West Side Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Grinnell

We were on a breakfast finding failed search when we ran across this option. As strangers to the area we weren't sure where to go and try to avoid the chains as much as possible while on vacation. We thought we were done for on breakfast after the third boarded up place from Google. We found this one, called and they were open and drove a little out of the way hoping it would be good. We arrived and it was very busy. The front staff were very friendly and it appeared every customer knew each other. We were seated quickly and attended to quickly. My husband ordered the pork tenderloin. Signs rated it one of the top five in the country. It was amazing. It tasted like a real pork chop that was pounded not smashed meat and filler like many others. It was definitely tasty and the bun was clearly no match for the tenderloin. I ordered the meat lovers breakfast because the signs on the wall said the owners were pig farmers previously. It was good but very greasy. Ham, sausage and bacon with eggs, home fries and an English muffin. The home fries tasted of old grease but the breakfast was decent. Some of the patrons in a big party were incredibly loud and forgot they were not the only ones in the room which made conversing hard but is not the restaurant's fault. It did contribute to the four stars for atmosphere. All in all...

We just had breakfast here for the first time and think we have found a new favorite to add to our list of Grinnell gems. I do love that you can seat yourself, but we were also greeted promptly and warmly. There was plenty of space and the atmosphere is clean, bright, and nicely done. My wife got the Crabcakes Benedict, and I got the Iowa's Breakfast and both were outstanding! My wife can't stand bell peppers, which we didn't know were in the crabcakes, but she said the dish was so delicious she didn't even care! I was a bit surprised at first, seeing how small the ham steak was in the Iowa's Breakfast. However, it turned out to be super thick and super juicy and was really just the perfect portion size! We both can't wait to return for lunch or even dinner since they have a full bar and quite a long list of great cocktails that seemed to be very reasonably priced. We will be back...

We were passing through, staying the night in Grinnell, and needed a place for dinner. West Side Family Restaurant was a bit off the path from our hotel off the interstate, but well worth navigating to.

The food was delicious, service was friendly without being bothersome, and omg the pie... (Try the pie. We had raspberry and coconut cream; both were amazing.)

The only con was a slight fly issue. Maybe we were just at the lucky table, but we had a couple of flies buzzing around us pretty much the whole meal. It's summer, people hold doors open and bugs fly in, I get it... but no one wants to deal with that while they eat.

Other than that, it was a nice meal in a nice place I wouldn't mind...