Stopped here on our way to pick up my oldest daughter from fine arts camp. When it comes to eating out, I admit I am a complainer when it comes to the food. My family hates to eat out with me so I limit what I get to things that shouldn't be messed up. When you cook yourself, you have an expectation of what food should taste like. Not to mention presentation. Palio will not disappoint. Each dish was seasoned perfectly and cooked to perfection. My daughter will not stop talking about her mac n cheese. I ordered the espresso crusted sirloin with spaghetti squash gratin and brocollinni. Sweet jesus I ate it all! Oh did I mention the Rose' sangria?!? Wish I could have taken a growler home with me!. The only down side is that its located in Michigan which means its 5 hours away. Would be great if they moved to Downtown Willoughby in OH read more

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I don't feel that the food is that good taste wise and most definitely not in line with their prices! Sorry but that's my experience with this restaurant. read more

This place was pretty deng good for a lil hole in wall gem on a rainy day. Was visiting Grand Rapids for business, and was staying at the Hampton Inn whose parking lot was literally attached to this restaurant, so it was an easy walk from the elevator. Area was nice and safe. When you first walk in, you see the brick oven dome pizza baker making the specialized pizzas, which I normally would have tried myself except I'm on somewhat of a personal diet so I opted for the Salmon (picture shown). The original recipe and dish actually had a potato base carb, but I simply had the kitchen substitute the filet steak base which is a spaghetti squash with the salmon on top of that. The result, was a healthy, low carb, island of deliciousness! Topped it with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, and it was heaven in a bowl. This place had so many other things to choose from. They wheeled out a whole serving table made out of Parmesan cheese to a table and poured hot pasta into it for melting and then served it straight out of the table made of cheese! BRILLIANT!! Would love to go back and visit and try something else to give my review one last star. read more

Palio - Salmon on top of spaghetti squash. - Italian Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

There was only one other couple in the restaurant, but the food took a long time to come out. The ice in my water was melted before it arrived. I saw the guy working the pizza oven wipe his nose and go back to cooking, and the waiter had his hand touching the Parmesan cheese when he asked if we wanted any. Don't think service should have been this slow with more people in kitchen than we're seated in the restaurant at 1 pm on a Friday. 2 entrees 2 non-alcoholic drinks and a tip, we spent around $65. read more

DO NOT WORK THERE AS A SERVER! omg the worst income EVER... Mostly the customer base is just high school prom and homecoming's and foreigners who do not understand American tip customs... how is this place still in business???? obv some of these reviews are FAKE. read more

Delicious! My husband got the chicken Parmesan and I got the salmon. They were both excellent. The gnocchi served with the salmon was amazing and the salmon was prepared really nicely. Large portions and very reasonably priced. Our cocktails were also very good (Italian margarita and juniper grog). I am not sure why it took us so long to try it! Atmosphere is nice, somewhat trendy with a mix between elevated dining space but still casual. Unsuspecting from the outside but don't let that fool you :) Kara was a great server! Highly recommend read more

Second time here and it did not disappoint. We had a party of 6 on a Tuesday evening and they quickly got us a high top table. Very attentive and helpful host and staff when we arrived. I started off with the Palio 5-0, a coconut rum yummy cocktail that I dipped on until dinner. The menu is an iPad filled with pictures of selections, an interesting way to experience an electronic menu. We ordered 2 appetizers, the brussel sprouts and calamari. Both were devoured before I remembered to take pics, lol. Of all the dinners ordered, I thought mine had a great flavor and the mini raviolis with the rich pancetta sauce made it savory and yummy! My boyfriend had the Chicken Carbonara that was great too. Great service, enjoyed the meal and our family time here. You can talk and hear each other across a table :). Parking available at the garage and it will be validated. read more

Palio - Chicken Marsala, soooooo good! - Italian Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

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I like their pizzas: mostly the margarita with sausage added. Their takeout is always punctual and Ive ordered here several times. Have tried their appetizers like bruschetta, meatballs and various salads. Salads are good, the bruschetta with proscuitto is extremely bland. I love proscuitto and was disappointed. I also didnt care for their tomato and burrata appetizer because it had a sweety and vinegary tomato jam. Totally ruined the taste of the dish and did not complement the burrata. The meatballs in marinara sauce are quite acidic for me so I cant eat them. Have also eaten their pesto penne with chicken, which was good. I do not recommend the carbonara orecchiette as it was too oily and very bland. The menu has many options so you can try a variety of items. Im pretty picky about italian food given my background, so I stick to their pizzas and salads. read more

