Gracie’s Place

Decent food, not many options. The wait staff was very nice.

I am an MSU alum and often am in town for business and whatnot still. I go to Gracie’s down the highway for the ambience, the service and the high-​end feel to a small-​town, late-​night restaurant.
Service is usually pretty good. The food is excellent. The bar selection is large enough. The prices are solid. I just always keep going back. Go figure.
Highly recommend, because it’s a very well-​kept secret from the masses.

A small town restaurant in downtown Williamston, Gracie’s Place is such a breath of fresh air to the franchise places. Beautiful architecture is kept intact and a small courtyard out back with a man playing classical music on a guitar.
The food was really good, but the service was not so great. They were not that busy in the middle of the week and we were never offered any refills on our drinks and we hardly saw the waiter pass buy to get his attention. if fact we had to seek him out to get our check.
The prices were a little stiff, and the portions not real generous, but the food was good.

Nice environment and good service and drinks, but very disappointed with the food tonight. Maybe it was an off night but the risotto was very mushy and didn’t appear to be arborio rice; salad was overdressed; salmon and chicken were overcooked; and beet and goat salad had very little of both main ingredients. Had nice meals here a year ago but the quality seems to have gone downhill. We really like you, Gracie’s! Please raise your game and we’ll be back in a heartbeat!

Good food, but nothing I couldn’t make at home for ¼ of the price. Service we terribly slow too when the place was only half full.

This review is for people (like me) who drive to Chicago from Michigan to have truly good food.
We were here the first time three years ago and my wife and I had contrasting opinions. We came back this week with a group of friends. I had the pasta which was (in my opinion) cold, unsalted, overcooked, and flavorless. Just a couple of mushrooms in the plate with a piece of garlic. My friend got the same pasta but it was warm. My wife got the whitefish. The fish was ok for an everyday restaurant but not for an upscale restaurant. The rice coming with the fish was undercooked, impossible to chew. And the vegetables were unseasoned. The soup coming with the main course was ok.
I do not know why it is so hard to have a good meal in the Lansing area. I would be happy to spend the money if the food was legendary. By the way this restaurant is $$$.

We went to Gracie’s Place for a friend’s birthday on Wednesday night. The ambiance is lovely, relaxed, and classy. It is a little cramped. There is live jazz music and the waiter was incredible. Most of the food was delicious, however, my beef/​noodle dish left a lot to be desired. I give this place four stars for mostly decent food and great service.

Awesome food great atmosphere the dry aged steaks are the best outside of Chicago or New York. A must try. The salmon was prepared perfectly and the ribeye steak dry aged in house is the best I ever had.

My Wife and I stopped here for a bit of lunch.
The interior surprised us because, from the street, the joint doesn’t appear to be that spacious.
We both had the half & half & half, cup of soup, small Cranny salad, half a sandwich.
Here’s my short list:
1. The server didn’t give us a warm & fuzzy feeling. He really rushed us at the end of our lunch, even swiping my napkin. Before I could shut the tab folder, he practically snatched it out of my hand.
2. The «Cup» of soup was served in a glass cup the size of a shot glass (okay, a bit larger than THAT, but still very small). I mean, c’mon, what does it cost to cook a pot of soup? My Broccoli Cheddar soup was very ‘grainey’. Tasty, but strange.
3. I had the Rueben. Corned beef was very tough and stringy.
We perused the drink/​beer/​wine specials above the bar… hoo-​wee! There were beers on there for fourteen bucks! Are you shysting me? I had water.
The entire experience was so-so…a bit over-​priced, but we may try it for dinner sometime. You never know.
No matter where you go, there you are.

