You don’t have to order a beer to have a great time at Grand Rapids breweries. Our breweries are relaxed, sociable and welcoming to everyone, drinkers and teetotalers alike. Some are equipped with fun-for-all-ages diversions like arcade games and pickleball courts. Many offer a selection of beer alternatives, from ciders and spirits to craft sodas and mocktails.

But the number one reason for non-beer drinkers to visit local breweries is to enjoy some of the city’s best and most diverse food offerings. A significant number of our breweries create culinary masterpieces every bit as impressive as their handcrafted libations. Each dish is perfectly delicious on its own – but you can also ask your server to recommend a beer (or other beverage) that will complement it.

Some local breweries offer food + beer flights (or food-only or beer-only flights), which allow you to sample multiple flavors in one sitting. They’re part of Flights of Flavor, a digital passport program that identifies the area’s best food, drink and food-and-drink flights – and offers prizes for ordering them.

We asked locals what breweries they recommend for great meals, and here are the ones we heard the most about.

Downtown

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Tacos, Bori Balls, Craft Beer & More at City Built

Enjoy City Built Brewing Co.’s Puerto Rican pub-inspired dishes and local food truck Mondays.

Photo by Mod Bettie for Experience GR

City Built Brewing Co.

A Puerto Rican pub-inspired menu greets guests at this brewery in downtown GR’s North Monroe neighborhood. Authentic dishes at City Built Brewing Co. include Yuca Fries, Bori Balls, Puerto Rican rice and Tostones. Even some of the tacos here boast a Puerto Rican twist, with filling options that include sofrito-braised smoked pork and sofrito cream. If none of that strikes your fancy, try the house-made chicken nuggets, tacos, shrimp sandwich, house salad or nachos. There are vegetarian and gluten-free options, and a kid’s menu, too.

City Built Brewing also hosts a rotating series of food trucks on Mondays, giving its kitchen a rest and showcasing other local culinary wizards. The brewery is located at 820 Monroe Ave NW.

Founders Brewing Company

Long known for its scrumptious handcrafted sandwiches, Founders Brewing Company revamped its menu in April 2024 – and expanded its kitchen to accommodate a more diverse and ambitious food offering. The new menu was curated by Executive Chef Pete Engelhardt to include a range of creative appetizers, burgers and entrées alongside longstanding fan favorites. Honey Glazed Salmon, Founders Porter Braised Beef, a Root Veggie Bowl and a Burger topped with Founders KBS-infused Bacon Jam (if you know, you know) are among the new selections earning raves from guests. Also on the menu for the first time: French fries.

Situated on the southern edge of downtown at 235 Cesar E. Chavez Ave SW, Founders is a Flights of Flavor destination.

Uptown

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Brewery Vivant used to be a funeral chapel.
A plate piled with duck nachos with a beer in the background at Vivant Brewery + Spirits.

Vivant Brewery + Spirits: unique location with great duck nachos.

Photo by Experience Grand Rapids

Vivant Brewery + Spirits

The beer collection at Vivant Brewery + Spirits was inspired by trips to small farmhouse breweries in the French-speaking Belgian countryside. The food menu also incorporates Franco-Belgian influences in such dishes as Duck Confit Nachos, Poutine, Escargot and Pomme Frites. It samples other global cuisines as well, from an Asian Tempeh Sandwich to Nashville Chicken to Bosnian Burek (a savory feta and filo pie). Everything is made from scratch and the menu is updated daily – you can peruse it at the company website.

Vivant is ensconced in a refurbished historic funeral home at 925 Cherry St SE.

Harmony Brewing Company

Pizza is a big drawing card at Harmony Brewing Company, as its wood-fired pies have won multiple local and regional awards. From a classic Margherita to an Aloha Goat! featuring goat cheese and roasted pineapple to the Porch Beer pizza, which includes roasted local chicken thigh and Black Squirrel Porter BBQ sauce, Harmony has something to satisfy every pizza lover. There’s also a nice selection of starters, salads, sandwiches and weekend specials, all made with as many fresh, local ingredients as possible.

A Flights of Flavor location, Harmony can be found at 1551 Lake Dr SE.

Northeast

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Cedar Springs Brewing Company

Just north of Grand Rapids you'll find Cedar Springs Brewing Company. Enjoy their German-inspired food and drink!

Photo by Bryan Esler for Experience GR

Bier Distillery & Brewery

West Michigan was a center of Dutch American culture for many years, and you can still get a taste of Dutch traditions at Bier Distillery & Brewery in Comstock Park, 15 minutes north of downtown Grand Rapids. The food menu includes such dishes as a Dutch Boy Burger (topped with gouda cheese), Bitterballen (Dutch meatballs), Kibbeling (a Dutch fish snack), Snert (Dutch split pea soup) and Stroopwafel Ice Cream (topped with Dutch waffle cookies). There are also plenty of options for palates that prefer American rather than European cuisine.   

Bier Distillery is about 13 minutes from downtown GR at 5295 West River Dr NE.

Cedar Springs Brewing Company

Let us now journey from the Netherlands to Germany, culinarily speaking, with a trip to Cedar Springs Brewing Company, 30 minutes north of downtown GR. The food menu here features authentic cuisine from the upper Bavaria region of Germany, including such dishes as Jägerschnitzel, a traditional Bavarian hunter’s dish, Bratwurst Teller (German-style bratwurst), Käse Spätzle (haus-made past topped with Alpine Mountain cheese cream sauce) and warm German potato salad. There are many American appetizers, soups, salads, burgers and entrées on the menu, as well.

