Bestside — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

Typically really like the food here but have had multiple service issues lately. It's really hit and miss but this last one was extremely frustrating. I called to place a to go order at 7:50pm. The person on the phone begins taking my order, just as I was wrapping my order up he asks me to hold, takes 12 minutes to come back, and its a completely different person. At this point I've drove up to the location as I was already on the way. I tell the person on the phone that I was placing a to go order but I'm here so I will just come in to place. I walk in to place the order just to be told that the kitchen closed at 8pm. A. I started my order prior to 8. B. If it was too close to kitchen closing, the first person should have told me instead of beginning my order so I didn't drive up there. Very disappointed lately and am thinking I'll have to find a new local spot.

Update:

I have to update this to a 5 star after about a year or periodically stopping by. A few notes - The food is still top notch! I've tried most of the menu at this point, because everything I try is that as good as the last. The pizza even, just different from your typical chain pizza. Better, bread, sauce, toppings.

Tonight I tried the chicken parm calzone - It was a pleasant surprise to see that they shredded their chicken, which was delicious but much better than the typical "pre-grilled" bagged chunks that most places use.

I'd note too that a while back a group of my friends and I rented out the golf simulator connected that they built for a night out. Not only was it pretty discrete, they offered full service from the bar and restaurant as the room is separate but connected to the restaurant/bar. On top of the that the owner came and introduced himself, gave us some personalized golf balls to keep for ourselves. It was a really nice experience.

I typically only write reviews for extraordinary or bad experiences - nothing in between and its safe to say that I although I had one mishap here, they have more than blown me away with their service, food, experience ever since and deserve the 5...

TLDR: decent food and good service.

I realized we’d never tried Bestside before, despite having passed it on numerous occasions, so I thought we’d give it a try!

We ordered some iced tea and a Diet Coke to start, and while we were hungry, didn’t really see anything on the app menu that we could both agree on (picky meee 🤪).

For dinner, he ordered the JAMBALAYA (shrimp, chicken, andouille sausage, okra, peppers, onions, celery, cajun rice). I think we must be used to bigger portions at other restaurants because this was pretty small. He scarfed it down super quickly and was still hungry.

I ordered the SWEET & SPICY SHRIMP TACOS (corn tortillas, sweet and spicy shrimp, cilantro lime slaw, tomato-corn salsa, cotija cheese, served with tortilla chips). This dish, contrary to the jambalaya, was bigger than anticipated, which was good, because I was full after 2 of the 3 tacos, and gave one away to my bf. The tacos were good, but I feel like a little less coleslaw would do, since the tacos were super messy and dripping with the white sauce off the slaw.

I really enjoyed the flavor of the “salsa” that was served with the chips. It was sort of tangy and sweet. I only wish there was a bit more because the amount that is included was quickly used up with my chips.

If you like country music, that seemed to be what was played here the most on the jukebox. If you’re like me and kinda hate country music, you’re gonna have a bad auditory time. I did put in a few songs myself, but they didn’t play while we were there, as the queue was apparently quite long, so sorry to anyone who had to listen to my selections after we left! 🤣

Ambience wise, the lighting was VERY bright- think 1960s gymnasium bright lighting- which for a bar seemed a bit too much. Am I sensitive? Yes. Am I opinionated? Yes. Feel free to ignore my opinion 🤣

Overall the food was ok but serving portions were off, the music was specifically tailored to one type of crown crowd and the lighting was a bit bright for my taste, but the service was really good and fast. For that, I...

I must have driven by this place a 100 times and I never stopped. I thought it was some crappy dive bar. Some friends wanted to do their golf simulator so we all went. The gold was great, it’s a fun atmosphere where you can eat, design listen to music and play some golf. The big surprise was how good the food was. The wings were large, but not oversized, perfectly seasoned, crispy and served with ranch that was definitely homemade. The chicken tenders however were even better, they were hand made, in result tender and juicy and the breading had an amazing seasoning in it. We also had the dill pickle wontons. These are a must have when visiting this place, perfectly fried with a hint of horseradish sauce inside. For entrees we got the spicy burger and the jambalaya. The spicy burger was very good, two smash patties well seasoned and crispy with a lot of fond. The veggies were fresh and the bun was substantial enough to support the burgers. It wasn’t very spicy though. We the onion rings and fries as well. The fires were a good seasoned fry and the onion rings were hand made and also very good. The only downside was the jambalaya. It was not good. It was way over seasoned and too salty and I like salt. It barely had more than a half cup of rice, it needed a lot more. It was really greasy too. It was like salty grease soup with a little rice in the middle. It could have been soaked up with some extra rice and some fresh green onions on top. The shrimp was terrible as well, overcooked, rubbery and chewy.

Overall this place is great. Don’t get the jambalaya, but it’s worth a look. I...