7 Monks Taproom Grand Rapids — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

Great burger with an amazing bun. Check out their weekly special burgers.

Greasy Spoon Double Smash Burger - $10 (Monday special): Yummy. The Nantucket bun was the star of this show. It was soft, but full. Sweet, yet savory. Of the restaurants I’ve tried with Nantucket bread, this one takes the cake (umm…that came out wrong).

The burger is an absolutely true smash burger. It was thinly and quickly grilled to give it that unique caramelized smash burger flavor. It had the seared taste and crispy texture and yet was still plenty juicy. The cheese was melted amazingly well, too.

The toppings were unique compared to other restaurants. It had a “Secret Sauce” that had a chunk of something in it. I want to call it horseradish or thousand island, but I am not sure. The red onion, and romaine lettuce were fresh and added that crunch I love.

Overall, it was a good burger and getting the Monday or Happy Hour special is a SUPER value. They also have a different burger every week so keep an eye on their Facebook page for that.

Shoestring Fries (comes with the burger): Shoestring fries are my favorite. These are battered, which makes these unique. They were fried to a perfect crisp and tasted great. There was a bit too much salt, but it was still okay. I don’t usually eat my fries with ketchup, but this time it tasted great with the fries. They were cooling a little toward the end so eat them fast.

Pretzel Bites - $7: Puffy but full bodied. They are fried to a nice mild crisp while still remaining plenty soft (even the most burnt one). The parmesan is the “icing” on top and made it shine. A bit on the salty side.

The Beer Cheese Sauce was VERY runny and difficult to manage, but okay. The Jalapeno Honey Mustard was also very runny. It had a nice little kick (500 Scoville or less if I had to guess). Both complemented the bites fairly well. I’d go with the cheese myself, but not by a wide margin.

The food overall was on the salty side.

Service: Good and positive. We were taken care of until our second glass of water. We seemed to fall off the map at that point. I think they were trying to get people cycled through as there isn’t a ton of room? They still took our dishes and handed us the check as expected, but I could have used another water before leaving.

Atmosphere: Modern upscale bar that plays loud music. There are classic books on the shelves including War and Peace (which I am currently reading). The seating is mainly wood chairs that are normal or bar stool height with tables to match.

Conclusion: I’d go back, but under certain conditions. I like a quiet place to talk and this is not that. This is more of an ongoing party.

Visited at 5:30pm...

Very displeased by my experience. We were going to join the Friars Union for $100 and will not for that cost. This was my first experience and it was terrible. I had 4-5 people coming and tried to take a table downstairs, but was brought to a 4 top upstairs. We were given 3 menus and 2 glasses for water. Once all my table arrived, we waited 30 minutes and had to call a server over to order drinks. Never got napkins. Once we got food there was a big hair in our food. They took it back and erased the cost. Once we were done with out food the server immediately asked us how the tab was divided. We all had empty beers but were never we asked if we want more, just got our bill. We asked to speak to the manager. Apparently he was the owner of the location. The area upstairs was very dark to the point we couldn't read our menu. He pointed out he liked dark bars but was unable to read the menu because it was too dark. Half of the tables had lights and people took those tables. When we pointed out all of these issues we were not offered a discount he just said we could go on for hours talking about problems and played the poor me card. We also told the server we wanted the friars union club added to our table to join. The server didn't add it and the owner said for the $100 cost it's a great deal and wouldn't offer to reduce the cost to ensure we come back, only ensured we would not come back. If you bring up issues they will fall on deaf ears. I do not recommend this place. Unless we were offered a further discounted friars club membership we will...

Full disclosure, I am a server there, but the fact that I only have good things to say should be telling. I also bartend at Horrocks in Kentwood. Love craft beer.

7 Monks is a great craft beer joint on Michigan. Has a bit more of a modern feel than Logan's Alley (another good craft beer spot) down the road, and a slightly more upscale food menu, often with pretty unique takes on the food, e.g. the fried pickles are wrapped in wontons and sliced like egg rolls. Food prices are good, and outstanding for the quality of the product.

Beer prices range from good to okay (BA Stouts at a restaurant will always set you back) but the happy hour from 3pm to 6pm knocks the price down on Michigan beers which is nice. Whiskey is also priced really well, and they have a solid selection.

For those who drink cheap, there is PBR on tap, and cheap cans available.

Overall, this is a great concept (the original 7 Monks is in Traverse City) that works very well in GR. Definitely a place to stop for Belgian Lovers and...