501 Bar & Grill

Wasn’t impressed with anything about this place. Service was subpar, he seemed as though he was still in training. The food was OK, seemed a bit much for what we had. Not planning on going back.

A gem in the rough area of Flint. No seriously, I never go downtown Flint because of the stigma of not being great. However, I went for restaurant week and I have a whole new appreciation for this area. This restaurant was my favorite on the main strip «Saginaw st» in downtown Flint. They have amazing food, I ordered the small plates chicken and waffles, my friend ordered the rodeo burger.
My food only took about 15 minutes to arrive. It was definitely a «small plate» and I had immediately wished I ordered the full order. But it was my first time having chicken and waffles and I wasn’t sold on the idea originally. My friend said best burger in town, hands down.
The prices are a little higher than your average applebees, Friday’s etc.
The service was amazing. They checked on us often and was very polite.
They had a long alcoholic beverage list, mostly with beer.
I would definitely suggest going here if you are in the area. The restaurant appears small but it is much bigger inside. They are wheelchair accessible, nice big bathroom and low tables.

THEY DO NOT USE Unilocal COUPONS!!! Would have given 4 stars, but found out when paying that they don’t go through Unilocal anymore and won’t take the coupon… Chicken and waffles was good.

501 is very tasty. I have been twice while on work trips to the Flint area. The food is well-​priced and tasty, and the same goes for the drinks. The first time I went I had the chicken and waffles. While it’s hard to get those wrong, they did a good job, and I enjoyed my meal. This time I got the jalapeño burger. It was very tasty. The combination of the onions, goat cheese, and jalapeños was perfect and gave the right amount of fire. The only disappointment was the removal of buffalo Mac and cheese from the menu. I tried my friend’s on the last visit, and it was definitely a winner.

Do not rely on Unilocal in Flint. Three of three restaurants I tried are wrong. One was a vacant run down building, the other a vacant lot, and the coupon listing for 501 expired in 2014.
That having been said the service was slightly below average bordering on poor — in a nearly empty restaurant. The waitress was flat, clueless about menu items and choices and cold. Moving onto the food, the calamari was, cut into tiny tiny bits, heavily breaded, chewy, not completely cleaned and drenched in a purported Szechuan sauce that clearly came off a supermarket or convenience store shelf. The sliced pepper garnishes were the most edible aspect of this dish, which was not flash fried unless they re use the flash frying oil — repeatedly.
The house cut fries were likewise cooked in oil that has not been changed in too long. I ordered the Classic with Malt Vinegar. The fries were clomped down with an equally loud bottle of malt vinegar — Hienz no less, or rather — no more.
I was tempted to order another of the really good sounding items on the menu — Lamb Chops but passed.
The soda water was good.
Unless the new owner sits with the kitchen and gets this act together there is no point in coming in for the food.

501 is delicious.
Came here multiple times last month with my team for work, and I quickly saw why they loved it and kept coming back.
Great service, great food, great cocktails. The menu, the beer list, the atmosphere… it’s all very good here. And it’s an excellent value as well.
Standouts for us included the bacon-​wrapped dates and the black bean burger. There’s nothing need be said about the dates besides they are delicious and you should order them. Trust me, internet stranger. You will be happier for it.
The black bean burger was a surprise — I expected it to be some vegetarian nonsense trying to emulate good ground beef, but no. It was good. Even… better? Definitely worth considering, even for the strictest of carnivores.
Flint boasts some great dining options. 501 is a sterling example. Thanks to everyone there for being excellent at what you do.

Wasn’t impressed with food or portion size of entrees. Environment and staff was nice and friendly though. Just wasn’t impressed with food .
Won’t be back here by choice.

I really like this place. I go every time I visit Flint and am reliably pleased with the experience. I gave it 4-​stars instead of 5 only because my favorite pub food, fish tacos, is only so-​so here. Most of the other food items are really great (burgers, fries, flat breads). I had the best lobster bisque here a few days ago. It was loaded with chunks of lobster and wasn’t too heavy. The staff are also really friendly and attentive. This place is a nice addition to the budding downtown Flint area and definitely worth visiting time and time again.

Good food and drinks. Bacon-​wrapped dates as app, chicken and waffles as entrée. Very good. I’d go back. As unofficial endorsement: Rasheed Wallace was there with a big crowd while in town to distribute water around the city.

