Graydon's Crossing

Graydon's CrossingGraydon's Crossing
Graydon's CrossingGraydon's Crossing
Bar, Eatery

1223 Plainfield Ave NE
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49505-4903
United States

(616) 726-8260 | map
graydonscrossing.com

Every Thursday at 5pm, a new cask is tapped.
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.32
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
35
pDev:
9.03%
View: Place Reviews
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Rated: 3.93 by slasich from Pennsylvania

May 16, 2020
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Reviewed by NCSapiens from Indiana

4.33/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25
Very good beer bar with 40 or so taps of exceptional beer. Awesome Michigan craft beers, some English classics (it’s a British soccer bar), and a few around the country crafts- I had a Jai Alai for the first time in a couple years. Plus, they had Founders KBS AND CBS on tap, because, you know, you have to have both. Food was pretty good. European style burger and fries with aioli mayonnaise was good. Good brunch menu with tons of mixed drinks and wine too. Great place to watch a soccer game.
Jan 26, 2019
 
Rated: 3.85 by beersampler6 from Michigan

Oct 14, 2018
 
Rated: 4.2 by Phoodcritic from Michigan

Oct 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.53 by REVZEB from Illinois

May 09, 2017
 
Rated: 4.83 by Bethaz83 from Michigan

Jun 05, 2016
 
Rated: 4.41 by Billydoughnuts from Michigan

Feb 02, 2016
 
Rated: 4.43 by jmiah22 from Michigan

Aug 27, 2015
 
Rated: 3.83 by MSEGUIN from Michigan

Mar 05, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by EricTKole from Michigan

Oct 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4.44 by Kave_Drenz

Sep 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by snansel from Missouri

Jul 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by JakeEngland from Michigan

Jun 13, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by BcOneSeven from Michigan

Jun 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by beertasterb from Michigan

May 19, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by LiberateTeExInferis from Michigan

Dec 18, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by GRBLUE12 from Florida

Dec 01, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by todd-roy from Michigan

Oct 26, 2013
 
Rated: 4.75 by MSandahl23 from Indiana

Oct 09, 2013
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Reviewed by sneakymagician from Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
The beer list is a bound book. If you can't find something you like, you don't like beer. I love the Hideout Smuggler's Hazelnut Stout.

The food is great! The celery taste actually pops in the au jus. I had a burger there, recently, and I'll definitely order it again. Normally some cheeses don't go well with beer, but the blend of tastes in the burger went well with the stout.

I've been there several times and parking is always easy to find, beside the building. It never seems to be busy, which I find odd. It's a nice, subdued place to eat and have a few beers. Unlike most places, you can actually converse here, without having to raise your voice.

I'll be back again, soon.

UPDATE: Been having the Drunken Cow Burger, lately - highly recommended! Parking is much harder to come by, unless you park on the street.
Nov 14, 2012
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Reviewed by TheSevenDuffs from Canada (ON)

4.3/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Visited on a Wednesday night and the place was almost empty. Atmosphere would likely be even better on a busier night.

Still a good experience. Overall a good beer bar that was somewhat upscale. Service was good and was friendly.

Tap list was very good and had a good variety of breweries and styles, including a lot of Michigan locals and out of state beers. Taps included Founders, DFH, Dark Horse and others. Good bottle list too.

Did not have any food to comment on the food.

Prices were also reasonable on both pints and pitchers.
Aug 10, 2012
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Reviewed by cratez from Canada (ON)

4.63/5  rDev +7.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5
Final stop on a recent trip to Grand Rapids with nicktbm and our better halves.

Atmosphere: classic and pristine British pub, long wooden bar, numerous comfy booths, tap handles loom over the restaurant area, chalkboard shows all draught and cask offerings, hilarious posters in the washrooms, table-side lamps add a unique touch.

Service: staff seemed a bit withdrawn on this lazy Sunday afternoon but our waitress did a commendable job of describing the beers and everything arrived in reasonable time. She also gave us plenty of privacy in between drinks.

Selection: had an Arcadia Whitsun Wheat Ale with Hibiscus on cask and a North Peak Diabolical IPA out of the bottle. Both beers were in top form and my girlfriend enjoyed her pint of Delirium Tremens. Other standouts were Avery 18th Anniversary Ale, Blue Point Toasted Lager, Ommegang Belgian Saison, and Lagunitas IPA on tap. Very well-rounded menu.

