Founders Brewing Co. Reviews

Great place with a fantastic beer selection. Live music nearly every night. It was a bit loud though.

Good location, and a nice setup! Plenty of seating inside and out. Large menus feature a lot of sandwiches and a variety of other food. When it comes to beer, I tried 'Mas Agave', and it was great! Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

Great beer, food, and music with an awesome outdoor patio

Simply put, Founders is the best microbrewery in Michigan - arguably, the country. Their staple beers are consistent and excellent. I always gravitate toward the tap room only beers, as they are usually unique and delicious.
On top of that, the food is simply divine. I can't recommend the beer cheese, Dirty Bastard sammie, or giant soft pretzels enough. The staff delivers your goods super quick and are extremely knowledgeable with their beer and food menus. The outdoor patio is the best place to enjoy a brew outside in the city. Furthermore, they boast a really nice room you can rent - I had my wedding reception there and they were professional, affordable, and provided exactly what we needed.
Just go to Founders, get a beer, sit outside, and be part of the micro revolution happening in GR!

Founders offers so many things to do. The first thing I did was the brewery tour and will be going for my third time next week. They have live bands and events all the time. Of course the beer is a staple of grand rapids and a must if you are visiting grand rapids. I love the outside patio and founders has a great atmosphere if you are looking for a spot to hangout with your friends.

The food is great but each time I have come to Founders the service/servers are rude. I waited at the bar for over 10 minutes and no one was at the bar and a bartender walked away from me and didn t ask if I needed anything. I also had a server later who handled a situation in a terrible and rude way. Very sad :/

Decided to stop during a cycling ride. They provided masks for us as we forgot to grab ours. Everything was delicious & they were very clean & careful with practicing safe distancing.

A awesome place to eat good food, drink great beer and great atmosphere!

They often have good live music. They have a nice store that you can buy shirts and select beer at. they have a lot of beers on tap at any given time. The breadsticks were actually very delicious. I would go back again! Make sure to close your tab at the bar!!!

If you're from Illinois, I wouldn't suggest going here. Apparently, they get the most fake ID's from the state of Illinois, and I can understand that they're trying to be cautious from a liability standpoint. However, when I willingly and politely hand over everything in my purse that has my name on it, I expect to be let in. But in the bouncer's words, "The more identification you hand over, the more suspicious I get". Does that even make sense? When I asked for a manager, he refused and asked if I was a customer (as I'm standing at the door trying to be one after already having been there a few times before). I've been to this brewery many times and the beer is fantastic, which is why I would like to be a continued customer. I would like to come back, but don't want to run the risk of embarrassment of being shut down at the door with my obviously real ID, or the risk of having them keep my ID, because according to this particular bouncer, I'm lucky they didn't confiscate it due to their assumption that it was a fake. Fellow Illinoisans beware.

Please stop making double trouble. After four beers my face is still squenched up. That's $12 I'll never get back. Skunk beer!

This is a Grand Rapids staple. How could you pass up on the chance to experience one of the fastest-growing businesses in Michigan! They do things right, they take pride in their product, and they deliver! I'm so proud that Founder's calls GR home. Their beer is phenomenal and recognized world-wide!

If you are visiting Grand Rapids, you must visit Founders. Excellent beer, excellent food, great spot.

Second time I have been here from out of state. I had my son both times. First experience was alright it is hard to get seated. This time we found two tables and only part was taken so we tried to separate them. They don't state that you cannot separate the tables anywhere I could see. My son was on my lap and our legs were under the table. A waiter looked at our group said "you cannot do that to the tables and pushed it back with our legs still under". This lost all my respect and I decided to leave right then. We are all adults and I can understand the rules but be respectful.

We did the brewery tour. Highly recommend! It was awesome!

Awesome stop. Got beer lunch or both. Really well done tap list and places to hang out.

