Hitting Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo for the first time this week on a family vacation. Any thoughts on good places to go? I plan to hit: Bell's Founders Vivant Hopcat Darkhorse Any places I'm missing? Any places I should not take the kids? Any good bottle shops? I would appreciate everyone's feedback. Thanks in advance!
Depending on how much time you've got and how far you are willing to drive for a 'detour' there are always other places to add to your list. Since you're going to be at Bell's and Dark Horse then stop at Arcadia, which is in between these two in Battle Creek (very good food and beer). In Kzoo the best bottle shops are Drake Party Center, Mega Bev (two locations), and Tiffany's. In GR you could add Perrin Brewing to your list as a worthy stop. In the same city block where HopCat is located is Grand Rapids Brewing that just recently opened, and is said to be doing some good things with their organic beers and food. I have not been there yet. There are others in GR that can be visited: Hideout, Harmony, Pike 51 and White Flame are some that I have also visited and are okay. The best bottle shops are Siciliano's, International Beverage, Martha's Vineyard, and GB Russo's. If you are going to get out of town a little further from GR then Walldorff in Hastings, New Holland in Holland, and Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven are quick trips from GR and are good places. Paw Paw Brewing in Paw Paw, The Livery in Benton Harbor, and Greenbush in Sawyer (if you make it to The Livery then Greenbush is not much farther and is very much worth a visit). All of the places are kid friendly, although late night at places where a live band might be playing could be different. Enjoy your trip.
Was in GR 1 week ago. No mention of Mitten Brewing yet, and we thought it was fine. Stopped at Perrin and it didn't impress me as much, but many like it.
The beers didn't have major flaws, but lacked character to style. Edit - I will try them again when I am on that side of the state.
I went to Mitten last week as well and really enjoyed it. No mind-blowing beers or anything, but all solid offerings. And their pizza was excellent!
I thought their Raspberry Blonde was phenomenal..But, the rest were just OK. The waitress said that this week they would have quite a few more beers on tap...Loved the place though..Also loved that they had huge TV's so watching the Michigan v Kansas game there was cool too..
The pizza smelled really good. I did not have that beer. It was last Wed. so no big sports games on, and I really can't remember if the TVs were even on (not a sports bar guy to begin with).
Just went last week again. Brewery Vivant was great on all fronts. Did not go to Oddside, but am planning to go there next time I'm in the area. I really enjoyed the two beers I had from them last week (BB Mocha and Citra PA). Hopcat also had a great selection if you're not just looking to go straight to the breweries.
Sorry grbrew feel free to ignore the thread if ur not interested. Thanks everyone for the pointers. How family friendly these places are was not a thread I found. Also everyone has a unique perspective and cool places they have been. Your opinions are welcome and appreciated.
I agree that these threads pop up all the time, yet I seem to feel the need to post in each one. I will tackle your question regarding kid-friendliness since I don't think that has been asked before. I usuallly take my boys (ages 8 and 9) everywhere with me. None that you have listed would be classified as kid-unfriendly, but Darkhorse is probably the least hospitable. My boys love Bell's, especially when it is warm enough to go out to the beer garden. I believe that kids can't be at Bell's after 8pm (it's on the door, so double check). They have great kids food and Izze. Founder's is similar, although lacking the outdoor run-around-and-be-crazy area. Vivant is a little stuffy, but still kid friendly. It is in a little neighborhood near a park, so if they get bored there is that option. Perrin is great for kids and they have a shuffleboard table. As far as bottleshops, I've posted it a bunch of times in other threads. Mega-Bev (Marshall, Kalamazoo), Drake Party Center (Kalamazoo), and Siciliano's (GR). There are others, but these are some of the better shops.
Brewery Vivant is very family friendly, http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24678/?view=beerfly I'm five down noted some things about the family atmosphere.
Stella's & Pyramid Scheme might fit into "Family" stops during your GR visit. Stella's has great burgers, decent taps and a dozen arcade games or so. I've heard that the pinball machines at Pyramid are top notch and they have local taps as well.
