An editorial guide to where to eat in Grand Rapids

The Grand Rapids Restaurant Guide is an independent editorial directory of restaurants in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the surrounding Kent County. We currently cover 308 restaurants across 37 neighborhoods and 19 cuisines. Neighborhood diners, breweries, sit-down fine dining downtown. The range is wide.

We don't accept paid placements that aren't disclosed. Paid listings show a "Verified Listing" badge on the page, and the editorial blurb is replaced by content the owner supplies directly. The free listings (the majority of the site) use editorial summaries written by our team and ranked by review quality, popularity, and how actively diners are talking about a restaurant.

How we rank

Restaurants are sorted by a composite score we call Ranking Score. It's a Bayesian shrinkage of the star rating (so a 4.9★ restaurant with three reviews doesn't outrank a 4.6★ restaurant with two thousand), multiplied by an activity multiplier that tapers restaurants whose newest review is over a year old. The result rewards places that are both well-loved and currently being talked about.

What we exclude

National chains (Applebee's, Olive Garden, Chick-fil-A, and similar) are filtered out. We keep Michigan-based chains where the brand is local. Mr. Burger, Russ' Restaurant, Anna's House, Cottage Inn. They're part of the regional dining story. We also exclude non-restaurants that happen to serve food (museums, hotels, billiard halls, bowling alleys).

The newsletter

The Dispatch goes out the first Tuesday of each month with new openings and updated rankings. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.