorite yelp event I have attended. This kind of thing is right up my alley and…read moreI was so psyched to do this tour. Our tour guide (who is also the chief curator of the museum!) was awesome and super personable. I was seriously in awe of how much stuff they have in the archives. I probably could have spent another 6 hours there and still want to go back after to look at more. Definitely appreciated that the whole building was climate controlled to preserve the artifacts. Thanks Yelp and Katy for setting this up!! I really want to go back for another tour and/or volunteer here in the future.

We would highly recommend this tour for both Grand Rapidians and definitely those who want to know…read moremore about downtown Grand Rapids. Joanna was tops...knowledgeable about Grand Rapids and food, charismatic, and a great host. We loved the restaurants and food choices along the way. Probably the only improvement might be to have a small taste of something at the last stop.

From the owner: You will leave feeling like you had night out with friends. With smaller tour sizes and guides who…read morelove the city you will have great portions and the attention to detail you would want on a dining experience. We will take you to food focused restaurants with give you time to enjoy the atmosphere.

We stopped in because we were staying at the Hampton inn right next to the restaurant and I would…read moresay it's definitely a gem of a restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious. We ordered the arancini balls and Bolognese pasta. The flavor was top tier and the pasta was cooked perfectly. Our server was extremely nice and the service overall was fast!

Yum yum yum! This is a hidden treasure in the NE part of town…read more Everything we ordered was delicious. The calamari was perfectly seasoned and "just right" crispy on the outside but tender inside. I hate it when the calamari is too crunchy that it might break your teeth. The half salads were flavorful. The half size portions were perfect. The rest of the appetizers were good but my favorite was the calamari. Excellent and friendly service awaits you at this restaurant. Mercedes gets a five star. She was our waitress as well as responsible for making our drinks. So just need to be patient. Spacious, clean great and ambiance. Parking garage next door and validated by Palio. Highly recommend this place.