According to Doug Small, Experience Grand Rapids President who brought the idea of Restaurant Week to Grand Rapids, “We are thrilled that over 70 restaurants have jumped on board this year to participate in the second year of this popular event.  Restaurant Week Grand Rapids 2011 will be a time for friends, families, and co-workers to explore new restaurants that they’ve wanted to try, and a reason to return to tried and true favorites. During the eleven days of Restaurant Week, all of the participating Restaurant Week restaurant chefs will be going ‘all out’ to help the public celebrate the best in the ‘Art of Dining Out,’ which is Restaurant Week Grand Rapids’ mantra. Grand Rapids has so many great restaurants – it’s time for people to get out and explore these unique restaurants that will undoubtedly become their favorites.”

The public can now view all 70+ participating restaurants on a dedicated website at www.restaurantweekgr.com. Each restaurant is currently in the process of creating three-course menus that will be announced and featured on www.restaurantweekgr.com the week of October 10, 2011 when the menus will go live along with additional information for the public on how to get involved. The public can learn more about and post information for Restaurant Week Grand Rapids on Facebook @ Restaurant Week GR, and Twitter through the hash tags: #rwgr or #restaurantweekgr

Most restaurants will be offering three-course menus for $25 per person (not including tax or tip) with some featuring wine or beer flights as an add-on option. A portion of the restaurants have opted to feature a 2-for-$25 menu hoping to entice those who are budget conscious or looking for a more casual alternative. All participating restaurants will also offer their regular menus during Restaurant Week.

The Restaurants Participating in Restaurant Week Grand Rapids 2011 include:
25 Kitchen & Bar
Amore Trattoria Italiana
Bar Divani
Bentham’s
Blue Water Grill
Bistro Bella Vita
Brann’s on Leonard
Cambridge House
Charley’s Crab
CitySen Lounge at City Flats Hotel
Cottage Bar & Restaurant
Cygnus 27
Derby Station
Dugan’s Pub & Grille
Electric Cheetah
Fire Rock Grille
Flat River Grill
GP Sports
Grand Woods Lounge
Graydon’s Crossing
Grove
Heritage Restaurant at the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education
HopCat
Honey Creek Inn
Louis Benton Steakhouse
J. Gardella’s Tavern
Noto’s Old World Italian Dining
Mangiamo!
Marco New American Bistro
McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon
Mojo’s Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant
Olive’s Restaurant & Bar
One Trick Pony Grill & Taproom
Osta’s Lebanese Cuisine
Ottawa Tavern
Pearl Street Grill
Peppino’s Downtown
Pietro’s Italian Restaurant
Red Jet Café
Reds on the River
Reserve GR
Rockwell Republic
Rose’s
Rush Creek Bistro
San Chez Bistro & Café
Shiraz Grille Persian & Mediterranean Cuisine
six.one.six
Schnitz Ada Grill
Spinnaker Restaurant
Stella’s Lounge
Sundance Grill & Bar
The BOB: Monkey Bar, JBar, Gilly’s Bobarino’s
Tavern on the Square
TGI Friday’s Downtown GR
Timbers Inn
The Acorn Grille
The Bistro at Courtyard by Marriott Downtown
The Bullshead Tavern
The Green Well
The Landing Restaurant at Radisson Riverfront
The Melting Pot
The Score Restaurant & Sports Bar
The Viceroy
Tre Cugini
Twisted Rooster
Vitale’s on Leonard
Z’s Bar & Restaurant

Restaurant Week planners reported that in 2010, when the Grand Rapids event first began, many diners chose to dine out between three to five times over the 10-day event period. This year, organizers are hoping for the same.

