SIDEBARGR — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

Talk about an underground meeting place; This little secret spot is by all means a "swanky side bar."

As a disclaimer, I will be up front and say that this establishment is not meant for more than maybe 20 people, max. It's extremely tight fitting, but honestly that only added on to the already pre-existing vibes of prestige and exclusivity (although, it was by no means an intimidating bar. They were very welcoming when they had room to spare).

To describe this one room bar: A fog door conceals the inside, but once it was open there was a back lit counter that took up the majority of the interior. Adjacent to the bar is a few round tables for seating. I chosen to sit up at the counter. The entire room was dark, and the only light available to its guests were the alluring glow that illuminated behind the wall of various bottles and tasteful drink toppers.

I had glanced over a few times at the menu, My favorite section was the dungeons and dragon related cocktails. The prices were very typical for what they were, and even a bit high for their more unique items. The drinks that we ordered were well mixed, and exactly as described. The bartender was both meticulous and caring when it came to making drinks in a timely manor; they were also extremely helpful in aiding our drink selection. I will say that the only real downside is that they didn't have any spiritless options available, but I'm sure that any of their staff would be happy to make a mocktail upon request.

Speaking of staff, there was only one person manning the entire thing while I was there. With that in mind, they still managed to tend to everyone in an impressive amount of response time. Our bartender was very nice, polite, and kind when we had spoken. They even engaged us with conversation when they overheard us mention some of our Dn'D stories.

Grand rapids isn't well known for any sort of speakeasy appeal, but I definitely think that this one would pioneers the idea for more of it's kind in the area. This is a great spot for relaxing after work, or even having a small date or meeting. I highly recommend find the time to come here and see what drinks...

I've been there twice. Had two great experiences. Third time was a complete disaster. However, please read the entire review as I've amended it. I was downtown with my wife and 6 friends (4 couples total) and was positively exuberant about the Sidebar - interesting place, nice people, and fabulous (but expensive) drinks. We arrived about 9:30, opened the door walked in and were immediately and rudely redirected (almost shoved back out the door) to wait in the hall. No explanation, no time frame, just wait. While we waited I apologized for the rude treatment to one couple who were feeling quite put out. Finally, i knocked on the door as we were standing in the hallway without knowing whether we would be welcomed or not. The main bartender opened the door and was quite put out we knocked and then proceeded to lecture us that "patience was a virtue" and then slammed the door shut and locked it. We were in the hall maybe a total of 10 minutes but at this point the fun was dead and my apologies for the bizarre treatment was met with "let's get out of here". I'm so sorry to write this negative review because I was so enthusiastic about the place until this evening. Maybe the guy was having a bad night but I can tell you word of mouth must not be important to this business because he just alienated us and 3 other couples who I'm sure will tell this crazy story to a hundred other people. So instead of $300 in sales and a nice tip, positive comments to others, new customers, they got $0, bad press, and ruined what could of been a nice end to an evening for 8 people. And embarrassed me for making a recommendation to walk several blocks for a great experience.

UPDATE May 24, 2016. The owner and I discussed the entire situation. I want everyone to know he cares deeply about this situation and has taken very strong and positive steps to solve any underlying problems. We are looking forward to giving them another chance. Like I wrote, my first two experiences were incredible. I hope to push my star rating up to five after we...

Disappointing experience.

My partner and I visited recently, and we had several reasons to not go back. First off, my partner has celiac, and is highly sensitive to gluten -even when distilled (also some whisk(e)y distillers add un-distilled mash back into the spirit before bottling). Before ordering their rum based drink, they confirmed that there were no wheat/rye/barley spirits in the cocktail just to be safe. The bartender quickly snapped back saying that a person with celiac could drink anything distilled, and it would not be an issue. He was rude and abrupt. I’m not mad they he was misinformed, but he was rude for no reason. Secondly, when the bartender made our drinks, he took mine into the “employee only” room for about 10 seconds before delivering it to me. UHH? Not ok. I should have said something... but decided I didn’t want to ruin the evening. Thirdly, the ice in my cocktail was freezer burnt, overwhelming any nuance in my drink. It just smelled and tasted like metal and...freezer. Finally, throughout the evening the bartender would slick back there hair, then immediately grab and orange, or dry a glass. Again and again and again. Touching sweaty hair. Touching glasses and herbs and citrus rinds. He was right in front of us, it wasn’t like I was trying to spy. Health and safety hazard right there.

I was excited to visit after hearing all the hype, but was sorely disappointed. Save your money and go...