We have been going to Palio for over a year. We have always had a good experience, but tonight things really changed. The pasta used to be so fresh. Tonight it tasted like Ramon noodles. Very disappointing. The shrimp was undercooked. The salad was wilted. Last time the heat was out and it was freezing , but we stayed. Tried to give it another shot, but I am not sure what is going on, I don't think I can try it again. read more

So good!!! I had the Pollo Al Marsala and my husband had the Mezzaluna A Crostine Corte. Both were very delicious and highly recommend. Service was great and very attentive. Will definitely be back read more

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We enjoy Palio for casual Italian dining. A pretty good menu that delivers coupled with friendly service is always a winner in my book. Our recent visit was similar to all those before-excellent. I've enjoyed Pollo al Marsala, Spaghetti e Polpette (meatballs), Bolognese, and pizza. Tonight we had Bolognese and Salsaccia e Pepe (sausage and pepper) pizza. The pasta always taste wonderful but the bolognese is what keeps us coming back. The pizza is made in a really neat oven by the bar. Outstanding crust and ingredients make Palio's pizza one of my favorites in Grand Rapids. Wine by the bottle is reasonable with a good selection. Parking is either in their lot across the street or in the Hampton Inn garage with Palio validating the parking. If I have any complaints, it's the noise level. The restaurant is always quite loud making quiet conversation difficult unless you go during "off" hours. With that said, I'll take great food over ambience any day! read more

Please save your money, my loss is your gain. Had dinner with our college daughter on Sunday, April 2, at 4:30. First - seating. There were only 8 guests in the restaurant. Almost all tables and booths were available in open area with large windows and good lighting. The three of us were seated in the back corner. We were inches from the kitchen, and the barback area where servers stand, and facing a wall and a vacuum cleaner right next to us. This is easily the worst table in the place, and one you would be hesitant to give, even if it was the last table available. I can't even come up with a thought process for this bizarre placement (we were showered and appeared well dressed). It never got busier and we had a reservation. Food. Cheese bread appetizer $9. A slice of toasted bread with a slice of cheese on top and cut in triangles. Yes, the size of a slice of bread. Thought it was a joke at first when she put it down, but she walked away. Little Caesars cheese bread would have been far superior. Main course: Spaghetti and meatballs - dry, looked old, maybe prepared hours ago to be used all day. Almost no sauce anywhere, giant hard pink meatballs that were as old as the vacuum I was staring down next to my seat. Crispy chicken parmesan. The chicken was crispy to the core. Over fried, oddly, still very little sauce, but will make a great jerky if your teeth are up for it. Also prepared some time ago. Polpette (Italian meatball) pizza. Worse pizza ever. All crust burnt, not one meatball, several slices of sausage instead. Strange yellow cheese and grease makes this not edible, reminiscing of my home made pizzas in my Easy Bake Oven. $90. We eat out often, this is easily my worst experience, but does remind me to vacuum when I get home. PS - My first written review ever. I tried to warn you. read more

We went to this place for lunch since it was right next to our hotel. It is nicely themed inside and the service is good. I just had a regular pepperoni pizza, but it had great flavor and was even better left over! read more

Great Italian food. Pizza is quality, the crust is delicious, and the toppings are great. Pasta dishes are also good - I like the carbonara. We also had the bruschetta appetizer which was small but filled with flavor. read more

Absolutely amazing. Not too expensive but absolutely worth it. Loved the food and service. I wish the location was better but was amazing. Definitely recommend. read more

