Palio Grand Rapids — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

I've been wanting to try this place for a while, but Grand Rapids has so many delicious options that it took a little longer than expected. Now I'm a little sad that I waited so long. Surprisingly, I was able to make a reservation for two at 730pm on a Friday on the same day.

The atmosphere: It was really cool in the dinning room. The place isn't huge, but it has a lot of character to it. We normally like to sit at the bar but chose the dinning room because we hadn't eaten there before. Note to self... there were spots at the bar so we could most likely just walk in anytime we want to go back without a reservation. The crowd was very diverse, like Michigan tends to be, but even more so here. There were people that were very dressed up, people wearing flannels and then the classic artsy Michiganders. It was good people watching overall.

The food: We enjoyed the Calamari, garlic bread, Bolognese and Carbonara. Even order a Carne Amore pizza to go so we could try it later. The Calamari had a good flavor but seemed to have a LOT of little crunchy pieces mixed in. Kind of like the crunchy bits at Long John Silvers. There was a ton of breading bits left on the plate. The Carbonara was different from what I was used to but still very good. It was a little bland at first, but I threw some salt on it and the flavors popped. Maybe that's how they like to do it so people don't complain about it being too salty, IDK? The Bolognese was the star of the show. It was a perfect ratio of fresh pasta to delicious meat sauce. We had fresh parmesan and pepper added to the top (Which I would always add) and MAN was it good!!! That is a dish that will keep me coming back over and over!

The price: We ordered 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 3 glasses of wine and a pizza to go for just over $100. I would say this is VERY reasonable for ordering all of this! This is just another reason to keep coming back here and I'm very much looking forward to trying something different on the menu next...

First time there. Very favorable first impressions.

We started with the garlic cheese bread. Quite good. They had red pepper flakes on the table along with black helper and salt. I added a few flakes of red pepper and really I I'm ed the combination. No other appetizers were ordered. They have a baked Asiago cheese appetizer that looked good though.

I had the breakfast pizza from their brunch menu. Very good, but not sure if it is a regular menu offering - doesn't feel right that I should review something that might not be available every day.

However, I am certain that the dough used is what their regular pizzas have and it was exactly what I love in a pizza crust - thin but chewy and with beautifully browned pockets of crispy goodness along the outside. Would certainly consider them for a pizza based on the crust alone.

My wife had the Pollo Mostarda from their regular menu. It was superb! The flavors all worked really well together, but the sauce it was topped with blew me away. The slight bitterness of the greens melded with the sweet/sour cherry and fig combo and wow!

(She elected not to have the pancetta slice on top because she 'doesn't like bacon'. I think the salty/fatty addition of the pancetta would have been wonderful and very likely what the chef intended when creating the dish. I'll order it next time, to see if I am right.)

The menu prices are mid-range, or maybe the upper end of mid-range. The quality of the food however is in line with the prices. You really will get value for the money.

The server was highly professional, attentive without hovering and very knowledgeable. Observing other tables shows much the same. Always impressed to see management making good staffing choices in addition to the food. A good experience can be had with one or the other. A great experience needs both.

Would recommend to family/friends....

This is a wonderful hot spot in the middle of a seemingly obscure corner of a main Grand Rapids thoroughfare. All in all, I highly recommend a visit!

Parking is a bit strange, as you’ll probably need to park in the nearby Hampton parking garage. Thankfully Palio offers parking validation, so there’s no charge, and the garage is right next door.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is warm, inviting, and modern. The staff consists of some of the friendliest people I’ve EVER met working in a restaurant. Every person we spoke to treated us with nothing but respect and a smile. My fiancé even got free dessert because it was our anniversary without us even asking!

The food was just on point in quality for the moderate prices. A lot of menu items were unique to the restaurant; for example, their take on bruschetta was very different from anything I’ve ever had, but it was delicious nonetheless. Our waitress was very knowledgeable about the menu, so she walked us through the differences before we ordered. The margherita pizza was great, as was the pasta.

The only downside was what I saw as somewhat mediocre communication amongst staff members. When we called beforehand to ask about wait time, we were told it would be approximately 45 minutes, so we made a reservation and waited. I was very surprised to show up and see a handful of empty booths, all of them cleaned and readied for customers. This was slightly annoying after being told there was a 45 minute wait for 2 people. It was also challenging to get the attention of the staff, although as I said, they were nothing but courteous...