I frankly don’t understand the praise this place received. Perhaps I was not the luckiest, but the 2-3 beers that were on and not widely distributed in bottles were not particularly interesting. While many of their regulars are indeed interesting, the ugliness of the area, spacious, noisy like a big modern cafeteria atmosphere and certainly not aimed at having a lot of character. The prices are very good though, but I’d rather drink Founders in a beer bar I enjoy being in. Neglectable service as you need to go to the counter and they don’t seem to really be interested in a conversation with you when you do.

Oh yeah - now that’s what I’m talking about. A large crowded spot with loads of locals drinking good beer. The location of our kickoff for RBSG 2010 and it was well-worthy of the honour. The owners took us on a rare tour of the back of the brewhouse and basically chatted non-stop about the history and the future of the brewery. They put on some special stuff for us - including the CBS, Livonia, and Kaiser Curmudgeon - which was much appreciated. It’s worth mentioning the sandwiches here too - had a pastrami that was as good as anything I’ve had in NYC - as blasphemous as that statement might be. Even cooler are the prices - 3 dollar pints of regular stuff and 5 bucks for 12 oz of the rare stuff. I’d be here all the time if I lived in the area.

With Founders and Hopcat in walking distance, Grand Rapids is solidly on the map as a go-to place. Beautiful place, with light everywhere, a good temperature, a friendly gang to serve, and of course outstanding beer. I had, and had to have, four aged barrelled beers on tap. Need another reason to visit? Also, had a chance to try a fifth barrelled beer not on tap. Not overwhelming in the bottle department, I found harder to get bottles in some of the stores.

The inside is a wide open space with loads of tables, a long bar and a window at wich to order food. The beer selection is solid of course, but I would’ve liked more rarities. Can’t complain I guess. Service was really friendly and attentive. There’s a cool merch store but I was here too late to shop there.

The first stop of my Ratebeer Summer Gathering Experience, and oh, what a nice way to start. This place was packed and even though I generally don’t like large crowds, I did like the ambience here. The crowd was chill, even though the space was huge it still felt cozy enough. The tour provided by one of the co-owners was awesome... very informative. The beers were top notch. I didn’t try the food. Parking was OK. Prices were good. The bartenders were happy to provide samples, and the prices for full pours aren’t bad. Top notch beer stop. Highly recommended.

Second time I have stopped here. Older building next to the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. Very clean with small bar and multiple tables. Draft and bottle selection is very good of brews beers and I have found new brews on tap on both visits. Service good and staff very freindly. Deli menu from 11 to 2 weekdays and delivery menus from locals aftrer lunch. Must stop location in this part of Michigan.

Great vibe, nice porch outside, amazing beers. when it’s not too screaming busy, the servers are cool with giving lots of samples. Beers are amazing--maybe the best portfolio of beers in one place I had ever found.

Big pub with plenty of room. The large bar itself is spacy and very inviting. I really liked the atmosphere there, kind of hard to put into words, right from the moment I walked in this pub I had a different feeling that just about all other pubs I’ve ever visited. Crowd is rather young (mostly early twenties) but not the drunken college kind. Cool eclectic crowd. The place is probably doing well because on a Sunday night it was almost packed. So I would suggest to avoid the Friday/Saturday night cause that must be annoyingly packed. Food menu is reasonably priced interesting sandwiches. Probably not the right place if you’re looking for a full cooked meal. Only 10 taps when I was there with 7 of them being their regular bottled beers. I’ll never complain about drinking a Red’s Rye or a Centennial on tap although these are also available in other pubs.

Must see on a Michigan beer tour. We showed up here on a Thursday night and it was fairly full. Besides a few pepper beers, they didn’t really have anything all that exciting to taste. I was a little disappointed but I’ll be back.

Awesome place - one of the desinations on a mini summer beer tour. Big open bar/seating area, lots of awesome Founders beers on tap, outside seating. It’s a beer joint for beer drinkers.