Gilly’s

Despite being a lifelong GR-​area resident, I just ate at Gilly’s for the first time. I am a total Dollar Menu Babe, so the prices scared me a little, but considering the quality of the food, I don’t think its a bad deal. I got a cup of cheddar ale soup for $ 5 and it was absolutely delicious — the flavors melded together perfectly. Then I had the quinoa fritters ($ 8.50) which came with an apple purée, a surprisingly delicious addition. The service was pretty good, a little slow considering they weren’t too busy, but nothing terrible. My only complaint is the bar across the hall had a live band playing so loud that it was hard to have a conversation, but that is to be expected with a venue like The Bob. Would definitely stop in again!

I just had the best meal here. We started with the crab cakes which were so amazing. I’ve never had any like them in my life. I planned on only eating one and saving one for my husband but he had I order his own because I all but licked the plate. Then we had the salmon and it was paired with a cherry sauce. Fantastic. This chef knows how to pair foods and flavors. The waitress, Leah, was great as well. Attentive but not annoying. I wish I didn’t live so far from here but if I’m ever in the area I will eat here and I will recommend it as well!

Much better experience the second time around.

Always excellent service and cordial staff. Today having east coast oysters and beer at the bar. Daisy Bay oysters from PEI, Canada and house signature IPA served by Jessica and Leah are all delish!

We went for my Fiancé’s birthday and his parents came into town… they are very plain (wonderful) people and are easily impressed. Me… not so much! I thought the service was amazing, Sam was immediately relatable and adorable and funny… I was a server for years, she would have kicked my ass. The birthday lobster really was amazing, and I really wanted the chicken… but I was at a seafood restaurant, every fiber in my being said «get fish» (even though we’re in MI). My soon-​to-​be Mother-​in-​law got the Chicken, and damnit, I should have to. It was amazing. My seafood trio was a bummer, except for the single scallop, which was divine. Shrimp– no flavor, salmon-​over cooked and a very odd clearly dyed hot pink color. The rice and stuff is tasty, but to call it a «risotto» is a lie. And we all would have loved some bread… where’s the bread?! If I came here alone it might be 2 stars and each going to the lobster and Sam, but the fam loved it and the service was great and they gave us another gift card for making a birthday reservation. Cheers

First time to Gilly’s and due to some reviews my expectations weren’t set too high. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how great the food was. The service and drinks were great too! I highly recommend the Pacific rim nachos (I would order those again as my main dish!) and the Brussel sprout appetizers. My husband and I had the lobster taco and that was quite good as well. We will definitely be going back!

Great deal on the free 1 ½ pound lobster on your birthday and it was fresh and tasty. Have to call at least 24 hours in advance to reserve to make they reserve you a lobster and you have to sign up for a G card when you get there. Loved the strawberry margarita and it went down too smoothly. Not a fan of the walleye but then again I don’t like tartar sauce and it seemed a little tough and not that tasty. The gelato was delicious but the handmade peach pie really was tasteless. The waitress also had recommended the jambalaya or gumbo and the stirfry so may try that or just order a steak from Judsons which is next door.

Only place for seafood in Grand Rapids. I am from Savannah and this is the only restaurant that satisfied me. Great fun place to go as well! Sarah behind the bar was awesome!

I wasn’t sure what to expect because of mixed reviews I read, but this mouth is very happy. The salad special was heirloom tomato, watermelon with goat cheese (omg good) and I went with the walleye cheek tacos. (Seriously tasty and no sides which I didn’t need). The craft cocktail list was good. I had the Lavandula, which tasted like lavender. If you like that — yum!
The service was good. The music is a little loud (over 50 year olds tend to hate that), but I could still hear my husband without leaning in.
Overall– if I lived here I would come back.

