Glass House, 710 Michigan St NE, Grand Rapids ~ 7/20/23



Keith Glass opened this bar in December of 2021. Before it became Glass House, it was Farah's Bar from 2010 until 2018. (Farah's photo from the internet.)
The property is still owned by the Farah family but Keith bought and is running the business. He did some interior remodeling and built new tables, all of which are high tops. He was also kind enough to chat with us for a few minutes.


The atmosphere is cheery with enough light from the windows and sound panels to keep the noise down. There were about 10 TVs playing and a music soundtrack. 



Shot of the Day
 Nicole was our server and she was wonderful, both with service and information. And if you're a Wrexham fan, you'll spot the scarf brought back by a customer.
Here is the two page menu, and we started with the Chili Cheese Tots, which were crispy and delicious and went well with our Hazy IPAs and Oberon (and vodka 😊).



The Philly/French Dip was an excellent sandwich with the added roasted red peppers and mushrooms and high quality bun.
House made shredded pork sandwich came with cheddar jack cheese served on a lightly toasted brioche bun. The sandwich had good flavor but didn't hold together well.
Our last two dishes were the all beef dog baskets.

It's tough to go wrong with a beef dog but having toasted buns made them even better. The fries had a light, tasty batter.
All in all, we were satisfied with our food, the service, and the atmosphere. Keith Glass is working hard to make this a comfortable and welcoming place.

The building was built in 1910 as a single family home but in 1916 it was converted into the Michigan Street Vaudette that later was just called the Michigan Theater. It was remodeled in 1938 and re-opened as the Vogue Theater. In 1948 the theater was bought by Radio Bible Class, which was part of Calvary Undenominational Church (photo from the internet).
 It closed in 1955 and the building became Westra's Restaurant that operated here from approximately 1959-1972 (Westra's information courtesy of Kim Fox). One of our long time friends, Dan Meeter, delivered fish to the restaurant in 1973, using the back door on the alley.

 Somewhere around 1979, Mr. Cheuk Chong Won opened a restaurant here, Wing on Lau (photo from the internet).
In 2007 there was an argument about a parking spot and Mr. Won was killed (accused was charged with involuntary manslaughter). The Farahs then acquired the building and turned it into Farah's Bar in 2010. In 2018 the owners went to prison for tax fraud (they served their time and are out of prison). Brian Farah made a statement in July of 2018 that Farah's Bar was sold and would re-open under new management. The next notice I found was that Farah's would re-open in January of 2020. Covid probably killed it after that and now it's the Glass House. 
So cheers to new beginnings and to keeping those edibles out of reach of children 😉



 

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