Food: remarkable fare that exceeded our expectations. Ordered the House Salad, Chicken Tikka Masala, Bangalore Quesadilla, and Mackinaw Island Fudge, all of which were phenomenal. Each dish had an immaculate presentation and the free papadum was a nice surprise. They really nail the "England meets India" theme.

Overall: Graydon's is an archetype British pub that I will gladly revisit on future trips to the city. The attention to detail - from the pairing suggestions to the food descriptions to the style classifications on the beer list - is second to none. I highly recommend this bar.
Dec 27, 2011
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Reviewed by Flux from Michigan

4.33/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Really nice British/Indian infusion pub. I've been here a couple times before.

Atmosphere is pretty casual and laid back. I've been at both the bar and at the tables and have had great service. Although i've heard they went downhill after the fire, I haven't had much of a problem...

The selection is great! They have quite a bit of beers both on tap and in bottles. Servers actually know a thing or two about the beer on tap and keep up on updating their menu of what's available. They also have some really interesting blends where they combine beer and meads into interesting concoctions.

Food is pretty good! I'm glad they are making an effort to construct a well rounded menu based upon British and Indian cuisine and not just typical "bar food" fare.

This is a place to go to for both food and beer!
Oct 01, 2011
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Reviewed by brew4health from Ohio

4.56/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
The atmosphere is good, very English pub-like with lots of warm dark wood. They have tables and booths and of course a large bar. This was a refreshing change after going to a local brewery with an atmosphere much like a high school cafeteria.

The beer selection is very good. They have 48 beers on tap from all over the country and some imports. Regional beers are well represented. Most beers are served in pint glasses with the "big beers" offered in 12 ounce tulips or brandy snifters. Prices are reasonable, mostly $4 to $5 per glass with some as high as $8 when I visited (2/26/11). I particularly appreciate the fact that they have many obscure and hard-to-find beers. The bartender was very attentive. The staff is knowledgeable about the beers as are most of the patrons. All are happy to discuss beers and recommend their favorites. Beer samples are available on a sliding scale price which varies from $2 to $3 per sample. In addition, they have a large selection of bottled beer on hand.

I did not eat dinner there but found the appetizers adequate.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and will stop there whenever I am in the neighborhood.
Mar 03, 2011
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Reviewed by slowbie from North Carolina

4.72/5  rDev +9.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
Nice quiet place. Good for me since I prefer to go with friends and enjoy the crowds, but places with good beer selection tend to be very crowded around here.

Second best selection I've seen in the area, with at least as many taps as Hopcat, but I'd give Hopcat the edge on selection because of the variety of beers they bring in. I'd much rather go here than hopcat though because the prices are much better, and it's much less crowded. Different serving size options for some beers are a nice touch too. I got a 10 oz. tulip of Bourbon County Stout for 5.50, which is very comparable to the price per ounce if I were to get a single bottle around here.

Service was great, and I didn't try the food but it looked good and the people with me who tried it seemed to be happy as well.
Jan 06, 2011
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Reviewed by Bung from Michigan

4.28/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Has that nice old building feel, like many midwestern pubs and breweries. Though I understand this place burned down, so they obviously rebuilt with the same intent. A little cramped, so is the parking, but there is an upstairs, which was closed.

Quality list of drafts and bottles. The tap handles were all under the bar top, it took me a while to figure out where all these drafts were coming from. Very good slection of locals and national micros. 2 casks, the one I wanted was out of coarse as it was 4 days after tapping. Dark Horse cream stout was a lower abv local stout on draft I had a couple of.

Food was good, with some unique pub fare and English/Irish dishes. Though I did get sick the next day, not necessarily blaming them for that though.

Been meaning to stop here and glad I finally did. Up there with Hopcat and Logans Alley. Good place to hit if you're in the area, more relaxed environment than Hopcat if you're looking for a lower key place.
Dec 29, 2010
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Reviewed by hophunter from Michigan

4.75/5  rDev +10%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
This is my staple go-to bar in Grand Rapids. It's got a really nice British/Indian fusion in both decor and menu. It is a little dark inside and wouldn't mind more lighting.

Pricing is a little high but I do like how the menu items are a la carte, which is great when you want something simple without having to pay for all the sides.

They have a great beer selection for the size of their pub. A handful of the same beers are always on hand because predictability can be good. Likewise others beers make a good appearance for a while. A firkin from founders is sometimes on hand. I can appreciate how they have both local beers and beers from across the world.

Quality of the beers is always good. clean lines, clean taps.

Service is good and the staff is friendly. Our beers arrive quick and never had a problem with getting a different beer than what I ordered.