Meh. Difficult menu… Nothing really sounded good. So… Lobster tacos … Taco fell apart in your hands… Not much flavor… No sauce! Asked for mayo for um… Something… Bleh

This time, instead of coming here cuz of business, brought the family during a two-​day stay in town. Couldn’t wait to hit the BOB. Hannah took care of us. She handled some picky questions about the menu, was extremely knowledgeable about our options, and put together a non-​alcoholic mojito for one of my kids. Very attentive, exceedingly friendly, and typical of the great service I’ve come to expect from any of the restaurants at the BOB.
I had amazing duck breast. Da wife had udon stir fry, one kid had the Gilly’s mac and cheese, and the other had the lobster tacos. We finished it off by sharing a piece of chocolate cake the size of a shoebox. All of it was incredible. I figure, eventually the odds are, as often as I’ve been to the BOB, I’d finally have a less than perfect experience. But not yet. Wonderful food, beautiful service. As always, highly recommend.
One last cool thing … we walked out so stuffed, we popped across the bridge and walked off some of dinner along the river, the advantage of a great location.

Had a short notice birthday dinner at Gilly’s tonight ready to enjoy the birthday discount. Called ahead and were told we would not need a reservation and arrived at the restaurant at about 630 and were seated in a booth as requested promptly. Went ahead and ordered and got the lump crab salad starter, brussels sprouts, soupthe day which was a cheddar mushroom bacon concoction, the seafood Trio which was scallop, a very small portion of fish (wahoo) and two medium-​size shrimp along with a large helping of some kind of risotto. Also had the flat iron steak entrée. Our server was young sweet and friendly and with a few delays attended to us well. She did bring the food out too quickly as we werent done with appetizers or salad and our entrées arrived. Kind of a rookie mistake or poor coordination with the kitchen. The lump crab salad was in my opinion a small serving for $ 16 tasted good though. My soup was fairly bland and I ended up salting it Heavily. The flat iron steak entrée was popular and my seafood Trio seem like not very much seafood and a lot of risotto. Overall the food was acceptable but certainly not inspiring with several bland items. Our comment in leaving was that with a $ 100 tab after a $ 20 birthday discount we didn’t feel like it was good value for our money given what we were presented.

EDITED — Went here for Valentines Day, expecting the typical Gilmore food and service. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. My husband made reservations 2 weeks ago… Got a phone call confirmation yesterday and a text today, but we walked up to the hostess (after waiting for 10 minutes there because she was frazzled) and she looked at us like we had 10 heads when my husband gave his name. She just shook her head at us and said «there’s a lot going on» and grabbed menus and showed us to a table. Rough start, but we thought things might get better.
After about 10 minutes, someone took our drink order, and then I had to ask our waitress to come back so we could order food… Appetizer came and was great — crab nachos, but drinks finally came and mine was wrong — or tasted wrong. Told the waitress and apparently 2 other people had complained about the drink that night (was completely different than described). She offered to bring a different drink, so I took her up on it. Only problem was that she brought the wrong drink. At that point, I just traded drinks with my husband. It might have been another 15 minutes if I asked for something different.
Finally, our dinner came out. My lobster mac n cheese was pretty good, but my husband had the salmon. Salmon was dry and flavorless, and his sweet potatoes were burnt. But once again, not worth complaining, otherwise we would have had to wait even longer. Halfway through my dinner, our waitress asked if we wanted dessert. I just looked at the rest of my food and looked at her wondering why you’d even ask that yet?
We ended up opting not to get dessert, as the whole experience was just off. A disappointment at a Gilmore collection restaurant, that’s for sure. We ended up here because we couldn’t get a reservation at judsons. We will still go to Rose’s and the others, but I wouldn’t go to Gillys again and I’d think twice about eating — more like getting cocktails at the BOB. Isn’t that what they’re supposed to be known for? A Valentine’s Day disappointment.
EDITED — A rep from the Gilmore Collection sent me a gift card for our trouble. It was a nice gesture.

