Bilmar Restaurant

We have been living in West Michigan for years and have never visited the legendary Bilmar restaurant in Grand Haven on the beach. Our conservative friend Mike (don’t tell him I said that) always raves about it, so we finally gave it a try a month or so ago.

This place is a historical place right on the beach. The look has been updated. It still has the typical bells and buoys blended into the décor and a few funky things like a sanitary door handle in the bathroom that you don’t have touch with your hands. Germaphobe heaven !

The Bilmar has a friendly small town atmosphere. A bit more casual style than you would expect for an upscale restaurant, but I much prefer too casual as opposed to too stodgy.

The waitress highly recommended the fried perch. It was… fried perch. I also ordered steak fries with it, not sure why. I guess I wanted to stick with the fried theme. My wife got fish cooked in parchment and declared it to very good. Not a West Michigan “flavor find” but very good. My buddy Mike odered a very large porterhouse steak. I was able to coerce a taste and it was again, quite good. Oh, I almost forgot, we ordered the stuffed mushroom caps and they were a traditional style and were really quite excellent

There are no beers on tap, but a decent list of bottled beers. Nothing notable under libations.

This is just a bit pricier than average, but certainly not exorbitant. Plan on around $17 to $25 for entrees

Just south of the state park at 1223 S Harbor Drive · Grand Haven, Michigan 49417 Phone: (616) 842-5920 Website: www.bil-margrandhaven.com

We had read reviews calling this an old person’s restaurant. It’s kinda true. You will get good food and friendly service. Be prepared to pay into the $20’s for most entrees and don’t expect anything innovative or uniquely flavorful. Except the stuffed mushrooms.