According to Small, “If you’re looking for the excuse to dine out, this is definitely the time to do it. We will be setting the stage for ‘the party,’ highlighting the great menus that these restaurants have crafted for Restaurant Week on www.restaurantweekgr.com. The 70+ participating restaurants will be providing the exceptional food, service and creating the experience that diners are looking for. The restaurants will be rolling out the red carpet and we’re encouraging everyone to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Though the restaurant is small and simply decorated, it feels cozy and welcoming. The server offered to help us navigate the large and varied menu. He answered all the questions we had and also supplied some recommendations. All items included a short description and list of key ingredients, which was very helpful. After spending a few minutes poring over all of the choices, my dining partner and I made our selections. We shared an order of Samosas ($3.95) and Garlic Naan ($2.95). For entrees, I went with the Chicken Tikka Masala ($11.95) with an order of Steamed Rice ($2.95), while Mike opted for the Lamb Biryani ($13.95).

Our Samosas arrived with two chutneys. One was sweet and the other was spicy. Seeing that the Samosas themselves were quite spicy, we used the sweet chutney, which was flavored with brown sugar, spices and citrus. The combination of flavors played off of each other nicely. The Garlic Naan arrived shortly afterwards. Piping hot, soft, and scattered with herbs and garlic, it was one of the best Naan breads I’ve ever had. The chewy texture overall was just right and the crispy blistered edges, courtesy of the clay oven, were perfect.

Chicken Tikka Masala is my go-to favorite Indian dish. Palace of India’s version definitely did not disappoint me. The dish consists of pieces of chicken marinated in a blend of yogurt and spices, then stewed in a sauce of tomato, onion, cream and herbs. It was perfectly spiced; intensely flavorful without being hot. I like to use the Steamed Rice and Garlic Naan to soak up the sauce. Mike pronounced his Lamb Biryani “excellent.” The chunks of lamb were very tender and the rice was spicy, but not overly hot. I tried a few bites of the biryani and I had to agree.

The menu listed several interesting dessert options, which we decided to save for another visit. The restaurant also has a lunch buffet featuring popular menu items that change daily. Palace of India does a good job to help dispel the myth that Indian food is either incredibly spicy and/or has to contain curry. The large menu and friendly staff help to ensure that everyone can find something they’ll be happy with. Overall, our experience was very positive. I’ll definitely be heading back soon to tackle something new.

Unfortunately, CitySen Lounge did not live up to my lofty expectations based on my experiences in Holland. We gave CityVu a well-deserved five stars so I went to lunch at CitySen with high expectations. Though CitySen falls short of CityVu, it does not fall completely flat.

The hotel and CitySen Lounge restaurant are in the former home of Fox’s Jewelry on Monroe Center. The food was good, not great. The service was OK, not exceptional. The lunch menu was small, not stunning.

Let’s start with the positives. The CitySen Lounge is an attractive space, filled with environmentally friendly and stylish furniture. The restaurant exudes a big city vibe. I love the way the front window of the restaurant opens wide to let the buzz of the city into the space.

I also like when restaurants offer a pared down menu, but CitySen goes too far. The lunch menu has one soup, two salads, four sandwiches and three “City Bites” dishes. I could understand a menu that small if the dishes were complex, but they are not.

I ordered the Croque Monsieur, a play on a French bistro ham sandwich topped with melted Swiss cheese ($7). All sandwiches are served with a choice of fries, tortilla chips or a small salad. I chose a small Greek salad. The sandwich was a simple ham and cheese — nothing special. The salad with filled with crisp green lettuce and large chunks of artichoke and olives. The dressing was either tasteless or there wasn’t enough drizzled on the top.

One of my lunch partners ordered the full Greek Salad ($7) and the other ordered the Grilled Flank Steak sandwich ($8) — grilled flank steak with sweet onions, mushrooms and Swiss served warm on a sourdough bun. Both said their choices were good, but nothing special.

The dinner menu looks more promising. I would like to try the Lamb Chops with sun-dried fig chutney and balsamic syrup ($13) and the Lobster Spring Rolls ($13) that are served hot with hot and sour dipping sauce. CitySen looks like a great place to go for dinner to share a bunch of dishes with friends.

I am glad the CityFlats Hotel and CitySen are in Grand Rapids. I just wish some of the inspired cooking found at CityVu Bistro would have made its way east. I still have high hopes for the restaurant. The ambiance is there, the food just needs to catch up.

