GRDine

J Bar, formally known as Judson’s Steakhouse, is located in the B.O.B. (Big Old Building) downtown on Monroe.  I have always enjoyed going to Judson’s and for the life of me cannot understand why they would change the name to J Bar.  Judson’s has won many awards for their cuts…why in the world would you want someone to elude that this is some sort of lounge/club?  It’s not like the B.O.B. doesn’t already a few club selections.  Worse of all, J Bar doesn’t even really have a bar beyond what you would see at a typical steakhouse.  The new name gives me the impression that there is going to be some trance music bumpin, and some eighteen year olds are going to be “fist pumpin”.  Can someone provide some insight to this idiotic decision?

Ok, enough on the name and on to the food.  Like I said before, I have always enjoyed Judson’s.  The menu has changed slightly since my last visit, but holds the essential cuts and sides that I have always enjoyed.  Must be the economy, but they now feature a $12 menu that features eight different entree selections.  Why deviate from this offering when it had exactly what I was looking for, the New York Strip.  For $12 I was able to enjoy a 14oz NY Strip.  Of course it is easy to keep the bill down if all you order is the entree.  Our group went with Roasted Garlic Smashed Yukon Potatoes, Steamed Asparagus, Roasted Mushrooms, and a second helping of Yukon Potatoes.   The sides are huge and easily serve two if not three people.  Lastly, I washed it all down with Gilmore’s select brews that they brew on site. 

Overall, I would suggest you give J Bar a shot even when the name sets the wrong expectation. 

Jon

There is a new player in the Grand Rapids area that goes by the name Wild Fire Grille (not to be confused with the Wildfire chain by Lettuce Entertain You).   Located on East Paris in the same complex as Bone Fish and Daniel’s, Wild Fire Grille has replaced Naya.  When I first heard about the arrival of Wild Fire I was excited that a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant would be coming to Grand Rapids, but I was sadly mistaken.  Lettuce Entertain You operates over 31 different restaurant concepts, of which most of them are extremely popular and delicious.  Ok, so now I was able to push that wrong association to the side, I could give Wild Fire a fair shot.

We had reservations for last Saturday around 5:30…which is extremely early, but we were celebrating my mother-in-laws birthday and had other activities planned for the evening.  I make a point of the time because when we arrived, the parking lot was entirely empty and we were likely the first to arrive.  It got a little bit more traffic later, but the house was definitely not packed.  Perhaps due to the lack of patrons were escorted to a private dining area, and the service was very attentive (maybe overly so…in fact the server seemed as though he joined us for dinner.  I would have been happy to pull a seat for him.  He was very nice however.).

The menu is very diverse but places a focus around seafood and steak.  Entrees range between $15 and $30.  We started out with a couple orders of their “famed” Sticky Lime Fried Shrimp ($8).  I would compare this to the Bang Bang Shrimp for Bone Fish, but sweeter.  I could have used an entire meal around the shrimp alone, just amazing.  I went with the Lobster Asiago wood fire pizza($15).  It was very good, but a bit on the rich side.  Another popular dish as the table were the Scallops St. Jacque (Sauteed Sea scallops, buttermilk whipped potatoes, braised spinach, finished with sherry mushroom cream sauce. $17).

The food and service were good, but there are a lot of good fine dining restaurants in Grand Rapids.  I don’t see myself going out of the way to dine there again anytime soon.  If anything, it made me miss Bone Fish.  Do I sense a Bone Fish entry coming soon?

-Jon

There have been some requests for some “non-pizza” establishments.  Apparently the readers want me to class up my dining options!  This is a fair request.  However, I must admit, I have a weakness for pizza.  I’m craving it as I type.

I was encouraged to venture out to Rockford to try a place I honestly had never heard of…Grill One Eleven.

Grill One Eleven reminds me of a common two story Chicago – Lincoln Park establishment that serves a variety of sandwich options, but also has a robust dinner menu focusing on seafood and steak options.  The selections are pretty impressive, and the prices are pretty reasonable.  Essentially you can get a great dinner and drink for about $20 -$25…not too bad.

Our table shared a bottle of white wine to try and compliment the seafood options we had all selected.  My wife and I had the Seafood Stuffed Grouper (stuffed with crab, shrimp and scallops and layered with a chive almond butter sauce).  The meal was very enjoyable but it left me craving a Corner Bar dog just around the corner.  The portions are “appropriate”.  Meaning, the portions will leave a food enthusiast like me craving more…Perhaps a ploy to push the desert menu (unfortunately for them we had desert at Red’s on the River afterwards).  Trevor had the Seafood Linguine.  Apparently the proportions of that particular meal were larger as he had to box up his leftovers (an unheard of situation for Trevor).   His wife enjoyed the Salmon…must be good as it is the second time she’s had that dish.

One downside to our visit…we were disappointed with the wine service.

1. The wine list did not mention the vintage year.
2. We went with the Vouvray from the Loire Valley of France…Nowhere on the wine list did it mention this wine was a demi-sec…Kind of a big deal when you aren’t expecting your wine to be sweetened.
3. The glass was a generic wine glass that serves both reds and whites and had terrible thickness.

All very minor issues, but worth pointing out…especially if this establishment wants to be known for their wine selection.

All in all, a great experience.  I will visit when I inevitably return to Rockford again.  Cheers!

-Jon