Tilman’s Dining & Cocktails

Celebrated a birthday with a group of thirteen. The service was outstanding and the food was very good. We would highly recommend
Tilmans.

A place past its prime. What may have once been an upscale spot in the 70s/​80s is now a relic of mediocrity.
We were part of a large group, so it is understandable that service was a bit slow, but that does not excuse the overpriced/​underwhelming food and the poorly mixed drinks.
I had 2 Old Fashioneds, and each was worse than the last. Terribly mixed, simultaneously pure alcohol and watered down.
I wouldn’t recommend this place unless you like dated décor, dim lighting, and just bland food.

Just bad. Went there after having not been there in 20 years. If tough meat and slow service are what you’re looking for, this is the place. If not, find something from the 21^st century. It’s too bad, too, because I love the 70’s vibe they have.

Slow but kind service, terrible food, good place to have a Manhattan with your grandpa cause you know that happens a lot :/

This place is very outdated and that doesn’t bother me if everything else makes up for it, it doesn’t. The service was excruciatingly slow, we were in there for almost 2 hours and asked for the check when our meal arrived. The beer was not cold, the food was bland and overall you won’t see me anywhere near this place again! Not to mention for the four of us it was around $ 120!

I like Tilmans but tonight was not a good experience. Restaurant was very busy and they could not handle it. Waited two hours to eat sitting in our booth. food came out called, send it back. I will go back as I have had Great service and great food there.

My wife and I haven’t been to Tillman’s in awhile.
we came in for the liver pâté and crackers and a good drink. You could smell old smoke as soon as you entered the lobby. We sat down and my silverware was directly on the table with the napkin over it and the small white plate had food stuck to it. I asked for a new place setting; this should have been our first clue to leave but we didn’t. there might have been 5 tables in the entire place at 7 p.m. I asked my wife if her side of the booth had foam sticking out of it and was ripped and she said yes her booth was ripped also.
Iit was pretty slow but it was a Monday eve. I joked before we ate, it’s Monday the Chef’s night off and I didn’t know the joke would later turn into reality. We waited 5 minutes for someone to come over to the table only for the person to tell us the server would be with us soon, we waited and waited and then the same one came back and said she would be the server. (during our long wait for drinks the bartender had one customer and looked at us with no drinks in front of us, between the spindles and wouldn’t lift a finger to wait on us).While we waited we listened to the music it sounded like it came out of a small transistor radio which was very tinny and turned down fairly low, but if that wasn’t bad enough, it was a top 40 radio station, wow even a first time restaurant owner wouldn’t make these bad choices. Is this restaurant on cruise control?
We ordered a wine and a mixed drink, I had visions of an old school strong drink like the last time I was here, it wasn’t, it was weak, like Applebees, 1 ounce.
THE FOOD
The liver pâté tasted pretty good, the salads were very basic and the dressing was good, it’s nice not paying extra for the salads, which is rare in many places. We ordered steak Kabob’s and we both ordered medium rare, my wife’s was rare and mine was medium and were terrible.
We expected the steak to be in chunks not thin strips, we kept eating it because we were hungry but it had this nasty taste to it. We asked the server, what is the coating on the outside of the meat, she said they cook it, then dip it on something and then deep fry it. We said they deep fry it? When we ordered this we had no idea it would be deep fried, she said yes many people don’t like it, I though you were regulars or I would have notified you. She asked if we liked it we both said no not at all. We asked if the menu said it was prepared that way, she said no. We are at this point starring at each other in disbelief this was so bad we couldn’t believe it. We left our food on the plate and just had a nasty taste in our mouth. She did not tell a manager because we never saw one and she did not care if we were satisfied or came back. We paid our bill and left and said never again.
The next morning we both woke up sick to our stomach, we believe the food was over the expiration date. We both said we would not be shocked if this place suddenly closed.
What a horrible experience.

Slow service, even if you can get waited on, food taste very inconsistent.

