Flat Lander’s

I almost hesitate to review Flat Lander’s, because it is foremost a distillery and secondarily a restaurant, and I tried neither their distilled spirits nor their food. Instead, I went there for beer.
Flat Lander’s is not a place most people consider when they want to grab a beer. And that is rather understandable, because there are an abundance of good craft beer bars and brewpubs in Grand Rapids, and Flat Lander’s has an anemic four taps. But their operations director Mark makes those few taps count. On Friday, for Grand Rapids Beer week, they gave over all four taps to Saugatuck Brewing. While two were standard fare, the other two were beers which Mark assisted in brewing and which were made exclusively for Flat Lander’s. One was a variant of the Bonfire Brown, but brewed with vanilla extract. Apparently they have previously served a barrel aged version of said beer, though it ran out well before Beer Week. The other beer, more impressively, was an Imperial version of the famous Barrel Aged Neapolitan Stout, which spent nine months in a Flat Lander’s whiskey barrel. The end result was notably better than the non-​Imperial versions pouring elsewhere last week.
Service was friendly and efficient. The standard size for these limited beers is 10 oz, though when I requested a small pour of the Vanilla Bonfire Brown, Mark was gracious enough to oblige, giving me a half pour at half the price. On the subject of price, Flat Lander’s deserves special commendation for keeping their’s reasonable. BA Neapolitan last week went for $ 5.75 for 16 oz at Buffalo Wild Wings, and an excessive $ 5 for 5 oz at Hopcat. Meanwhile, the Imperial version made exclusively for Flat Lander’s ran $ 5 for 10 oz.

I love a good Manhattan like I love watching the sunrise. Unfortunately what was pitched to me as the best Manhattan around was not so. The food is pretty fantastic though, I definitely recommend the place for a meal and a basic cocktail.

Designed as more of a country style bar and configured from an old sawmill Flat Lander’s has kept much of the rustic feel of the place with bits of exposed concrete, hanging metal sheets and hardwood.
Sitting at the bar I ordered the appleshine cocktail (Flat Lander’s whisky, apple cider, cinnamon and bitters). It was just ok. The mason jar the cocktail was served in was filled with ice, which watered down my drink in no time. The combination of watered down apple cider and whisky wasn’t pleasant and took away from the distinctive combination of flavors.
I ordered a side of their pickled vegetables to try with the cocktail. I was expecting more of a kraut type dish, which this was not. Sliced carrots, parsnips and cauliflower both crunchy and wet with a slight pickled (vinegar) flavor. Not my favorite. For $ 5.50, I would not order this again.
Before leaving I tried a sampler of their vodka, which made up for the previously stated. Straight, it was excellent! Incredibly smooth and something I would order again in a heartbeat.

Probably the best local restaurant plus beer experience we’ve had yet in Grand Rapids!
We make a point to focus our dinners out on local establishments that also serve beer. The food was great and the beer was great and the service was EXCELLENT! Eddie, our server was amazing!
My boyfriend ordered the fish tacos with fries and I had the flat lander burger with chips. The tacos were spot on with mahi mahi and my burger was topped with pork amazingness and beer cheese. We had to debate wether the homemade chips or te fries were better but I think the fries won by an inch. The beer suggestion was stellar and the whiskey we tried was solid. The bourbon whiskey is a must have!
Will be returning many times!!!

I happened to stumble upon this place when making a U-​turn last night in their parking lot. I stopped in for an appetizer and a beer today for a late lunch. The food was great, the atmosphere is really cool. I love the way they designed of this place. I’m here for another week and I will definitely be back. I highly recommend this place. It seems like a really cool place to have a drink at or to bring a date.

This is a unique place off the beaten path. It’s in a converted building that I believe used to be used to make frames for the furniture industries. They have locally made spirits and they have some stick to your ribs food there such as there hot roast beef sandwich and mashed potatoes which was pretty tasty. I believe they have music there some nights so call ahead. It’s a nice local place to visit. great manhattsn

