Z's Bar and Restaurant (Grand Rapids, MI)

Surprisingly, the bustling metropolis of downtown Grand Rapids is not a hub for onion rings. To date, I am only aware of a handful of restaurants downtown that actually serve onion rings (at least, within walking distance of the Acton Institute, where I work.) In the city proper, I've already reviewed Buffalo Wild Wings, the Cottage Bar, and the Bull's Head Tavern. With that, I turn to my review of  onion rings from Z's Bar and Restaurant.

Presentation and Appearance - 3.5/5

The onion rings are plated in the traditional style. In what appears to be a real, genuine basket, layered with paper, and heaped into the center. The relatively small size of the basket (comopared to the quantity of onion rings) makes it seem like there are more onion rings than there really are, a classic onion ring plating technique. This is far from a bad thing, in fact, I quite like it.

As for the appearance of the rings themselves, the breading is consistent and golden brown. However, several of the rings showed some signs of being overcooked (a bit more "charred black" than golden brown.) Additionally, there were far too many severely cracked onion rings in the basket. Though a small percentage of the whole, it's never a good sign.

Taste - 3/5

Ordinarily, when I get my food three minutes after I order in a restaurant, I'm elated. Though my order arrived quickly at Z's Bar and Restaurant, this did not bode well for the onion rings. If they come out THAT quickly, that almost certainly means these onion rings are mass produced and frozen. That is, not house-made, and probably not high quality.

My suspicions proved correct. The worst part about these onion rings had a wildly inconsistent taste. Some were packed with a thick onion flavor, while on others, it was hardly present. Often, there was barely even a slice of onion in the rings. Other times, it was a huge, thick, massive cut.

However, the breading was well seasoned. The rings also had very light grease, a pleasant surprise. There were a handful of onion rings in the basket that were genuinely good. As noted above, the docked points come from the high level of inconsistency.

Texture - 1.5/5

The onion (when it was present) in the rings was unique. It wasn't mushy, but also not firm. They were usually wet and packed with moisture, with just a little bit of give. This itself was not all that bad. Indeed, some onion rings were practically juicy! However, as noted above, most rings had little to no onion to speak of.

As mentioned above, the thickness of the onions in the rings was wildly consistent. Even without that, the breading and the onion did not mix well together. On almost every ring, I observed a gargantuan gap between the onion and the breading. In some cases, they were practically hollow.

This no doubt contributed to the main reason I've scored these onion rings so low. Slippage was present on more than half of the onion rings. Slippage occurs when the onion portion of an onion ring falls out after a bite or two, leaving only a husk of breading in its place. While it is understandable to a certain degree, it was nigh ubiquitous on these onion rings.

Value - 2.5/5

The onion rings weren't great, but for $7, I got a massive basket. They were filling, and warm, and went well with the apple cider I ordered. Though probably a bit overpriced, and lacking on consistency and quality, the quantity of rings was well worth it.

Total: 10.5/20