Trailhead Cafe

We had been here last year and loved the food that we wanted to return. We getting ready to order breakfast @ 11:01am on a Saturday only to have the employee that was going to take our order that they are no longer serving breakfast. The menu clearly states they serve breakfast until NOON on Saturday. We inquired as to why the menu & their website says noon. Her response ‘we cut back our kitchen staff and can’t serve breakfast’. There was only ONE customer in the restaurant. Seriously?! We come to GR often from out of state and won’t be going back to this restaurant. Fix your website and your carry out menus to reflect the accurate time or train your staff on the art of customer service

I came to this restaurant last year and the food was great and service was good. Although, came back this year for breakfast at around 11 when it is served until 12 on Saturday and was told I couldn’t have breakfast due to the fact that they were short staffed. There was one other person in the restaurant. It is not the customers fault that you are short staffed fix your menus if you have an issue. I will not come back again.

Wow! Breakfast here is out of this world! I got the western with chorizo and my wife got the cascade. Both are amazing. You pay at the front and they bring it to your table. $ 18 for two including tip and coffee. Best and most affordable breakfast I’ve had in gr yet.
I’ll be coming back. Thanks!

My wife literally had to talk me into going. I was talking about going to something a little closer to our works (not that this was far) but she wanted to do something different. I assumed, and I dont know why, it’d be a cold sandwich only place. Whelp, Im glad I listened to my wife this time. This was phenomenal. I even made some work buddies go with me again a few days later.
Food:
Burger: I did not think a burger in a place attached to a bike shop would be so good. Probably the freshest tasting burger in GR. I had it on the pretzel bun cooked medium. It was amazing and I need it more often in my life.
Buff — Chicken panini Style: This too was very good. It wasn’t very big. Tasted good, and for the quality and flavor, I think it was very reasonably priced. However, It was a little slim and left me wanting a little more.
Salads: I had a bite of one of wife’s. It was great. All of the topping seemed to be fresh and not sitting cut up overnight or anything. Great presentation in a bowl with croutons.

Trailhead is hit or miss, it is always very busy and can be hard to find a table, sometimes they are quick other times they are fast, not very consistent. First the good:
Good:
Dessert case with pretty good desserts (peanut naming bar wasn’t bad, chocolate on top was too hard at first)
Buffalo chicken sandwich is on great bread and is consistent so you can count on liking something
Balsamic-​honey dressing is good
thai chicken wrap is pretty good (sauce a bit too watery though)
Bad:
–Service has difficulty if you ask for any substations (cheddar instead of gouda and things like that)
–as said above can be very slow and busy
–straying from what you usually get is risky, I got changed it up and got their special sandwich on Wednesday (Salmon with asian slaw, spicy peanut sauce on a brioche bun) it sounded great since I love asian salmon but the peanut sauce was think, too sweet and just not right, the slaw was weird texture and I had to push it off to try to enjoy it more, I ended up only being able to eat less than half because It was not good at all which was a bummer since it was a more expensive item on the menu and I hated to waste that much food/​and money! Thank goodness I got a side salad or I would have been starving
–salads have never been great (other than the balsamic dressing) i haven’t found one that I like, my friend got a salad with chicken on wednesday and said the chicken was hard and gross
disappointing that they are so inconsistent

My husband and I ate here on Saturday. I had a salad which was good but I don’t know why they put a cold hard piece of bread with it. My husband had a wrap, he said it was good. That is when we looked up to check out the cool light fixtures. There was so much dust and dirt on them that I was instantly turned off. Thinking that I hope this doesn’t fall into my food. I don’t think we will return anytime soon.

Food fantastic. The staff is great. My only complaint is there isn’t much room to sit down or stand when you are waiting for your food. It is worth the wait though.

The Trailhead is always good and sometimes not too busy. I have had the BLT, The Michigan Cherry salad, a burger and several of the breakfast items. Consistently good, wish it was open for breakfast on Sunday’s and later in the day for take out, so check the hours. It always has great looking baked goods.

I’m glad I found this restaurant. Very enjoyable, true food for breakfast and lunch.
The most notable for me was the Trailhead scrambler. Eggs with a bunch of good stuff, along with bacon and cream cheese. Outstanding!
Their lattes are worth stopping in for as well.

I had a great experience here. They have a good variety of food and drinks! I got there around 2pm which was only an hour before closing so it wasn’t too busy. The staff was very friendly and their service was great. They checked up on me every so often and were very accommodating.
I ordered the Thai Chicken Wrap which was delicious! It had a large variety of vegetables and came with a large portion of chicken. It was a tad bit spicy but I love spicy food so I added more of the spicy Thai chile sauce. This came with a side of potato chips and a pickle. I also ordered a fountain drink which had free refills. Altogether the order was around $ 10.
It has a cute café feel to it and my food came out super fast. There is free wifi and you can stay however long you’d like. I saw multiple groups there with their laptops so I’m guessing they were having business meetings.
I highly recommend this place! Such a great find! I will definitely be returning!

