Whatever their problems when they first opened, things seem fixed now. It's a big, clean, sunny, contemporary design with ample hallway and other commons area, great views of the Mississippi, plenty of parking and connected to a big resort hotel. The location couldn't be better except for the long freight trains that periodically isolate the Riverwalk area. Lots of parking on the outside, plenty of restrooms on the inside, very accessible for the differently abled. Medium and larger sized rooms, so medium to pretty large events will find this venue to be a good fit. The food is typical meeting center bland, but above average for a town without a collective sense of culinary adventure. This is the heart of the American Midwest after all. If you're looking for a place to host your meeting or wedding, I would suggest you think about Dubuque just for the Grand River Center. Walking distance from the Holiday Inn and Hilton downtown, except when the aforementioned lengthy freight trains move through like a long graffiti covered iron glacier. read more

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Neat little convention center in Dubuque close by downtown and the river. The day we were here the center was filled with an arts and crafts collection of tables ... maybe 100 tables in total. Big crowd, big selection, good times. The convention center is big, clean, and easy to get to. Loads of parking outside. There also is a hotel within walking distance so it is especially handy for visitors. Nice place read more

I attended my brothers wedding reception here last weekend and thought it was put together really well. The space was absolutely beautiful. For the large amount of guests (250+) the bar tenders had drinks poured quickly. The food was served plate style to the wedding party when the rest of the guests had buffet style. The salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, and shaved beef was delicious. I wasn't a huge fan of the sauce on the chicken but it was very moist and not over cooked. Overall I think the night was perfect, went very smoothly, and the event staff were nice and helpful. read more

I coordinated a wedding at the Grand River Center recently. My first impression of the place was very poor, as I was working with Melissa, the Wedding Coordinator for the venue. Melissa was not only rude and unprofessional with me, she was also very rude to the bride and groom, not at all flexible, and she made them very nervous about hosting their special day at the GRC. However, after calls to her supervisor a few days before the wedding, the other venue staff stepped up and saved the day. Mitzi was phenomenal and helped us coordinate the last minute details, and was also on site for the reception. Tessa helped us set up the morning of and was extremely helpful with making any changes we needed. Josh(ua?) made sure the wedding ran smoothly until the end of the night. Steer clear of Melissa if booking your event in this space, and the rest of the staff will treat you well! They deserved 5 stars for commitment and professionalism. The venue was affordable, so the food, linens and space were what was to be expected for the price; the bride and groom and guests were all happy at the end of the night. I would definitely have an event here again. read more

We ordered the carry-out Mother's Day meal and were VERY impressed! The food was So good and we got really large portions for the price. Will definitely order out or eat in here again. read more

This is a nice place to have an event. I've been to several events here over the years. They are only a few steps away from the river. They have interior parking inside so that people can park in there if there is space available. My only wish is they had EV charging there. read more

This place was incredible. Absolutely incredible. I can't stop raving about this place and our guests at our wedding loved it too. I am so happy that we picked this place for our wedding. The venue is gorgeous. Our guests kept raving about how great the views were and how beautiful everything was. The patio and views from the windows were amazing. Planning could not have been easier. We planned this wedding from Chicago and it was a breeze. My husband and I kept saying that we expected wedding planning to be more difficult but this place does a lot of weddings each year and they are so organized that it made it very easy. The food was good. I mean it is a wedding venue so as the previous person stated it isn't the best but no one goes to a wedding expecting huge things. We are both typical Chicago foodies and we both thought that this food was better than average wedding food. The thing that did scare us was that when we went to the tasting the food wasn't very good. We were pretty worried about it actually but when we ate at the reception it was 10 times better than at the tasting. We both thought so and so did both sets of parents. The service was amazing. They did everything for us and we had such a quick dinner that we were able to get to dancing quickly. We also had our wedding in the river room (gorgeous) and our guests got to cocktail hour early. They were ready to go and served all of our guests the first drink quickly. Katie was also excellent and a lot of fun. We couldn't have asked for. Better venue and a better day. This place helped make it easier and a lot more fun! If I could do it all over again I would come back here over and over again. read more