Food is really good. I love the fusions and the food selection changes as often as the beer does with a handful of the same ol' classics.
Jul 29, 2010
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Reviewed by wqcherri from Michigan

5/5  rDev +15.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
We were on a 5 day brewery tour, when we were referred to Graydon's for their Cookie Jar Porter. It was out when we showed up, but the stop was well worth the price.

The remodel of the place was great. The staff was very nice, customer service was next to none. The food selection was very impressive, served quickly, and quality was fantastic.

Having a friend in from out of state, with this as our first stop, set a president that was never equaled. I will be back, and as a manager of a local salon, many more will hear of this place, and my experience.
May 16, 2010
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Reviewed by sarahspat from Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
This is one of the better beer bars in GR. It's is supposed to be like an English pub and has very nice decor. There is an upper level and a lower level, which is kind of cool. To me it feels a little but stuffy here and the prices are a bit high, especially for the food (cuisine from the UK and India, kind of like a "British Empire" theme, I guess) which is delicious, but expensive! Both times I have gone here, I have woken up the next morning with an intense feeling of regret over how much money I spent the night before... but if you can afford it, more power to you.

The cask ale is a very nice feature, and the beer prices in general are reasonable, running about $4-6 a pint for draughts. They have a great selection of craft beer (about 30-35 taps, I think) including some things I have never heard of before like Rogue Honey Orange Wheat. HopCat has more taps than they do, but HopCat's are mostly just Michigan, and some American craft brews. However, as far as imports go, I think Graydon's might rival HopCat's selection.

No complaints about the service; they have been attentive and courteous, in my experience.

Overall, this is a great place to go to try some new beers on draught... but unless you are rich, I would recommend eating somewhere else.
Mar 29, 2009
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Reviewed by Roeters from Michigan

3.83/5  rDev -11.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Stopped in for the first time last Sunday for a late lunch.

It is small inside whit a lot of dark wood work throughout. Kinda English Pub like. All of their taps hidden bellow that bar I walked in a little confused knowing that they were suppose to have a bunch f draught beers

Beer ranges from Stroh's, Old Style, Bud light to locals like Arcadia cereal killer, Stone arrogant bastard, some Belgians and English beers.

It was a Sunday afternoon, there where not busy and I ended up having to ask for things a couple times like a food menu, then trying to order.

The food was really good, had some nice twists on standard bar food.
Jan 14, 2009
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Reviewed by GRPunk from Michigan

4.38/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
I went to Graydon's Crossing for an early dinner on Friday night on one of these really warm fall evenings and enjoyed the second floor deck.

The atmosphere seemed really nice. I didn't get the full effect of the bar and inside dining areas as I chose the enjoy the great weather on the upper deck. The lower deck area was nicely sheilded from the road and parking lot by a high fence and the upper deck was situated to minimize any street noise. From what I did see of the inside, it was tastefully decorated with a lot of wood finish.

The quality of the actual building, food, and beer was top notch. Everything was very clean, including the taste of the beer. I didn't get any "off" flavors from unclean tap lines.

Service was good. We were seated and had our drink orders taken quickly. Our server gave honest food recommendations and seemed, at least, familiar with the tap and bottled beer offerings.

Selection was great. As was the theme of the restaurant, they had a great selection of English, Irish, and Scottish beers as well as many local and regional favorites, many national microbrews (a bunch of European Imports were also thrown in for good measure). They also had what seemed to be an extensive wine and mixed drink list.

The food was also English, Irish, and Scottish as well as many Indian items. Some customers across from us were questioning the inclusion of Indian food on the menu, but it made sense to me. There were many appetizer options and it's my understanding that the seasonal menu changes quite regularly.

As for value, it wasn't the cheapest place in the world, but still a good value. Our entrees were under $15 each and I was still very impressed with the quality of the food.

Overall- This will be a new favorite of mine. I was able to have a spicy curry dish, while my wife played it a little safer with a pork entree. I was also able to try a Sam's Imperial Pilsner, while she enjoyed a New Holland pumpkin beer on tap. It wasn't too busy for an early dinner and I didn't have to break the bank while still ordering appetizers, entrees, and multiple quality brews.
Oct 11, 2007
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Reviewed by rteis from Michigan

4.38/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Owned by the same folks as Logan's Alley... One of the better selections of beers on tap in Grand Rapids. Can be smoky at times. Food is interesting mix of traditional English pub fare mixed with some Indian spice. A great place to meet friends, especially out on the patio in the summer. They always seem to have some great stuff from Rogue on tap and for Stella fans, it's served in the proper glassware. Have some local micros on tap and some traditional English favorites. Would like to see them get Newcastle Brown on tap sometime.
Nov 28, 2006
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Reviewed by mcallister from Ohio

4.1/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5
Well I went here on suggestions from fellow BA's. I only had one beer and decided that there wasn't really anything that I can't get back home and their prices were rather steep especially compared to the breweries, so I will hit up some of the local micro breweries. Not to take anything from Graydon's though.