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I used to eat at the Palio in Ann Arbor back in my college days and vaguely remember it having good food and that all the waiters working there were extremely attractive (perhaps that's why my food memories of Palio are so faded...) I didn't remember it being so expensive though. The first thing I'll mention is that I was a little blindsided by the prices at this newer GR Palio location. Palio is in a not-so-upscale area of the city (Michigan St.) and while the restaurant is definitely nice, don't get me wrong, it's also rather small/cramped, loud (other party's tables are very close by) and quite dark. It had much more of a European pub feel than it did a high-class relaxing Italian joint. I was slightly deceived. The service my friend and I got here was excellent. Our waitress very on top of her game. The options were very intriguing but again, pricey, so I tried getting through this night out without dropping too much cash, as I hadn't anticipated eating epicurean that evening. I ordered a cheese plate and their chopped Brussel's sprout salad. Both were excellent, but the cheese plate was to die for. It was unbelievably decadent. I don't think I've ever had cheese, olives and bread that good before. So all-in-all Palio is pretty solid restaurant with what I imagine to be very authentic Italian dishes (I've never been to Italy and don't eat at Italian restaurants very often), definitely much smaller than your Olive Garden or Carraba's "carbicide" portions that most people are likely used to (i definitely see this as a good thing for GR to have), but of the few items I sampled on my budgeted visit, this place blows the chain crap out of the water as far as flavor and refinery. I definitely intend to come here in the future and try a more robust type of entree, it does seem like maybe an impressive date spot. A lot of things I have yet to try here, but oooooh, so little cash flow lately! read more

Palio - Italian Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

We were here late on a friday night. It wasn't overly busy, but there was a weird, rowdy crowd at the bar - it seemed out of place for the type of restaurant we were at. We had good service - the server was not overly chatty, but he was very helpful with our dislike of the Tablet-style menu. It was really annoying to have the entire menu on a tablet, that you had to keep scrolling through page after page of. Even for a person in their 20's, it wasn't that easy to navigate it. The craft beer selection was pretty shitty, but the wine list was pretty good. We opted to get a pizza, since they have a custom-made pizza oven. We got the mushroom and broccolini pizza (with a fresh cracked egg on top). Right as we should have been getting our food, our server came out and said that they had to make us a new pizza and it would be a little while because "they broke the egg." So we waited quite a while for our food, because they made it twice. It was a pretty damn good pizza though! The pizza's aren't that big. It did feed two of us, but it was only a 4-slice pizza that could easily be eaten by one person. The chances of us going back are probably pretty good - I would like to experience the restaurant at a different time of day/week and also order something other than pizza. read more

I was visiting from out of town and my group walked from our hotel to Palio based on the reviews here on Yelp. Our waitress was super friendly and accommodating to 4 out of towners who had never been here! The tablet menus are a nice touch. You can click on anything on the menu to see a picture which I felt was helpful! The table ordered meatballs and garlic bread for appetizers. Both were fantastic choices and are recommended! The food came out in a reasonable amount of time and was prepared exactly like it was ordered. I ordered the Chicken Marsala and it was on point! Mine came with potatoes and vegetables which were also great! Everyone at our table thoroughly enjoyed their choices and we plan on going back again tonight! This is a great restaurant that you need to try if you are in the area! read more

We walked in and were greeted immediately. It was very slow which kind of shocked me since it was lunch time. The place was cute. We ordered garlic bread and they put the sauce on it instead of on the side. The service was slow. It seemed like we were there a very long time. We had calamari and I didn't like the saffron sauce. The Alfredo was good. It seems their noodles are homemade. read more

Outstanding dining experience from start to finish. It felt personalized and special but was unexpected for the price. Our drinks were poured at the table; limoncello was complimentary at the end of the meal; servers were very attentive. Palio uses an electronic menu, which allows you to click each item and view photos and description. It was really helpful! They also had a "featured" menu with some delicious specials. We ordered their sausage stuffed portobello mushroom, a Caesar salad with chicken to share (they split it free of charge!) and the broccolini. The Caesar was one of the best we've had -- only critique would be that there wasn't much chicken. Everything was delicious, though. Our friends ordered a margherita pizza and a risotto, and they were really happy with their meals, as well. We would definitely come back and highly recommend Palio! read more

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Finally made it to this restaurant after hearing a few recommendations. Nothing fancy and more like a neighborhood restaurant. Food was delicious and the service was top notch. Definitely recommend this place. read more

Service was great. Entrees tasted good- but on the small side. Bruschetta bread was like a hockey puck- 3 pieces for $11??? Atmosphere isn't like a traditional Italian restaurant- not the worst, not the best. read more

Excellent Italian fare. Love the fresh grated cheese. The chicken entree with the corn souffle is terrific. Meatballs are great. read more