This is an excellent little place for lunch in the Grand Rapids area. Everything seems to be made from scratch. My black bean burger had a perfect texture and subtle spicing, the complete opposite of the commercial, frozen kind I refuse to get. It came with pico de gallo, guacamole and a nice red pepper aioli as well a tasty pickle. I also ordered a side of slaw that was very natural with a light but very effective dressing. My wife enjoyed her spinach salad with hot bacon dressing and said that the potato salad was very good.
Places like this one need to be rewarded with business. I plan to do so whenever I am in the area again.

The B.L.A.T. Sandwich is amazing.
Buttery toasted sourdough bread.
And the sweet potato fries were killer.
This is a must go and the bike/​outdoor shop and boutique on the other makes for a great find for its today, off of the beaten path.
Plus Tino, our dog, was very welcome to eat with us outside.

Came here based on the reviews. Normally go to Arnie’s for breakfast when we are in town but decided to do something new this time.
Everything was great. The food was delicious. We had the breakfast burritos and the Fat Tire Scramble. Hazelnut coffee was fantastic as well. Would come back here again!

Consistently good food with decent selection and prices. The service is also typically prompt and friendly, but can get a bit slow during the busy hours as one would expect.
I had the «Trailhead» burger today. A very tasty sandwich with bacon, horseradish cheddar, slaw and mayo. The burgers are always cooked to order and the ingredients fresh-​tasting. I will say the bacon was underdone for my taste, but it was an excellent lunch nonetheless.
I do wish they were open on Sundays, but this is a solid choice for breakfast or lunch Monday through Saturday.

I stopped here for breakfast one morning to grab some takeout on my way to work. The food was OK, but it wasn’t anything to rave about. Typically if I order out I want it to be better than what I could have made at home myself. This wasn’t. I got the Fat Tire scramble and a cup of fresh fruit. Both were good in the sense that I didn’t have to prepare it myself, but was nothing special.

LOVED their lunch options. We dined here 2 times while in the area bc the food was so tasty.
The desserts are incredible (bummer that they aren’t made in house though)
Like My better half said… If they could make a traditional espresso drink this place would be ⁵⁄₅ stars.

Only only only complaint is that their espresso beverages are WAY too big. 16 ounces is double the size of a normal drink, so it’s no surprise they taste like hot milk and the espresso flavor is nowhere to be found.
Food was amaze-​balls and the staff was friendly and attentive.

All the reviews are true! This place is really good. We went for lunch and it was not busy at all. Lots of seating available.
I got a good bowl of chicken noodle soup. The chicken was grilled, which was yummy. It really hit the spot. My husband got a Club sandwich, which was huge. It had a delicious garlic aioli. It reminded me of the Laundry in Fenton, MI, and close to a Zingermans sandwich.
Get the French fries! The seasoning had rosemary in it. Not too strong but just the right amount.

So something you need to know about me is that I have trust issues with house salads. I’ve had a few too many tiny bowls with wilted greens, and soggy carrot shavings on top. Trailhead Café made me a believer in the house salad again. My house salad was heaping with fresh, colorful, crisp veggies and greens. Layered with my Mediterranean dressing, and my side of hearty Pork and bean soup, it was the perfect lunch time portion.
I’ve had Trailhead Café’s food countless times prior, mind you. My office practically lives off their to-​go orders. But this was my first experience at their actual restaurant. Walking in, I found a cute, tidy, well-​lit restaurant. Decorated with funky bike tire light fixtures and big photographs of the outdoors, the restaurant blends nicely with the outdoors-​y atmosphere of the shopping center (Bill and Paul’s Ski shop and Grand Rapids Bike Shop are both neighbors). I arrived early to beat what I heard was the lunch time rush (note– they are open from 7am-​3pm only). While I wasn’t the first in, I grabbed a corner table and went up to order. The staff was helpful and friendly and my food was delivered quickly to the table. By the time we were getting up to leave, the place had filled up. It’s so wonder– this is a cute café with some amazingly good lunchtime offerings.

I was expecting more of a hole-​in-​the-​wall, but Trailhead turned out to be very clean with a great atmosphere. We went on a Saturday morning, and there was no wait.
I ordered a BLT with sweet potato fries – delish! My husband ordered a buffalo chicken sandwich. Either they forgot the buffalo sauce or mixed up his order because he said he couldn’t taste it (a forgivable offense since he still enjoyed it).
Overall, it was awesome, and I recommend it!