Flat River Grill — Restaurant in Lowell

One of the BEST restaurants in Michigan, hands down. As a Chicagoan visiting Grand Rapids for the very first time alongside my family, I am delighted to have been able to try the Flat River Grill in Lowell. While it is a bit of a drive away from Grand Rapids itself, it could not have been more well worth the trek. Where do I even begin? The food was excellent and the service even more so-not to mention we went on a 90-degree, muggy summer day. You’d think that given the weather conditions, the staff would be worn out and not performing at their best-however-you could not be more wrong! Every staff member was seen working hard with pure intention, despite the added pressure from the blazing heat. That takes dedication, commitment, and more importantly, love. Love and passion for the work that fills stomachs and puts smiles on so many faces. One staff member in particular that I’d like to mention is Jacob, our server. He gets a special shout out as he was absolutely on his A-game. He frequently checked in on us and made sure our experience was as best as it could be, and he did it happily. Jacob has everything you could want in a server, and if I am fortunate enough to come back to the restaurant, I will make sure to request him. Those who live close to the Flat River Grill should thank their lucky stars for having such a fantastic restaurant at their fingertips. The pricing was fair, the food was superb, the environment was stunning (especially the scenic outdoor seating), and of course the staff was excellent in every way. I have little to no downsides to even mention about this restaurant. Overall, as far as a number rating goes, I give the Flat River Grill a 9.5/10, me and my family all had a great time and I pray we will be back here very soon.

For a more in depth look at my reviews of the individual menu items I tried personally, they are featured below:

Cooked Brussels Sprouts (Appetizer): 7.8/10. Cooked to absolute perfection, the crisp factor was most definitely there. The flavor was great too although a minor gripe would be that they were slightly too salty tasting. If you love Brussels sprouts, definitely order these. Sweet Potato Fries (Side): 7.9/10. A very flavorful and crowd pleasing side dish. The only thing I’d change for the future would be to request for the fries to be cooked slightly longer. While they were cooked well and felt quite warm, I tend to favor more crispy fries personally. Overall though, I imagine if I were to try the other sides, the sweet potato fries would be in my top two alongside the French fries, as I do happen to be a fry lover. Honey Peppercorn Beef Brisket (Entree): 9.2/10. This entree is extremely well crafted, it completely earns its spot as a Flat River Grill staple on the menu. The brisket itself was perfectly cooked and it totally melts in your mouth. The potatoes were crispy and flavorful, while nice and fluffy on the inside. Not to mention, the sauce (or glaze if you will) completely ties the entire meal together. Overall, an absolutely fantastic menu item that everyone must try. Key Lime Pie (Dessert): 8.9/10. This key lime pie is to die for. It was smooth, sweet, and it went down so easily. I imagine it was so delicious because the majority of the desserts at the Flat River Grill are made fresh in house-which was told to me by our very pleasant and wonderful server, Jacob. Everyone in my family ordered a different dessert and we were all very satisfied with our experience.

Once again, I cannot express just how fantastic of a time I had dining here. I highly recommend the Flat River Grill to anyone who loves great food, great people, and great...

Food was ok, Atmosphere was GREAT! Service was the worst ever. Let's start with the good; Atmosphere was cool, right next to a river. Food was ok, nothing special but it was edible at least. Now for the bad... Sat down, proceeded to watch our waiter walk around every table and literally sit down to chit chat with other customers while we wait. We had to flag him down to get some water. (Do they put salt in the water?! Tasted like fresh ocean salt water... )we ordered a bottle of Chardonnay. He proceeded to bring us a dark red wine only for us to catch it being wrong as he poured the first glass.. 🤦anyways after sitting and looking at the menu forever they came by and took out appetizer order and said they'd be back with our apps and then take our order. The asst mgr brought our app and walked away, had to sit around another 15minutes before we had to flag our waiter for our order to be taken, by that time the app was cold as could be.. he shows up, And After we stated what we wanted, he then proceeded to let us know they are all out of what we wanted(thanks for the heads up!) After we finally received our food we had to some how kindly remind them we needed silverware and napkins to enjoy thus meal. I order pizza, s.o order fettuccine. They brought her a spoon with the fettuccine 🤦🤦 luckily they brought us silverware after that..Every time we had to flag the waiter down, he proceeded to let us know "sorry, we are slammed" 🙄 70% of the tables were completely empty and two extremely chatty waiters. Were not busy AT ALL!!! By far the worst service we have ever had in our life.This was our 10 year anniversary dinner and we wanted it to be special, we called ahead and made reservations and let them know it was our special anniversary night away from the kids, they kindly let us know that that's awesome and we get a free dessert! Sweet! Only for them to add the desert to our tab.. 🤦🤦🤦 So, all and all. Bad experience. Sorry to say, but it was. I see the other good reviees and am jealous that we happened to get the worse.. thanks for reading. Good luck if you end up...

Several weeks ago we had a great experience, so yesterday I decided to go there for Father's Day for my dinner of choice. I regret that decision and we will not be back for quite awhile.

We were seated outside at a table near the river. The table next to us was complaining about the service, as they looked like they were there awhile already. We waited 15 minutes without anyone coming to even give us water. I asked a waiter to get us some and a server. No one showed up for another 5 minutes. So in total we waited 20 mins to get water. The server Jacob helped the table next to us but completely ignored us. Thankfully someone else came and we asked to move inside.

Even our server seemed really overwhelmed and stressed even though the restaurant was not half full. She did her best but overall was not the most pleasant. We watched servers just standing around and especially Jacob who would just stare out the window, even though there was food for his tables. The table next to us ordered food while we were outside and an hour later they still did not have food. Two separate groups left the table we sat at outside.

Management never checked on us or other tables. It really seemed like everyone but the chefs, a couple of servers and the kid cleaning the tables, were just checked out.

I am disappointed to say the least on our experience and the mood with many customers looked the same.

I hope things change before they lose more business. The thai pizza was really good, but it was overshadowed by the terrible experience my...