Nick Fink’s Bar

Don’t go on Friday. It took 10 minutes for the waitress To greet usable another hour to get our food. The pizza was doughy and there was too much cheese and it had a burnt bitter taste. My wife liked the veggie enchiladas. I liked the raggedy atmosphere but they needed more staff and a little urgency. I’ll try it again by myself in the afternoon when they are slower so they aren’t confused

First, I’ve never given a 5 star!!! This is different; in our last five visits, we have been overwhelmed! When the Gilmore’s first opened, the girls served a limited menu on plastic plates. Now the food is top shelf, served on real plates. Today, 12/​22, we ordered a pizza to go; and it ruined us for other pies! In the last few weeks we’ve had the bean dip, enchiladas, and wings,(twice)!! Wow! All of it great! And on top of that, they have some great craft beers! The new management is doing a kick arse job.

At Brittani’s recommendation I had the pizza. I had it special made and it came out perfect. I don’t know why people harsh on Nick’s it’s a great place to get a drink and meet some friends.

«You ain’t from around here, are ya»? That is the exact look we got coming in on Friday night. Needless to say, this is a locals bar. Once everyone else got back to doing what they were doing before we walked in, it felt more comfortable. We ordered our beers from the bar and found a seat in against the wall with one of the old tables with carvings in it. This is the oldest bar in Grand Rapids; older than Flanagan’s and The Pickwick even. It was once a brothel/​hotel for travelers near the railroad tracks. The Gilmore Collection owns it now and I was pleased to see that they kept the building’s character and charm intact. I can just image the old timey antics that went down in this place. It has low ceilings, dim lights, crude wood tables, and simple wood chairs that reminded me of pubs in Ireland. In the back corner there is some sort of black leather booths and what appears to be velvet wallpaper. Maybe this was a poorly executed 70’s update but it’s so bad, it’s good today.
Had my experience ended here, I would have given this place 2 – 3 stars. But — it doesn’t end there — because Nick Finks is HAUNTED! Instant 5 stars!
I heard rumors of it being haunted, and in flagging down a server and then the manager, Matt, it was confirmed! Apparently there is a little boy, a «working lady» and then a 3^rd person that lives in the building. The basement is super weird, but allegedly, the 2^nd floor is even creepier. Matt confirmed that he and staff have had experiences with water, lights and the jukebox going on and off at random, unexplained times. Not all at once I don’t think. That would be seriously horrifying. Apparently they have even had different mediums come in and they all confirm that there a lot of spirit activity in the building and the presences’ will let you know they are there!
And no, I know what you are thinking– you can’t get drunk and get a tour. For some kind of liability reasons, they wouldn’t give me a tour because I had already had a beer when I asked about all this. Maybe you can sweet talk the staff (or the spirits!) when you are sober and get a walkthrough on a slow night. They do Halloween-​time tours too.
I shall end this with an evil laugh — Whooohoohaaaahahhahaaahaaahaaa

waitress was relatively responsive. Was having a great time with friends until the band started. REALLY hated going deaf because the live band was WAY TOO LOUD! Turn down the band and people may consider hanging out.

We went to Nick Fink’s on Friday night for the first and last time. The music was way too loud and the sound system sucked. Service was awful! We waited for over a half hour and were never served! We wanted a drink so we left and went to a different bar.

Sorry, Nick Fink’s. Not a fan. We came in with a group of people on a Thursday evening. (3÷27÷14) Service was slow, server mixed up our food; gave my beau my burrito and gave me his… unfortunately he was half done w/​the one he was eating before I started eating mine and realized that it was his shredded beef and black bean burrito and he was devouring my all meat burrito. I hate black beans so you lose points for putting that crap in front of me. The couple we sat next to never even got the food they ordered but it appeared on their bill. Nice, eh? Also, they ran out of ground beef for tacos, nachos, burritos, etc around 6:30. We got their around 8. You lose more points for running out of a menu staple. Once we were done we had to wait forever for the server to bring our bill so we could leave. Once you bring me a to-​go box feel free to bring my bill at the same time… I’m obviously done and have no desire to sit around for another 45 minutes. We won’t be back.

We have been once before and had a good time. This particular Saturday night was fun again. Great beer on tap and got a perfect table as the band was setting up. We ordered a plate of nachos to share and I was a little disappointed as the chips were really chewy and tough like they were stale? Our server was a bit inattentive at times but all in all we were satisfied with the evening as a whole. Band was fun and danced a lot. We will be back.

Now this Gilmore owned bar has food. Mexican food, big orders and inexpensive oh yeah tasted real good too!

I love old bars with charm and unique décor… This place is one of the oldest in GR. It used to be a stop for Al Capone I am told and his boys back in the day.
You have to check this place out inside. Large faux red and black leather booths and chairs. Some sort of velvet gold wall paper and a kick ass troff in the mens room… Sometimes sporting little ice cubes. They have a great happy hour and get live music on the weekends. Plus the female bartenders are hot!!! Alway’s a plus when you are saddled up to the bar.
Cheers.