New restaurant opens at Mines Golf Club in GR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A new restaurant and event center has opened at the Mines Golf Club in Grand Rapids.

The Gypsum Grill & Event Center officially opened Tuesday, offering a spot to grab a bite to eat overlooking the golf course at 330 Covell Ave. near O’Brien Road.

“So far, there has been a lot of excitement,” managing partner Chris Sobieck said. “On our opening night, we had several people stop us and tell us how happy they were to have this open and have a new addition on the West Side.”

When the team first looked into opening an event center, Sobieck said they weren’t planning on including a restaurant.

“But as we … found that there was a need over here (on the West Side) for another restaurant, we decided to expand the concept and put in a year-round, full-service open seven day a week restaurant with all the neighborhoods around here that, so we could service them and offer another great option in addition to what we have in this area,” he said.

The restaurant is opened to everyone, not just golfers, and Sobieck said it’s meant to be an everyday eatery, not a special occasion restaurant.

The menu is all made from scratch, with burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads. There’s also several entrée options like the Faroe salmon with mushroom gratin, orzo risotto, espresso powder, chive oil and Pecorino, or the duck fried rice, with confit leg and thigh, duck fat rice, broccolini, sunny-side-up egg, chili crisp and scallion.

The event center offers an outdoor space and indoor reception area, with two projection screens and a view of the golf course. There are already 15 weddings booked, Sobieck said, with the first one set to take place next week.

Along with weddings, it can also host gatherings like corporate events.

Alongside the Gypsum Grill & Event Center, the Mines Golf Club recently opened The Pit, a three-hole par-3 course.

“It has been very, very well received,” Sobieck said. “It’s been so well received that we’re now having it closed for weekdays, so we can recover a little bit from all the traffic it’s had this summer. … It’s just a fun thing to go do for an hour.”

Families, couples and people on their lunch hour have stopped by to play The Pit, he said.

Those additions, along with upgrading the golf course, are all part of a long-term process at the Mines. Sobieck said the team also has things planned for the driving range.

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “It’s not the end of our development of the Mines property.”