2 stars for food
5 stars for their service
I’ve been here quite a few times, usually on quiet evenings and enjoy it, but the food is just very mediocre. I enjoy the oysters (when my husband prepares them all fancy) otherwise they’re just «snot in shell». The servers have always been great.
Desserts are well-​portioned and rich, should definitely be shared.
There has been free parking with dinner when I have been there. Not sure about party nights at The Bob though.
I wouldn’t go there to be swept off your taste buds, but a good place to meet friends for maybe a happy hour bite and drinks.

Portions are becoming miniscule. Which is not a bad thing if you’re into eating carrot sticks and tofu. However, if you have a Summo wrestler’s appetite, pass on by. Everything is ala carte, so bread, salads, etc., are extra add-​ons to your bill. I’ll be back when I start my diet.

I came here to redeem my Groupon and celebrate a belated Mother’s Day. Our waitress was really cool, where we really connected and talked more than just about food on the menu here. We got several small plates, the fried calamari, Pacific Rim Nachos, Spicy Shrimp Tacos, the Salmon Special, and the Seared Yellow-​fin Tuna. Everything was delicious, I was so happy with the variety and taste of the food. I would certainly recommend this spot for seafood in the area.

This restaurant is our go to place when we want great seafood. We sat down and were quickly helped by our attentive waitress, Nichole. After answering questions about the beer selection I decided on the Hoptropolis Wheat Beer. Nice citrus taste and great hops! My wife needs a gluten free (GF) menu and there are plenty of great menu choices to choose from. We both started with the Fork and Knife Caesar Salad. Very nice start to the meal. We both had the added white anchovies which really made a great salad. I ordered the GF Salmon with Butternut Squash Risotto and my wife ordered the GF dinner option of Shrimp and Grits. While we waited for our dinner to come to the table we watched other couples being served their selections — such GREAT looking plates being served. We found ourselves discussing our next visit based on what everyone else around us was enjoying!
When our dinner was served my salmon and risotto was delicious. My wife’s shrimp was extremely salty but the grits and greens were great. No problem though, when our waitress noticed my wife was not eating her shrimp and asked why she quickly fixed it by bringing her new shrimp sans seasoning.
Excellent date night and great food/​service. This is a Great Gilmore restaurant.
Trust.

–good food
–had a great waitress.
best Brussel sprouts I’ve ever had

Love it. Great small plates. I love the daily menu!!! Beer and wine selection is decent. Like they bring a big bottle of water to the table… so you don’t have to wait!
Get the smoked chicken with artisan gnocchi and you will be happy! :)

I’ve been going to Gilly’s or Gill’s Fish House as it was know as when I first started visiting years ago, for quite a long time.
They’ve had their ups and downs as a lot of restaurants do, but obviously, they’ve prevailed.
The oysters, which I must add, is the first place, but not the last, where I tried oysters. Amazing. Fresh as all get up and delicious!
Gilly’s has awesome weekly specials like crab legs for way cheaper than menu price on Monday nights!
Well, the reason I’m writing this review is because of my last adventure on Thursday night. Some of you may have seen my tip on here, but it was just a snippet of my experience.
I wasn’t starving, but since I had to DJ that night, I figured I better put a little something in my belly.
I looked at the features for the evening and they looked great, but just a little bit too much food for what I needed.
I decided on the crab cocktail. Well, they had sold out. Cirque Du Soleil was in town and their clientele had run them fresh out of crab cocktails.
I decided bacon wrapped scallops were my choice.
I’ve had the scallops down in Monkey Bar and they were delicious, so I figured these would be likewise.
Boy was I wrong.
They destroyed Monkey Bar’s scallops!
These were the best scallops I’ve ever had!
They had to be the size of a toddler’s fist. Wrapped in bacon and set in this creamy blue cheese sauce. OMG! Yep, OMG. Maybe I’m too old to type OMG, but I don’t care. OMG.
I ate two of the three scallops and HAD to share with my buddy. He wasn’t even hungry, but he licked the plate clean after eating the last scallop.
Bravo.