In Flint for work. No idea what I wanted to eat, drove down Saginaw St. And saw the sign for 501, figured looked descent to try. WHAT A GREAT CHOICE!
Michigan Manhattan is delicious.
My waitress was able to accommodate a taste of sauce before I ordered.
Ordered the Dragon Noodles and turns out it’s exactly what I wanted. What I’ve ALWAYS wanted.
PERFECT amount of lovely spicy broth, tasty fettuccine offset by crunchy cabbage and mushrooms soaked in delicious garlic ginger spicy goodness, excellently grilled shrimp on top.
I could eat this forever.

Delicious! Stopped in 3 times over 4 days when I was traveling for work. The jalapeño burger was amazing with the goat cheese and the steak and onion sandwich was the best I’ve had in a long while. Sweet potato fries are a must side. Wait staff is very friendly and atmosphere is nice too.

Wow, no idea places like this existed in Flint! Great atmosphere, food & service. Wandered in for a late brunch/​lunch & will have to return again soon to try their bloody Mary’s which look AMAZING!!!

An amazing meal. I ordered Parmesan and aioli fries as an app, vegetable pasta + shrimp as an add-​on for an entrée, and pot de crème for dessert. It was well worth the money. My bf also got the 501 burger with fries, which he very much enjoyed. Our bill came to $ 41.30, I think thats a good deal considering it’s an up-​scale restaurant and the artsy, modern, and sophisticated yet casual atmosphere. The prices were lower than expected, and I loved their small plates menu. It’s great if you want to try new things but not commit to an entire entrée.

I’ve stopped in twice, trying the food one of those times. My Cajun chicken was great. I had a MI martini (I think it was called) and it was one of the tastiest martinis I have ever had — sweet, yet made just right.
Both visits the service was really good, nice people working there that act interested in pleasing customers.
See ya soon 501 bar.

They were alright, standard downtown pricing and average food, though I loved their selection of beers and some of the menu items you don’t see very often, the waitress was a little green but very courteous
This could be a much better place if they had a better chef

Nice option in downtown Flint. Great décor, cozy w high top seating, regular tables near the window & a cool bar area. Delicious seafood soup. Lettuce wraps were tasty although a small portion. Also, 501 advertised a 15% off coupon via Unilocal but they didn’t take it cause it expired. Seems like they would take that coupon off their Unilocal site.

The food is always good. I love their flatbreads, their fries are good, and their chicken & waffles are surprisingly awesome.
I loved going there for Sunday Bloody Mary bar, but haven’t been since my favorite bartender isn’t there to make the mix anymore.
My only problem is with the service. It’s slow no matter if it’s jam packed or ghost town. I mean… ridiculously slow. They don’t even seem to know they are slow, it’s odd. Plus the bartender and her long black hair swinging around. Never up, and that drives me insane. Once a friend got a piece of it in his martini. Imagine a man pulling a long black hair out of his mouth, then looking over and seeing the bartender flipping her hair. It was a great moment for me, him not so much.
Food and atmosphere are great. They need a staff overhaul.

We stopped here for lunch and the food was decent. The service was really slow as it seemed like one person was working the entire restaurant, however, our server was attentive and the total time was just over an hour. A little longer than we wanted to spend on lunch but the perfect amount of time to socialize.

Started off well with good food. Server a little less attentive than I would have liked but Ok. Things deteriorated. Server forgot one of our plates. When the meatballs finally came they were delivered by another server. 3 meatballs was it. I realize it is tapas but three meatballs? And they tasted terrible. Then I asked for a manager. Took 10 minutes to get told the manager had gone home. Didn’t see the server again until it was time to collect the money. Sadly disappointed. Very very disappointed.
PS. The Unilocal coupon expired in February 2014.

I won’t lie and say I ate here (because I didn’t), but I did peer at the menu and the food looked great. I came here after eating somewhere else, actually, and our group of 8 ordered a plethora of beverages that were very good. I recommend the beer Mr. Delicious if it’s on tap… half our group ordered them and they were gooood. Others ordered chocolate-​based booze drinks — which isn’t really up my alley — but they looked good.
We all sat on reclining chairs and a leather sofa. It was a good spot to hang out and converse, even with the Ikea lights hanging right over our heads. They had basketball playing on the two TVs in that room, too, and it makes you feel separated from everyone else in the venue. I liked that.