It is not often you can go to a restaurant over and over again and be impressed every time by something new. There is one place in town that has continued to impress me with their dedication to improvement and elite service on every visit.
When they opened in 2016 they were the first bar in town. It's not easy to open in a place like Jenison, a very religious community, but they proved from the beginning they were ready to take the community's feedback and make changes time and again. The first week this place opened, it was loud and impossible to hear. Right away they listened to their customers and added sound panels. Then the feedback was needing more menu options, so they thoughtfully expanded the menu to what we see today, with out of the box specials that blow my mind every time. This is not the place to find the one 'go-to' dish. You need to try everything on the menu at least once!
It's not just the food service that will blow your mind, their specialty drinks are a draw as well. From the baby beer (trust me... you want one) to their variety of mules and cocktails, every drink is made with care and precision with bar service that is second to none. This place has elevated the level of service to places West Michigan has not seen while maintaining a cool, relaxed and family-friendly environment.
I want you to watch how the staff does table service. First, the wait staff is trained by a manager/owner. Rather than leaving the training up to another server to teach lazy ways and shortcuts, they train each one with the highest level of expectations. Not only are they very aware of drink levels at all times, they are hyper-focused on the style of service as well. A little birdy recently told me one of the Managers was trained on bar service in Vegas and it shows. You will not be disappointed by wait staff here.
It's worth mentioning that during the shutdown, while making sure to visit many local restaurants to show my support, I went back to this place time and time again. The way they handled every part of the shut down was amazing. They fine-tuned their take-out service to minimize contact to a T. The food was ALWAYS ready when I got there. The orders were always right. They didn't over complicate the process and made everything really easy. The only drawback was the phone system, which they corrected by adding a second phone for takeout orders during high traffic times.
Every visit the staff makes sure to point out the specials and to suggest something off the menu. I've learned to take their suggestions. (They have hooked my 6 year old on the Rock N Rye soda.) I wish I could say I've been disappointed by this place to try to show a downside to visiting them. Perhaps the one downside is they are very obviously in a former chain restaurant location. I'd love to see this place expand into a cool, speak-easy style two-story bar. with an upper balcony outdoor seating area.
Even today when we visited, service was slower due to 3 large parties coming in at once. But everyone remained cool, kind and jumped into help wherever they could. I watched as one of the owner's quickly jumped to action the moment he walked in the door to get the staff back up and running full-speed. That is leadership in action and no doubt this place will go on to make a name for themselves beyond the awards they've already received.
Have you guessed which restaurant has earned such high esteem?
As soon as you get a chance, visit The Win Tavern 33. They keep their facebook page updated with specials and 'what you need to know' posts. You can find it here: The Win on Facebook.
Have you been here? Let me know!
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