The Bar Towel

[cratez]

Heading here in two weeks with nicktbm and our better halves. Looks like Ashely's, Jolly Pumpkin, Arbor Brewing, The Heidelberg, and Liberty Street (Plymouth) are the best bars and brewpubs but I have some questions for Towelers who have been to Ann Arbor in the last few years:

Are there any spots that you would suggest over the ones listed above?

Any particular times that are best to visit some of these places i.e. to avoid lineups, get a seat at the bar, be served food, etc?

Daytime tourist attractions - which ones would you recommend?

Any bars/brewpubs/stores that we should avoid?

As always, your help is appreciated. Cheers!
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"This whole being pleasant (thing) is fucking exhausting. I'm running out of nice juice to spray at these shit-munchers" - Veep

[Kish84]

I went during the week (Mon-Wed, first night Ann Arbor, 2nd Detroit), and I assume the weekend would be quite different, but here goes. We only went to Jolly Pumpkin and Ashley's. Both places were good. JP we went to around 4-5pm, it wasn't busy, but we decided to sit at the bar.

Ashley's was after that at around 7-8, it was quite busy, packed with Michigan students, but there were still seats available. When I went I was still kinda new to US craft so it was a bit overwhelming.

I'm not sure if its still the same, but after a certain time, cab's are a flat rate of $5/person, only catch is that the cabbie can pick up as many people they want/can fit.

The Whole Foods had some good bottles at fair prices, I bought a Jolly Pumpkin bottle that was out of stock at the brewpub at a lower price.

Not too far before Ann Arbor is Ypsilanti, Sidetrack Bar & Grill has great burgers. It's a mix of macro and craft, all Michigan except Eddie Fitz. They had a pretty good Happy Hour deal when we were there, I believe it was a 25oz draught for about $3, think I had Founders Red Rye.

[JerCraigs]

JP was busy around dinner, but we got a "hightop" table upstairs with no wait on a Friday night. Eat here. Food was kickass. Fewer sours on tap than I had hoped but lots of good ones, and we bought a bunch of bottles to go. Prices were actually higher than at the bottle shop we hit later, but had some they shop didn't have.

At Ashley's we had a long wait for a table upstairs. There is frankly no point in sitting in the basement, they have a fraction of the beers down there and its a bit of a hole. RAMMED with students on the weekend.

The beer at Arbor brewing was disappointing but its worth a quick visit if you haven't been.

Cabs are cheap but can be hard to come by, we got one into town no problem, but the one Ashley's called for us (or at least said they did) never showed, and we finally hailed a sketchy friggin cab. I should have just paid the roaming fees and used me cell phone to call!

[cratez]

I appreciate the comments fellas. Based on your recos and the advice that I received on BA, it looks like we'll be hitting Jolly Pumpkin, Ashley's, and Grizzly Peak on Friday/Saturday and Liberty Street on the way home. Wine Seller and Main Street Party Shoppe have been suggested by some locals as the best bottle shops. We also wanna check out Zingerman's Deli and Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger at some point but I'm trying to figure out if and when we can fit either place in. Given the lack of tourist attractions (Michigan U campus was mentioned as one!), it sounds as though Ann Arbor is even more of a "student town" than I previously thought, so we'll likely stick to the food, beer, and shopping gig. Thanks again for your help.
_________________
"This whole being pleasant (thing) is fucking exhausting. I'm running out of nice juice to spray at these shit-munchers" - Veep

[phat matt]

Just wondering how this trip turned out cratez? My fiance and myself are thinking of making the trip. At night we plan on hitting the brewpubs and bars, but is there enough things to do during the day to keep my better half amused?

[cratez]

[Derek]

Last time I was there it was littered with signs saying 'Impeach Bush'. Surprisingly left wing... but yeah, a quaint little student town. Some of the 'Party stores' actually had decent stuff as well.

[phat matt]

Nice now we are both looking forward to going. any suggestions on hotels? thanks for the help

[JerCraigs]

We stayed at Weber's Inn last time. Just a bit outside of downtown. Not cheap but not outrageous either.

[cratez]