A kindred spirit provided my haircut this week. Maybe all of twenty years old, she did a great job. She had a lot to work with… my hair was crazy long. But the kindred part was our discussion of Grand Haven. She was born and raised here. We talked about all the great things to do in West Michigan, and then she said, “But what I hate is there is not a single truly good restaurant in Grand Haven.”
I said, “What about TED’s, Turk’s, the new steak place just about to open?”
“The are all across the bridge.”
“Oh, that’s right. Spring Lake side of the channel.” Across the bridge everyone loves to hate. Especially when you are stuck on the wrong side.
We ran thru the list of Grand Haven restaurants. She was absolutely correct. The most painfully bad example was Noto’s. We both wanted to love it. A great building, right on the Lake Michigan beach… with food she claimed as “toxic”. I protested that description, but we agreed the food was less than average at best. A horrible shame. With the view and the facility, it would be fine to pay the extra money… if only the food was good. It isn’t.
So on and on we went. We agreed on every single place. Resolved: there is not a single truly good restaurant in Grand Haven.
They are many nearby. Sandy Point Beach House in West Olive, the ones in Spring Lake, Nunica… up the coast a little towards Muskegon for Dockers, The Deck, and many more.
In just a few weeks we will be moving over the bridge, across the Grand River channel. I’ll still say we live in Grand Haven, but really it is Nunica. The land slightly north that has the truly good restaurants. And most everything we will want including great beaches. Driving to the actual city of Grand Haven will become much more rare.