Choo Choo Grill — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

The very best restaurant in Grand Rapids all things considered.

The most welcoming place in Grand Rapids I know.  The Legend Cheeseburger is huge.  Their chili is famous for a good reason.

The Legend - $15: HUGE one pound burger (two half pound patties).  Ordered mine medium and it was perfectly cooked and the quality of the meat is slightly above average.  The juices ran down nicely and yet it was thoroughly cooked.  The cheese was not melted in the picture, but it was still quite hot and melted nicely by the time I took my first bite.

And the first bite was a juggling act.  Two HUGE burgers with a lot of toppings (well balanced and I wouldn’t change it) were falling out the back almost immediately.  It’s so big, you do have to manage it carefully or eat it with a fork.  I did manage to eat it by hand to the end, but the last quarter of it was no longer hand held, but just picking up pieces.

I’ve had this burger before and I’ll probably have it again.  It isn’t my very favoritest burger, but it is really high up there.

Homemade Chili - $5: VERY savory.  There are a couple more beans than normal per cup, but there is also more meat and the chunks of meat can be a little larger.  There is more substance to it than water for sure and they have a name for chili for a reason.  The blend of spices was subtle, but definitely there to make it just right.  It had a little tiny kick according to my daughter, but she is sensitive.  I did not find it very spicy at all, but I can handle habanero spicy.  Probably my only complaint about this place is the price of the chili for how much you get is a bit expensive.  But it is good.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Malt - $6: I heard their shakes are amazing and they are.  It was a touch lighter than many others I’ve had, but not overly.  The malt and peanut butter flavor were a little light as well, but this brought out the quality flavor of the ice cream base.  It didn’t try to cover the low quality with artificial flavors, but blend it just right.

Daughter Bacon Cheeseburger: Ordered just plain and she reports it was great, especially the bacon. Fries: I had some of her fries.  They are wide and thick cut, similar to Red Robin, but with a bit more seasoning.  They were not salted much, so you will likely want to add more. Vanilla Malt: Liked it. It was like the others, less flavor, but it brings out the richness and quality of the ice cream.

Service: Grandma and Grandpa like service.  SUPER welcoming and still seeking to know you without an agenda.  They have the grill up front and still keep up the conversation while the burgers are sizzling. They look to take your order as quickly as possible and get you your order very quickly.  Very old school and I love it!

I found that the staff knew most of the people who were coming and going, immediately noticing I was not a regular (though I want to be now).

Atmosphere: Tiny, but amazing!  There are only two tables with booths.  Other than that, they have ten diner stools which are showing age and creek, but are very comfortable and nostalgic.  There is train station memorabilia everywhere.  A lot of the pictures probably date back a hundred years.  It also has its goofy perks and smiles everywhere.

Conclusion: I am almost in tears at how warm this place made my visit with my daughter.  I don’t normally get emotional with my reviews, but this one struck a chord.  They didn’t do much over the top, but they made us feel super welcome.  After visiting more than 120 restaurants in a year and a half (yes, I just counted them) and looking carefully over every one of them, I consider this one the best, all things considered.  THE BEST!

The food was amazing and everything I heard about them is STILL true.  It was last year when I visited and it still is.

Visited at 11am-12pm...

My calling, though noble, can rack my tranquility. As I drive by any given restaurant in my daily life, I'm forced to evaluate the likelihood that they have onion rings. My ever-expanding list of restaurants to conquer fluctuates wildly with whatever happens to come into sight.

I've driven past the Choo Choo Grill hundreds of times in the past two years, and I finally went in, to satisfy both my curiosity and my insatiable, never-ending drive for more onion rings.

Language is a tricky thing. The same word, like "simple" or "bare-bones" could be said of two wildly different things, one of which may more perfectly illustrate the true definition of the term. All that is to say that the presentation of these onion rings was, in fact, simple. They were served in a tangled pile on a small, white plates. That's it. It's fitting for the diner aesthetic of the Choo Choo Grill, though not the most impressive.

The onion rings run into more trouble in their appearance. I can immediately tell that they're overcooked, as evidenced by the dark, dark brown coating, and the frays in the batter. They have a somewhat consistent size and cut, but that comes not from art of the craft, but from the purchase of a large plastic bag of frozen onion rings.

The restaurant was set up in a small building, with counter seating surrounding the grill and fry area. As I was paying my bill, I noticed a new batch of onion rings going in the fryer, being delicately spooned from a large plastic bag, obviously pre-made, obviously frozen. Though I've had my share of frozen onion rings before, this is the first time I've seen the indelicate and mechanistic frying, bereft of care, bereft of love.

My eyes did not deceive me, as the predominant taste of these onion rings was an overdone batter, often bordering on badly burnt. The onions, cut razor-thin, failed to deliver a substantial onion taste. given the long fry-time, there was little chance for the onion juices to mingle with the ubiquitous grease, making for a remarkably dry onion ring.

In short, these were largely flavorless. It was burnt breading with a vague hint of onion, flavored in a pool of grease.

As with all other aspects of these onion rings, the texture was almost solely determined by the overpowering, overcooked, and slightly burnt breading. The onions, when they weren't desiccated husks of what may have been an onion at some point in time, did deliver some okay texture, but it was mostly dry, and masked by the awful batter.

In addition, they fell prey to the cardinal sin of onion rings: slippage.

As I was originally working through my notes for this review, I was cautiously optimistic on value. When filling out my check, I saw the dread of the bag of frozen onion rings poured with a modicum of care into the fryer, and my heart sank.

I originally thought $3.39 for a decent sized pile of sub-par onion rings wasn't too bad, but when confronted with the absolute fact that they were pre-made and frozen, I couldn't help but feel it was a rip-off, at best. At worst, it's a crime against all things Allium, and an affront to all things good in...

I walked into the door, with a great friend by my side. They had long, vibrant blonde hair, an easy smile, and the clever mind required to keep thoughtful conversation. We walked into the Choo Choo grill on a warm spring afternoon, city noises humming from around us. The small size of the establishment was remarkable, and it stood in stark contrast to the style and magnitude of the buildings further down the road. As we passed indoors, the smell of a well-seasoned burger establishment wafted in the air. It wasn't hard to understand that we would be in for a treat. We perched ourselves atop the cherry red seats, and looked up to the aged black-and-white lettering which neatly informed us of our options. A duo of middle-aged women milled behind the counter, and we were promptly serviced. A few sips of cool, crisp Coca-Cola later, and we ordered our food. My companion and I were drilled on all the details of our to-be lunch, indicating the level of notable customer service for a fine establishment like the Choo Choo Grill. During our wait, we were greeted by the warm keepsakes and souvenirs that lined the walls. There were newspaper clippings, images of the past, and other novelties upon which we gazed to pass the time. Soon enough, the burgers had come sizzling from the griddle in front of us to our porcelain dishes. Our sandwiches were large, cooked precisely to order, and well endowed. It would be accurate to say that this was far better than any burger created by my father, and quite possibly one of the best burgers in Western Michigan. Our drinks were refreshed part-way through the meal, and we tipped with ease. They deserved it. We left satisfied, fulfilled,...