I write this review with the atmosphere more or less disregarded: it is as old-​timey/​grandpa’s basement-​y as it gets, but I really doubt that will change any time soon. If you want to take your date to a hip, young, upscale place, probably go elsewhere. But if your date just really loves to eat (and is a carnivore), get over the odd atmosphere and get yourself to Tillman’s.
I went here for a «last hurrah» meal of sorts before the man went on a strict restrictive diet. It was 100% worth it. We walked in around 9:30 at night, and we were worried that was a bad call, assuming they may close early or that the quality may be lacking. We walked in the windowless, basement-​y place and were 2 of maybe 6 guests on a Saturday night. Not exactly a hopping bar crowd, but we were on a mission. Happy to see that the kitchen was still open, we ordered full meals.
I got the prime rib (medium rare, smaller portion), a house salad with bleu cheese dressing, and fettuccini alfredo as my side. Everything was excellent! The salad wasn’t super impressive but the dressing was homemade and good. We also got rolls. The alfredo sauce was clearly homemade and not cold or hard like it had been sitting in a warmer. Most importantly, the prime rib was superb. It was cooked perfectly, not overdone (again, no signs of it sitting and overcooking in a warmer) or underdone. It had a nice thick spiced crust and wasn’t overly fatty. Basically, we died and went to carnivore heaven (the man was a bit jealous he didn’t get the prime rib, even though his cattleman’s steak was great, so he helped me finish it). Portion size was pretty huge.
Service was great. We sat at the bar and got to talk to the bartender, who was very friendly and helpful. She basically told us that she loves seeing new customers– it seems that Tillman’s isn’t really a place that gets a big influx of new and/​or young clientele, which is unfortunate because it’s great. I personally would much rather go here than Ruth’s Chris (which is a chain and is way more expensive). I think that if we had an issue with anything, the staff would have been very quick to resolve it because they clearly care and want to retain customers. While this place isn’t really in my budget or diet to go regularly, I do plan to go back!

Tillman’s knows the way to my heart: stock the Crown Royal, and don’t be stingy with it.
Once off to a good start with that, the steaks, the room, the service are added and great bonuses.

Tillmans is described as Grand Rapids best-​kept secret and it needs to stay a secret. There is no reason to share this place with anyone. There’s better steak places with far better service and experience.
I came here with a party of 8 on new years eve 2013. We thought it would be fun to do a ‘throw back’ theme night out and this place fit that. Throwback is an understatement with Tillmans. With faux stone wallpaper, dark wood accents, low ceilings, and deep red plastic seat and booth covers, it’s a time warp to the 70’s.
When I arrived at 7pm for my reservation, I was surprised to find a mass of frustrated people waiting in the doorway and a flustered, not particularly friendly host bustling around. The host brought me back, waving at the available table, saying «welp, you made it», in a snarky tone. He then threw up his hands and walked away. No food menus, no drinks menus, and no discussion of the night’s specials were provided.
My server stopped by soon after to get my drink. Again, no greetings, no menus, and she was clearly stressed out. When I asked for a drink menu, she said she didn’t have one, and to just tell her what I want. Being New Year Eves I wanted a fun, specialty drink but I just got my old standby of vodka/​soda (it came out very weak).
My friends arrive and it takes the server a full 25 minutes to get back to us on drinks. It’s longer than that for water. Still, no menu of any kind is given. Finally, I asked the table behind us for a copy of their menu and attempt to ask their server to order.
Looking around, it appears everyone else is experiencing similar levels of slow service.
When we order there is no explanation of the nights abbreviated menu. Our server couldn’t tell us how things are prepared or what the entrees come with. She said she just didn’t know. So we order blindly and get an extra drink just in case we can’t find the server when we need another.
The food came our relatively quickly once ordered. The side salad was basic iceberg lettuce and a few onions slivers on top. The main entrée followed soon behind. The food did look appetizing albeit the presentation was lacking. By lacking presentation, I mean the server attempted to go over my head to put my hot plate down in front of me and almost dropped it on my lap. Thankfully someone else caught it in time.
My husband’s prime rib was done but quite chewy. Others with prime rib plates felt the same. I must say, my steak was actually pretty good and I took my unfinished half home.
There were zero options on the NYE menu for my strict vegetarian friends so they wound up getting fried fish. They didn’t know the fish would be fried, mind you, since the menu wasn’t clear. They both described the veggie side dish as ‘Grammys veggies’- that lifeless, from the bag, veggie mix that you get in the frozen food isle.
The place was packed but not in a good way. Had there been a fire, we would have all been in trouble. I shimmied through a few tables to get to the bathroom. That probably had only minor updates since the 70’s. The florescent lights highlighted the dirt and grime in the stalls. I’m told the men’s room wasn’t much better in appearance.
Since an entrée menu wasn’t formally provided, why would a desert menu be offered??? But at this point we wanted to leave so it was just as well that we passed on desert. Our server got our checks quickly; nothing else in the night went that fast. I took that as a sign that they’d rather have people out than in. I say that but our server was really running ragged by the end of our meal and I felt bad for her. It would’ve been nice of the restaurant management to have additional staff on board to help her run food, get drinks, and bus the tables. That probably would’ve helped her stress level and kept our meal running more smoothly.
Our bill was the same as something we’d be charged at a mid-​range, chain steak house, but the service and experience were so abysmal, it was confusing that they would charge that amount for the experience. Leaving, I almost tripped on the unsalted walkway. Yet another sign I need to leave.

