Western Michigan has emerged as one of the leading craft beer regions in the Midwest, and where there is great beer, great food often follows. During my three nights in the area, I ate dinner at three memorable establishments that typify the contemporary intersection of craft brews and creative bites.
In Holland, I enjoyed an evening at Hops at 84 East, a taproom and restaurant located in the heart of the charming downtown district. Beer lovers will enjoy the 70 craft beers on tap at the restaurant; I dug into a tasty thin-crust gourmet pizza cooked in the kitchen’s brick oven.
The following night my hosts from Discover Kalamazoo took me to the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, an inventive gastropub located in a former warehouse building downtown. The restaurant has 28 rotating draught beers from around the world on tap whose prices change in real time with customer demand, much like stock prices do. I had a great pork loin meal there, capped off by my first fried Twinkie.
My final night, in Grand Rapids, my hosts from the CVB took me to the Grand Rapids Brewing Company, the state’s first certified organic brewery. The establishment has a number of house-brewed beers on tap, along with a wide selection of great food. I celebrated the end of a great trip with fried pickles and a delicious New York strip.