And evidently so did everyone else dining at The Mermaid Bar and Grill during my recent visit, because you could shoot a cannon through the interior, but people were lined up for dining al fresco.

Although Saugatuck is located on the Lakeshore, there are not a lot of waterfront dining options. So it is no wonder that The Mermaid is extremely popular. I called ahead to make a reservation, specifically next to the railing on the patio so that my dog could sit on the other side. (The Mermaid doesn’t allow dogs on the patio, but accommodates with a bowl of water on the other side of the railing).

We got there, our table was ready and we were seated at once.  We couldn’t resist the Big O’s Smoked Whitefish Dip ($9.75).  It was a plentiful scoop (a little less than a cup) served with veggies and pita chips and we loved it. It was creamy, smokey, had a little horseradish bite to it and we had to force ourselves to stop eating it so we had room for dinner.

Kevin ordered the Chicken Marsala ($17). Tender chicken with a Marsala Mushroom Demi-glaze, served with smashed redskin potatoes and vegetables. It was a large portion, but it was so good he finished almost every bite. He said it was tender, and seasoned just right and the sauce was perfect.

I chose the Shrimp and Goat Cheese Pasta ($19). This is one of my favorite combos, and in this case, it was a variety of pastas, mixed with the shrimp and the goat cheese along with peppers, onions and sun dried tomatoes. I loved it — creamy and just the right amount of tang from the pepper and onions.

We passed on dessert as we were just too full, and wanted to move on to catch the sunset over the Big Lake.

The menu is large, but not the typical grilled chicken/steak/seafood dishes. They put their own spin on all of the above and it makes for some really nice dining choices. On a return visit a week or so later I had lunch and ordered the Coconut Shrimp and Spinach Salad ($15). I ate every bite. Fresh spinach, strawberries, mango, mandarin oranges, Roma tomatoes, and toasted pecans, topped with large crisp coconut shrimp. The dressing was a delicious Amaretto-berry vinaigrette.

The Mermaid is somewhat hidden in a building with mostly retail shops, at 340 Water Street, right next to Wick’s Park. You have to go around the the waterfront side where there’s a separate entrance and greeting stand for the patio, or you can go in through the center of the building from either end to find the restaurant.

In the summer, be sure and call ahead if outdoors is your preference. Or you could sit inside and have the air conditioning and whole place to yourself, and although the adage “everything tastes better outdoors” is generally true, rest assured The Mermaid Bar and Grill’s delicious food would taste fabulous no matter where you eat it.

When we arrived at the new restaurant located at 6 Jefferson Street, there were a few people at the bar — one of the guests had overheard us trying to decide what we were going to eat. She finally came over to the table to tell us just how good the Garbage Plate was — So good that she had to share.

It was Raw Wednesday, and the four items on the menu for the day were raw and gluten-free! We had 5 people at the table so we deiced to order one of everything and we all tried every dish.

The Coconut-Curry Thai “Noodle” Salad ($9.95) really didn’t have noodles in it, but had veggies shaped as noodles. The veggies were fresh and crunchy. I enjoyed the crunch — it was almost like going to your garden and picking fresh vegetables for the day. I felt the curry could have been a little stronger in flavor, but understand why that wasn’t the case, as it might have covered up the vegetable flavors too much.

Raw Garbage Plate ($11) seemed to be the favorite at our table. The sweet and spicy veggies had a little “kick” to it. The “meat” was actually pecans ground up to give the appearance of ground beef, which added substance to the dish. Topped with a Raspberry dressing, the flavors blended very well.

Nacho “Cheese” Cabbage and Broccoli Collard Wrapped Bites ($9.50) was a close second favorite — very mild in flavor, but with a soft consistency.

Collard Greens Salad ($7.50) was just a very hearty salad, with a fair amount of garlic flavor. I’ve never been a big fan of collard greens, but cashew butter and seasonings made the salad very flavorful.