Bottom Line: Really great meal, excellent service, and a nice atmosphere. Staying at the hotel next door, walked over and had my meal at the bar. Ordered the Chicken Marsala and a house salad. It was really good and would highly recommend. Maybe its just me, but really like restaurants where I can see the kitchen Food Quality 5 stars Service: 5 stars Value: 4 stars Atmosphere: 5 stars Total Experience: 5 stars read more

Palio - Italian Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Palio is a nice place, great Italian fare. On one recent visit we were waited on by TJ and he was excellent, he provided extremely good service. Today's visit was equally good, our waiter TJ was excellent as well. The chicken parmigiana is very good as well as their appetizers. TJ is the resident wine expert, he does a great job. read more

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Palio's has always had the best food and great service. Highly recommend!!! I have been there several times with my daughter and grandson, never disappointed. read more

We came one year ago, and had the same fantastic experience this time. The food is delicious, presented well, and the staff is friendly and does a great job. read more

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Wow! Palio - Grand Rapids is quite an addition to the Michigan Street corridor!! Hampton Inn guests will appreciate such a great restaurant within walking distance. I like the transformed interior from the previous restaurant, El Barrio, too. A friend and I visited this evening and I was completely in awe of the Manzo Filet. It was cooked to perfection. The flavor of each course was outstanding. The mashed potatoes were excellent and the portobello mushroom and burrata beneath the steak made me swoon with joy over the flavor. Seriously. Happiness on a plate. We had the Brussels sprouts as an appetizer and they lacked tenderness but, honestly, they were flavorful and edible. I need to say that our waitress had a good balance of attentiveness versus letting my friend and I visit. She was friendly and yet very professional. The wine list could probably use a bump in that I never actually had a chance to find it on the iPad menu and give it consideration. I just took the waitress' recommendation for a Cabernet. It was a Joel Gott. I would normally choose a Chilean wine or something from Argentina but the Joel Gott was fine for the evening. I will definitely be back! read more

I love the eggplant parmigiana and substitute spaghetti squash for pasta. Wonderful dish full of flavor and delicious.

Nice quiet date night on a Monday. Bartender was great, gave recommendations as we had never been here before. Everything was prompt and well cooked! The food was amazing as were the drinks! I got the carbonara and the chicken was tender, broccolini retained its crispness, and the table side presentation was really cool! My husband got the shrimp scampi, a recommendation from the bartender, and it was perfect! The shrimp was fresh and very well cooked! read more

I ate here tonight for dinner. It was delicious and full of flavour. The eggplant parmigiana was delicious. It was crispy and was not drowned with sauce. It had the perfect amount of tomato and basil and cheese. It was served on a bed of olive oil tossed pasta. This complemented it well and was very filling. You can share this dish or have leftovers. The fettuccini Alfredo was delicious and made table side too. So nice and creamy and the pasta was done perfectly. The garlic bread we ordered as an appetizer was not super garlic flavoured but it was good. The tiramisu was amazing. Served nicely on a plate with cocoa powder and served with raspberries and chocolate ribbon curls. All I can say the dessert was amazing! Andrea was the name of our server and she was so friendly and kind. I was weary at first since this restaurant is relatively new, but decided to eat here since I have eaten at the one in Ann Arbor. I was not disappointed. read more

Palio - Italian Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

Fettuccine. Alfredo..inside a parm wheel. THATS ALL YOU NEEE TO KNOW!!! The service was awesome, the menu was extensive and we had a great time! read more

Wonderful service and food. We had Jenna as our server, and we will definitely be back. She was very attentive and kind. The carbonara was wonderful. read more

I have been traveling to Grand Rapids to visit my sons last 5 years and it was hard to find a good real Italian restaurant. The place is nice, service outstanding. The new is short but each dish carefully prepared and high quality. We were a party of 7 and we order different plates, all really good I will come back read more

The fettuccine, calamari, and pizza was good! However, everything else was not. Spaghetti & meatball, shrimp scampi, and short rib pasta all need work. Short rib dish was extremely salty. Scampi did not taste good and we found hair in it which was replaced. The service was not good, server was only there to get order and give us the check. Will not return. read more

