A Reliable Breakfast Classic in Grand Rapids New Beginnings Restaurant on Northland Drive remains a go-to spot for hearty, no-frills breakfast in the Grand Rapids area. This longstanding diner delivers classic American comfort food with generous portions, consistent quality, and a welcoming vibe that keeps locals coming back. The restaurant was packed to the gills during my recent visit, a clear sign of its popularity even on a typical morning. Despite the crowd, the place stayed impressively clean, with tables turning over efficiently and the dining area well-maintained. The wait staff was friendly, attentive, and eager to serve, as always--quick to refill drinks, check in, and make sure everything arrived just right. I started with a large chocolate milk (paired with a water back for balance) -- creamy, rich, and perfectly chilled. For the main meal, I opted for bacon and eggs with extra-crispy hash browns and wheat toast. The eggs came dippy (over-easy), ideal for sopping up on the toast. The hash browns were golden, crispy-edged, and generously portioned, topped with a dollop of ketchup for that classic touch. The bacon arrived extra crispy, perfectly rendered with that satisfying crunch, laid over slices of toasted wheat bread. Everything was hot, flavorful, and executed just as requested. I skipped the side of sausage gravy this time to focus on the eggs and toast combo, but the simplicity worked beautifully. To cap it off, I finished my breakfast with an extra decadent piece of toast by combining both strawberry jam and grape Concord jelly onto my last triangle -- a sweet, nostalgic finale that hit the spot. One quirky highlight: I saw Jesus in the sugar bowl (the little figurine condiment caddy added a fun, homey touch to the table setup, complete with the salt, pepper, and ketchup nearby). Overall, the food was fantastic -- fresh, satisfying, and exactly what you want from a breakfast diner. Prices remain reasonable for the portion sizes, making it a great value in a city with plenty of options. Service and cleanliness hold steady even under pressure, which speaks to good management. As always, I recommend this place for anyone craving a solid, reliable breakfast. It would be splendid if they opened a location in the Cedar Springs, Michigan area -- it would be a welcome addition up north! read more

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Had breakfast after church service with my beautiful wife, I've gone to this specific location for a long while and I firmly believe it consistently serves the best food of the bunch. While they were busy, we were able to find seating right away and the waitress showed up very quickly after to take our orders. I'm always a sucker for breakfast places/diners and being able to see a lot of happy Little kids running about is always a bonus. I got the biscuits and gravy (my fave) and my wife got sausage,eggs and toast. The food was delicious and served hot, all in all a great local brunch spot to support. read more

The staff is very friendly and accurate with your order! It's also very affordable too!

I was looking for a breakfast place on Google Maps around this area and this looked worthy of giving it a shot. Mom ordered a half order of the biscuits and gravy w/ a side of hash browns and I ordered a custom omelette with hash browns, onion, ham, and cheese. Food came out hot and fast! Ginormous fluffy omelette, asked the waitress and she said it's made with SIX eggs! No wonder there's a note in the menu for splitting plates with your s/o Very tasty. My only note is that the onions were a bit crunchy yet and a little strong in flavor- I liked them, but I know not everyone does. I tried a little bit of the gravy and it was also very tasty. Mom said she knows good biscuits and gravy, and agreed that these were delicious. She also ordered hot tea and was able to take the rest to go. Although the interior looked like it hadn't been updated since 1981 when the establishment became the "Home of The Big Breakfast" as noted on the menu, it was very neat and tidy and clean inside the restaurant. Just need a laminator for their menus. read more

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Very good food and freshly prepared. Doesn't take a long time to be served. Great service read more

This place is always busy, but they still get the food out hot. At least every time I have gone there. This trip we ordered the meat lovers omelette and the biscuits and gravy. My wife liked her omelette and I was just itching to get me some biscuits and gravy that day. They hit the spot. Waitress was very friendly and on top of things. Never had to ask for a refill. Definitely will be back again. read more

New Beginnings Restaurant - Biscuits and gravy - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Food is great especially the bacon everyone is super nice and friendly and very helpful highly recommend

Food was great. Reminded me of an old diner inside. The service was quick and nice. Food was like grandma would make.