This is a very good restaurant and bar. They offer a chef tasting menu and I keep missing the night they offer it. I hope to be reviewing that soon!
I have been here 3 – 4 times in the last year with my last time on 1−8−14. The bar is very well stocked and they have many crafty cocktails that are good. My favorite is the Madrid Mule. Excellent with house made ginger syrup. So delish!
The wait staff knows the menu well and also the bar offerings. It is important when they use fresh and special ingredients. They are not run of the mill combinations, so it important to know what they are serving.
The Mac and Cheese is very good and I like it made with their house made bacon. They offer some great salads and steaks. I have had a variety of dishes and sides there and I have enjoyed all of it. My friend took home a dish to go of a rabbit ragu and her boyfriend said it had cartalidge in it and he did not enjoy that. I did not experience it directly, but it is worth mentioning.
Try it, I think you will enjoy!

Total bummer that this place has gone so far downhill. 2 years ago I would have given 4 or 5 stars; now I likely won’t be back. Staff turnover (including chefs and bartenders) has apparently been constant. We were recently in on a Wednesday night and were the only customers in the entire place and the food was still barely edible — clearly microwaved (and not even thoroughly). We had the meatloaf and the mac-​n-​cheese and didn’t enjoy either. This place used to be a shining star and now it is on the «avoid» list. What a shame.

I had heard great things about Gracie’s Place through the grape vine, so a few friends and I decided to try it out for dinner. And I must say that it lived up to the hype!
Upon entering, I noticed the upscale, yet relaxed ambiance. It felt like being at a restaurant in NYC or SF. When we asked to be seated, the hostess told us that it was completely booked that night; however, we were pleasantly surprised when she was able to seat us within the hour. Big Plus!
For dinner, I ordered the scallops, which were incredibly tender, but too salty for my taste. It came with a side of rice, which was mixed with almonds, and roasted asparagus. Both sides were both perfectly cooked — just the right texture with the perfect amount of flavor.
Dessert was a hard choice, but we ultimately chose the garbanzo bean chocolate flourless cake. What a great decision we made! Although it was made entirely of beans, it was very flavorful, not overly sweet, and the right texture. It was just like eating a very dense piece of 70% chocolate cake.
Overall, I’d highly recommend Gracie’s Place to anyone who hasn’t yet been. You won’t be disappointed!

This is a lovely place! My coworker and I came here for a casual lunch and had a great time. The interior is lovely — very classy and clean — and they have a nice patio in the back too. We both got the gouda grilled cheese, which we enjoyed and I was particularly happy with their beer selection. I’m a huge pumpkin beer in the fall kind of person, and they had it on tap! All right! I think the best deal here is their half soup/​half salad/​half sandwich deal — only $ 8! I’ll definitely be coming back here, maybe for a nice dinner. Try it!

