San Chez A Tapas Bistro & Cafe

My long-​time favorite in GR after living here for years! Lunch time servers are not as good as dinner though. If you’re looking for the best food in town go here!

We were greeted at the door promptly. Seated right away. The service was very prompt. We have 6 hot & cold tapas, all were very delicious. One the favorites was the spicy shrimp tapas. If in the area looking for a great place to eat it’s must to try.

Amazing food. Great gluten free options. Fantastic service! (Recommend you make reservations!)

As always our experience at San Chez was wonderful. We were however sad to find that two of our absolute favorite menu items were changed (chorizo stuffed dates, and porkbelly and scallops with a spicy mango chutney). Hoping these items make their way back around, but until then we will keep coming back!

This is what a tapas place should be. Great setting, awesome food, priced right. Sangria was great and the pork belly was cooked perfect. We will be back.

Generally I liked it and would return. Food was very good but I would not put it in the amazing category.
Excellent service.
Definitely don’t miss the sangria with champagne
Décor was average.

Was extremely underwhelmed with my whole experience here.
None of the dishes stood out to me, but my bill was quite amazing.
The biggest issue I had was with the super rude hostesses (our waitress was great). They were super cold and didn’t greet us when we walked in and talked down to us in a condescending manner. To make matters worse they kept assuming we were with another party because we were both asian. No thank you.

San Chez offers a great variety of Spanish inspired dishes.
On an incredibly busy Saturday night the staff did their best to squeeze us in. We ended up at the counter facing the kitchen for what they called their «dinner and a show.» Wow, what an awesome experience eating and watching the entire menu being prepared before you by San Chez’s skilled cooks.
Flames bursting from the scalding pans, steam billowing from pots and the intensity of the staff plating dish after dish really made the atmosphere for us. I’d actually prefer this to a table in the future.
The food’s been consistently good as well as the service. I don’t know if I’ve ever really had a stand out dish here but I’d still consider it a worthwhile stop. The only thing I would change would be my drink order. the last cocktail I tried was so filled with ice that within a few minutes I had an incredibly diluted drink.

Still a fan. Still a great place to go with a group of friends.
Great food quality and good drink menu. I continue to recommend getting lots of dishes to share (and extras of the ones you don’t intend to.)
My favorites continue to include the Almendras, Fritos de Arroz, the Polly Y Chorizo and any of the various Paella dishes. My new favorite dessert is the Flan. It’s not as good as the old «Tarta con Tres Leches», but it’s very good.
They changed the old Tres Leches into a dry, bland and sad dish. They eventually realized this was a mistake and now have a slightly better cake which is still dry, but comes with a tiny dispenser of cream. I call this the «Triste, solo leche cake.» Just bring back the old one, guys! A real Tres Leches cake should be saturated, not dry.
Despite the demise of my favorite dessert, I still love this place and continue to recommend experiencing it with a group of friends.

Immediately after landing in Grand Rapids, we headed to San Chez. I ate here in 2013 and discovered their gluten free bread and welcoming atmosphere, and it was the first place I wanted to visit on my return.
They have a really kind and well educated staff on celiac disease. I ordered off of their separate gluten free menu, and our server (Tyler) circled back to check in with me about the tostones because they are made in a shared fryer. I didn’t order them as a result. I did have the pollo y chorizo dish, the gf bread loaf with the quince butter and salsa verde. All were fantastic! I also tried the whole garlic and red pepper appetizer, but didn’t love it.
I can’t wait to eat here again!

I’ve been here a few times and I must say this is my favorite place to go to when I’m visiting Grand Rapids. Why? Uh, because mimosa. And tapas.
Some tapas definitely stand out more than others, but that’s the good thing about tapas and eating in large groups ;) but in my case, I just needed one person. Insert pig emoji.
This place is always busy, the service is always great, and the food is always delicious. The pork belly and scallops is a must! You can get anything else you want, but do not pass on this dish!
Happy Eating! :)

This place must be good just looking at all the great reviews for it. Maybe I just had an off night. But in my experience it was too loud, too crowded. Just felt really rushed and off. Not a fun place to eat.
The food was OK, pretty bland in my opinion. Went for tapas but nothing I tried really stood out. Not sure I would go back.

