Ganders

Had high hopes upon reading previous reviews but we were sorely disappointed.
To start most of their pints of beer were priced between 50−60% higher than anywhere else in town. $ 8 for a pint of Founders! Really? Mark-​up much?
The menu was also more expensive than appealing. We ordered the 8 piece chicken wings. The bartender warned us
«Now our wings are on the small side»
«um okay…»
at least she warned us.
Small is generous when describing the wings. TINY, microscopic is even better. They were swimming in a wading pool vat of sauce, it was like playing a Where’s Waldo game with wings. Now to be fair they had good flavor but they were about a bite of meat on each. I love that they are from a local farm, no antibiotics or hormones but seriously as Moses would have said
«let my chickens GROW!»
Our service was good there was a bit of a distraction when patrons at the end of the bar decided to have a domestic row culminating in glass throwing against the wall… not really a great vibe.
Overall for the price point there is nothing here that you can’t find somewhere else in Grand Rapids for much much less.

Customer service was disappointing. Was seated and waited 10 minutes before anyone came over. Than someone brought me water and than I had to wait 5 more minutes before the waitress came over and asked if I wanted anything to drink.
Not a good first impression.

I try not to eat at hotels, but a coworker suggested meeting here for lunch. This is the former Spinnaker — Hilton converted to Doubletree.
The story of the name is from Michiganders and they try to use locally sourced product.
I’m used to hotel food pricing and this was as expected — pricier than most non hotel restaurants in the area.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a hidden gem. Their small chicken Cobb salad was a huge portion for only $ 6. I dressed it with their rootbeer bbq sauce and it was a meal onto itself. Server asked if I wanted to mix some ranch as well which I will try next time.
For my main, I went with the perch tacos. Not a lot of perch per taco, but fried nicely and very tasty.
The best part of the meal was their tater tots. The best way to describe them: small eggs of hash browny goodness and «Gandered» with Bell’s (local beer) cheese, bacon (some farm name) and green onions. I would come back just for these. Best tater tots in town!
Service was quick, friendly and attentive. Definitely worth giving a try.

The homemade tots were incredible. I would come back just for the tots. Quite a bit of the food is bought locally. I tried the salmon and it was cooked perfect and delicious. Chips and cheese deluxe with house smoked pulled pork were above average.

My husband and I came for breakfast and were so impressed we came back for dinner. If you want to experience MI based good and drink served in a clean yet creative way — you need to come here. Can’t say enough about the service. Don’t let the «in hotel restaurant thing» scare you. Stay in and come here — you won’t be disappointed!

I don’t review very often but felt compelled due to being extremely impressed with this place. The only reason I ate here was because it was attached to the hotel at which I was staying. The menu is based on local favorites with a focus on incorporating local trade like produce, farms, and even beers into the food. Many of the offerings are from scratch, which is a lot more rare than people think. Beer chili was excellent, perch tacos were top notch, salads are very solid. Fries, chips, sauces, dressings, cheese sauce, and so many others are made from scratch. Very impressed. Beer selection is a decent 12 taps and have a nice drink selection.

I travel way to much and spend many nights in hotel. Ganders was by far one of the best restaurants I have eaten at. The wine list is very good, had the tuna app, perfectly cooked, walleye for my entrée, excellent hot and fresh and the doubletree cookie sundae for desert, words can not describe how good that was. The service was top notch, Tracy knows her menu and is extremely nice.

Good food at a decent price. No wow factor other than rhe service. We had the sizzler and bbq flatbread. The first flatbread was sitting in a plate of liquid. When our server saw it, she immediately picked it up and had another made. The second was great. we took advantage of the Entertainment Book coupon, so this meal was a great deal. Not sure that we would make this a regular night out… just too many other great options in GR.

My wife and I stopped in last week for dinner and were very impressed for a hotel restaurant. We had the onion rings, fish tacos, pizza and cocoa krispie dessert which were all great. Looking forward to going again soon to try some of the more adventurous choices like beer cheese and kraut brat, chicken n’ waffles or fried pepper jack cheese (wife didn’t approve so I may have to come back solo).

Went to the Mother’s Day buffet. Service was great food was mediocre to bad. Salmon cold and dry eggs Benedict could not cut through the muffin and the eggs were extremely hard. For $ 25 apiece it was definitely not worth it.