Very nice formal looking place. Woodwork is beautiful and just nice overall. The selection was great and the menu looked fabulous although I did not eat. I went in the afternoon so it's hard to judge the atmosphere but the prices were pretty high so I'm not sure how much I would hang out here.
Jul 09, 2006
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Reviewed by granger10 from Wisconsin

4.4/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Finally stopped by this place after it opened in January. Small, rather cool looking building with a semi-gated entrance. Parking lot is quite small.

Inside, there are two floors and two levels of decks. Very dark and unassuming on the inside. Small lamps by each table. Lots of cool authentic English, Irish, and Scottish decor around. Darts in the back along with board games and MJ beer books.

Food was really good, authentic, and freshly made. English countryside and some Indian options. Sheppards Pie, Burgers, Stew, Tandoori Chicken and the like. All priced quite reasonably. I didn't think the portions were huge but I was satisfied.

Tap list is very well thought out. Lots of English beers and a few Arcadia and Dragonmead offerings (which specialize in the English style). A few Belgian offerings, DFH 90 minute, Breck Vanilla Porter, Founder's, Bell's, a few more and of course PBR. They put a beer on cask every Thursday at 5 and it's always a new one. The hand pump is true cask.

Atmosphere was real casual and the place wasn't too filled, but I'd like to go on a Friday or Saturday and see how it is. Drink prices are a bit higher than some places but they have specials and with that list I'll gladly pay another $1 or so.

If you're in GR, you must check this place out for some grub and a few pints.
Jun 23, 2006
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Reviewed by sopor from Oregon

4.05/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
A wonderful little Irish Pub owned by a beer-loving restaurant group, this place is a great stop for good Irish food and a great tap selection including many selections from The Emerald Isles.

For starters, tap selection on 6/17 included Fuller's London Pride, John Courage Amber, Boddington's Pub Ale, Hobgoblin, Strongbow Cider, Old Speckled Hen, Welsh ESB, Guinness, Stella Artois, Lindeman's Framboise, DFH 90 or 60 (depending on who you asked... a quick taste will tell), Founder's IPA, Rogue Chocolate Stout, Blue Moon, Oberon, Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, Dragonmead IPA (I don't know which one, neither did they...), Hennepin, Arcadia Angler's Ale, Dragonmead Cask Bitter (gone, apparently went quick!) and lastly Miller Lite and PBR. So lot's of good stuff from Michigan, other Americans and plenty of English/Irish stuff, though nothing too rare.

Food was spectacular, traditional (to a degree) Irish faire, and priced pretty well, and normally big enough to make two meals, unless you're a much bigger guy than me. They include suggested beer pairings on their menu, and have a menu of "black & tan" concoctions, inlcuding one made with Founder's Centennial IPA and Beamish. It seemed they prefer to use Beamish over Guinness for their "Black"

Staff was not *super* knowledgable, but they did have a basic idea of the flavors in different brews. For example, when my father asked for a Hoppy beer suggestion, she did steer him towards the IPAs and APAs, though she did not know what kind of beer Fuller's London Pride was, except that "it's just an ale", which now that I think about it, is pretty accurate... Oh well! She was very helpful and considerate nonetheless.

Two levels of seating, though the top was taken by a private party on Father's day so I didn't see it at all.

Downstairs has a good long bar, with room for 12-16, and a row of high-backed booths opposite. Further back there are tables and dartboards on the back wall. Decorated with Irish flags and irish knick-knacks.

A must-visit, if you ask me, the best Irish Pub I've been into in Michigan yet, narrowly displace "The Curragh" in Holland (which is owned and operated by a Irish guy!). Though this is probably not the "most traditional" Irish Pub I've been in, it has enough traditionality combined with great food, beer selection and facility to make this a spectacular place for either dinner, or a couple of pints!
Jun 22, 2006
Graydon's Crossing in Grand Rapids, MI
Place rating: 4.32 out of 5 with 35 ratings