Wolfgang’s Restaurant
1530 Wealthy Street SEWe moved to Kalamazoo 15 years ago and I started this blog right away. I had a similar blog when we lived in Lansing so I just kept doing what I was already doing.
About a year after that, I took a job that required me to be in Grand Rapids three days a week (then eventually five days a week until I got transferred to the Kalamazoo office in 2017). I asked for recommendations for places I need to try in Grand Rapids and the very first one I got was a breakfast joint in Eastown.
I never really had time for a sit down meal when I was working in Grand Rapids so I never got to it.
Last week, I had to pick a colleague up at the Grand Rapids office before driving to Detroit. I didn’t have to be there until 12:00 but I was already awake and I figured if I laid back down, I’d have a hard time getting back up.
So, I decided to, after 14 years, finally go to that breakfast place.
Wolfgang’s Restaurant is an Eastown staple located on Wealthy Street and Lake Drive. The restaurant is kind of unassuming. It’s a grey brick building with a green awning. There’s a neon sign in the window that says Wolfgang’s but that’s really the only signage. It’s kind of those IYKYK places that doesn’t’ really need to advertise because everyone already knows about it.
The host station is right in the front door, right in between two dining rooms. No doubt a leftover from the archaic days when smoking was allowed in restaurants. To the right is a more traditional dining room with a mix of tables and booths.
The other direction has more of a diner feel to it with a lunch counter and a mix of high top and regular sized tables. I was taken to this side and shown to a regular sized four top.
The menu is full of breakfast staples which made it a little harder to choose. I initially asked for the steak and eggs but the waitress told me to hold on while she checked with the kitchen. They hadn’t got their truck in yet so there was no steak.
No biggie. They also have a number of Eggs Benedicts on the menu. I kept it simple and stuck with the classic. This is a pretty large plate with toasted English Muffins, grilled ham slices, three poached eggs and topped with Hollandaise. Every layer of this Benedict was delicious. There wasn’t too much Hollandaise that it made everything soggy but enough that it tied all three layers together. The poached eggs were perfect. Not quite runny but not quite solid yolks either. The ham was one big piece that had crispy grill marks all along the edges. It was a fantastic way to start what turn out to be a literal 24 hour work day.
The plate doesn’t come with potatoes but there is an option to add them on for a little bit of an upcharge. The options are hash browns or red potatoes. I went with the red potatoes. The plate was full of cubed, tender, and heavily seasoned potatoes. There were some crispy edges but for the most part, they were tender all the way through and didn’t give any resistance at all to the fork.
My bill for breakfast was right around $15.
Wolfgang’s Restaurant is a great spot. I’ve heard so many great things about it over the years from co-workers and from the person who initially recommended it to me all those years ago. I’m glad I finally had the time. There are a ton of great breakfast spots in Grand Rapids but Wolfgang’s stands out as a very cool and very delicious neighborhood breakfast joint.
SW Michigan Dining 