Fantastic beer and restaurant well-deserving of the popularity and distribution it has gained over the past several years. The sandwiches you order next to the bar are unbelievably good. I would compare them to Zingerman's sandwiches which has a legendary reputation. Whenever we visit GR we have to stop in here for a pint or two.

Great food and brew!! Stopped in when we were visiting family in Kentwood & definitely going back EVERY time we're in town, from now on!! Got to experience the late night bar scene the 1st night and then went with whole family at the end of our visit for lunch, before heading back home to Ohio. Really enjoyed it both times and can't wait to go back!!

Dominick was the best. Wonderful experience. The Mango Magnifico was delish. Thanks Founders

Great beer, solid music, but will yell at you the second they close to kick you out. Definitely visit, but don't stay too long.

Best brewery in the country. Great sandwichs / food

Live band, so loud you could hardly hear yourself yell!

Good brews, good food, friendly staff and a good vibe. The perfect place for a relaxing evening, especially in the summer!

Great beer and food, and a cool place to hang out. I love founders, it's a GR icon.

Servers were extremely friendly and very attentive. And the Nitro Rubaeuos was awesome!!! As is the all day IPA.

I obviously come here for the great beer. But, even if I did not drink, I would still come here. Their Deli is absolutely Amazing. Never ate anything I didn't like. Love all the variety of sandwiches. You can get really great beer cheese & crab cheese dip. Also have french bread pizza & wonderful salads. Plus they have great chicken wings. You can get Spicey or just Barbecue. Plus we absolutely love the atmosphere here & the people are so Friendly. Been going here 11 Years & never had a bad time or experience. Love Founders. Keep up the awesome work guys.

Wow! I can't believe beer can be this good! When I think beer I definitely think Founders. I'm proud to give five stars to a brewery that makes such delicious brews. Too bad I can't give it more stars.

Founders is great when you can get a seat. Beer is of course awesome. Their beer cheese dip is delicious. The sandwiches are pretty good too. I love the shop here, very cute apparel.

First time visit today. The food was really good, and we enjoyed the beers we tried. We made a point to get only taproom exclusives and we enjoyed each one we had. My biggest issue with this place is that you're kind of on your own. You have to find your own table, which creates awkwardness and table stalking. Then once we sat, it was explained to us that there aren't dedicated servers, that any staff can help you. Seemed like a good idea and started off ok. Several people stopped by asking if we were ready to order. Once we finally were, our food arrived quickly and tasted really good. But that's when the service stopped. We had to flag people down to get more drinks, and even after we asked for boxes for leftovers, and our dishes were cleared, we had to flag down someone else for our bill. I assumed the person who cleared our table would bring it, but it didn't happen.
They also don't have a kids menu at all, which we knew going in after reading reviews and checking out the website. But we saw lots of kids in there and my kids enjoyed their pizza.
Overall, it wasn't worth the hassle for us. It was bizarre that we waited so long for our bill when people are standing around waiting for tables. We probably should have asked sooner and not assumed it was on its way. I'm not local, but would probably consider stopping in for drinks if I was in town, but it wouldn't be a dinner destination. Food/drinks were great but experience wasn't.

Great beers and live music. If you want craft beer with an artisan sandwich come here. A GR must visit.

The flow of the place isn't great. Seat yourself and no wait staff in a large place like this was a bit discombobulated. Good food though.

Booked a $200. Motel drove from Noblesville, in, walked .6 in the cold to find out they weren't open today , I will visit them tomorrow.

Customer service is confusing. No one waits on you. Asked the bartender snd he said someone should be by. One hour later, still waiting

Live music, decently priced beer, great food and awesome staff!

Great place!!! Our waiter was awesome and the beer was amazing!!! They have something for everyone and atmosphere was great for our large group.

One of the best breweries I've been to! Bartenders were very friendly unlike some others experience. They have a huge selection of drafts that we do not have access to in Ohio. They have amazing food, even if you are not a beer connoisseur it is worth the trip for the food. The gift shop has the most economical prices I have ever seen in a brewery yet. Overall a great experience I can't wait to go back and set out on the huge patio to sample more of their amazing creations.