It appeared everything was made to order other then the outstanding Raw Pecan Bars — chewy, gooey “turtle” like pecan bars. After eating so healthy these tasted like a sin, but made with good-for-you sweeteners and almond flour for the crust and pecans, what’s not to love?!?

For lunch at 1:00, the restaurant was anything but busy. Service was prompt and friendly. Bartertown only offers water and coffee for drinks, in addition to only accepting cash. I can understand not offering standard soft drinks for this type of dining experience, but thought iced tea would make a great option.

Bartertown is a vegetarian eatery and is worker owned, hence the good and prompt service. Everyone has a stake in it, making for a very interesting concept. The only thing I did not like was how dark the restaurant was. Additionally, it seemed like there was no air conditioning, as it was quite warm.

We all left feeling full and satisfied without that bloated feeling you get from eating fried food. You can eat healthy here and not have to give it much thought.

With Chef Eric Chatlin in the kitchen, The Grille does more than turn out some amazing food. There is frequent entertainment and it’s a lively place on the weekends. Its annual Pig Roast is one of the several special events throughout the year.

I joined a table of about 12 friends to partake in the traditional Pig Roast fare. There were other special offerings as well — such as a grilled salmon and ribs — and of course anything could be ordered off of the menu.

I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t a more “down home” affair, with a spit and all, but I got over it in a hurry. Maybe it was the Palmertini I ordered — named after Arnold Palmer’s famous Lemonade and Ice Tea mixture — but this one had vodka as well. It was quite tasty. My friend ordered the classic Cosmopolitan and said it was “delish.” Both were $8.95.

Although there were a lot of tempting sounding choices, the roast pork was what I came for, so I stuck with that. The mountain of pork, big ear of corn, some amazing sweet cornbread, cole slaw and baked beans cost $19.95. It could easily have been three meals — I took home a healthy portion.

Seldom have I looked forward to leftovers like I did the next day. It was just as good the second day.

The regular menu at Watermark has a lot of delicious-sounding dishes. Starters like Edamame ($4.95) and Chef Eric’s Whitefish Dip ($7.95) might kick things off. Several wood fired pizza options are available at around $10. The Pomegranate Glazed Salmon ($17.95) is one of the stars of the seafood menu. There are chicken, pork and beef selections ranging from $15.95 to $18.95. The Adult Macaroni and Cheese ($13.95) sounds like a “to die for” item, featuring baked cavatappi with four cheeses, peas and smoked bacon with a gratin crust topping. If it’s a sandwich or salad you want, there are plenty of those too. A Sunday brunch is also available.

On this particular evening there could hardly have been a prettier place to dine. Perfect weather that allowed us to enjoy the patio overlooking the golf course and the lush plantings and all around opulent setting. The service was attentive and not the least bit harried or rushed, a tall order when 1 person is handlng a table of 12 people all ordering at their own pace.

I’ll look forward to my next visit to the Grille at Watermark and trying some of the other great sounding dishes.

Some restaurants are indisputably a good value. Maybe they’re not the fanciest, or the most innovative, but they are kind to the wallet. Such was my first visit to the Peppermill Grill in Rockford — good food at a good price.

Our group of seven was looking for a place we could go with our dogs following a nice Saturday morning walk on the White Pines Trail when the Peppermill Grill came to mind.

Its open patio has four tables with umbrellas and the dogs were welcomed to join us and sit tableside. Two of the four tables were occupied when we arrived, but as soon as those diners vacated, we took over three of the four tables in search of shade. The umbrellas don’t have a tilt adjustment, so on this hot, bright day, getting out of the sun was difficult.

We were greeted right away. After a little confusion about who was helping us — brought on by the combination of a new server and new system — we got things straightened out. While we looked over the menu big glasses of ice water for the humans and a pitcher of water and Styrofoam trays for the dogs arrived.

The menu is pretty simple, the expected array of classic sandwiches, salads and a nice selection of breakfast standards, including omelets which are served all day.

