We accept no advertising, free food or bribes. However, there is no such thing as unbiased. So read on and we will identify all of our biases up front ( well, at least the ones we are aware of )
Here Are Our Biases
Flavor
We love flavorful things. We do not subscribe to the typical Bland Rapids mantra of Meat and Potatoes, Potatoes and Meat. We like a variety of ethnic foods. Lots of garlic. Fennel. etc.
Coffee
We are coffee lovers. Strong coffee. West Michigan tends to be a coffee wasteland, where people wave the grounds over hot water and call it coffee. I personally love earthier coffees like Sumatran and Ethiopian Yrgacheffe. My wife gravitates to the milder central american coffees, but still with some oomph.
Beer
We are extremely opinionated about beer. We think the debate about standard American beers should be “Less Flavor” vs ” Tastes like water”. Again, we are searching for flavor in West Michigan. In the past few years we have gone over to loving IPA’s We also like browns, , amber and a few wheat beers. John also loves Porter’s and Stout, but I personally need a moderate amount of carbonation, so Guiness and Murphy’s are not my favorite.
Wine
We prefer full bodied reds and not that many whites. Strangely, we like the reds dry and the whites sweet. Recently we have discovered that we like a very good Sauvingon Blanc from Malborough in New Zealand. Who knew.
Value
We appreciate ambience, but only if it is matched by the food quality. We don’t mind paying more, but then we expect more. We also appreciate decent quality food at a good price.
Chain Restaurants
Show us a chain, we’ll show you disdain. There are certainly exceptions, but we avoid chains most of the time.