Excellent service, food and drinks. I was pleasantly surprised by the portion sizes. Great lighting and atmosphere. Highly recommended! Lots of vegan options too!
Steve Ruis
One of the best in GR. Chef Matt and team will not disappoint with this tightly focused yet veriaty filled menu. Love the creative drinks and the curated wine selection. All with a very reasonable price tag. Keep up the great work!
Lisa Olmetti-O'Loughlin
First time diners. The staff is fantastic, friendly and very helpful with the menu. Spanakopita was absolutely delicious, scallops were perfect, wine was delicious. Will absolutely be return diners!
LloydDob89
Loved our first visit to Marcona. Probably the best service I’ve received in a GR restaurant in a long time. We really liked the calamari, grilled shrimp, apple salad and the warm mixed nuts. Look forward to returning.
Kathryn Boerman-Cornell
Marcona on Lyon is, hands down, my favorite restaurant in the Grand Rapids area. From start to finish, every aspect of the experience is enjoyable, pleasant, and delicious. The space itself is well-lit, cozy, and has a half wall between the dining room and the kitchen, so that, if you’re seated in the right direction, you can watch what’s going on.
Tala H.
We went on a saturday afternoon and we had a reservation. The ambiance is kind of fancy, I like the decoration and they way the restaurant is set up. We had the trio app which contained hummus, baba ghannoush and muhammara. by far, the muhammmra is probably the best dish we had during the whole night. We had 3 entrees, lamb shank, duck rice and the tagginne. I would recommend the duck and the lamb shank. The plates were pricey for sure. I felt the portion can be bigger. Recommended :)
Lorin M Baum
Everything was delicious, the flavor profiles spot on. Best meal I've had since going to the big city and thankfully not a single burger or macaroni and cheese on the menu! Finally a restaurant that is inspired to bring new dishes and flavors to GR. . My new favorite place!
806barbw
We loved having you Llyod! I appreciate you recognizing our service team for their hospitality. Look forward to seeing you soon, Chef Matt
Jessica Cole R.
We are from Spring Lake and frequent GR for foodie experiences. This place quickly became our favorite restaurant in GR! There is a bar set up around the kitchen if you are interested in seeing how the kitchen is ran and how the food is prepared. We recommend this as it is both entertaining and informative. If you like to engage, the chefs are at not imposition to take their time to chat with you about the food, the exquisite wine and champagne menu, and many other things. The kitchen runs smooth. This has impressed my wife and I several times. Chef Matt recently added a few items to the menu. I tried the new sea scallop pasta (it has a different name but cannot recall it) and it was divine. If you're into steak, The Hanger steak is the best steak we've had! We've enjoyed most things on the menu and have yet to have something mediocre. We would drive 3 hours for this food and experience. Thankfully, it's just 35 minutes.
Steven H.
If there's such a thing as Middle East fusion, it's aptly personified at this small inventive space located in a comfortable old style neighborhood commercial strip just on the outskirts of downtown Grand Rapids. I cozied up to the counter and gorged myself on a combination of a trio of their dips accompanied by an order of their feta grape leaves. The food is fresh, fantastic and subtly modified to reflect the culinary traditions from across the Levant. Get your Mediterranean on and Dabke over to support this fantastic establishment.
Stellar and incredible dining experience. Everything about this place speaks excellence. When others talk about "scratch" kitchens and farm to table - the good people at Marcona actually do it. You can taste it
Tiffany H.
Stellar recommendation from Katy C, GR's Yelp CM! I gravitated toward Marcona for its killer menu & the smaller space with bar seating felt more approachable for my solo dining occasion. There were so many things on the menu and LOTS of items seemed super tasty (including their cocktail menu!) but I had to restrain myself. Next time, I'm coming back with a crew to do some work on this menu! But, I was very happy overall with my picks: *TRIO OF DIPS - 3 of $13 which seems steep but they don't skimp! I had the: hummus (Zhoug (Yemenite Green Hot Sauce), Lime and Crispy Chickpeas), babaganoush (Charred Eggplant, Green Tahini Sauce, Fried Garlic and Pickled Grapes), MUHAMMARA (Red Pepper, Walnuts and Pomegranate Molasses). The hummus and babaganous were solid. I really liked the texture add to the 'ganoush. But, the Muhammara was AWESOME. The server recommended it and specifically mentioned the nice texture from the walnuts. She was SPOT ON. I've never had it before, but I've learned that it's a red pepper dip originating from Syria. It's lovely combo of sweet, smoky, savory. I didn't find it spicy - although the bright red may seem to indicate that it would be. *YELLOWFIN TUNA GRILLED IN GRAPE LEAVES (Lemon, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Crispy Capers and Turnip Pickles - $13) - Full transparency, I was eyeing the $31 Seared Mahi entree but was concerned it would be too much food. This mezze yellowfin tuna was the perfect portion. The crispy capers and turnip pickles were a nice textural and acidic contrast to the meaty yellowfin tuna! I want ALL my capers crisped up like this moving forward! Extras: *The space is definitely on the smaller side; recommend reservations as some folks walked in closer to 6pm and the quoted wait on a WEEKDAY was an hour. Whew! *There's street parking but also a small-ish lot available!
Michael Cook
Exceptional food. Beautiful ambiance. Warmth and hospitality
Mark Wiley
This place is beautiful and very nice comfort food with a Mediterranean base, absolutely recommend trying this venue!!!
Nas E.