We all opted for sandwiches, none of which cost more than $4.50. I had the classic cheeseburger ($3.95), and added “deluxe” and olives, each an extra 50 cents. Others had the tuna salad, grilled cheese, the bacon cheeseburger and the BLT. I polled the group and everyone said their food was good. All of the sandwiches came with chips and a pickle. Fries could be added for an extra charge.

This restaurant has perhaps kept their costs where they are because they do charge extra for things not everyone wants (so if you do want it, it costs extra). I’m OK with that — people have got to make a profit and at these prices, if it costs 50 cents for olives, then so be it.

It’s hard to leave any restaurant for less than $10, but we all walked away for far less with our stomachs full.

As far as dining inside, I did catch a glimpse on my trip to the restroom. It was nice and cool (a welcome respite from the hot temperatures outside) with booths and tables, mostly full with lunch-time diners.

You aren’t going to walk away from the Peppermill saying, “WOW, That was the best burger I’ve ever had!” But you might walk away saying, “That was really good and it was cheap.”

A little south of the bustling center of Rockford, this restaurant is located on the south side of Squire Street. In a town with few quick, casual sit downs, this is a good one to keep on your radar for a speedy, economical meal.

Located in the former Blue Moon restaurant on Blue Star Highway, the Douglas eatery stands out with its peppy, zippy-sounding moniker.

The interior tickles all the senses, featuring art, animal print fabrics and walls, sueded textures and festive, colorful lighting. The various area of the restaurant provide a perfect combo of intimate feeling with contemporary openness — aspects of formalness, and yet an understated casualness. The bar exudes hipness, with a chartreuse baby grand piano as the centerpiece of the cabaret area that screams “let’s have some fun!”

Zing’s website describes the eatery as “playfully eclectic…that takes the ordinary to the extraordinary with an unexpected twist on the expected.”

We were allowed to choose the table we wanted and settled in the corner and were soon greeted by our enthusiastic and knowledgeable server “Star.” She gave advice and didn’t steer us wrong. After a few questions about the menu and considering the Scallops in Puff Pastry ($12), and The Wedgie ($9) — iceberg with blue cheese — I decided on the Grilled Marinated Steak Salad ($13).

The salad was a large portion, with a mound of slices of d juicy, flavorful steak, and all of the accompanying vegetables arranged so you could incorporate them, or avoid them as you chose. So, I worked in the ingredients as I liked. It was served with smoked provolone, avocado, red onion, cucumber and tomato over mixed greens. It was tasty and filling, however, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and. I sampled both the homemade bleu cheese and avocado dressings, and they made the flavors of the marinade — a sweet citrus blend — pop.

I realize now that there was no avocado on the salad. I also overheard them tell another diner they were out of the scallops. However, this once, I’ll forgive them for that, and chalk it up to a few stocking issues since they had just opened.

My friend chose the inventive Grilled Veggie Rolls ($9). These were like a sushi roll with thin slices of grilled eggplant, zucchini and portabella, wrapped around a center of roasted garlic goat “cheeze” and red pepper sauce. She said they were tasty, but unlike my huge portion, there were three rolls, and when it arrived, she said she wished she had gotten two orders.

I thought the most interesting thing on the menu might be one of the “entreez” called the Zinginton ($29), which is Zing’s version of Beef Wellington, featuring a prime filet with creamed spinach and bacon wrapped in puff pastry served over sweet caramelized onions.

Zing offers three menus — breakfast, lunch/dinner and a late night bar offering. Each are full of “zing-afied” dishes to amuse and tempt.

The breakfast menu made me want to make a trip just to try the array of delicious sounding items. Between the blueberry cheesecake French toast or German cinnamon apple pancakes, a spicy egg & cheeze scramble, the Zing omelet with lobster, shrimp and goat cheeze, flakey pastry Florentine or the signature Croizingwich, I’m not sure which I’d pick on my next visit.

The bar menu features pumped-up bar food such as the Zing burger, grilled Caribbean chicken, Chef Will’s cheese and European meat plate, steak frittes and Uncle Ivo’s pasta with rustic meat sauce.

