Snails Aren’t The Only Reason You Should ‘Escargot’ To Tillman’s

'Have you ever had escargot?' I was asked last week. 'Nope, but you know me, I'll eat just about anything.' And with that I was off to Tillman's Great Steak House on North Monroe to give their house specialty a try. I'm glad I did.

Tillman's, located just north of Leonard on Monroe (1245 N. Monroe NW), is a steak house cut from the classic '60s style. It looks like some place you might see Don Draper entertaining a client in the hit TV show 'Mad Men'. And that's part of the charm.

I was sent to Tillman's for the escargot, and I wasn't let down. Buttery and savory, the snails are tender and reminded me of mussels in their texture, but they tasted more like mushrooms.

It's hard for me to find fault with any dish served so generously in butter and garlic, so I won't. They claim to have the best escargot in Grand Rapids, and although it was my first go round with the French dish, I think any other place would find it hard pressed to top this appetizer.

I didn't stop at the escargot, while lunching at Tillman's last week, I also tried the Swiss Onion soup, which although a bit salty for my taste, was saved by a healthy slab of melted cheese.

For my entree I chose the Smothered Steak, so named because it is literally smothered in Swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions and au jus. I asked for it medium rare, which for me is just enough grill time to seal in the red juices.

It came just to my liking, which added to the juices already on the plate. I'm not sure who first discovered the combination of mushrooms added on top of a nicely cooked steak, but I hope that person won an award, because to me there's nothing better, and if you're headed to Tillman's for lunch or a special occasion, add them to any steak, because they're sauteed just right and are the perfect accompaniment.

All in all I found the service at Tillman's friendly and helpful, the atmosphere old school and pleasant, and food very good. So if you want to be adventurous and try the escargot, or if you want to stay in your comfort zone, with some well prepared comfort food, Tillman's is a place you should try.

Facebook reviews average about four stars out of five, including this one, which agrees with me that part of Tillman's charm is its atmosphere:

"Take a step back in time when you dined, not just fed your pie hole. An amazing place with amazing servers. The kind of place where you can sit back and imagine wise guys sitting next to regular folk and everyone just enjoying themselves."