My mom and I went here when I came home for Mother’s Day weekend. We made an early reservation, at 530 on a Friday, since we had plans afterward and Williamston is a bit of a trek. We sat on the outdoor patio, which did fill up considerably as time went on. Looks like a popular spot so far!
Instead of going chronologically, I’ll talk about what we liked best first. We met the manager, Donovan, who was incredibly friendly and took the time to chat with us at our table. He is responsible for the cocktail menu, which is extensive, and the cocktails were well-​prepared and excellent. I had the Medawartini which has blood orange vodka and other things I’ve forgotten, but it was beautifully pink and delicious. A perfect «girly» drink, because it wasn’t sickly sweet! Mom loved her cocktail as well, which came from the «craft» cocktails side of the menu. Donovan told us they are going to add ten more PAGES to the cocktail menu — they are clearly striving to be a fine drinking destination and I’d say they’re off to a good start.
I like that you can order side salads here, for $ 4. Most fancy restaurants make you buy a whole first course salad, which can be $ 9 – 12, so I appreciate that Gracie’s Place doesn’t force you to throw down all that cash.
The food was pretty decent across the board. I had the Cranny salad, which was lettuce with dried cranberries, blue cheese, toasted walnuts, and cranberry vinaigrette. It was a pretty good salad, with a bright flavor from the dressing. Good portion size. We also got some bread with olive oil to dip in — I believe they bake the bread in house, but I could not taste the difference, to be honest.
For my entrée, I had the sake chicken, which was grilled chicken in a sake-​blueberry sauce. It was served over coconut-​almond quinoa with roasted artichokes. It was a fine dish, with some interesting flavors from the berries, but I felt that overall it was a little pedestrian. My mother had the whitefish which I liked better, the lobster-​curry sauce being really delicious.
The problem? The service. First, it was dead slow. Took forever to get Mom’s drink out (they took her order before mine) — her cocktail was on the table for over 10 minutes before I got mine. Our server was slow to take orders, and the food was slow in coming. It took a long time for the salads to arrive, then a long time for the entrees.
Then — sigh — I saw our server bring our entrees to the wrong table. She actually put the whitefish down in front of another woman, walked away, realized her mistake, came back a minute later and asked the woman if she’d touched the whitefish. The woman said no, and she brought it to my mom, after it was placed on the table. Look, I’m not a germophobe, but I’ve worked in restaurants and I know that’s unacceptable. Once it hits a table, it’s dead. If the table doesn’t eat it, another table shouldn’t get it! It doesn’t matter if she says she didn’t touch it! I didn’t mention this to the server but I saw it all go down and told my mom, who was a little weirded out and asked if the other customer touched it. She could’ve said something but chose not to.
I did say something about an unidentified piece of plastic in my dish. And look — that’s no big deal, stuff happens, whatevs. It’s their response time that bugged me. They took my chicken, and didn’t take mom’s entrée away. So mom was left, eating her whitefish, while I waited and waited and waited for a new plate of chicken. It took, I’d say 15 – 20 minutes, and other food was coming out of the kitchen on the regular. I don’t think that is okay. I think they should’ve offered to take Mom’s dish away too (so she isn’t left having to eat in front of me if she doesn’t want to). And my food should’ve been MAJORLY expedited. Like — first priority. I think 20 minutes is really unacceptable.
Our server was incredibly apologetic and took the chicken off the bill. She was very friendly about it.
This is a tough one but I think… ughhhhhh…I feel like I have to give 2 stars! The food was 3 stars for me. I loved talking to the manager and the cocktails were great, but the dinner experience was really marred by the service. If they are aiming to be a restaurant that could fit in the upscale neighborhoods of large cities, they have a lot of work to do.
I’d come back if I had a lot of extra time, and just wanted cocktails and an appetizer. I would be hesitant to return for dinner unless I had reason to think the service improved. I feel bad because I think it’s amazing to give the Williamston community (and those of us in Haslett) a much-​needed fine dining option. But please, please, work the kinks out so that I can justify coming back! You pay too much money to have these kind of mistakes.

My husband and I came here for an anniversary dinner and found the place to be nice and quaint. The menu is eclectic for sure, being that it is in Michigan. We started with the Rabbit Crepes which were okay, nothing spectacular about them. The portion was enough to start the meal. I ordered the salmon which was amazingly fresh and prepared well. My husband had the New York Strip which was also done well.
Overall, the food was good. The service can be a little patchy and the dining room setup is crowded.

I had an excellent dinner here while visiting family over the holidays.
The place has a trendy, modern, open décor that could fit in on the north side of Chicago just as easily as Williamston. The bar is modern, the kitchen is exposed from the dining room, and they have local art available for sale hanging on an exposed brick wall.
They have a wide selection of micro-​brewed draft beers and an expert bar tender that helped to kick off our meal. Our group sampled several apetizers and all of them were fantastic! Our entrees were near flawless. I had the Braised Pork Ragu. It was wonderful, full of flavor and spice.
What makes this place special is that they have a selection of nontraditional proteins available (i.e. duck and rabbit.) This made for a more memorable dining experience. Their menu also changes about every month depending on what food is in season and available. However, each dish tasted like a house favorite that had been perfected over the years. Hats off to the chef!
My only complaint is that the place is very loud during dinner. We were there on a week night. The place was pretty busy causing conversation at the table to be inaudible at times. Not exactly my cup of tea. However, the food more than makes up for it. I will be back the next time I am in town.

