First, the Kirby is overrated, and if you have been to a Gilmore collection place before, you have been to them all. The Pizza in K2 is good woodoven pizza, but I go here for the view in the summer. In the winter, they run great happy hour specials, but those get pulled out from under us locals during the summer.
The darkroom downstairs is interesting. The only "club" in Grand Haven and there are usually hoards of cougars on the prowl.
The Grill Room is a nice place to eat if you want to drop some cash, however, I prefer The Grand a block away for fine dinning, and more seafood options.
Everytime I walk by the place, there is a cheezy cover band playing in the window, or worse, dueling pianos...
Overall, The Kirby is able to capitalize on its sheer size and location and charge customers more in the summer than the winter. Value wise I would give it 2 stars, but they do have a great deck up top, and the only club in the city in the basement, so they get one more star.
Try a tripple loc dogger from the deck bar in the summer.
Located on the corner block of downtown Grand Haven, a great spot to have a good lunch with a couple friends. Â Choose from a buffet (which includes their pizza and a salads) or order from the menu. Â I'm not much a fan of pizza so I ordered a cup of pumpkin bisque and hummus & veggies from the appetizer menu. Â The service is friendly, prompt and attentive. Overall an enjoyable experience but if you have to use the restroom, they're located in the lower level of the building - I suddenly felt I was at a haunted house from the early 1900s decor of the basement.
Review Source:From the outside, I had little idea of what was behind the entrance doors. After narrowly avoiding a stampede of high school girls, there had to be 50 running from the revolving doors, I entered this classic American landmark. (built in 1873) with areas to explore, my drink and dinner had to wait. The Grill at Kirby House, the more upscale dining area looked like a classic Chicago steakhouse from the early turn of the century. Heading downstairs, there is a new lounge area that was dug out below the buildings 1st floor. It was not open, but the business angle makes total sense. Heading upstairs on a wide and carpeted stairway like you might see in an expensive hotel.
I felt like a character in Clue. Â A
Monday through Friday Happy Hour food special-all you can eat wood fired pizza, pasta and salads. $1.99 sangria and wines to quench your thirst and pairs wonderfully with pizza. A refreshing Vander Mill hard cider and a portion from my friends South West  chicken Quesadilla  (came with a cilantro salad) was a nice quick nosh, so a Macho Nacho later (get the extra beef) and I was very satisfied. There is no doubt I will attempt to try most of the remaining menu, as I was being shown the town and our next stop was calling.
My wife and I have visited Kirby House twice. Â Our first visit was on our seven year anniversary. Â For that visit, we were seated on the patio. Â It was a warm summer night and very romantic- until, that is, the staff seated a family of four at OUR table with us. Â Apparently, the patio is "cafateria" seating and we had extra space at our table. Â This was never mentioned to us or asked of us even knowing it was our anniversary. Â We spoke with the manager who said they get this complaint a lot.
On our second visit, we were joining a second couple who were seated before us. Â I mentioned to the hostess that we were joining another couple who would have just been seated. Â She said we were free to look around. Â We could not find our friends because they'd been seated in an off area. Â Assuming they weren't here yet, we asked for a table for four. Â The hostess said she had sat our friends in another area and she led us right to their table. Â Why hadn't she led us to begin with? We wasted five minutes looking ourselves when the hostess could have shown us to the table to start!
The food was good but no match for bad service.
Lunch time on a busy Sunday. Thai lettuce wraps were good. The California burger and mojito were okay. Nothing stood out though. Service was fine.
We had a table by the door to the patio, so we were being buzzed by a couple flys. Annoying. Although my friend managed to Mr. Miagi one with his bare hands, more followed. An older couple in the table closest to the door changed tables because of it. Other than the great location, just plain... average.
This is a review for "The Kirby House" which I think is the main place. Â Meh. Â The service was very attentive and friendly, but the food just didn't have much to it. Â I had the greek chicken pasta. Â Chicken was fine, toppings were nice, but the sauce consisted of a fairly tasteless chicken broth and nothing else. Â My husband had the fish special which was equally unimpressive. Â The atmosphere is really nice, maybe we just ordered the wrong things, but just very bored with the food.
Review Source:I'm from Atlanta, visiting my bf's family in GRap.
We had lunch at The Kirby House a few days ago and it was so nice. My black bean burger topped with avocado & spicy slaw was delish, and my bf enjoyed his Cuban sandwich.
I wish I could remember our waitresses name, bc she was so sweet & friendly. The whole staff was nice.
Apparently there is more to this place than just the pizza upstairs. Â Which is all I experienced here and all I shall be writing about. Â My family had been here and quite enjoyed it, raving and such about it. Â Definitely got me excited. Â The pizza selections were fabulous. Â Really want to go back and try more, but that would mean having to go back to Michigan ha-ha. Â Each pizza is a personal size which I think, always helps when it comes to big parties. Â Good beer selection too.
The restaurant is very interesting inside with all the decorations and everything. Â Lots of room too. Â Add some great service and this place was definitely a wonderful experience. Â Seems like this is the place to go to in Grand Haven. Â Definitely worth checking out!
So GENIUS.
