Restaurants near Fish Ladder Park

Went here for a late valentine’s dinner . Everything was absolutely amazing , from the warm greeting at the door, to the outstanding service from our waiter Avery . She did a wonderful job explaining the menu and giving us recommendations on some of the meals. The food was flavorful, delicious and cooked to perfection. We had a beautiful window view, and enjoyed our tasty cocktails. Highly recommend this restaurant for a lovely romantic evening.

We really liked the layout and our waiter, Kamden, was very helpful and attentive! The only downside was my wife's steak was overcooked, and it took a bit for the kitchen to get the food out. My scallops were excellent and the presentation of the food was great. I had an old fashioned, very good, and my wife had an excellent wine! We'll be back.

Very cute a fun restaurant. Food was good and service was was perfect. Everything on the menu is pretty pricey, but you get what you pay for.

As a featured dish for Valentine's night, they offered a surf and turf entrée with a langostina and baguette steak. My wife just preferred the seafood so we asked if the chef would do perhaps 2 of the langostina instead, which our waitress came back and said they would be happy to change. Well unfortunately when they presented her plate, there were 2 ridiculously small langostina that looked terrible plated. As my wife tried to make happy about her presented dish there was so little meat on these 2 that I mouse couldn't have made a meal of this! Without trying to ruin our whole dining experience, I shared my plate and wrapped up a poor dining experience to say the least. It shocks me to think the kitchen would send out a plate that presented so poorly!! I know they had a long evening for the holiday but honestly this was the worst plated meal I've ever seen. Will have to think long and hard before we go back.

Besides having the best steaks in Grand Rapids, the service at Bowdies is always top notch. Sometimes good service can be more impactful than the food and Bowdies goes above and beyond. In January 2025 the parking structure close by was taken down, so give yourself a couple extra minutes to find parking.