Big E's Sports Grill Grand Rapids Beltline — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

I want to preface this review with the asterisk that I reached out to management directly and they have decided not to communicate with me directly on any of these issues.

I visited the restaurant on Thursday evening, March 21st to partake in their adverstised NCAA Tournament special "$2.50 domestics" and "half off wings". Signage of this special was plastered around the bar area. No other details present other than it was for the NCAA Tournament. No dates, times, incluisons, or exclusions were present.

We were seated quickly and greeted by a server named Kendall. We inquired about the special which she seemed to have no clue about. We asked if all domestics were included or if there were any specifics. She disappeared and returned a few minutes later and confirmed that there were no specific domestics included or excluded, so my friend and I each ordered a domestic draft, and then a second, and then a third. He mixed his up, I ordered 3 of the same domestic.

We also ordered 16 wings, sauced 8 for him and 8 for me. The wings came in one basket of 16 with one side of ranch. No big deal. But then we were charged 8 wings each at the full price and not 16 wings. Our beers were also all charged at the full price. We flagged Kendall down and asked her to review.

It took serveral minutes for her to return. Each 8 of our wings were dropped to half price - but we still didn't get the "savings" of ordering 16 wings. The wings came in one basket with one side of ranch, not in 2 separate baskets with their own celery/ranch. She went on to explain that the beers were selected were not part of the promo. Uh...what?

We flagged the manager down. He explained the promo DID have restrictions on certain varities of beer, which I would kind of expect, EXCEPT THAT THE SERVER TOLD US OTHERWISE BEFORE WE ORDERED. Normally I don't like to beat up servers - they have a very difficult job, but knowing the specials is kind of an important part of being a server. The entire experience was a gigantic clusterbomb all night, so I'm really shouldn't be surprised that we were led astray.

When we spoke to the manager we had already given our cards for payment, so all he was able to do was give us a coupon for a free appetizer which really does cover the difference of the cost of the beer, but after this fiasco, on top of wings that were BARELY coated, and terribly overcooked, I just don't think I'll be back.

The location is great, the setup is great, but the basics are lost on this location. Knowing the specials is "serving 101". The food is terrible - Sysco flash fried mundance bar food. I thought maybe it would be different after their extended covid shutdown, but there's no real culinary prowess going on here.

Ended up spending $35 for 8 wings, 3 beers, and tip. About double what I was expecting to spend based on not qualifying for their "special" beer pricing.

My 2018 review showed a lot of the same issues with food, but I did note that the service was much better in 2018. Overcooked onion rings, mundane mac & cheese, and "not so loaded" tots all fell flat. I just would not come here for anything more than a game and...

To start with if you are traveling north on East Beltline this place is not easy to get into.Once you get inside the place is very nice. Lots of very large TV's and lots of natural light in a wide open space.

I came for happy hour which is between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm. However they don't have their specials listed anywhere. Turns out it's 50% off select apps. Which ones is anyone's guess.I ended up ordering Boneless wings in Sweet Chili glaze. $10 qualifies for happy hour, $5. Plus Sliders (2 cheeseburgers and 2 pulled pork) $10.59, does not qualify. Nachos also do NOT qualify. The Boneless wings are VERY SMALL and the sauce has LITTLE TASTE! The Pulled pork sliders are ok, but meat is a little dry. The Cheeseburger sliders are very ehhh. Not much taste. I got some bbq sauce to put on them, YUCK! The food is not bad, but not worth the money.

The service was also somewhat subpar. It took forever for the waitress to come to my table. When she finally did, the service got better. She knew nothing of happy hour specials.

This place at best is 2 stars. Food is edible. that's it. Just about anywhere is better. If you only want to drink and watch a game this is the place. If you want food this is NOT the place. Will I return? HAHA, Heck NO!

Not sure why this place has been able to expand. There is nothing special and...

This is an update from the beltline location only. I’m not sure what happened tonight. We arrived at 530 and were greeted by a waitress within a few minutes. From there it went downhill fast. We ordered two adult drinks and had 4 kids with us. We got our first drinks in a decent time, from there holy buckets we hardly seen our waitress again. I would say from the time we got our first drinks it was at least 20 minutes before she came back to take our food order. We put our order for food in at 6:05. At this time we ordered two more adult drinks. And there we sat, and sat, and sat, our food arrived at 6:47. Everyone got their food but my thin crust pizza didn’t arrive. I asked for the thin crust pizza to be well done. This was one of the worst pizzas I have ever had. It was not well done (very soggy) and had zero flavor. In the meantime two different tables that arrived 15 minutes after we arrived got their food before us. We will not be back to this location ever again. We will for sure try the downtown GR location with hopes...