Senior Citizen Paradise- if you want bland food and slow service , you have come to the right place. A restaurant that only has one server for breakfast. Even though their main serving time is breakfast. Gives you that warm 90's feel decor. read more

Service on the slow side, probably the worst pancakes I've had in 20 years and my wife had to force herself to have more than 1 bite of her waffle. The bacon was good but that's the only nice thing I can say about this place. For sub par food the prices were way too high. It's too bad the owner of Anna's House is a Trump supporter. We're looking forward to the new breakfast place opening where the Twisted Rooster was. read more

The only place in town that knows what crispy well done hash browns are!!! Look at that golden brown crispy goodness! Friendly,helpful service and good simple breakfast food. Can not go wrong! read more

New Beginnings Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

I love the breakfasts there, I hunger for their hash browns and over-easy eggs. BTW, their default is to serve 3 eggs. Service is excellent, thank you Kristin. read more

When I first tried a New Beginnings restaurant before the smoking ban in 2010, I was appalled by how dense the smoke was, so much so, I could barely taste my food. After a five year hiatus from that dreadful experience, I decided to give it a second try yesterday. The interior is very stark and spartan. I had a western omelette that was pretty solid using real cheese. The hash browns were right on the money and probably the best part of the meal. The service was attentive and polite as well. For the money, I might prefer a Big Boy for breakfast due to the atmosphere being better on the eyes, but I'd go here again. The one part I did not like was how the tipping works. You go to the cashier and they run your credit card, give you your total and ask what amount of tip you want to give. I am a good tipper and usually always tip 25% unless someone lets me down, but I don't like announcing it out loud at the cashier counter. I'd rather be more discreet and this arrangement doesn't allow for that. I like to write my tip down as opposed to saying it out loud for others to hear and ponder. If I had a horrible server sand I wanted to give a lower tip, I don't like to trumpet that from the highest rooftop for all to hear. Who ever thought of that stupid idea? The out in the open awkwardness was like the Monty Python chemist sketch where the pharmacist comes out and says "Ok, who has a boil on their bum!?" Some things in life should be discreet and not advertised to everyone within ear shot. read more

My mom and I intended to have brunch at that new funky-looking Electric Hero sandwich shop that recently opened up on Northland Drive, but sadly, they're closed on Sundays. We were both super hungry, so we just wandered over to the nearest open restaurant, which happened to be this place. Another bland breakfast place. Bland interior, bland menu, bland clientele, bland waitresses wearing all-white shoes and sporting mullets...about as kill-me-now-Midwestern as a restaurant could possibly be. It was that strange feeling that I've been here before, about million other times, in a million other locations throughout my lifetime, and all of my past-lives as well, so I knew the drill well.. I ordered a Greek omelette (but had them make it a scramble instead) with well-done hashbrowns and rye toast. Their Greek omelette version comes with spinach, tomatoes, onions, feta, and quite strangely, swiss cheese. I knew this would be a long shot, but I asked the waitress if they could possibly add Kalamata olives to my scramble (to make it ummm... more... Greek?), but I was met with a perplexed look and an "ummmmm...", so I asked if they could just add black olives to it instead, and she didn't know if they had any, so she would have to ask for me. I told her to just ask them and if not, no big deal, i could make due without the olives. Our orders took quite a long time to arrive, considering the restaurant wasn't especially busy. No big deal though... Upon first inspection, my immediate gut reaction was to remove the curious half-melted Kraft Singles Swiss cheese slice that lightly blanketed the top of my scramble and wrapped it up in a napkin, so I wouldn't have to look at it and hopefully forget it was ever there. No olives either. Oh well. Everything else checked out alright though and I went to town. Not bad, but also not great. Nothing special or memorable, but it was fine, since my expectations were already set pretty low, it did do the trick. And it was relatively cheap. But honestly, there's nothing at New Beginnings to draw me back next time I'm in the breakfast food mood. I'm much more likely to pay $3 or so more for a more interesting and satisfying breakfast at Anna's House or Real Food Cafe. At least those places will have Kalamata olives on deck and I won't have to feel like I'm eating in a hospital cafeteria. read more

New Beginnings Restaurant - Greek scramble, hasbrowns and rye toast. (after I removed the Kraft singles swiiss slice) - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

