Leo’s Restaurant

My last visit to Leo’s was a year or so ago. I don’t remember much except that I really liked it. We needed a nice place to go for our anniversary, so Leo’s seemed like a great plan. DISCLAIMER: this is a fairly negative review. Maybe it was the high expectation which was supplemented by the pricey menu, but … anyway, read on.

The restaurant has a very elegant feel. Pleasant lighting. Sound is nicely controlled , so quiet conversation is easily possible.

Our waiter had the air of a British butler. Pleasant, but stiff and and a almost, but not quite, condescending. He know he was supposed to have recommendations, but didn’t really listen to the questions. For example, I told him I preferred halibut to swordfish in general, but really loved flavorful things. The recommended the swordfish, not because it was flavorful, but because he preferred it as “meatier” . He didn’t even consider that I might know what swordfish tasted like if I preferred halibut. In our experience, really classy restaurants don’t have stiff service with forced pleasantness.

We started with a chowder that had corn and crab. It was… fine. For entrée’s, I ordered a swordfish marinaded in a citrus. It was a little dry and not very flavorful. The veggies were good and nicely flavored. My wife got the salmon stuffed with crab meat with hollandaise. It seemed like it was pre-prepared and heated up. The hollandaise was sort of soaked in rather than freshly added on at the end. Both of these dishes were… fine. Maybe if we had paid $18 instead of $25 plus, we would have been happier, I don’t know. But we were unimpressed. We were recommeded the pecan/bourbon torte. It was… fine. Nothing we ate made you say “Oh, that was really good !!”

We chose a merlot (I know, I know, red wine and fish, but we like red wine). It was very good, but it was also $10 a glass. At the end of the meal we ordered coffee and it was truly awful. There was absolutely no coffee flavor. None. It was taken off our bill when I mentioned it, but I would have much rather had a good cup of coffee than a refund.

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It is right downtown Grand Rapids at 60 Ottawa Avenue Northwest. The phone is 454-6700. The website is www.leosrestaurant.com
(616) 454-6700

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“

It is right downtown Grand Rapids at 60 Ottawa Avenue Northwest. The phone is 454-6700. The website is www.leosrestaurant.com
(616) 454-6700

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Maybe we hit a bad night. We would welcome others comments. We will not be quick to return. Not at all bad, just not especially good.