Palio - Italian Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

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We really enjoyed Palio. The moment you walk in, you are greeted by soft Italian music and the smell of cheese. The decor of the restaurant is super cute and quaint as well. We had the pleasure of being served by Ben who was personable, helpful, and kind. My friend is Gluten intolerant so I was a bit nervous she was going to have limited options. Ben helped us navigate the menu and let us know that they offered a gluten free pasta that they could substitute and also a cauliflower crust if we wanted pizza. We ended up getting the bolognese for me and she ordered the chicken pesto cream sauce with the gluten free ziti. We also enjoyed the house salads that were simple and delish, and shared an affogato for dessert. A GREAT restaurant that we will definitely be back for! P.S- the bar is super cute! read more

Palio - Bolognese - Italian Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Palio is a great addition to Michigan street! It truly stands out as a restaurant with higher end food and drink options on a street with nothing but (mostly awesome) dive bars. Next to the omelette shop and the new Hampton inn hotel the location is convenient for nipping by for happy hour after work or for running over for a business lunch or dinner. We didn't see any free parking but there was a convenient garage next door. Valet would be a nice option in the future. We came in on their first Friday dinner service. They were over staffed which was nice, and it seemed to really help head off issues. We called ahead and placed a reservation so when we arrived, despite it being busy we were seated immediately. We had a newborn with us and they brought over a special holder for his car seat. They have the same iPad menus as the chop house (in their family of restaurants) so diners are easily able to see pictures of what their food will look like which was handy. We started with drinks - and my cocktail was shaken table side which was a nice touch. It had a good flavor and was well balanced. For starters we ordered the arancini, garlic bread and Brussels sprouts. All were great! The garlic bread was addicting and the Brussels sprouts almost had a syrup on them that gave them a sweetness , despite being crispy on the outside and firm on the inside almost as if they were steamed then lightly fried. I would also note that the appetizers came out very quickly. For dinner we ordered the carbonara pasta (also prepared table side !!), the braised short rib ravioli, and the goat cheese and mushroom risotto. All were great! Flavors were hearty and potions weren't too big like at some of the chain Italian restaurants. For desert we ordered the lemon meringue bar and the budino (amaretto chocolate pudding). Both were amazing. They were however a little rich for us after an already heavy dinner. The prices on deserts were surprisingly affordable compared to what other places in town charge for desert. Another stand out was the menu's custom wine recommendations that change for every plate and offer a low, medium and high priced option. We will definitely be back! read more

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Order takeout or come here with caution and low expectations. I had been here previously for happy hour and thought it was great, but dinner last night was another story. We had a reservation+ requested a nice booth, that was granted and our table was perfect. when we asked the host a question about the menu all she said was "oh I'm not your server" and walked away. Our biggest issue was truly with the waiter. He was very short tempered and slow. He told us that multiple appetizers came with bread when, in fact, they didn't. When we brought this up with him, he was argumentative and rude and told us everything came ala carte. Cocktails took a very long time (15 min+) to come out and when we received them, they were 3/4 of the way full. When we addressed this the server said, "we don't want to overfill them with ice" except one was a martini... which does not come with ice. (The manager was nice enough to bring us a new martini) The major problem with the waiter was When he handed me my pizza, he failed to tell me how hot the plate it was. I literally dropped it onto the table and I burned my finger. I now have two blisters on my right hand. No apology, just kept handing out out plates. This is totally unacceptable in my opinion. Granted The food was very good. I thought the portions were a little small (other than the pizza) even the fettuccine Alfredo. It looked like it was half full. Please avoid this place. Long wait times and terrible service for skimpy portions. Osteria Rossa and Amore Trattoria both offer better food and far better service. We will never return. read more

Amazing!! We made reservations and had about a 10 minute wait but it was a pretty busy place so it was understandable. The bar was very cool looking if you wanted to hang out there. The restaurant was clean and cozy. They have an amazing wine selection. My boyfriend tried their Gin that was made with tomatoes... not my style but give it a shot. All the food is made fresh. The pasta was AMAZING! My boyfriend told me he wasn't listening to me because he was enjoying his food experience too much... that's how much he love the filet! Hands down best Italian I have had in Grand Rapids. They also validate your parking if you park at he hotel parking lot next door. read more

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Food was pretty good. Service was relatively quick and not too expensive. The parking situation was a bit confusing until I read someone's comment. They validate the hotel parking. read more