No reason to visit again. We were there this past Sunday for brunch because another breakfast place nearby was really busy (more than usual for the time), so we decided to give this new location a try. That was a mistake... I'd like to say that if you have a "seat yourself" policy, you need to make sure there are enough servers/servers paying attention to this. We sat for probably 10-15 minutes before anyone even came for our drink order. We ordered our food and waited much longer than I expected for eggs/bacon/hash browns and an omlette to arrive. The place was by no means packed. Food quality is meh--absolutely nothing special and flavorless. Coffee also has no flavor and is watered down. If the meals were in the $6-$7 range, ok fine, but they are overpriced for what you get. Charging over $2 for adding potatoes to a meal meaning hash browns or another option which I forget. The hashbrowns taste like they are out of a GFS bag and the portion size is very small. I've been to two other locations in the past and also, nothing special. Don't bother. I honestly don't know how this chain is still in business. read more

Stopped in for the first time. Not a very good experience. For a breakfast place to not know how to scramble eggs very easy is odd. But they had a second chance and failed again. Oh well...... moving on! read more

I take my 11 year old daughter out to the Real Food Cafe regularly for biscuits and gravy and quality time together. We decided a week or so ago to stop in at the New Beginnings Restaurant on Northland Dr. instead. Wow, big mistake! At Real Food Cafe, we get made from scratch biscuits, locally sourced sausage in the gravy, and hand peeled and cut potatoes. This is far from what we were served at New Beginnings. The biscuits were pre-made from Gordon Food Service, but gravy (with very little sausage in it) came from a heated up plastic bag from Gordon's, and the onions and potatoes were uniformly cut leading me to believe these also came from a plastic bag from Gordon's Food Service. There was no sign what so ever of anything at New Beginnings being home made or prepared from scratch. Ironically, breakfast at both places cost almost exactly the same. We much prefer made from scratch food that doesn't come from a plastic bag. We'll not return here. I only gave two stars because although the food left much to be desired, out waitress was prompt and friendly. read more

Great food and service. Newer place so it's clean and wait staff friendly and attentive. Omelets are huge but they have to go boxes if needed. Will be stopping in again. Updated after posting the original review. Waitress took off at the end of the meal. Had to get my own to go container for flip sake. Also at checkout they do not ask to include a tip as previous postings indicated. Good job Yelpers if this annoying practice was stopped because of reviews. read more

New Beginnings Restaurant - Western omelette with hash browns - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

My eggs were fixed just as I ordered. The rye toast was tasteless. Waitress was good. Prices on the high side for the typical-fare breakfast food and the boring atmosphere. read more

The server messed up my order more than once, then blamed me by saying "you didn't even order toast", when I did. Eggs were scrambled when I ordered over-easy. I was the only customer. She probably couldn't get it right because she was walking away while I was still ordering. She complained about me very loudly in the kitchen. The food was nothing special, and small portions for a big price. Won't eat here again. read more

Rude staff. Was on hold for 10 mins to place a to go order then was hung up on. Service isn't great either. Even when it's slow.

New Beginnings is becoming one of our favorite "brunch" places in Grand Rapids. Good service, good food, etc. A heads up, however, their bacon is prepared dry, and old looking. Convinced that this was made in the morning (a couple hours ago) we asked for "fresh" bacon. The kitchen is well within hearing range, and comments of "so, they want limp bacon?" emerged. So, I took a piece of bacon back and politely asked, if this was typical of your bacon?" "Yes, that is how we make it," was their reply. "I pointed out that it was dry, no oil from frying, dull, and appeared to be from earlier in the day, and simply rewarmed." But, they assured me that is how they prepare it. Or server was excellent, did what she could do, and actually had the bacon removed from the bill. The rest of the food was very good, service was excellent, and our dining experience was pleasant. It's just not the place to get "fresh" bacon. We left a 25% tip and plan to go back. read more

New Beginnings Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

My family frequents this location for breakfast and absolutely love it! It's good food that is well priced and comes out in a timely manner! The servers are all extremely friendly, also; always keeping our waters and coffees full! read more

I recently went here for breakfast. The service was good. The prices were a bit high. I got french toast and a side of hash browns. The food was good, but it didn't taste any different than the food you would eat at Ihop, for example. read more