Grandpa's Place — Restaurant in Northfield Township

Grandpas Place has been around for a long time. My husbands very visit here was with his parents almost 32 years ago. The reason we stopped here was because we were in the neighborhood with our own family and he suggested we stop here for nostalgic reasons. I almost feel sorry for writing this review, and I would have given it two stars honestly if it wasn’t for the fact we were given excellent service by our waitress.

The food was mediocre at best. We started with the French Onion soup and chili. The soup had virtually no onions in it and it was loaded with stale bread, toped with a small slice of Swiss cheese. (I almost did not order it to begin with since it said Swiss cheese instead of Gruyere, which is traditionally served with it.) I should have followed my instinct, but I spooned out the broth and called it done. The chili wasn’t any better, it tasted like raw tomato and had the consistency of soup. Without any exaggeration it was the worst French onion soup and chili I’ve ever had.

For our entrees we had the burger and the Tuna melt. I had the burger an it was good, I asked for it medium and it was a little more on the rare side but I’m fine with that and it had a nice char on the outside to give it flavor. The Grandpa Burger was suppose to be a half pound patty, mine definitely was not. For $17.50 it was definitely not worth the price! The fries were also tasty even though I thought the portion was a little small. I order a side of Merks cheese to dip the fries in, the waitress asked if we wanted the Merks warm we said yes, however they must have over heated it in the microwave and it curdled and was oily, gross. My husband had the tuna melt and they used cheap skipjack tuna that looked like it had been sitting for a while. I’m strictly and albacore girl when it comes to Tuna melts so I didn’t even try it and he said it was just ok and the bread was over toasted and dried out. Even the pickles they severed with our entrees were limp and soggy.

I would also like to add we had been here a year before and we had both order corned beef sandwiches and were disappointed with the experience but chalked it up to a bad day.

I think this place has a lot of potential, but they need some new cooks in the kitchen or better training. I know it’s hard to fine good people to todays economic climate. I hope the can turn things around and start offering people quality food. And I would just like to reiterate how great or service was otherwise.

Also my husband and I don’t drink but they must have a good bar because it seemed there were quite a few people in the lower enjoying some...

Open Mic Night - Free Live Music

What a cool, old place with lovely wooden highlights. The building is BIG - with multiple event sites. For a cold Tuesday night we were pleased to find the place was buzzing! A Comedy Mic was downstairs, lots of diners were in the main floor dining room/bar area, and the upstairs Open Mic room was almost to capacity.

It was winter but we were told the Open Mic event is outside in warmer weather. (Lots of patio areas were visible.)

Order your food at the bar and they’ll bring it to you. We split a burger and fries.

The musicians were varied - using guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica and more varieties of stringed instruments. Bob Dylan ruled the set list the night we were there but more than one artist performed original works. The hosts are pros. All mics and sound needs are handled excellently. Smooth and speedy set changes. The crowd was mostly very jolly artists supporting each other - making it a very welcoming, supportive, engaged audience.

As first timers we enjoyed the event - but be forewarned - the wooden seats are hard and we left after two hours, not sure when the event was ending. 9:30 on a work night was late enough for us. The event was scheduled as beginning at 7:30 but because they started early we missed the first player. That was irritating. Otherwise it was a very enjoyable...

Been going to Grampa's since 1993. Like so much of Glenview, it has changed hands...and changed, for better and worst. Rebuild of Grampa's - try and recall...2010-ish? Was long overdue, ground floor bar, under (garage) is nice touch with bandstand; large event room and roof space very nice for large events. The original facilities got a nice facelift, unfortunately they followed the trend in Glenview and did NOT install new ceiling baffles cut down on amplified voice traffic, so conversations rapidly become deafening. You cannot converse in a normal voice. The food is good but service is slow and uncoordinated, so dinner is often cold, and missing something. The people are great, often stop for a drink on way home when I take train. Catch up with old friends/acquaintances. We used to go to Grampa's for dinner & drinks with circle of friends and stay 2-3 hours from 1993 to the rehab. Since reopen...2012? For dinner, lucky if we get there 3x per year. Shame, it was nice before they turned it into a jet engine...