Cedar Springs Brewing Company is located at 95 N. Main St NE in downtown Cedar Springs (natch!), about 25 minutes from GR.

Northwest

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The Mitten Brewing Company Beer & Pizza Flight

The Mitten Brewing Company serves up their popular beer and pizza flights.

Photo by Addison Causley for Experience GR

The Mitten Brewing Co.

The West Leonard business district, less than 10 minutes from downtown Grand Rapids, is the site of this vintage baseball-themed microbrewery housed in a historic Victorian-era firehouse. The Mitten Brewing Co. is known for its specialty pizzas, including a pizza flight of six different varieties. (Make sure you check in using the Flights of Flavor digital pass when you order the Mitten’s pizza flight – you’ll earn points toward free merchandise.) In addition to 10+ daily pizza selections, you can build your own pizza and most pies can be made vegan and/or gluten free. There are handful of sandwiches on the menu, too, along with a delicious “starting lineup” of appetizers.

The Mitten is part of the West Leonard business district, at 527 Leonard St NW.

Pink Barrel Cellars

Located at Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm on the Fruit Ridge, one of the world’s finest fruit-growing regions, Pink Barrel Cellars crafts its own beer, wine, hard seltzer and hard cider with ingredients grown right on the 170-acre property. It also offers a farm-fresh food menu that changes with the seasons. Dig into hearty Farmhouse Pancakes or a Biscuits and Gravy Breakfast Sandwich to start your day and enjoy pizza, sandwiches, pretzels & dips, vegetarian dishes and a kid’s menu at breakfast and dinner.

Pink Barrel Cellars features a Flights of Flavor tasting flight and is just 20 minutes from downtown GR at 3025 6 Mile Rd NW.

Southeast

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Dinner at Brass Ring Brewing Company
Dinner at Brass Ring Brewing Company

Brass Ring Brewing serves up English pub favorites with inventive twists like Peach Bacon Flatbread and custom-smoked BBQ.

Photo by Addison Causley for Experience GR.

Brass Ring Brewing

Chef Alex Ewigleben creates menus highlighting English pub-style comfort foods at Brass Ring Brewing  in the city’s Alger Heights neighborhood. Burgers and sandwiches run the gamut from a simple (and simply delicious) Chef Patty Melt to creative seasonal fare like Peach Bacon Flatbread featuring caramelized peaches, bacon, goat cheese cream and arugula. An on-site custom smoker is put to good use in BBQ dishes. Virtually everything here is scratch-made and frequent specials complement the regular menu. There’s a delectable Sunday brunch menu, too.

Brass Ring Brewing is located at 2404 Eastern Ave SE, about 13 minutes from downtown GR.

Broad Leaf Brewery + Spirits

The food menu at Broad Leaf Brewery + Spirits - Kentwood emphasizes street-food fare, much of it inspired by Asian cuisines. We’re talking Korean Beef, Thai Noodle Soup, Pork Paté Bao Buns, Pork Belly Fried Rice Bowl, Hot Cheeto Katsu and more. There are also a few American-style burgers and other dishes, plus a selection just for kids. Not only does Broad Leaf offer great food, beer and spirits, it’s also the first brewery in Michigan to host indoor pickleball courts. 2885 Lake Eastbrook Blvd.

A sister restaurant, Broad Leaf Brewery + Spirits - Westside, offers a diverse and dazzling array of food options courtesy of rotating guest chefs, along with over-the-top milkshakes (including boozy versions). It’s located at 443 Bridge St NW, in the heart of the Bridge Street entertainment district.

Southwest

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TwoGuys Brewing Tap room

TwoGuys Brewing offers a rotating selection of mushrooms and beer-battered cheese curds for a fun, flavorful experience.

Photo by Bryan Esler for Experience GR

3 Gatos Brewery

Rio de Janeiro's botecos are where locals traditionally congregate for beer, snacks and conviviality. 3 Gatos Brewery calls itself the “Brazilian Boteco of West Michigan” and its food menu certainly lives up to that claim. You’ll find Brazilian deep-fried dumplings, fried yuca, quibe (the Brazilian version of Lebanese kibbe) and more here, along with such North American favorites as burgers and beer cheese. The brewery offers a beer and Brazilian appetizer flight (Samba & Cerveja) as part of Flights of Flavor.

3 Gatos Brewery is at 1760 44th St SW  in Wyoming, about 13 minutes from downtown GR.

TwoGuys Brewing

Located 14 minutes from downtown GR in Wyoming, TwoGuys Brewing   is a “must visit” for taste tourists due to its eclectic ever-evolving food menu and something-for-everyone drink selection. The brewery makes most of its items in-house, from burgers and sandwiches to salads and flatbreads. Fun sharables include Fungus Amongus (a rotating selection of mushrooms) Gas Station Nachos (smothered in beer cheese and pickled jalapenos) and Curds (beer-battered and fried white cheddar cheese curds). You can also count on a tantalizing special or two, always made with the freshest local ingredients.

TwoGuys is at 2356 Porter St SW in Wyoming.

Tour the Ale Trail

Plenty of other local breweries offer great food, too, so be sure to visit the stops on our Beer City Ale Trail hungry as well as thirsty. Consult the Beer City Ale Trail map to see which breweries offer their own cider, spirits, wine, mead, hard seltzers and non-alcoholic beverages in addition to beer. Get the Beer City Brewsader® app and check into 8+ breweries to earn a free exclusive t-shirt. Check in to 30+ breweries for a free sweatshirt!

Note: Hours and menus are subject to change, so it’s a good idea to check brewery websites and social media before you visit.