Public — Restaurant in Zeeland

Public is consistently excellent. This is the place my wife and I go when we want to celebrate something like an anniversary or promotion. I have been to most notable restaurants around the area, and Public is easily a top 10 destination restaurant in West Michigan.

The food is phenomenal. I'm not gonna bother pointing anything specific out. I've had close to everything on the menu at least once, and every time has been way past expectations. Like I said before, consistently excellent. The menu offerings rotate with season, and I fully recommend you try an appetizer here. Even stuff that's generally ordinary is extraordinary here, seriously try the tomato soup. Lunch menu is more standard sandwich-and-fries which is good, but the clear winner is the dinner menu.

Drinks are varied and strong. Bartenders are knowledgeable and I haven't had one drink here that was made incorrectly or even asked once about how to make some lesser known cocktails.

Waitstaff are amazing. They are obviously trained well and have high standards for performance. I always tip well here because service is always tip-top. Ambiance is cozy, which is to say tables are close, sometimes even communal. You'll probably have a wait here to get in. Be prepared to wait, but it's worth it.

Prices are higher than other sit-down restaurants in the area, but they are fair for a premium-price-premium-product business model. Two people with entrees, a drink, and a single appetizer will probably be around 70-80 bucks. They do have some more budget friendly items like burgers (which are great, by the way), as well as special menu nights like $5 burger nights (I think Mondays? Not sure).

I 100% fully recommend Public. It's is a truly excellent eatery. Come here and eat well.

Pictured here: crab rangoon, Gin Gimlet, Bourbon w/ bitters, tomato soup, caesar salad, hangar steak,...

Ordered take out from Public tonight with the aim of trying fettuccine Alfredo from a different place than usual (my boyfriend's favorite food). Also ordered 'jumbo lump crab Rangoon' and the pasta came with a house salad. Here are my thoughts:

*House Salad: props on not using iceberg lettuce, but two cherry tomoatoes? They were halved, tho, so there was some effort. The balsamic dressing was nothing special...tasted like it was straight off the Kraft production line. Quite boring, really.

*Jumbo Lump Crab Rangoon: had a unique garlic flavor, but the adjectives 'jumbo' and 'lump' are extremely misleading as I don't recall much of any crab inside. Again, the sweet and sour sauce was extremely generic, however, since these seem to be somewhat of a 'non-traditionl' crab Rangoon with a unique taste, an alternate dipping sauce would likely work better to accompany. Also, they were, for the most part, soggy.

*Red Bell Pepper Fettuccine Alfredo: there is no way this dish should be considered to be 'Alfredo' as the base was obviously tomato-based. The texture and the cheese used made it seem like the sauce was a jar of 4 cheese Bertoli's pasta sauce with powdered parmesan sprinkled in. There were a few leaves of spinach as well as several red bell pepper slices, but those just made it feel like a cheap attempt at fancifying the dish since the taste was extremely bland and one-noted.

I had high hopes since ratings were good and the website gave that 'artesian' vibe. Since the menu was so limited and there was seasonal dishes, I expected that they had chosen to perfect the few dishes they had instead of trying to please everyone by offering an extensive menu, but instead I was terribly disappointed and, quite frankly, my night has...

We recently dined at Public Restaurant and we were thoroughly impressed by several standout dishes and cocktails.

The Southern Shrimp Beignets were a delightful start to the meal. These savory beignets, complemented by hot honey, blue crab, and pimento cheese, offered a blend of flavors that set the tone for the evening.

The Public Prime Cheeseburger was a testament to classic comfort food done right. Served on a pretzel bun with a choice of cheese and accompanied by hand-cut fries, it was both satisfying and flavorful.

The Maple Basted Scottish Salmon was paired with butternut squash, whipped goat cheese, bacon-onion jam, and finished with maple brown butter, each bite was a delightful combination of sweet and savory.

The Midwest Wedge salad was refreshing and delightful. Topped with buttermilk ranch dressing, candied bacon, red onion, tomato, and crumbled bleu cheese, it provided a crisp and flavorful balance to the meal.

Public Restaurant is warm and inviting, making it a perfect spot for both casual and special occasions. The attentive service further enhanced the dining experience. The waitress came by to refill our waters several times throughout the service (even if they were slightly less full).

I highly recommend visiting Public Restaurant to savor these dishes and explore their...