Windmill Restaurant

With all of the high reviews I expected more from the Windmill. I found it to be good local restaurant/​family diner but not amazing.
They were fairly busy on a Saturday morning. If you want to eat in, join the line as they do not put names in. The menu is basic with a focus on omelettes. My brother lives in Holland and always orders the hash brown omelette with sausage and sausage gravy. I tried the hash brown omelette as well sans the gravy and with bacon. It was good, I thought the hash browns were average and would have liked a bit more crispness to them. The omelets come with your choice of a bread side including the option of a cinnamon roll. I tried the cinnamon roll and was not prepared for the size as it was huge. It was also overly sweet and doughy. I only ate a few bites. My brother ordered toast which came a bakery bread slices and was very good.
The service was friendly and quick and the prices were reasonable.

I was really happy with meal and service. Definitely will be back for more next time when I will drive to Holland. Low prices and full plate.

The food is amazing. My wife is allergic to eggs and has a hard time finding a place to eat that doesn’t have eggs in their skillets. This place has a whole hash brown omelet! The service is friendly and welcoming. The prices are low. It has a cozy ambiance. Nothing bad to say about this place!

This place was amazing. We were in town visiting and heard great things. Our server was so friendly. The only thing I would change would be to warm up the cinnamon bun. The portions were pretty good and the price was amazing. Although it was busy and there was a line, it was very calm and quiet.

I thought the food was ok. Normal breakfast dinner food. I was not impressed with the omelette. The mushrooms were from a can.

It’s a typical greasy spoon diner. Oily greasy. Don’t understand all the four and five star ratings.
Bacon has no taste. Scrambled eggs were tough. The hashbrowns are almost deep fried-​maybe they are? Rye toast was average at best, can find grocery store brands that actually taste like rye bread.
My husband had the famous hashbrown omelette and I tried it. Greasy and not ‘buttery-​yummy-​greasy,’ ‘oily– greasy.’ Omelette was tough. Hashbrowns are saturated with oil and taste deep fried.
Cinnamon Roll: too doughy and not enough cinnamon. It tastes like what you would get if you bought one of those ‘ready to bake” loaves of bread and rolled with not enough cinnamon. Of course I ate the whole thing but not my favorite. You can actually get my favorite cinnamon roll at a restaurant about 30 min from here but I’m not saying because it’s always too crowded. If desperate, could prob figure out from one of my other reviews. if I wrote one for that five star fav
We waited about thirty minutes and sat at the counter. For the Sunday before Memorial Day, didn’t think that was too long a wait; however, we had to wait about fifteen minutes for our breakfast which I thought was strange for a diner like this. From what I could tell, 10 – 15 min was about average wait time for food. This makes me wonder – is the place really that good or are there long lines out the door because 1. It is very small, seats few people and 2. Turn over is slow?
The staff are very pleasant, efficient and attentive.
Overall, it’s ok if you can handle the oil and wait.
Didn’t try it but the strawberries and whipped cream over Pancakes, French Toast looked good. I also think they said they have their own homemade white bread. I’m guessing that would be the same ready-​to-​bake doughy dough they use for the cinnamon rolls, prob use for French Toast too

Very nice mom and pop place! The hash brown omletes are to die for, and the French pancakes as well.

Went there on a Mothers Day so it was jam packed but they kept the line moving pretty well. Over all the food quality wasn’t bad the service was good. I had the famous hash brown omelette it was good but just a little greasy. Portion size wise it was more then enough plus it came with toast.

Great spot for a delicious breakfast downtown Holland. Biscuits and sausage gravy are very tasty.

The food. was excellent! If I’m ever in Holland, MI again this is the only place I will eat breakfast at. Home made bread was the best bread I ever had.

Wow this was a great find. Called ahead and they take American Express. Server was great very nice and came around to see how I was doing. The food came out fast! 2 over medium eggs that were cooked correctly, AWESOME hash browns! And corn beef hash. There homemade toast was the bomb, with a cup of coffee all for $ 10! Yea this place is a keeper and I will be back.
One suggestion is to make your own corn beef hash as opposed to the can style. But besides that SO GOOD!

This is a great place for breakfast. If you are the kind of person that wakes in the up morning grumpy and looks at the world like you could punch it in the groin, then this place is for you. Once you get that first sip of coffee served to you by a Waiter or waitress that has such a great attitude and a smile that you swear is emitting sunshine, your morning will quickly turn around.
I have tried many things here but my favorite is the corned beef hash omelet and homemade wheat toast. The homemade toast is so thick and fluffy like a little cloud sent from heaven made just for your mouth.

I grew up in what was the Diner Capital of the US — New Rochelle NY where diners are still manufactured — and know a great diner. The Windmill is a storefront — not a manufactured building — and it’s not open ²⁴⁄₇ — just 6am-​4pm — but…
This is classic great diner food in a hometown diner atmosphere, plus there are local twists — the homemade white bread, the bird’s nest breakfast — that make it special.
Downtown Holland is always worth the trip. Just add The Windmill to your visit.

I went here for breakfast and was moderately pleased. I’ll start with the rye toast, which was toasted how I like it, but the flavor of the bread wasn’t as rye-​ey as I’d like, a little more bland than expected. I usually also have crispy bacon, and my expectations on bacon are high lol… Their bacon was thin and not as crispy as I like. Lastly, my real complaint comes with the coffee. I love really good roasty flavorful coffee and my perception of the coffee they served me was more like office coffee, not very flavorful and old-​tasting. All in all not a bad place to have breakfast, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here.

