Log Cabin, 2401 Division Ave S, Grand Rapids ~ 10/24/23

This truly is a historic bar, first opened in 1938. Zillow states the structure was built in 1930 and here is a photo of the bar when it first opened (from Log Cabin's website).
Doug Potter and his father, Fred Green, bought it in 1975 and Potter's son, Matthew, and his stepmother Lisa Potter, currently own it. We were told that the book "Bud, Not Buddy" would give us the history of the place but it ended up being fiction. One of the main characters (Herman E. Calloway)  was based one of the author's grandfathers, Herman E. Curtis. Herman did play jazz in Grand Rapids and owned several different business in Grand Rapids, always needing a white man to handle the paperwork and be listed as a co-owner. The cab driver in the story was based on another of the author's grandfathers, Earl Lefty Lewis, who was the first African American cab driver in Grand Rapids. From the information I could find on them, both led pretty extraordinary lives. But although the book mentioned the Log Cabin a couple of times it did not help with the history of it.
The facebook page Wyoming Michigan History Room provided some additional information and states that it opened in 1937 at 2425 S Division as Log Cabin BBQ and was owned by Morris Gibson and Elwin Cooper. It operated as a drive-in with tray service. By 1947 it had moved to its current location and in the 1950s William and Irene Sherwin were operating it. In 1949, it was included in a list of beer gardens within Wyoming Township boundaries. If anything else comes to light, I'll be sure to add it.

So here we are in 2023 walking in for the first time. We settled into a booth along the back wall and saw a couple of people at the bar look at us, chuckle, and say "tourists." Ok, we're not regulars but still. (Our server told us it was because we came in the front door. Apparently everyone uses the back door 😏)
We started with two Sam Adams Cherry Wheats, one Blue Moon and an Arnold Palmer.
Our server, Alyssa, was amazing - super friendly, helpful, and efficient. 
Our delicious appetizer was crispy, cheese tots with bacon and pretty good chili. 
Two of us ordered the special that night: a grilled Italian Wrap: chopped pepperoni, ham, mozzarella, and salami. It all combined well but was light on the promised secret sauce.
The pizza sub was well balanced with green peppers and sausage.
Fresh tortilla chips accompanied the chicken taco basket.
For a place that's better known for its entertainment, this was all around quality food.
Live music, karaoke, trivia, and other events are regularly offered here, and they have a big room to accommodate this.

The other half of the restaurant where we were seated is taken up by a large, circular bar, some booths and high tops.




The women's restrooms were unusual but there's a good story behind them. Male patrons were accidentally but consistently walking into the ladies room by mistake. So the owner moved the men's room further away and made both of these for women.

We had a great experience here in spite of being derisively called tourists 😉




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