Beggars used to be an old favorite, dating back to the mid 90s. Â I am not sure if the restaurant has changed or I have changed, but it always leaves me wanting. Â No, it's the restaurant.
My most recent couple visits have been for brunch with friends. Â First thing is the service, always lack luster. Â Obviously unenthusiastic and just blah. Â Coffee is never refilled, answers to questions are muttered and not very elaborate, and special requests of any kind are an obvious inconvenience.
The food is just okay and not cheap and to be honest I am not sure why we come back here. Â Nostalgia maybe, but that will only last so long.
This is one of the bars my friends and I frequented while at MSU. My review is solely for wine and spirits, I never tried the food here. Too smoky.
Anywho, this is a place to check out if you are looking to enjoy some drinks with friends but you are not in the mood for a crazy, drunken mess. For some reason, this bar attracts a slightly older clientele. In a college town full of frat parties and crazy, wild bars, this is saying a lot.
Our junior year my friends were kicked out because they tried taking a bottle of wine with them. It took us over a year to come back, just in case they recognized us. We missed them dearly.
Good dynamic selection of craft beers on tap. Full Bar selection. Cozy atmosphere. Good bar food. And a Great wait staff and managers.
The staff here has really made a point to remember my Girlfriend and myself from previous visits and I appreciate that kind of service. Additionally they are always able to describe the new beers to me.
Once, I got an over cooked burger during a busy dinner time. And the manager immediately came to my table and took care of the situation with a real sense of urgency.
Weird. Â I graduated from MSU and never once ate here. Â We went up for a weekend, and our B and B owner suggested it. Salty uneventful, barely edible tilapia, over-garlicked chicken (I am referring to chunks of uncooked garlic sitting on top of a breast of chicken). Â I even wondered if it was processed chicken, it was so bad. Â The staff did a good job of trying to make up for it (we complained) and gave us a certificate for a free meal or something. Â No thanks.
Review Source:Beggar's, for me, is pretty split even when comparing pros and cons, but in the land of East Lansing/Lansing, where fast food and chain restaurants rule, I have to lean on the positive side whenever I eat here. Which is only on half-off wine night. It's the best bang for your buck at Beggar's where the menu tends to be a little overpriced for what you get. The london broil is the best in town - just make sure to not order it more than medium done! The tuna is great, too.
I'm not a big fan of the bar here. The atmosphere is somewhat for an older crowd, run down, and boring... The service is also very, very casual and unattentive, but never any thing to get pissy about. Beggar's could really use some updating to keep up with the food and wine...
To sum it up, come for a nice dinner and wine but don't dress up for it.
Side note: I've heard frequently that Beggar's has an amazing brunch and the best mimosas in town, but I haven't tried it myself.
Beggar's Banquet has been here for 40 years -- a tremendous amount of staying power in a college town. So there's that...
There's also the bar and bar area - wood everywhere and inviting on any dark and rainy night - which last night was. And, then there is a nice selection of draft beers at the right price. This is all good.
The above attributes: nostalgia and the bar are definitely pushing 5 stars.
On the other hand, the food and service, both drag the rating down a bit. I think if I had gone with something more "bar-foodesque," I would have been happier, but I went with the full-on dinner - never mind what; it was so-so, as was dinner of others in my party. Plus, I never got my chili. Server: "Oh, sorry."
Last thing - way, way too many things on the menu. I've seen Restaurant Impossible, I know I'm right on this one.
Stick to beer, drinks, the bar and bar food and I'm sure you'll be happy here.
I used to eat here fairly often when I lived in Lansing. I moved away about four years ago. I ended up back here for dinner, and either the food has gone downhill or my standards have gone up. I can't really say which. The london broil stroganoff-style was pretty good, but it was overpriced. Beer menu is great though.
Review Source:Looking to a get brunch in East Lansing, Mi.? Beggar's Banquet is the place to go. The nice thing is that this restaurant is really close to campus located right in the downtown of East Lansing. Â One of my favorite brunch selections to order here is their omelets. They are really fluffy and cooked to perfection. The only thing I did not like about this restaurant is that it has very strange hours. On most days, this restaurant does not open until 10am. However, it is totally worth the wait! Go to Beggar's!!!!!
Review Source:Came here to watch the umich vs. state game this past weekend. It was packed as expected.
We didn't get a table for the first half of the game so we were standing around along with many other people. The staff was pretty nice and understanding everytime we wanted to order something.
