Grand Rapids: Is There a Secret Salt Factory Here?!

Grand Rapids: Is There a Secret Salt Factory Here?! 🧂 I need to ask—does Grand Rapids have a hidden salt factory that all restaurants are using?! Because every single place I ate at was so salty, I felt like I’d swallowed a handful of sea salt! 😱 I swear, after two meals there, my taste buds were begging for a break from the salt overload—let me spill the tea on my very “salty” Grand Rapids trip! The whole reason I went to Grand Rapids twice was to buy a car at Fox—who knew my car-shopping mission would turn into a “survive the salty food” challenge?! 🚗 First trip, I picked MDRD—you know, that Spanish restaurant tons of people rave about on Xiaohongshu. I went in with high hopes, but honestly? Most dishes were just meh—totally underwhelming 🤷♀️. The shrimp’s seasoning was actually pretty good (spicy and savory in a nice way), but the shrimp itself? Super disappointing. It tasted like it had been frozen forever, not fresh at all—totally wasted the good seasoning! And don’t even get me started on the scallops! I paid $60 for THREE scallops, and they were basically undercooked—soft, translucent in the middle, and just weird. 😤 That’s not “medium-rare,” that’s “not done”! It was such a huge letdown—$60 for raw-ish scallops? Total rip-off and a major food fail. The other dishes? So plain and forgettable. I don’t hate them enough to rant, but I definitely can’t say anything nice about them either. MDRD? Hard pass from me. Second trip, I thought I’d have better luck—this time, the car dealer recommended a spot called Brunch House GR. It sounded promising: when I got there at noon, there was a long line out the door, so I figured it must be popular (how bad could it be?!). But nope—salty strikes again! 😭 Every savory dish I tried was drowning in salt: the hash browns, the omelet, even the bacon (and bacon’s supposed to be salty, but this was next-level!). I drank so much water during that meal, I hit my entire daily water KPI in one sitting—my water bottle was empty before I finished half my plate! 💧 Thankfully, the sweet stuff saved the day a little. Their smoothie was fresh and fruity—cold, creamy, and the perfect balance to all the salt. 🥤 The French toast was good too: fluffy, soaked in vanilla custard, and topped with just the right amount of maple syrup—no extra salt here, thank goodness! 🍞 If I ever go back (unlikely, but just in case), I’d only order the sweet dishes—skip the savory ones entirely. All in all, Grand Rapids’ food scene really let me down—mostly because of that unreal saltiness. Is it a local thing? Do they just love salt more than anything else? I have no idea, but I do know I’ll be bringing a water bottle (and maybe a packet of sugar) if I ever have to eat there again. 😅 #GrandRapids#Michigan#GrandRapidsFood#MichiganTravel#FoodFail