Mertens Prime celebrates the history of Grand Rapids in our historic 1914-built dining room housed in the lobby of the former New Hotel Mertens. Our French-styled steakhouse and brasserie features classic French dishes and steaks and chops with many tableside presentations including chateaubriand, the Mertens rolling cheese cart, and bananas foster. Mertens Rooftop and Cafe Mertens are attached to Mertens Prime though they operate separately– therefore please note that ****Mertens Rooftop does not accept reservations*****. CHECK MERTENSROOFTOP’S WEBSITE FOR ROOFTOP HOURS.
Retro-chic brasserie serving French classics & old-school cocktails in a historic, former lodging. Based on 803 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.4 stars. Price $$
✔️ Dine-in ✔️ Takeout ✔️ No delivery
Address:
35 Oakes St SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: (616) 551-1713
Social Profile: 
Hours
| Sunday | 4–9 PM |
| Monday
(Labor Day)
|
5–9 PM
Hours might differ
|
| Tuesday | 5–9 PM |
| Wednesday | 5–9 PM |
| Thursday | 5–9 PM |
| Friday | 4–10 PM |
| Saturday | 4–10 PM |
Menu
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Menu Photos
Photo Gallery
Order and Reservations
Reservations: opentable.com
Reviews
Helena Boulding
Stellar service and atmosphere not a frown from any of the employees!! This was such a welcoming restaurant and I was completely blown away. They exceeded my expectations in every way! The food was full of flavor, large portions and hot! Our waitress Liz made sure we were happy and that the food met our expectations ❤️ I’m so thankful for her today! Before dinner we met the owner and he gave us a tour and history lesson about the building then showed us upstairs to the roof top bar where we were greeted by even more friendly staff if I could give this place 1000 stars I would. You have a customer for life from me and my husband, we will always dine here when we visit grand rapids. Thank you so much for your service today, you made us feel like royalty
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Lisa Whalen
My son and I were so excited to go to Mertens and were eagerly anticipating an elevated experience. It is not often that we get to treat ourselves to a meal at a fine dining restaurant. We were so disappointed. It definitely did not have the feel of somewhere you’d spend $300 for two people. I mean, the table was set nicely, there were nice white napkins and sophisticated sounding dishes, but that’s where it ended. There was no fine dining presence by the servers, who seemed rushed despite there only being 3 other tables. We tried many dishes, including a cheese plate, bone marrow appetizer, fish croquettes, snapping turtle soup, duck a l’orange, cassoulet, and cherries jubilee. The soup was fantastic. That and the cocktails were the only items we were really impressed with. The other dishes seemed to all taste the same, and the duck was overcooked – we were not asked how we wanted it cooked. What was truly bizarre was that my son had his leftover appetizers on a plate to take home when the server came by with a box and dumped the contents of the plate in it. There was no care taken. It was as if she was dumping them in the trash. We were stunned. Even the cherries jubilee was lackluster. We left feeling as though we wasted a lot of money. We were also sad that they closed the rooftop due to weather, but it wasn’t even raining. I hope this was just an off night, and that other diners had a better experience.
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Drew Looyenga
Mertens Prime is the definition of a premium steakhouse restaurant. It’s a tight race between MDRD and Mertens Prime for the title of the fanciest schmanciest restaurant in Grand Rapids. You’re going to want to dress up a little to come here or you’re going to feel out of place.
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Jess Wojo
The place is unique in that it is an historical building that serves French cuisine and wine. Onion soup was delicious. Overall, the steak and duck were comparable to other restaurants with lower prices.
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Thao Tran
The host was super rude but the servers were amazing. Water tasted weird to me but I don’t like tap water. Very accommodating with my sodium restrictions for the steak kind of disappointed that the garlic that came with it was hard to eat instead of the soft version, garlic mashed potato was delicious though.
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Corey Tinker
Went here on a whim – they were able to squeeze us in when no one else would.
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Richard Paul Kratz
First time in, and it is one of my favorite places in Grand Rapids. The food was fantastic, not inexpensive but good value for money.
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Emilee B.
Very unique historic building. Service was sporadic/slow. Very large portions. Would recommend the scallops and lamb tagine, skip the NY strip, brussels and poutine. For the price, there are better places for steak in GR.
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R
The food was great. Unfortunately, my steak was over cooked and I didn’t say anything. The ribeye was order medium and it was medium well to well, still tasted great. I couldn’t stop eating the mac and cheese.
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Andrew Ysasi
Great history of the property built into the experience. Excellent food and historic drinks. Service is top notch. Will go back.
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