Also ordered food - the burger was pretty good (although I was drunk).
I dont remember prices but it was pretty decent (as is any college town bar)
This place was okay - I'm not a wine person so the deal didn't appeal to me. Had the Greek salad, which is pretty hard to screw up. There were only two banana peppers in the salad which was a bit of a fail, but at least they weren't too heavy-handed with the oil. All in all it was fine, but nothing to write home about.
Review Source:We arrived on a Saturday night to a nearly empty house. There was the quintessential old barfly drinking alone and watching the football game near the bar itself. That seems to be like the loaf of French bread in every movie grocery bag. I'm not sure if we arrived before the crowd (6:30ish), or if it was just a dead night. We even went to the trouble of making a reservation beforehand. I'm not sure that was necessary now. Oh well, always be prepared.
The rough-hewn rafters and the dark walls give off the impression of a cave. The jury's still out on it, but I'm leaning towards it needing more light. It just seems too dated and dark.
My order was a cheesesteak-style sandwich, which I do not see on the on-line menu right now. I remember having it, but don't know if they haven't updated the website in a while or just removed the plate from the menu. My dinner guests had the Beggar's mac and cheese.
I found the service to be very professional and polite throughout the whole meal. He was timely and did his job very well. In fact, that's what's keeping it at three stars, instead of two. The food, however, needs a little TLC.
The cheesesteak was good. It wasn't anything phenomenal, by any means, but I did enjoy it. The fries, however, were too seasoned for my liking. I ended up leaving them alone. My guests found their dinners to either be too runny or too solid. They made do with what they had, but an even consistency would have been nice.
Beggar's has some work to do in the kitchen. However, if they start nailing the dishes, this would be a great place for a Saturday night dinner.
WINE WEDNESDAY. Â Yum.....although the service is disappointing for what you pay to dine at Beggar's. Â
coquille st jacques is great, the gnocchi dish is good, and the wine selection is legit. Â My girlfriends & I loved going to Beggar's for girls' nights. Â I miss it now that I no longer live in EL.
This is one of my favorite places to go to in East Lansing. I spent quite a bit of time here while pursuing my BA at Michigan State. On Wednesday's, they feature 50% off select wine bottles and appetizers. It is usually pretty busy, so it would be best to get there early. They also have some delicious brunch. So, not only is this a place to visit to a relaxing, chill atmosphere for nightlife, but it is also one of the best brunch spots in this college town. Enjoy!
Review Source:Not impressed. Two redeeming factors:
WONDERFUL server. Funny, charming, and attentive but not overly.
Caprese salad to blow your mind. Not sure why they have such a hit or miss menu, but I was really excited for my seared tuna after a salad of that caliber. Â Reduced balsamic vinegrette, fresh sweet tomatoes, and mozzarella (perhaps even burrata??) that was so creamy and sweet and delicious it nearly made me swoon. Â
The tuna entree, however, was nearly inedible. Better preparation of the fish, and better quality fish, would be a good start.
Would not go back, except perhaps for that salad. Â Not a bad wine selection either.
Ah, Beggar's. Â I've been coming here for years and years. Â Gimme Eat is pretty much my life's motto, so I have a lot in common with this place.
I've come here in the morning for brunch, the evening for dinner, and the night for drinks. Â Since I don't live in town anymore, I hadn't been to Beggar's in a while until yesterday when I stopped in for brunch.
It's easy to get a table on a Sunday during brunch hours, in my experience.  My friend and I got a booth, where I got some fresh orange juice and she got coffee.  My jaw dropped a little (in a good way) when I saw the food prices - so cheap!  Seriously, all the brunch items..."$5.99.......$6.99.....$7.99"  Amazing!  Coming from big cities where brunch will set you back twice that much or more, I was quite excited by this discovery.  I built my own omelet with avocado, bacon, and Swiss cheese (well I didn't build it with  my own hands, but you know).
The omelet arrived not too long after, and it was quite tasty. Â Not as fluffy as I like, but great ingredients - cheese was super melty, bacon was crisp and plentiful, and avocado slices were creamy on top. Â I also got some tasty wheat toast, and their awesome home fries which are a mix of different kinds of potatoes, including purple potatoes! Â And I swear I had a few sweet potatoes in there too.
My bill was $11 with the omelet/toast/home fries, and a glass of orange juice. Â Can't beat that. Â Also the server was friendly and he let us linger for a while after we paid without giving us an angry face. Â Hurray!