This review is for my brunch this morning with a friend.
First of all, the Café where they used to serve brunch /​lunch is now their event space. We had brunch in the main dining area, which I really liked. The atmosphere is very European and cozy. I ordered a half pot of green tea, which was really great. I waited a bit for my friend, who brought her 2 year-​old. While I was waiting, my server stopped by a couple of times to check on me and ask if I wanted to order anything while I waited.
I ordered the cheesy grits with shrimp and eggs. I was hoping for a really cheesy, flavorful comforting dish. It was alright, not quite what I had hoped. It definitely wasn’t very cheesy. I think if it’s the first word in the name of the dish, it should definitely be a main part of the dish. The grits and eggs were both cooked perfectly. The dish had 3 small blackened shrimp, I was kind of hoping for more! The description also included bacon, spinach, and zucchini. I would have liked more bacon, because the dish was pretty under-​seasoned. I actually had to add salt, and I never salt my food. I saw maybe 1 teaspoon of chopped zucchini. But there was plenty of fresh baby spinach! The dish was okay but I would not order it again.
Our service was great. My friend told me that whenever she brings her kid there, everyone is super nice, friendly and helpful, even when her daughter is antsy/​whiny/​tired. A server (not ours) stopped to help pick up some cards that my friend’s kid had thrown on the ground. Just really helpful and accommodating.
I have had other brunch dishes at San Chez that are better, and it’s a nice change from some of my regular breakfast places. I managed to find street parking because we were there pretty early. However, I thought the adjacent lot was for San Chez guests, but I believe it’s card access only. So bring change for meters or download the Parkmobile app!

Everything about this restaurant was amazing.
The atmosphere is so eclectic and fun, especially with the Art Prize entries located in various parts of the building. It’s spacey but feels very homey at the same time.
The food is amazing. We ordered 6 – 7 dishes and the only thing we didn’t like was the lamb (personal preference– it was medium rare and in my belief lamb should always be more cooked). I would definitely come back next time I’m in Grand Rapids! such a gem :)

This was well recommended by a local. Sangria was awesome. Especially liked the white over the red — mainly by preference. We got the empanadas, fries plantain and pork belly with scallops! everything was
delicious!

This was the perfect place for Sunday brunch. Terrific colorful décor, great art all around the restaurant. Our server was Lacey and she is lovely.
I started with a Bloody Mary. Not the best, needed a little more alcohol. Oh well. My hubby had the purple smoothy, he really liked it.
My hubby had the breakfast casserole scramble. It had chorizo, potatoes, bacon, onion, cheese cheese and more cheese! Served in a very cute cast iron skillet. I had the yogurt parfait with granola and fruit. Very good could eat that all day. But then I had to place healthy yogurt with a cinnamon roll. OH MY GOSH! That was a moment like in the movie «when Harry met Sally». It was amazing!!! Maple flavored glaze was so wonderful. Almost ordered a second one but I resisted.
I’m going back tomorrow for more!

Overview: MUST try!!! I would go eat here everyday if I could!
I give 5 stars for each of these categories:
* Service — amazing service!!! People actually care about you as a patron! Even when we were leaving one of the waiters saw leave and he opened the door! Fantastic!
* Food — OMG!!! Get the paella and roasted garlic clove app. Save some of the garlic and pour it all over your Paella. You won’t regret it.
* Drink selection — good selection of wine and beer. They have 5 different Tempernillos! Wow!!!
Ambiance/​Cleanliness — very Spanish, clean, wide open spaces and love the art on the walls.
*Parking — in middle of downtown GR where the parking is as expensive as NYC, these people have a parking lot!