Wow, what a hidden gem! I’ve driven by this place at least a hundred times, and never really noticed it, but hit it because I was looking for something very close by. What a fortunate decision! The second I walked in the door I knew that I was probably gonna dig this place, because it is like the physical incarnation of the world inside my brain. It’s got a cozy and quirky layout with a backwoods vintage industrial vibe (it apparently used to be a furniture factory). Lots of brick, steel, wood, and rusty tin. The red velvet lined «Bird Cage Stage» and hillbilly drag bike hanging from the wall add a dash of 60’s Go-​go Lounge and «Grease Monkey» appeal. The bar top is a backlit opaque white Lexan with seats that are upholstered in red leather while the seats in the lower area are upholstered in white leather, for a dash of upscale/​modern. To compliment it all, a nice mix of old-​fashioned blues drifts through the air. The menu is top notch, too. It warmed my heart to see that the salad section was labeled «Rabbit Food», as I’ve always said that salad isn’t food, it’s what food eats. Everything looked tempting, but one item stole my attention (The Flat Lander Burger) because I’d swear that somebody had compiled a list of my favorite things and put ‘em in a bun: Beef, Bacon, Beer Cheese, Pulled Pork, and a Fried Egg. ON ONE BURGER!!! Danger Zone, Lana! But, wait! Then my server (who was just awesome) asked if I wanted to upgrade my chips to fries or hushpuppies. Are the fries homemade? Check. But Hushpuppies? No… Sweet Potato and Apple Hushpuppies w/​a Brown Sage Butter dipping sauce! I’m not usually one to forego homemade fries, but hushpuppies it is! And, let me tell you, they ROCK. Sweet, crispy, and rich. Bang. Flavor sex. The burger was also impressive, indeed. I had to pause to assess whether to go fork & knife, or try to skillfully handle my way around the oozing beer cheese. I decided to fork & knife for about half and then thought I was in the clear so I went hands on. That was a poor choice which resulted in the depletion of nearly every napkin within reach, but belly was happy, so yeah! I will DEFINITELY be coming back, I just wish I had come here sooner!

Went here for happy hour drinks and apps. The apps were pretty tasty. We had the chips and dip, the pups and southwestern egg rolls. No complaints on my beer but the folks I was with were pretty disappointed by the number of beer options. I was too but I ended up liking my pumpkin beer so I was all set. The service was good. Not super friendly but great otherwise.

Glad I gave flat landers a shot… really great place to try and come again! food is excellent service is good as well

Tried the poutine and fish tacos. Always love the egg on top of poutine. Tacos were tasty! Had a flavorful sauce on it. Would return to have the tacos again. Also tried a pumpkin beer on tap. I could actually taste pumpkin! Was enjoyable.

I have been here a few times now, really trying to like it each and every time. For whatever reason the atmosphere just isn’t very welcoming to me. I love their set up and think their décor is awesome. Especially the bar table with a light penetrating through it to give your drink a nice glistening glow.
This last time I attended, I will say that their summer drink list is pretty refreshing sounding. I ordered the blueberry mimosa and cucumber cooler. Both were very tasty and would be one reason I would go back… for the drinks but not to stay long. ***side note: I did order my drinks with less simple syrup just because I don’t like a sweet drink and they turned out fabulous***

Loved the Hillbilly Poutine and the hush-​pups. Our server was MIA for a good portion of our meal so while I would have liked a second drink it didn’t happen.

Until I make a repeat visit I’m going to have to stay at a three on this place.
The white whisky was interesting — not mind-​blowing but certainly worth trying. The bourbon was ok, again worth trying but not awful. Food was good but not great. Our server was iffy. Interior was pretty cool.
Perhaps our server wasn’t having a «good» night, so I’ll be willing to withhold further judgment until I make another visit.

Walking in, we were greeted by a «seat yourself» sign, and decided to sit in the «lower level». The layout is quite interesting with the differing levels and small sections of seating. I LOVE that the building was an old cider mill and some of the original brick and wooden beams are visible. Really cool.
Knowing that they are a distillery, I had to try an original drink– appleshine it is! Really nice flavor, Couldn’t even taste the alcohol. My friend ordered the 12 ingredient Bloody Mary, which I tried, and it was good as well. Should have asked what all 12 ingredients were! We couldn’t figure it out.
I ordered the kielbasa sausage that came with sour kraut, fries, and a pickle. Fries were amazing. Sausage was a little dry. Overall, had a nice time! Service was friendly and attentive. I’d go back!

I love the location and the décor! The service was terrific, and the drink menu is pretty cool, too. A lot of other reviews warned that the drinks are expensive (prices aren’t noted in the menu) but since they’re made with organic liquor they’ve distilled themselves, I’m not mad.
I was disappointed that for such a trendy little place there weren’t any vegetarian entrées on their menu besides one boring salad. We shared the beer cheese appetizer with the fried pretzel bread, though, and it was super tasty! We were fighting over the last one, and still talking about it the next day. A-​OK! :)

They make their own spirits, have a good menu, provide friendly service, and have a perking lot. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Like good cocktails? Great, go here!

Kind of a «hillbilly chic» bar with rustic-​looking hardwood, brick and corrugated metal décor. They make their own spirits, and I’ve sampled a few — quite good — and their beer selection is decent.
I was also happy with my food. The burgers are quite good as were the appetizers. I sampled the southwest egg rolls and the bar cheese, both of which I enjoyed. In addition to the burger, I tried the Buffalo Chicken Sausage and loved the little extra kick from the hot sauce (next time, I would request extra sauce!) Lastly, the dessert was good. I got the Traverse City Hobo Pie, which went well with the food and drink — not overly sweet or complex.
The only thing our table noted was that the place was understaffed. Our beleaguered waitress had to explain several times that she was the only waitress for the bar section, which was surprising seeing how busy it was. My only suggestion would be to add additional wait staff for the busy nights
Overall, I would give this place a thumbs-​up and will definitely be back for another burger!