There is also a chartreuse piano, and a cabaret-type stage area where there are promised “zing-alongs,” bound to get more and more fun as the evening unwinds as the crowd enjoys their “zing-tinis” — one named (as we’d expect by now) Zing on the Beach.

With the interior dining room, fanciful piano/zing-tini bar, exterior covered “living room,” casual party tent in the back , three menus, long hours and delicious innovative food, Zing Eat/Drink offers something for everyone and is likely to be one of my new favorites.

Friendly, contentious service is found in abundance at Larry’s Pizza on Plainfield Avenue. I just wish the food lived up to those same standards.

Don’t get me wrong: Larry’s Pizza is not bad. In fact, some of the pizzas there are pretty good. But it is not the kind of place that knocks you out with its quality or taste. Still, the concept behind Larry’s Pizza is brilliant and worth a visit for the variety of pizzas available to taste.

Here’s how it works. You pay up front. The waitress brings your drink and asks if you would like a specific type of pizza from the 21 specialty pies and eight dessert pizzas. The owners call it a “lazy man’s buffet.” The waitress brings your pizza to you (I ordered the cheeseburger pizza with mustard, ground beef, dill pickles and cheese) and gives you as many slices of it as you would like. She then passes around the leftovers to the other diners. Anything left from that go-round goes to the buffet table. As others order, you get to try those pizzas as well.

Larry’s Pizza is part of a chain based in Arkansas that has 20 locations. The Grand Rapids location is the first in Michigan.

Sure, you can order a regular pizza at Larry’s, but what makes the restaurant fun is its specialty pies like chicken honey mustard with bacon, buffalo chicken ranch and loaded baked potato. I also tried the Big Mac pizza that tasted like a Big Mac, special sauce and all. All the pizzas I tasted were good. But they certainly were not great and do not stand up to the top pizzerias in West Michigan. The buffet costs $7 for lunch and includes a clean, but unspectacular salad bar.

You can also order traditional pizzas, subs and salads at Larry’s. But the fun is in the buffet and unusual pizzas available. Larry’s Pizza is a huge hit with children, especially the small game room in back.

And then there’s the service. Simply put, the service I received during each of the two times I have gone was spectacular. The waitresses were incredibly friendly and tended to our every request. This is a restaurant with genuine, kind and complete service.

If you are into trying funky pizzas, Larry’s is worth a visit. Just do not expect the taste to blow you away.

We walked in on a busy weekday, and after a short wait were seated towards the back of the restaurant. Not the most elegant seating choice, but for how busy it was, we were glad to just sit down.

We ordered our drinks and soup to start out the meal, which is exactly what I expected. I went with the egg drop soup, and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome — usually I find egg drop soup to be too eggy (I know; I’m picky), but this time it had just that hint of egg. Everything was smooth and was probably one of the better egg drop soups I’ve had in a while.

But that’s when things started to go a bit downhill. We ordered our entrees; I went with the honey mustard chicken ($10). After a lengthy wait, our meals came. Well, some of our meals came. Myself and another dining partner were left waiting when our other two diners started to enjoy their meals. We were promised our meals would be out in a minute.

But the minute turned into two, and into five, and nearly 10 minutes later, the rest of the meals were brought to our table. While I appreciated everything being cooked thoroughly, I think the kitchen could’ve timed the meals a lot better.

I could immediately tell that the chicken was over-sauced. The chicken was tender and easy to eat, but the honey mustard sauce was just too much for me (and I usually like a lot of sauce). Needless to say, it wasn’t the greatest experience. Additionally, the crab rangoons, which came were included with my meal, were served without the typical red sauce I had come to expect.

Additionally, my dining partner’s sushi was less than spectacular — his tuna roll wasn’t meaty and was more like a paste.

And as I said already, the service was slow and could’ve been a lot better. In a downtown environment, with businesspeople surrounding us, you’d think XO would be trying to push out meals at a steady pace so people could get back to work. That, coupled with the underwhelming food, made for a less than stellar experience.