JW's Food & Spirits — Restaurant in Grand Haven

JW's Food and Spirits is Cheers, where everybody knows your name. For those generations after mine "Cheers" was an old sitcom from the 80's about a bar and all it's regulars. Even if you haven't seen the show, the earworm of an opening theme is definitely worth a YouTube search alone. A place you'd go when all the events of the day started to weigh on you and you could just sit back and relax with a cold brew and good friends. That's JW's.

The Place: JW's sits on a street corner in Grand Haven's Centertown district and leads the charge of a decades-long reinvention of that area. Use the entrance on the left (the right one is no longer in service). And a short enclosed ramp will take you into the pub area. Perfectly dim in a cozy way with high thick-coated glossy tables, this area gently beckons welcome to all the souls that come through the door. It doesn't scream at you with blaring TV's and rowdy college kids like chain sports bars. It's a warm smile of a bartender whose been doing this job for as long since you've been born, sonny. Have a seat. Every media image and trope of the warm friendly bar where everyone is family came from places like this. Sidle up and have a cold one or sit back with friends and relax. If the pub isn't your thing, just hang a right and head on in to the dining room. Booths and tables fill up on the regular during lunch and dinner so get there early or be prepared to wait, but usually not too long. The dining area is clean and warmly lit with high "unfinished aesthetic" ceilings. Booths are a little narrow for 'Mature Body Framed' adults but generally comfortable. Simlarly dim but in that welcoming, warm, unobstructively perfect way.

The Drinks: I don't drink much, but this place has the regulars. You can get the usuals on draft at the bar or a few local micro-brews. A few others come in bottles. Fountain drinks for kids and a big plus in my book, they know that a Half 'n'Half/Arnold Palmer are the same thing. Usual fare, don't expect some fancy, expensive party drink. You get the regular stuff, the good stuff.

The Food: JW's has been a Grand Haven fixture for decades, and throughout all of this, the food hasn't changed much. There's a reason. JW's understands that you do good food and you do good food right. You don't need to fix things that aren't broken. While the menu may change now and again, it's never strays very far. If you haven't been in weeks, months or even years, you can feel confident in stopping in and getting perch that was just as good as the last time you had it, 3 years ago. French Onion soup is a staple and the White Chicken Chili is award winning. Just bring back the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich you used to have. Oh boy, that was my childhood right there.

Final Thoughts: JW's has been in Grand Haven for years becuase they are a PART of it's lifeblood. They care about the area they're in and you can feel that caring and love for the city in every bite of the food. They're here because they want to be that place that welcomes you in with a pat on the back and a smile as you're led to your favorite 'spot by the window' by someone who actually DOES know your name. This is where the 'regulars' go and for good reason. Is it haute cuisine? No. But it doesn't need to be. It's perfect just...

I'd heard good things, but hoped for a better first impression. We only ordered a couple of burgers with fries, to go. She said it'd be 15 to 20 minutes, and I thought we'd actually shown up a minute or two too soon, but when we got there (once we were finally able to find a door that was unlocked and make it past a couple of pretty tipsy guys blocking the door/hallway lol), our food was already done and packed up and sitting out in a bag at the host stand getting cold. The first waiter that came up to us asked if we had been helped, we said we had a to go order and he looked under the host stand and then said, "oh I'll let her get you guys". We said okay and waited maybe a minute or two. A waitress came by and grabbed a couple menus and was going to seat us, until I said again that we just had a to go order. Our food had been right there at the host stand, she bent over and picked it up and told us the total. We gave her our bank card that she then walked away with out of sight, and not just for 30 seconds or so, but we stood there waiting for a good 2 to 3 minutes and I even tried to look around the corner and didn't see her. She finally came back, I mentioned I did not like that, we left a tip, said thank you and went home right away to eat. (7 minute drive, if that). The fries were pretty cold, the burgers were too, but had good flavor, but we asked for medium and they were medium well to pushing well done. His was decent, mine was pretty dry. But again, good flavor, and not too too cold. Thinking maybe we would have had a better experience had we...

We stopped here on a whim as our day trip came to a close. We got seated right away, despite the fact that the Coast Guard Fest was going on. It’s small, clean and very friendly. Service was prompt professional attentive and helpful. Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu items. Because of this I tried the Sweet Pepper Crab Soup and my adult beverage. I had the Creamsicle (adult beverage) and it was absolutely delicious. Very smooth, creamy and I could not taste the alcohol despite the fact that it had 3 shots of vodka. My husband had The Coastie from Grand Armory Brewery in GH. Our waiter told us that a portion of the sale went to memorial fund for a Coast Guard member that had passed . We were more than happy to contribute. I had the Sweet Pepper Crab soup. It is a cream based soup with generous chunks of crab and red pepper. It’s served with a soft French bread slice and crackers. We shared the Traverse City Cherry Salad. It’s loaded with lots of goodies (dried cherries , toasted pecans, feta cheese crumbles, and rings of red onions) and fresh greens. My husband had Applewood Bacon Cheddar Burger. It looked delicious and apparently it was. Our server was prompt with our bill and items were reasonably priced. The food is fresh and high quality. They also have a nice outdoor seating area. It’s off the beaten tourist path and truly a hidden gem to tourists. We will definitely add it to our list of favorite restaurants. We highly...