Like a couple others, we also checked out Gracie’s thanks to its Groupon a short while back. Simple but tasty Americana. I had the vegetarian eggplant napoleon with goat cheese, which I found it to be a little on the heavy side, but quite flavorful. My dining partner ordered a steak that he complimented as well. Two drinks (Michigan beers, hooray!) and two entrees came out to just under $ 55 including tax and tip.
Many of the negative reviews here seem to be about the service, which we personally experienced no problems with. A few minutes in, we wanted to switch tables because ours was directly over an air conditioning vent, and the hostess accommodated us immediately (why you’d have a table with cold air blasting under it is another question, but it wasn’t my problem any longer!). Our waitress was friendly and our food and drinks arrived promptly. Oh, and we got a free taste of an amuse-​bouche the chef was experimenting with before our meal. Full disclosure — it was a Thursday night and less than half full, so take that for what you will.

The reasons why I love Gracie’s Place:
1. Babka Appetizer
2. Excellent service
3. Warm and cozy atmosphere
4. Not a chain restaurant and is less than a 15 min drive for us
5. Great place to take friends and family to
6. High quality food
My only complaint is that the prices are a little high. Then again, you do get what you pay for. I will definitely be back!

Went to Gracie’s last night to use our Groupon and I will NEVER go back. We’d been there once before and the food was great and the service was so so but last night we waited over 90 minutes for our dinner.
When we got there we were seated at the high top tables in the back (right next to the bathroom) because we didn’t have reservations. Once we were seated we didn’t see our waitress for 10 minutes. Our waitress was friendly but seemed a bit overwhelmed, we got our drinks promptly and ordered. We had ordered a cheese plate as an appetizer – it took 30 minutes for it to come out and our table was never given bread like all other tables, we had to ask for it. While we were eating our cheese plate there was a couple who was seated next to us and after 20 minutes they had still not seen a waitress, the husband let the hostess know and after another 10 minutes still no one had come to their table – they walked out.
After we had finished our appetizer our waitress came over and said the kitchen was backed up but our entrees would be out soon. They didn’t come until 90 minutes after we ordered! Our food came, the Macaroni was good but the Pesto Pasta that I got didn’t even have pesto on it, it was pretty much spaghetti noodles with some corn on top.
The bartender who seemed to be the manager had to go to several tables to hear complaints about service and waiting times. If we hadn’t had a Groupon we would’ve walked out.
The owners of Gracie’s need to staff their kitchen to make sure food comes out in a timely manner and to staff the floor with more than 4 waitresses on a busy night. You would think after putting a Groupon out you would expect a spike in business and plan for it.

Have you ever found yourself in one of those lovely little towns that looks like it could have been the setting fir It’s a Wonderful Life… like Jimmy Stewart might be right around the next corner? Williamston, MI is just like that. And Gracie’s Place is just such a restaurant… outside and inside it is beautiful! The food steps up to the plate — no pun intended — in both presentation AND taste!
First, the surroundings… crisp white walls and woodwork are inset with sparkling leaded glass windows and French doors. Black and white photos of local, picturesque storefronts mixed with photos of an adorable littlte one (yes, it is the one and only Gracie!) line the walls. Classic elegance!
As hinted above, the food was beautifully presented, artfully arranged and downright delicious. The Bella salad was a cool plate of fresh garden greens, bright red strawberry slices, crunchy pecans, tangy feta, and thinly sliced purple onion topped with a smooth, mustardy strawberry vinaigrette to perk everything up perfectly. Other standouts in our party were a cheesy-​topped croque monsieur and the bleu cheese and bacon salad I almost got… next time. Desserts are made in-​house and change daily. My crème brûlée was a standout, as were the cranberry-​chocolate individual bread puddings, but I think the hit of the afternoon was a mile-​high choclate cake with clouds of homemade frosting swirled from top to bottom. Yum!
If you ever find yourself longing for a little bit of a slower pace for a day, or more, travel up north and stop by Williamston, MI and visit Gracie… I think you’ll be glad you did!