Some of the best quality beer in the mitten. Great place to meet people and see music.

This place is usually packed, but for a good reason. The beer is well brewed. They now have a parking lot that they charge $2 per half hour.

Food and drinks are great as usual. Live bands are great but sometimes to loud. Overall still a good experience.

Ill be heading back to Grand Rapids someday but i really enjoyed the food and beer here. If you are a craft beer enthusiast, then you are aware that Founders is always a palate treat, the brewery is no exception!

I was very happy to see they are expanding and hope to go back to Founders in the near future.

If you are near Grand Rapids and love great beer, why are you still reading this, go find the brewery!!

Beer and food were awesome. Seating situation is super awkward and causes the situation of table vultures stalking your table which turned into a super unenjoyable situation. Also not having a dedicated server causes the situation of numerous interruptions. The getting up and getting your food is also a little different. Felt overall chaotic.

Make sure you check first to see if they have garbage rap playing...sounds like its coming out of a echoing dumpster...ruined my night...couldn't understand one word out of their mouths...

Hated it here. The servers do this weird thing were they don't wait on a particular table, and because of that, we had to go to the bar to get a beer, since nobody really checked on us. I honestly haven't found a single beer of theirs that I like either. Also, they have a parking lot, and they validate parking, but then you get out there with a line of cars behind you and it turns out that it wasn't validated, so I had to pay $8 for parking (for and hour and a half) after an already crappy experience. There are way better bars with way better beer in this town. I cannot recommend Founders at all.

Great craft beer selections plus sandwiches are huge. A half sandwich is all you need.

I went with friends to try a flight of beer and it was very busy in the early evening, took over 15 minutes to get the beer while standing at the counter. The Blackboard above the bar didn't give any descriptors so we weren't sure what we were getting into. Some were great and some I didn't like due to my taste, but all were good quality. Although busy, there was still plenty of room to sit and a nice outdoor area that was shaded from the heat. Staff was helpful and friendly, just took a while because of the rush.

I had the green zebra. It was very tasty. Great atmosphere. Awesome staff.

Tough place to find a seat. Beer was served quickly though and they were friendly.

Amazing beer selection and knowledgeable bar tenders. The deli here is wonderful, the plates were almost too big, luckily I was hungry.

Went here for a Holloween party and again during the weekend when they had live music , good food and good drinks , service was fast and attentive

My brother, sister, and I had a nice little Friday evening here at Founders while visiting for the first time from Chicago. We were looking for something quick to do before my sister had a work event nearby, and she suggested that we try Founders, so we said, "hell yes!"

As expected according to her, it was absolutely packed when we walked in. There were absolutely no tables inside, and there weren't any open seats on the outdoor patio space near the heaters. We grabbed a table farther away from the heaters, but were pretty cold. We couldn't find anyone to turn on the heaters, but it didn't ruin our experience really since we were planning on not staying long anyway.

My brother's not yet 21 (so close, though!) so he watched the table while my sister and I ordered food and beers for ourselves (don't worry, we didn't get one for him). My sister and I agreed on beer cheese dip and chips and guac, and each ordered a raspberry beer that she recommended. The beer cheese dip was the favorite at the table, probably because of how cold we were versus how warm the dip was. The beers were a classic fabulous choice, because no matter how cold it is outside, alcohol always warms me up :).

We had a great time despite being chilly and not having anywhere to go inside, but I am looking forward to visiting again when I'm back in the area!

Great sandwiches and fantastic beer. This is a must place visit when in Grand Rapids. The beer garden and live music creates a great atmosphere.

Great pub, great sandwiches ... but above all great selection of beer!

Great brewery pub!! Love there variety of house brewed beers. Food was awesome! Staff was awesome. Love the house music. Will be back agian!