Reinforced my good feelings about Beggar's; I always enjoy coming back when I'm in town!
Been going since the 70's. Â Had a Groupon "coupon" to use and went in for a nice dinner. Â
London Broil Stroganoff was cool and cut incorrectly so it was TOUGH. Â Tried to get our waitress, but she walked by talking with another staffer. Â Obtained knife from another waiter. Â Waitress sat up front talking to host, only came back to BERATE us for asking someone else for service.
Manager came to apologize and took off the entree. Â It obviously wasn't the first time this waitress had caused problems.
Not anxious to return, Groupon or no. Â She also gave us TOO MUCH change. Â We left the overage, but she probably thought it was a tip. Â Wrong.
Not like the days of Adler, Thelander and Richard.
I really want to give this place a better rating, but only for the beer selection. Â Beggar's Banquet has the best selection of Short's Brew (my favorite Michigan beer) on tap anywhere I've seen. Â You can't go wrong with whatever Short's they have tapped. Â
The food is a different story. Â I was there on a Tuesday night and experienced 2-hour dinner. Â Seriously?!? Â It wasn't busy and the service was extremely slow. Â At one point, I went up to the bar to get myself another beer. Â Don't order the flatbread, it is terrible. Â Other things on the menu seem decent, but mainly average. Â
Oh Beggar's, your beer selection is so great, why do I waste my time amusing myself with your food? Â I plan on drinking my meal next time I visit so I can truly enjoy the experience.
This is my favorite place to grab a drink in East Lansing. They have a hefty selection of quality beers, half-off wine on Wednesdays and great atmosphere. Â I like to start of the night there, since there is lots of seating and it is quiet enough to get a good conversation in.
The food, for me, is hit or miss. I've had some great meals and some so-so meals. I think it depends on what you order and what you're in the mood for. Â Beggar's also offers a nice change-up to the standard breakfast/brunch options in the area.
I recommend every gives Beggar's a shot!
Bleh. The only reason my boyfriend and i went there is because we wanted bloody marys and it was before noon and woody's wasn't open. We figured we'd give Beggar's a shot since we've never been there before. But we had to wait at Beggars until it hit noon anyway... so dumb.
They had a decent food selection but what we got - french toast for me and an omelet for him - were totally general / borderline bad. Not to mention, the waitress got his order wrong and we had to wait forever to get his new dish. The bloody mary special was alright - $2 for a single, but they were pretty small although they were good. Oh yeah, and our waitress like didnt really care about us and gave us our bill when we so weren't ready. Ugh, shouldv'e waited for woody's.
Was in town for a weekend conference and ate at Beggar's three times. Good food with a nice, diverse menu. AMAZING beer and wine menu. Try the Goose Island Matilda on draft, if they still have it. I've heard the menu changes often.
Downgrade is mainly because I got a salad here one night that was soooo soaked in dressing I had to send it back. It was literally soggy. But they were super kind and replaced it quickly.
I was really happy to set foot in this place again recently after 20+ years.
It's probably the nicest bar in the Grand River scene, which isn't all that much of a compliment.
The beer selection is tremendous, and much has been said about the wine here.
Yeah, I sorta agree with Brett that the food just kind of gives up. Â It could be excellent, but falls short. The coquille has about 4x the amount of cream necessary. Â Not at lot of attention to detail.
But, really what other options are there around here for non-chain ambiance close to campus.
It is what is it is. Â And that's a dang fine bar in EL.
This place has the potential to be better than it is, but because it's in a college town, it just gives up.
First, the layout leaves the restaurant much more cramped than it needs to be. Â It's divided up by a series of small rooms, and packed to the brim with as many tables and chairs as they can cram in there. So be prepared to be bumped several times by people trying to squeeze by.
The servers were pretty clueless. Â The server who brought out our food dropped a plate and didn't apologize, although the manager came out and did.
Could easily be a more vegan friendly place, but chooses not to be. But their portobello dishes came stuffed with cheese of which they told me they couldn't take out because it was already baked inside. So my only choices were a salad and a hummus appetizer.
Thankfully my food was actually really good. The garden salad was extremely fresh tasting, and had a great tangy taste, and my hummus was very flavorful. Was not expecting that.
Too bad for place called the beggars banquet, the dishes weren't exactly cheap. Â Slightly deceiving name.
I could go without this place.