This old well established spot still packs them in for lunch. It’s a thow back to the 60’s and 70’s when Vic Belmonte owned Belmonte’s Steak House at this location. Looks about the same inside too which isn’t a bad thing. I eat here for lunch about 4 times a year and it’s always pretty darn good! Probably the best french dip you could ever have anywhere is served here. Good steaks I hear from some of the many regulars. I kind of like this old musty place.

this place has alot of grey hair but i fit in with that also reminded me of one of my fave socal restaurants Billinsley’s’ founded by ‘leave it 2 beaver ‘mom barbara billinsley the food was real good i had a smothered sirloin and twice baked potato both were a bit pricey but tasty and large portion the drinks r in big clunky glasses and they weren’t mad ‘cos i showed up in t shirt and shorts. staff was friendly and helpful i really enjoyed this place

I was so excited to go to Tillman’s tonight for Prime Rib. Well you enter the dark dining room with stale smoke smell at the entrance. Lady that sat us was nice. We ordered prime rib dinners, rare and medium rare. Liz our server told us that they only had medium tonight. I should have ordered something else, not much flavor, and a lot of fat, big time on mine. The salad was cut up head lettuce and a hint of red cabbage and carrots, with two red onions on top, no tomatoes or cukes, good grief, tomatoes are 99 cents a pound. Potato was fine. Server came to the table a few times, she was ok, not anything bad. Our meal was NOT worth $ 22 plus. Would I go back, probably not… They need a decoration up grade, also and some good air purifiers. I hope that they read this review.

Another reviewer described Tillman’s as a musty Michigan basement and I have to admit, that is a fair critique of the atmosphere of this establishment. The smell of stale cigarette smoke mixed with your grandfather’s Brute and faint whispers of a bowling alley bathroom do play across your nose. The dim lights mixed with the dark woods and dark vinyl seating make you wonder what you are getting yourself into when you sit down. Be patient, give it a try.
I occasionally imbibe and did at Tillman’s. I enjoyed my simple gin and tonic with a twist of lime. It hit the spot, refreshing, cool, intoxicating.
I also tried the clam chowder which is only available on Friday’s. I didn’t find any problems with it. Creamy and salty, the clams were tasty and not too gritty.
I had the French dip and was satisfied with the hearty beefy taste. The beef wasn’t lunch meat stuff which is sometimes put on these sandwiches, however, looked like it was sliced from their prime rib. The au jus complimented the sandwich perfectly, not too salty, delicious. My wife had the Prime Rib and was thoroughly impressed. My wife is a tough sell when it comes to meat dishes and oftentimes sends her dishes back, however, she couldn’t find a problem with the prime rib. Tender, beefy with only a few pieces of undesirables.
The prime rib came with a side of spaghetti which was okay. Almost too sweet and not enough tomato, but, good.
We liked it, hoping to find ourselves in Grand Rapids again, to stop by Tillman’s.

Tillman’s is a good place for a steak dinner. Thier alfredo is pure awesome, so makes sure you order that instead of the backed potatoe as a side. They serve snales in these little butter cheese pans. They look good, but those are for the other members in my family no me lol. The evening hostess is very friendly and she has been serving there for a long time.

The beauty of this restaurant lies the fact that they have been doing the same thing for a very long time. The food is good… not memorable, but good. The value is appropriate. I went because I like «old-​line» restaurants and the history that seems to ooze from places like this.
I was very disappointed in the Martini… I always thought those were hard to mess up, but they did. Unusual fare is both liver and onions and frog legs… not seen often anymore.
I had the New York strip and the normal sides. Salad was disappointing as it tasted like they had several waiting in the cooler.
All in all, worth a stop if you are there and want a good meal for a decent price, but I wouldn’t drive out of the way. There are far too many other choices to experience first.

Still really bad. Frog legs are tiny, greasy undercooked shit. Steaks are the quality of someone selling from a white pickup, looking over their shoulder because they know they’re operating outside of local regulations. This place is so bad I can’t believe GR magazine said it was a best kept secret. I guess it shows GR still has the «Lake Wobegone» syndrome where critics feel bad if they destroy a restaurant. Not me, condemn this shithole
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0 stars

I don’t know how they stay open! The only thing worse that the food is the service, then management blows off comments. I wrote a letter of complaint and never had a response.