I don't have a whole lot to add. Â The burgers were good, the beer was cold, our server was excellent, the price was fair. (Although I just now re-figured what the tip should have been and realized that I had done it wrong at the time and tipped pretty meagerly. Â Sorry...). Â We had walked past this place for years and I had always wanted to have dinner/drinks in the main level deck (?... it's not really a deck, maybe a porch?) while watching the world go by, and we finally did so this past weekend. It was nice, but I was surprised at how noisy it was. Â I shouldn't have been surprised; it's right next to the busy street, but loud cars and bikes would drown any attempt at conversation. Â That's not the restaurant's fault at all, just something to keep in mind if you go. Â Best to sit inside.
Review Source:This is a review for the Dark Room, a brand new club/lounge in the basement of the Kirby House. Â
The Dark Room is a small narrow room in the basement.  In my opinion this setup is probably one of the best for the West Michigan club scene as it doesn't divide up any unnecessary open space.  The bar was near  the crowd and the dance floor in front of the DJ.  Due to the shape of the room the music is well projected forward and the modern decor reminds you you're not in a "hole in the wall".  In addition, If you need a short break from it all it's easy to venture upstairs and around the Kirby House. Â
I flew in from the west coast to meet a few old friends and also celebrate my birthday on a Saturday. Â The club manager, Louis, was able to arrange bottle service for my party of eight. Â Service was quite satisfying and in par with some bigger city clubs I've experienced. Â Towards the end of the evening and with the dance floor packed, our nice hostess came up to me and apologized about someone outside of our group had got carried away and scurried off with one of our half full bottles of vodka. Â Entertained by the incident, I was pleased when she offered to compensate the intrusion by making sure everyone in our group could have any mixed drink for free.
Also a high five to the DJ and good friend known as Slim Tim, who really had the dance floor packed from the time we arrived at 10:45pm onto the closing hour. Â From my understanding he spins at the venue most Saturdays.
If I return to West Michigan in the near future, I will likely try to come back to the Kirby House and enjoy the Dark Room again. Â It was a good time and I hope this place continues to grow a positive reputation in the years to come.
Kirby House is a nice, moderately priced option for dining in Grand Haven. Â My favorite feature is the open air card room in the summer, which has very nice views of the channel and Lake Michigan.
I typically find the food to be a little disappointing here. Â The burgers are okay. Â The Macho Nachos are my favorite menu item. Â Kirby House has some great happy hour specials on drinks and appetizers.
They have live music on weekends.
The rooftop deck is a nice treat on the summer day, but not very clean. Â Soon I saw why...the waitresses would wipe off the tables & get food all over the chairs & floor. Â Nachos (lettuce, beef, cheese, you name it...) all over the place.
Look carefully at what you're ordering if you're getting a pizza. Â The create your own pizza is often 2/3 the price for the exact same toppings as some of the specialty pizzas.
Food wasn't that great. Â I keep hoping to finally find somewhere in Grand Haven that I love, but so far, everything seems sub-par.
I spend a lot of time at the Grand Haven beach in the summer, and this is often a place I'll eat at. Â There are multiple floors with different food options. Â Pizza on the roof, bar and restaurant on the main floor. Â I usually eat in the card room which is open air on the main floor. The food is good, but can be expensive.
Review Source:dined here twice within 5 days.
first time was downstairs - some of the food the group had - lobster mac n cheese, cucumber bisque, philly steak dip sandwich.
second time upstairs - different menu - bbq chicken wood oven pizza, shrimp scampi wood oven pizza.
all food was unique and darned tasty.
wait staff was accomodating for all of our needs. even arranged tables so we could view the musical fountain across the river at nightfall.
I HIGHLY recommend this dining experience.
Great food, reasonable prices, fun atmostphere.
The rooftop deck has the best view of downtown.
Take advantage of their amazing happy hour specials like $1.99 sliders, cosmos, and well drinks.
On weekends, the downstairs gets rowdy with the live music- although it's more of an older crowd. The upstairs level is younger people, a little more chill, although the floor has carpeting so it kind of smells. Â The rooftop deck is the place to be. Really nice atmosphere and hipper crowd up there.
dined at kirby on sunday for lunch. 1st time there. had calamari appetizer which was excellent. its not your usual deep fried calamari. it s prepared in a soupy base with dipping bread. I did not appreciate the xtra charge for more dipping bread.
Don't bother with the mahimahi tacos. not worth your $15 and it was suppose to be the chef's specialty. My fish tacos whose recipe I got from a hole in a wall in los angeles are better than this.
Overall, it was an ok experience but I expected much more from a Gilmore Collection Restaurant. I will say that the bartender was great and very accommodating. I just found the menu a bit pricy for what we got. I later read from a tripadsor review that prices are jacked up during the summer. Well, that just too bad because it did not leave us a good impression. We will try other places nect time.
The place looks great with cool live music, but, the 1st floor bar area has a very moldy smell. Â I had dinner on the 1st floor fine dining section and was very impressed. Â The presentation of my salmon was divine, the taste superb and the service excellent. Â I will go back for a dinner anytime!