The Windmill is probably my favorite breakfast spot on the planet. It’s a can’t-miss stop any time I visit the coastline with friends and family.
To get this out of the way right from the start: yes, there’s almost always a line that leads out the door, but the Windmill is worth waiting for. Just be sure you dress for the weather. We usually just treat it as another opportunity to chat and mingle amongst ourselves, which is part of the reason we go out to breakfast together in the first place.
The staff is very cordial and willing to meet your requests. If bar seats open up before a booth, they’ll ask your preference before seating. We’re usually willing to wait an extra moment or two for prime booth seating.
As for the food itself — we’re bread folks, and that’s where Windmill delivers. I’d absolutely 100 percent recommend the homemade bread. Thick & fluffy, and so delicious. It’s good enough that I can order french toast AND homemade bread and no one really bats an eye (even though I’m essentially ordering bread with a side of bread.)
Perhaps best of all, this place is affordable, allowing you to squeeze a great deal of product onto your tab while still retaining a manageable price.
I can’t say enough. The Windmill is in my breakfast Hall of Fame.

The Windmill is a classic.
This place is known around town as the best spot to have breakfast. It’s a small, cozy and traditional diner located in the heart of Downtown Holland. The coffee is unlimited, the cinnamon rolls are gigantic, and the staff is overly friendly. It’s Holland, Michigan — of course they will be. PLUS, breakfast is served everyday till 2pm.
The portions here at the Windmill are huge. Everyone who comes here usually orders the hash brown omelette, and it’s enormous! Either come hungry or leave with left overs.
I must add, if you’re thinking of coming here on a Sunday for brunch, EXPECT a huge line. I’ve been to this place where the line is out the door and around the corner — even if it’s in the middle of winter. And YES people wait.

Meh… it’s mediocre, at best, and honestly, I feel I’m being generous with the two stars. Nothing to rave about here. Nothing better than any other generic diner anywhere across the country. The space is super cramped; you have to hover over other diners while you waste your life in line; the coffee is terrible; and the food is disappointing, especially after that ridiculous line.
I decided to finally stand in their absurdly long line one day for what I hoped would be a great breakfast, based on others’ reviews here. So, after waiting… and waiting… and waiting… we were finally seated at the bar and ordered some coffee to get started while we looked over the menu. I feel like EVERY diner should have good coffee. It’s basic diner 101 kind of stuff. People come here for breakfast and most people want coffee with their breakfast. The coffee was awful. It didn’t just taste burnt, it tasted scorched. I thought maybe it just sat in the pot too long and asked for another, but the second one was just as bad as the first. Hugely disappointing start to the meal, especially after having to stand in line for almost 40 minutes on top of people trying to enjoy their breakfasts (this is super tacky, btw. no one wants people hovering over them while they eat. it’s ridiculous.).
When eating somewhere I haven’t eaten before, I will usually start with something for which they are popular or «famous» for, so I ordered the hash brown omelette, as this seems to be one of their big sellers. It was fine, nothing to rave about, and certainly not worth standing in line for any day of the week. I tasted my dining companion’s food and had the same feeling. It was fine, I guess.
I don’t understand the four and five star reviews, at all, or anyone saying this is the «best» place for breakfast in Holland. That’s a horribly sad statement about Holland! I’ve had MUCH better breakfast elsewhere in Holland (at the Biscuit, for example. now THAT’S good breakfast!) and would compare the quality here to any other generic diner across the country.
If you are happy eating at Denny’s or IHop, then you’ll probably enjoy the Windmill too. If you have higher standards than that, don’t waste your time here. There are better options, guaranteed.

Love it here. There is always a wait, partly because it is small and partly because it’s so good.
My mom and I come up to Holland one weekend a year and try to fit in everything we love while trying new things. Well, we never skip out on The Windmill.
Their coffee is tasty and they have flavored creamers. This time, as usual, I got the hash town omelet. It is a meat of your choice along with cheese wrapped in yummy hashbrowns. I get the smaller version so I can have another side. I like food people. Their homemade bread is delightful so be sure to order that as your toast.
My mom had corned beef has and eggs. She got the corned beef hash well done and it came out to the perfect, non burnt, crisp.
The Windmill is adorable and quaint and we love it there. They also have some great soy candles for sale. Pick one up on your way out!

I hadn’t been to this place in a few years, but I remembered exactly what I needed to get! One enormous cinnamon roll and the hash brown omelet with bacon and cheese. Mind you, the portions are so huge that I shared it with my friend. The best thing about the cinnamon rolls (other than their size) is that they have an adequate amount of icing — and by that I mean it’s DRENCHED in the sweet, thick glaze! As far as the hash brown omelet, make sure you get a good bite that has a little bit of everything, because that sharp cheddar and that salty bacon pack a flavorful punch. But I have to admit that if you’re just scooping up forkfuls of hash browns, you might want to be prepared with the salt and pepper shaker, because they’re a little under-​seasoned.
My friend is also really into their thick slices of Texas Toast smothered with butter and grape jelly.
Check it out!

Worth the wait… it is a great choice for breakfast… we did the sausage and biscuts and also one of their mini sausage biscuits… a solid choice is the cinnamon roll.