When I saw this venue space, I fell in love. I knew that there was probably going to be a catch and there was. The food and service were absolutely awful. It was actually in edible. Many of my guests did not eat, as their steak was GRAY and cold. It was a complete embarrassment and I feel completely taken advantage of. My chicken was chewy and tasted like airplane food, actually I feel airplane meals are better. I brought this to Katie's attention and she was very nice and asked if I wanted something else. Well, steak was not an option, as my husband was eating gray, fatty steak that looked as if it came from a casino. And what about the other guests who were also served this disgusting food? No one seemed to care or try to do anything about that. The vegetables were straight from a can and the potatoes were instant with some nacho cheese sauce. I will say that our expectations are probably much higher than many, as we live in Chicago and are surrounded by fabulous restaurants. However, I grew up in Iowa and my family still resides in Bellevue and parts of Dubuque, so I have frequented many restaurants in the area. Even the small town, ma and pa restaurants in the area have better quality food. The Grand River Center should be ashamed of themselves for serving this quality of food. I am shocked that none of our guests got sick, probably because they didn't eat. They are clearly taking advantage of their clients because of the atmosphere that they offer. Now the service, or lack of. I specifically asked how many servers there were going to be, as I wanted to make sure that my guests were taken care of. I worked in restaurants for 15 years and use to work many wedding receptions at a 5 star restaurant in chicago. We Always had 4-6 servers and the food was family style. Katie informed me that "staffing is determined by the banquet and beverage manager, based on count and menu. My estimate, would be FIVE servers and one or two bartenders." We had TWO servers for a sit down dinner. Now, how on earth are two servers supposed to deliver the food, take deliver drink orders, and check on guests? It is NOT possible. The two servers were running around frantically. They left the trays of food next to the tables and disappeared to get drinks or whatever. I watched a 10 top wait for 10 minutes until finally my uncle served the food. Do you think it was hot? And what about the last tables served, who waited 30 minutes after we got our food? Where do you suppose their food was sitting? Under a heat lamp, yes. So gross and wrong. If this situation would have happened at my previous restaurant, the wedding coordinator and catering manager would have been assisting. Not here. I could go on and on but will stop here. Bottom line, if you want to sacrifice quality food and service, than maybe this place will work for you. I personally wish I would have chosen a different venue. It was difficult planning a wedding from Chicago. We tasted some food before the wedding and I told Katie that none of it was good. We looked for another venue after the tasting but they were all full. We knew it would not be good but never thought it would be as horrible as it was. My family and I will never recommend The Grand a River Center and will be sure to share our negative experience with others in the area. * **Also beware of how they calculate the bar charges. Out of all the restaurants I have worked at, I have never heard of such a system. It is clearly put into place so that they can take advantage of you and present you with an additional large bill. Katie could not even clearly explain their system. I asked many questions that were left unanswered, and as I expected, we had a large, unexplained bill at the end. They charge "per bottle". So, if a guest orders a Long Island, they will be charged approx 25 dollars because they are charging per shot, taken from all the liquor used in the drink. What a joke. read more

Undoubtedly one of the worst service oriented staff I've ever encountered. Currently at a wedding and watched the staff clear tables banging plates during speeches by the wedding party, remove full glasses of beer from tables while those people were dancing and mostly just not seem to care to be there. If you are thinking of having your wedding reception here, you may want to reconsider unless you don't care if your guests have a good experience. read more

Once again I came here for a wedding reception and the food was horrific. Overpriced drinks it's too bad the couples have to pay so much to come here beautiful outside but that's about it read more

We fell in love with the view of the Mississippi on our first visit to Dubuque and knew that the Grand River Center was a great place to hold our wedding. Sherri Sherman and Samantha Runde were wonderful to work with. We wanted to utilize some different decorating and lay out designs. Instead of "no we don't do it that way", their response was always, "we will make this work." Sherri, Samantha and the entire staff worked diligently to make our event perfect. Our guests had a wonderful time and our daughter's wedding was nothing short of spectacular. read more

I recently had my wedding and reception here. It was a great day and wouldn't change a thing. There are some things thay annoyed me about our officiant and coordinator Sherri Sherman. She sold the place wonderfully! She did however forget to invite me and my now husband to the taste testing of food, I had to inquire about it, she failed to send us a preview of our vows, which I had to ask for after she told us she would send them weeks before the wedding. She did not comminicate with her partner Sam to where Sam told me to ask Tuesday or Wednesday before the wedding if we could decorate the night before. I asked Wednesday and Sherri told me she would let me know Thursday. I asked Thursday and was told to "hang tight" and she would let me know before the end of the day. I did not hear from her until 4pm on Friday stating that she was waiting all day for me to come decorate. I told her I was waiting to hear from her and that I had just gotten into town from my 3 hour drive. She said that my mother or I were supposed to call her. My mother was never part of it at all. We decorated and she talked down about our decorations and was annoyed that we didn't have any candles. My wedding party was appalled at how she treated everyone and was so rude to the wedding party. The rehearsal lasted longer than the entire wedding! The day of, we ended up getting done with the wedding early  (15 minutes, just the way I wanted it) after she stumbled over our names because she did not look over them first, she informed me that the cocktail hour could start early! I agreed to this. She then waited to tell me until we were eating dinner that since we started the cocktail hour and the dinner esrlier that we would need to end early. Also she failed to mention that the bill needed to be paid before the wedding and that you are charged for the buffet on the number you tell her on who RSVP, not how many plates are used. Other than the small annoyances in our time with Sherri, the day was perfect, the place was perfect and beautiful. The wedding and reception were the way I wanted it, even if it annoyed Sherri and the other wedding that was there the same day got all of hype on their Facebook page. read more

Recently had a wedding ceremony there. Room was gorgeous, staff helpful! I would beware that the River Room and get quite hot as there is no AC read more