Review Source:I'm just confused on what kind of restaurant this is. My scallops were delicious and presented beautifully, yet my sister's fish was served in a basket with wax paper and soggy french fries. No one at our table ordered the prime rib but it looked awesome when the waitress brought it out to the table next to ours.
My aunt used the downstairs bathroom (guess we should have read Yelp before we walked in) and she came back terrified.
Think I'll just stick with Dee Lite from now on when I'm in Grand Haven.
As I spent Sunday in Grand Haven, I found myself here before and after the shower I was attending. We got into town about an hour early and decided a glass of wine was in order...I tried to order 2 different glasses and they were out....uh, ok...3rd time was a charm I guess...
However, it gets better and by better I mean the best effing nachos ever better. I am not sure if the cheese was a white cheddar or mozzarella or what but it was GOOD as was the bomb ass lime cilantro(which I normally don't like) drizzled on top...complete with fresh salsa, corn and my fav to any mexican dish-black beans these were truly a home run on the nacho front...when you don't need extra salsa, guac or sour cream for your nachos you know they are doing something right! My travel companions also agreed we were bummed we couldn't get nachos anything like this back at home.
Now, I haven't had any other food here, but from what I saw coming out of the kitchen it all looked good...
After the shower, we went back as the weather warmed up to sit on the patio which has a gorgeous view of the lake, complete with a full bar. I ordered the same wine I did earlier and they even still had it!! wow! It was a great end to a beautiful day.
OH and ladies, if you use the upstairs bathroom and over 5 feet tall, use the handicap stall...the lowest toilets to the ground ever. I know it's an old building and all and people used to be shorter, but jeez, give the gals a break for the power squatting!!!!!
The last time I had visited Kirby was about 15 years ago. Â I remembered it fondly, so I decided to go there recently. Â It has become purposefully more elegant in its decor, and it aims to be so with a menu that is largely recognizable. Â There are still things to like about it - the unmistakable building, the flat-screen TVs, and the sense that you're someplace everybody wants to be. Â But with the attempt at being more upscale, out went the charm and the taste of the food. Â The calamari was OK, though there was barely any of it. Â The hamburger I decided to try because I was in the mood was one of the worst excuses for a burger I have ever had. Â OK, I get it - they presumably want you to have anything but a hamburger. Â It's not their source of pride. Â But if the rest of your food is supposed to be so good, you should know how to make a great hamburger. Â Throw some great toppings on there, for crying out loud. Â Instead, what you get is a bland, disappointing experience. Â And the fries they make you pay extra for above the chip level meal? Â Bland too, and you barely get any of them. Â I spent as much on that terribly disappointing meal as I would on a ton of sushi and dumplings at one of the best sushi places in W. Michigan. Â And the waif staff doesn't seem to know what they're doing. Â They seem to be more interested in looking stylish and impressing each other than providing quality service. Â That quality pretty much matches the food. Â Is it bad food? Â No. Â Just grossly underwhelming, especially for how much you pay for it.
Review Source:My favorite part of the Kirby House is their outdoor patio in the summer - great views and a fun atmosphere. Sometimes their wait staff are a little annoying (on the younger side) but overall a fun time!
The inside is fun too - except the billiards area has a funky smell. The downstairs bar area is great and gets packed on a Saturday night. Make sure you have some cash they usually charge a cover unless you eat dinner their.
And FYI - I recommend the upstairs bathroom to the basement bathroom
in addition... per my dad's experience MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR BILL for accuracy....
Great spacious seating area, nice patio looking over the Lake, and at the end of a very cute strip of shops in a little beach town. Â However, this was the longest wait for a mediocre wrap that I have ever experienced....maybe it had something to do with the weddding party there, and we weren't rushed, but 2 hours for a meal that turned out to be nothing better than a bar-food filler was a little over the top. Â Nice place to hang out though.
Review Source:Went to the upstairs pizza place for dinner. We had been to the more formal restaurant in the Kirby complex last year for a nicer dinner but decided pizza with kids is a better idea this year.
The pizzas were awesome. I had the caprese and husband had the meatsa, shared with the kid. They were good and filling.
Our waiter was pretty attentive and we sat outside since it was a beautiful day. The table needed some maintenance as it was pretty rickety, but other than that, it was a nice dinner. Would go again when we can have some drinks and sit awhile. Great location and view!!
This place is really fun and has good food but only if you go there on a non-touristy evening (so no summer weekends, no holidays, etc). Â The few times I've been there during these times, I felt like I was at a frat party for 15 year olds... not good. Â Plus the management was completely unresponsive, inflexible and rude when we tried to book our 25-person wedding rehearsal dinner here. Â I wish I could love this place, but I just keep getting turned off.
Review Source:Had lunch here a couple years ago and the food was decent. Â Last fall, left the kids home with Grandma and went drinking like college kids with a pretty large group (over 10) of the relations. Â From what little I remember they have the dueling-piano thing which is loads of fun. Â Also, upstairs, the video beanbag game - who knew how fun that could be?!? Â (OK, so maybe I don't get out much!!!) Â Good pizza, a great complement to all those drinks. Â This is a great downtown location especially on warm summer nights.
Review Source:
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