Hi all in town for two days for work. Any suggestions for bars and or bottle shops in the immediate downtown area? Anything local I should check out. I like the hoppy stuff and stouts. Thanks.
Founders and Hopcat (the GR location is their original) are the downtown staples. Grand Rapids Brewing Company is a few doors down from Hopcat and has decent but not outstanding stuff IMO (and good happy hour pricing as well). They've been around a while and don't distro much, so no "buzz" surrounding them If you are willing to venture out a bit, I really like ELK brewing. Small place and they don't have a full food menu (just snacks and pressed sandwiches), but the beer is good
From a bottle shop perspective, not a lot of great options downtown. I would recommend grabbing an Uber up to Siciliano's which is probably a 10 minute drive, depending on where you are staying downtown. I work downtown so feel free to send me a message if you have specific questions on anything. Lots of solid food options downtown as well... Cheers! -Kevin
Hopcat, Founders of course. Second Elk - I enjoyed their vanilla oatmeal stout the other day. I'd check out Brewery Vivant, great tap list and they usually have cans only available at the brewery. Greyline is a new one that just opened on Alpine Ave north of downtown, and their beers are solid - former Founders and Perrin brewers, i believe.
I agree that if you aren't driving but can get Uber, Siciliano's is a very good store. Art of the Table and Martha's Vineyard are two stores that are closer to downtown, but depending on where you are staying, they may not be walkable. (I don't live in GR to comment on the safety of such a walk.) http://www.beeradvocate.com/place/l...d+rapids&s_id=&c_id=&zip=&area=&submit=Search
There's no problem with safety. Martha's Vineyard has a much better selection of beers than Art of the Table, though it's not nearly as good as Siciliano's.
The J Dubs in Grand Rapids was surprisingly as nice as some of the other ones around the US. I would hit up Harmony, Founders, Vivant (Duck Nachos bruh) and Perrin.