Best beer on the entire planet, really...by anyone s standard. Look it up. Great atmosphere, awesome sandwiches. A bucket list, once in a lifetime experience.

What can I say? Founders Brewing Company is an amazing place to visit. With ample seating indoors and out it's at the light to come sit and relax. Every beer we tried was better than the next. We're huge fans.
During our visit we chose to sit at the outdoor bar. There was also a huge outdoor fire pit which was wonderful to sit at and admirer. Although it was chilly outside, one would never have guessed it was fall.
We didn't try any of their food during this visit, but will be sure to come back when we have more time.
The staff here was very knowledgeable and friendly with service being prompt.

I like Founder's beer well enough, but I could do without the dining/brewery experience. The setup itself is confusing to navigate and the staff was rude and made us feel unwelcome on our visit to Grand Rapids. Thought this would be a gem of our trip, but will not be recommending the experience to others.

The only down side was that I had to grab my own food. Other than that I was really happy with the size and taste of the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich I had. The hummus and chips were pretty stellar too.

The GR tap room is huge. The beer and food are great and worth the visit. Prices are fair. The taproom is always busy so be prepared to wait for a table if you want to sit indoors. I've been coming here for years. The staff is usually okay, but occasionally I've encountered rude/bad service.

Very crowded and snowing when we went, but this place is clearly awesome. Our flight was pretty solid, this place is awesome.

Perfect tap room atmosphere with good beers and beers you can only get in the tap room.

Sandwiches are so good! And of course, so is the beer.

Very good beer at a good price and super awesome service! All of the staff were nice and very attentive!

I love Founder's. Absolutely adore it. It's my default place to go. Has been for years. But visiting has slowly become a nightmare over these years. Nowhere to sit. People fighting over tables. Hovering around you while you drink, waiting for you to leave so they can sit. Tourists and children everywhere. My god, the children. I know there's a curfew, as there should be. But my god please just ban children outright. We're here to drink. And I think it may be time to expand again. Love you guys.

Does Founders really need to be reviewed? Their beers constantly rank as some of the best in the world. It's always been packed when I've came, which is a little inconvenient, but there is a reason. The beers are amazing and the food is good. If you like craft beer and haven't came here yet then you need to fix that right away.

The beer and food was amazing. However, every server/bartender was short and not friendly. Like all of their cats got ran over this morning. Seemed kind of odd. Noy bad service, but need to work on their table manners and friendliness. But worth it for the beer and food.

Wonderful experience on the patio. Tasty food and beers. You will like this one.

Lots of places to sit both indoors and outdoors. You can order food at the window if you don't have a waiter. The food and drinks are great, and the atmosphere is fun for hanging out with friends and enjoying a show.

Always seems slightly under staff regardless of the time of the day. Their appetizers & sandwiches fill up the hungriest guy. Their beers are the bonus! Wish they had french fries or homemade kettle chips.

Just buy the beer at the store, don't go here. There is never any seating and always just so busy...to much of a tourist destination for locals to go to.

Founders will always be one of my favorite, I'd say something about KBS but what can I say that ahsnt already been said about that beer. The tap House is usually pretty busy during the weekends and the atmosphere is great.

We at villa liquors echo the sentiment of all the independent retailers and AARA members. We're ignored when limited releases such as KBS and CBS are offered. What Founders has failed to realize is we have the product knowledge and customer service, the big chains don't and yet you've favored the big box stores.

Poor service, had to go to the bar to get a drink. No waiter stopped at our table, we had hoped to order food. Was very disappointed due to it being one of my favorite brewary for beers from the stores. I would not go back!

Good sandwiches but overly difficult process to get a table.

distribution of specialty beer are not fair. Dhiraj Bhesania Member of AARA Midwest

I absolutely love this place! It's classy and has delicious food and beer. The setup is wonderful and I love perusing the general store. I only wish I lived closer to this place. Can't recommend enough!