One of the nicest experiences you could have while you’re in town! Service couldn’t have been better, the space is delightful and I can’t wait to come back here.
Rewind to just a little over 6 months ago when I first came here looking to have a tapas lunch and ended up on the brunch side of this place which lent itself to a three star breakfast experience. They’ve since combined the two dining rooms into one, using the second for what looked like private catering tastings. Now if you go early on you’ll be offered the brunch menu. While later on in the day they’ll bring their tapas menu, giving a clearer separation of cuisines offered.
We were initially torn between Stellas for tots and burgers or something a little more unique at San Chez. We decided on this place because of the Spanish music playing outside with hopes of something memorable and exotic to eat. We really couldn’t have been happier with the decision, the food, the drinks, or the service.
Our server, Erin, was perfect… genuine, friendly, patient, answered any questions we had and returned with the answers to those she didn’t have. I’m sure I sound pretentious but I really just couldn’t help but ask questions with all the fun ideas this place gave me for my own kitchen.
We started with some very dry cava which set the meal off right from the start next ordering their Queso Uno special that day. Baked Camembert skilleted with tart cherries and toast points. Between the dry sparkling wine the tart fruit and the gooey cheese it was a perfect beginning. Onto the spicy black bean and quinoa cakes with Avo-​ziki sauce… light and earthy with a ton of flavors happening. This dish and the Avo-​ziki is on my list of things to recreate. Next, the sautéed garlic shrimp which was amazing but be warned that the shrimp is literally swimming in garlic… I was a huge fan. And finally, the Bistec de Lomo was an easy favorite with a medium rare sear on the filet, a cherry demi glacé alongside roasted veggies. Holy Dice!
Along the lines of the cocktails we had along the way… the Cava was a great start to the meal. Their Corpse Reviver II was pretty good but the Knickerbocker Gin has a little more juniper than I like. My girl tried a beet vodka drink using their in-​housemade beet vodka which is crazy good and not as weird as it sounds. I’m not sure what it was called but it had a sour sugar rimmed glass, beet vodka and peach schnapps and it was killer tasting and a really pretty presentation. Finally their espresso is wonderful… a thick layer of crema and a deep flavor from the roast on the beans… whether you’re ordering dessert or not, this is the perfect finisher to get you ready for an evening out in downtown GR.
Thanks again, Erin. Well done!

The Good: Everything I sampled was tasty. They have a nice variety of vegetarian options. Drinks are offered to those waiting in the large waiting area.
The Bad: Long wait. Very noisy (probably due to the low ceilings on the second floor). Overly creative food. The dishes are complicated and sometimes weird and nonsensical. (Ham and orange rind in calamari? C’mon, guys.) If you’ve ever had real Spanish tapas, these are not it. Not even close.
The Ugly: The décor. Ugh. San Chez was decorated haphazardly and struggled to create any type of ambiance. Simply put, while it’s a pretty building, it’s an unattractive restaurant. From the loud and all-​over-​the-​place soundtrack, to our kooky waitress, it was a weird experience overall.
While our food was tasty, with everything else taken into consideration, this place’s reputation is pure hype. It’s not a bad restaurant, but there are better.

I have never had a bad meal at this place. If we end up in Grand Rapids, we always come here! I am an artichoke hound and their Alcachofas a la Parilla are addictive. I’ll order this and not let anyone else at the table try it because I want to eat it all myself. It is also not unheard of for me to order two of them. Seriously, when it comes to good artichokes, I don’t mess around.
I also really love that you can take their sauces and dressings home with you! Last time we ordered the Ensalada de Remolacha y Palma (hearts of palm, roasted beets, etc), and we loved the Lemon Herb Vinaigrette so much that we bought a mason jar of it to take home with us. It’s like I never have to stop eating! I must admit we also bought their cookbook and it is always a win.
This is definitely one of those places where you can pick something on the menu while blindfolded and you will like it.