Food was great. Would give this place 5stars but a carafe of water was dropped and broken by the waiter on our table and all over me. Got moved to another table but would have expected some amount of courtesy comp atleast offered given that i was picking glass out of my clothes and hair. We were quite calm given how many would have reacted and it almost seemed to give the staff license to assume it was "no big deal"
Excellent service, food and drinks. I was pleasantly surprised by the portion sizes. Great lighting and atmosphere. Highly recommended! Lots of vegan options too!
One of the best in GR. Chef Matt and team will not disappoint with this tightly focused yet veriaty filled menu. Love the creative drinks and the curated wine selection. All with a very reasonable price tag. Keep up the great work!
First time diners. The staff is fantastic, friendly and very helpful with the menu. Spanakopita was absolutely delicious, scallops were perfect, wine was delicious. Will absolutely be return diners!
Loved our first visit to Marcona. Probably the best service I’ve received in a GR restaurant in a long time. We really liked the calamari, grilled shrimp, apple salad and the warm mixed nuts. Look forward to returning.
Marcona on Lyon is, hands down, my favorite restaurant in the Grand Rapids area. From start to finish, every aspect of the experience is enjoyable, pleasant, and delicious. The space itself is well-lit, cozy, and has a half wall between the dining room and the kitchen, so that, if you’re seated in the right direction, you can watch what’s going on.
We went on a saturday afternoon and we had a reservation. The ambiance is kind of fancy, I like the decoration and they way the restaurant is set up. We had the trio app which contained hummus, baba ghannoush and muhammara. by far, the muhammmra is probably the best dish we had during the whole night. We had 3 entrees, lamb shank, duck rice and the tagginne. I would recommend the duck and the lamb shank. The plates were pricey for sure. I felt the portion can be bigger. Recommended :)
Everything was delicious, the flavor profiles spot on. Best meal I've had since going to the big city and thankfully not a single burger or macaroni and cheese on the menu! Finally a restaurant that is inspired to bring new dishes and flavors to GR. . My new favorite place!
We loved having you Llyod! I appreciate you recognizing our service team for their hospitality. Look forward to seeing you soon, Chef Matt
We are from Spring Lake and frequent GR for foodie experiences. This place quickly became our favorite restaurant in GR! There is a bar set up around the kitchen if you are interested in seeing how the kitchen is ran and how the food is prepared. We recommend this as it is both entertaining and informative. If you like to engage, the chefs are at not imposition to take their time to chat with you about the food, the exquisite wine and champagne menu, and many other things. The kitchen runs smooth. This has impressed my wife and I several times. Chef Matt recently added a few items to the menu. I tried the new sea scallop pasta (it has a different name but cannot recall it) and it was divine. If you're into steak, The Hanger steak is the best steak we've had! We've enjoyed most things on the menu and have yet to have something mediocre. We would drive 3 hours for this food and experience. Thankfully, it's just 35 minutes.
If there's such a thing as Middle East fusion, it's aptly personified at this small inventive space located in a comfortable old style neighborhood commercial strip just on the outskirts of downtown Grand Rapids. I cozied up to the counter and gorged myself on a combination of a trio of their dips accompanied by an order of their feta grape leaves. The food is fresh, fantastic and subtly modified to reflect the culinary traditions from across the Levant. Get your Mediterranean on and Dabke over to support this fantastic establishment.
Restaurantji Recommends
Stellar and incredible dining experience. Everything about this place speaks excellence. When others talk about "scratch" kitchens and farm to table - the good people at Marcona actually do it. You can taste it
Stellar recommendation from Katy C, GR's Yelp CM! I gravitated toward Marcona for its killer menu & the smaller space with bar seating felt more approachable for my solo dining occasion. There were so many things on the menu and LOTS of items seemed super tasty (including their cocktail menu!) but I had to restrain myself. Next time, I'm coming back with a crew to do some work on this menu! But, I was very happy overall with my picks: *TRIO OF DIPS - 3 of $13 which seems steep but they don't skimp! I had the: hummus (Zhoug (Yemenite Green Hot Sauce), Lime and Crispy Chickpeas), babaganoush (Charred Eggplant, Green Tahini Sauce, Fried Garlic and Pickled Grapes), MUHAMMARA (Red Pepper, Walnuts and Pomegranate Molasses). The hummus and babaganous were solid. I really liked the texture add to the 'ganoush. But, the Muhammara was AWESOME. The server recommended it and specifically mentioned the nice texture from the walnuts. She was SPOT ON. I've never had it before, but I've learned that it's a red pepper dip originating from Syria. It's lovely combo of sweet, smoky, savory. I didn't find it spicy - although the bright red may seem to indicate that it would be. *YELLOWFIN TUNA GRILLED IN GRAPE LEAVES (Lemon, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Crispy Capers and Turnip Pickles - $13) - Full transparency, I was eyeing the $31 Seared Mahi entree but was concerned it would be too much food. This mezze yellowfin tuna was the perfect portion. The crispy capers and turnip pickles were a nice textural and acidic contrast to the meaty yellowfin tuna! I want ALL my capers crisped up like this moving forward! Extras: *The space is definitely on the smaller side; recommend reservations as some folks walked in closer to 6pm and the quoted wait on a WEEKDAY was an hour. Whew! *There's street parking but also a small-ish lot available!
Exceptional food. Beautiful ambiance. Warmth and hospitality
This place is beautiful and very nice comfort food with a Mediterranean base, absolutely recommend trying this venue!!!
Food was great. Would give this place 5stars but a carafe of water was dropped and broken by the waiter on our table and all over me. Got moved to another table but would have expected some amount of courtesy comp atleast offered given that i was picking glass out of my clothes and hair. We were quite calm given how many would have reacted and it almost seemed to give the staff license to assume it was "no big deal"