My hubby took me here for dinner. I had the Fish and Chips --- Â Fish was awesome --- fried to perfection. The fish they used was cod --- Â fatty type --- awesome! Perfectly paired with beer!
Also had the Caprese Salad --- not my favorite. There was a little too much balsamic vinegar --- totally overwhelmed the salad.
My hubby had the Stuffed Eggplant --- kinda gross. There was way too much cheese and marinara sauce --- to the point that the eggplant was lost in the cheese and sauce!
Definitely check it out !
Man, do I ever love this bar. Â
As a EL rook visiting my fiancee's family in Lansing for the Holidays, she took me to some of her favorite spots and this had to be the best.
The owner -- or maybe he was the bar manager -- doesn't matter. Â Total badass. Â Pleasant demeanor, eager to serve us, and offered up a few shots on the house that he was experimenting with. Â Never more than a nod away, and had plenty of stories the way a proper bartender should when you cozy up to the bar on a snowy afternoon.
Their craft brew selection was spectacular, and if we didn't have prior dinner plans that required sobriety in front of family members, my fiancee and I would have closed this place down on nothing but the local beers and free shots.
This is what people down south imagine a midwestern bar in a blustery town to look and feel like. Â I surely left satiated with that experience.
Ohhh, I spent so many Wednesday nights at Beggars...
Go for half off wine + half off appetizers on Wednesdays and you won't be disappointed. Get there early if you want a booth, 'cause it gets packed! A bottle of Relax and an order of baked brie is what got me through my last semester at State. Also, no cover!
Another institution across from Michigan State University. Â I'm not sure how long it's been around, but it seems like forever--kind of looks like forever too--ignore that. Â The food is good and the specials are often inventive. Â The wine is great, of course. Â
If you don't like inhaling lots and lots of secondhand smoke, this is not the place for you. Â The building is old and the air doesn't circulate at all so the smoke just hangs everywhere. Â I suggest brunch when there is a little less smoke.
Wine Night (Wed.) just can't be passed up at Beggar's! This is the Anti-Landshark/PT's. A bit higher class crowd, 1/2 off appetizers, 1/2 off wine, no carved up wooded tables with beer spilled all over them. You can actually wear some nicer clothes and get away with it. The food is very good. You will have a great time. Any other day you can enjoy a nice (but expensive) meal here as well. The Baked Brie is awesome.
Review Source:An East Lansing institution. My dad and his buddies remember going there back in the 1970s, so when they are back in town they swing in.
I've come along a few times (yay for being a broke college kid) and I've always had great food and drink. The atmosphere is unique - very cool photos/newsclips of MSU/East Lansing from the past 30 years. It's also a different, slightly more mature crowd - which can be a nice break from the usual.
Wine Night on Wednesday is also a great time. Cheap wine and good friends are a great combination.
okay, I get it. I know it's called, "Wine Night."
but people, let us not forget that it is also half-off apps.. which if you haven't had the brie from Beggars... you haven't had brie.
Also.. Big Dave's London Broil for you meat eaters out there.. mmm mmm mmm. A bit pricey for a college wallet, but definitely worth it. Served with garlic mashers and broccoli that will make the biggest veggie nay-sayer say Whoa (insert Joey from Blossom.. holla daf). And if you go on Monday, the Flashback Special (another name for Big Dave's) is only 10 bucks. Â Also on Mondays, it is half-off for Restaurant employees...
so grab a bartending buddy or a cook comrade and go drink and be merry!
Three words.  Half-off wine night.  That's technically four but who gives a damn when you can get plastered off your patootie on the good stuff for a fraction of the regular cost?  The breakdown:  3 of your best pals, $4 each on a bottle, good music, raucous laughter - you've got yourself a good time, dead in the middle of the week.  But make sure you A) get there early or else you will not have a place to sit  B) have someone to drive you home when you're done and C) have practiced your best "I'm dying from the plague voice"  so you can lie to your boss as why you aren't making it into work on Thursday...
The appetizers are half-off as well on Wednesdays and I am partial to the empanadas when they have them, and the chicken quesadillas. Â If you're into reds, the Spanish Sangre de Torro is a lovely start (or finish) to any half-off wine night. Â Vino blanco your thing? Â My personal favourite is the Grand Traverse Riesling - I love Michigan wines - especially whites.
Any other time, the food and wine are absolutely delicious, but sadly full priced. Â Good spot to take a date.
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