New Holland Brewing - Grand Rapids Brewpub (The Knickerbocker) — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

To be honest, I wanted to love this place. The food was GREAT, and I LOVE the tap house special Holy Buckets...like it became my favorite beer instantly...super sad its not sticking around long! Why 2 stars?....Service.

I am a server myself, so I am extremely fair when it comes service. Especially things that are "acceptable" to be missed or delayed or even when it is a busy time. I don't get annoyed with service often or anything because I get it.

BUT the first night I went with a friend and was greeted by a super friendly host who directed us to the mainly empty bar when we inquired about bar seating.....here is where I first became annoyed...there were 4 bartenders towards the server station and 3+ servers back there chatting. One of the male bartenders made complete eye contact with me immediately as I sat down....he turned and continued with his conversation and whatever else he was doing... it took roughly 4 minutes for us to be greeted by a bartender....throughout the course she semi checked in on us but it almost seemed like we were a bother to her...we even had to request waters (individually) with our meal. The food was excellent! At one point either a chef or manager stopped and asked how our meal was (awesome gesture).

Second night...two days later...I loved the Holy Buckets so much that I wanted to get some to take on my weekend trip I also came in with an open mind bc like I said I get it...off nights happen so second chance and again greeted by a friendly host who directed me first to the store. The guy and girl in the store were super helpful with explaining the best "to go" options for the beer and then directed me to the bar to get some crowlers....unfortunately I had the SAME experience...only this time 5+ servers and at least 3 bartenders standing and chatting/leaning in clear view...made eye contact with the SAME male bartender who again ignored me went back to what he was doing and continued stocking beer bottles. Finally a nice woman in a white shirt and headset (thinking some type of management) kind of pushed her way through the staff and offered to help me...passed it on to a female bartender. I think I must have had an annoyed look on my face because while I was waiting for my beer either a kitchen person or another manager came up and asked if I was being taken care of (very appreciative of this). It took far too long to get just two crowlers in an empty bar... I went in around 1130...a half hour after they were opened and I felt like I was treated as I came in before they were open/serving.

Its a beautiful facility that has so much potential, but majority of the staff that I came into contact with treated my friend and myself (both times) like we were a bother....hoping they can find a better way to make a first impression on guests as I would love to bring family and friends... but for now ill be selective with who I bring...

The food has skyrocketed into delicious levels here since the first few times that I had dinner here when they first opened. This has easily become one of my favorite places to eat/drink/chill in the summer. Okay, as far as the beer and cocktails go, you cannot really go wrong. I love that they have Knickerbocker location only beers on tap, their tap list is always crazy long, and most of their beer is really delicious. Their cocktails have never treated me wrong either. If you like Moscow Mules, they happen to have the best Mules in the City in my book - they are spicy - have a major ginger kick to them!! You can also get them made with ANY spirit that they have on hand, which is awesome ( i love the gin, blueberry gin, and bourbon mules!). They also have a delicious sour cocktail called the French 75, and a play on a white russian called "The Dude" which is made with their own Dragon's Milk syrup. When it comes to the food, I have had a lot of it and love almost everything that they have. Their famous pepperoni pinwheels (which comes with pizza sauce and a chipotle-ranch sauce) are a MUST-HAVE if you are there late at night drinking. Their fries are a good option for that too. Other recommendations would be their sausage - they make all of their sausages in-house and they are delicious! The Nashville Hot chicken sandwich is really good, ALL of the wood-fired pizza's that I've had are delicious (especially the mushroom goat cheese one and the dill pickle one). If you like brussel sprouts, they do them really well here, but by far the best thing on the menu currently is the LAMB STEW with cheese curd tots! This is to die for. Also very good was the Salmon with a delicious stir-fry rice side. If you are more of a light eater, the Beet Salad is a really tasty choice, and the Chicken Kale salad was good as well. The outdoor space here is amazing. There is a huge biergarten out back, with tables, fires, cornhole, and a great atmosphere. This is a top-contender for best outdoor space in Grand Rapids. Also, upstairs they have the Zepplin Lounge that is open on the weekends. This is more of a fancy craft-cocktail type of place, completely separate from the rest of the bar/restaurant area. At the normal bar space downstairs, there is a ton of room to hang out. The bar goes almost all the way around, has tv's, but then there are two more community high top tables behind the bar area, which is a phenomenal idea! I love this place - if you haven't been here, you NEED to...

Absolutely horrible service last night, 2/2/24. We were told it would only take 20 minutes for a table and we waited over 45min. When we were seated, my chair was dirty with crumbs from the group before us, because the table was quickly wiped and the chairs weren't. But the worst part was our waitress. She was rushed and didn't tend to us at all. We had to get our own napkins, and she never asked us how our food was or checked on us apart from when we asked for the bill. When we checked out, we were each given an iPad for our bills, which she handed us and death stared us as we put in our tips. After paying, the iPad asked each of us how our service was. I didn't want to rate the service, but it was mandatory, so I gave 2 stars, and still tipped 10%, despite the bad service. The waitress took the iPad back and scoffed, making a huge scene, and demanded how her service was bad. Our whole table stopped talking and turned to stare at me. I was completely embarrassed by how she called me out in front of my coworkers, but explained to her that we had to get our own napkins. She quickly blamed the hostess for not providing napkins and moved on to the next person in our group. My friend whispered to me, asking if I didn't tip her; I told her I would never do that to someone, despite bad service. She told me I did the right thing with her rating, but my friend didn't want to rate our waitress anything but 5 stars for how she reacted to my rating. When she was done, she yelled across the long table back to me, and said, "Well, I could bring a free dessert?!" She was causing a second scene to make me feel uncomfortable, again, for being the only one in our group to score a truthful review (everyone else at my table gave her 5 stars because they were too nervous to be truthful based on how she called me out.)

I only go to GR very infrequently, and she ruined my whole night as I felt extremely embarrassed for how she treated me. I will never return to the Knickerbocker for food again, despite absolutely loving the Chicken and Waffles pizza. I will continue to support them with takeout and buying their beer and gin in stores. I will never be completely humiliated by a total stranger at the...