The Alpenrose Restaurant and Cafe is not just a restaurant–it’s an idea. The idea was to bring an authentic taste of the Alps to downtown Holland, Mich. The Alps is not lederhosen and oompah bands, but the famed European mountain range carves through countries as diverse as Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland–a variety of cultures and cuisines that can all claim the title ‘Alpen.’ The restaurant opened in 1991 in a building that once housed a run-of-the-mill discount store. It has been redesigned to fit the cuisine, with wall-to-wall wood, support columns and ceiling rafters display exquisite wooden carvings of the Alpenrose and a rhododendron type flower found throughout the Alps. The full menu restaurant brings Alpen charm to West Michigan with its multiple dining rooms, family-oriented Kitzbuhel ski lodge; and the classical, fine-dining elegance of its Salzburg room. Alpenrose is a magnificent microcosm of the many dining experiences available in the Alpen region.