The Bar Towel

http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/local/ ... /71573256/

This is what enthusiasm passion and ambition gets you

Heading to the new-ish location in Indianapolis later this month, which opened this time last year. Will be interesting to see how it compares to the legendary Grand Rapids location. Yard House, World of Beer, Mellow Mushroom, and Bier Markt have all shown that beer bar chains can work if done right, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Even Kuma's Corner in Chicago is now slowly but surely opening new locations outside of the city and may eventually become a regional or national chain at some point.

Yes! I am very fond of Mellow Mushroom. They are often in small-ish towns (I'm thinking of a couple in Alabama on the RTJones Trail and also the one in Destin FL) where other options are limited to say the least. Can be a real oasis, and serviceable pizzas too.

cratez wrote:Heading to the new-ish location in Indianapolis later this month, which opened this time last year. Will be interesting to see how it compares to the legendary Grand Rapids location. Yard House, World of Beer, Mellow Mushroom, and Bier Markt have all shown that beer bar chains can work if done right, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Even Kuma's Corner in Chicago is now slowly but surely opening new locations outside of the city and may eventually become a regional or national chain at some point.

i found the GR location to be incredibly underwhelming both times i went there. talked to others and they agree.
Blue Monk is twice the bar that HopCat is, including the food

midlife crisis wrote:Yes! I am very fond of Mellow Mushroom. They are often in small-ish towns (I'm thinking of a couple in Alabama on the RTJones Trail and also the one in Destin FL) where other options are limited to say the least. Can be a real oasis, and serviceable pizzas too.

I went to a Mellow Mushroom in Tennessee four years ago. Wasn't aware it was a chain at the time. Very much like both the pizza and the beer selection.

Went to Mellow Ms in Texas and N Carolina and while good selection, expensive and snotty service. Hop Cat always pleased, a tap list that just can't be bingoed, and Grand Rapids they run to serve you even at last call.

atomeyes wrote: i found the GR location to be incredibly underwhelming both times i went there. talked to others and they agree.
Blue Monk is twice the bar that HopCat is, including the food

I've been twice. The first time we just didn't feel welcome. The staff were not friendly, it was hard to get seated, and we just hated the vibe. The second time was better…out of lots of beers and the food was "meh", but at least we felt like they were somewhat happy to have us as customers.

atomeyes wrote: i found the GR location to be incredibly underwhelming both times i went there. talked to others and they agree. Blue Monk is twice the bar that HopCat is, including the food

Well, opinions are like assholes in that everybody has one, and yours is definitely in the minority.

Most of the 330 reviewers who have rated the bar on BA and RB disagree with you and your buds, as HopCat has a place score of 100 and 99 on those sites.

In terms of my own experience there, I had a fresh Bigfoot on tap (one of six barleywines on draft), bottles of Saison Athene and I Hardcore You that were in excellent form, and a delicious sandwich with crack fries, so "underwhelming" is not how I would describe the place. Everyone in our group enjoyed the bustling atmosphere, our server was top notch (friendly, efficient, made great recos), and all of the beers were served in their proper glassware. A brewery or bar with those types of attributes will tend to garner high marks from me.

No denying that Blue Monk is a truly great beer bar, though in my three visits there the draft list has never been quite as impressive as HopCat GR's. But they're both great bars IMO.

http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/

I've been to the Flying Saucer locations in Nashville and St. Louis and both were nice, solid draft selections, interesting menu, decent service and lively vibe (in Nashville it was trivia night, lots of college types, St. Louis was pre and post Cardinals game crowd).

cratez wrote:

atomeyes wrote: i found the GR location to be incredibly underwhelming both times i went there. talked to others and they agree. Blue Monk is twice the bar that HopCat is, including the food

Well, opinions are like assholes in that everybody has one, and yours is definitely in the minority.

sure. and then Napoleon posts a drab review. so i now know 5 friends, their spouses, me and my wife who thought the same. all of us were there for separate visits.

In terms of my own experience there, I had a fresh Bigfoot on tap (one of six barleywines on draft), bottles of Saison Athene and I Hardcore You that were in excellent form, and a delicious sandwich with crack fries, so "underwhelming" is not how I would describe the place. Everyone in our group enjoyed the bustling atmosphere, our server was top notch (friendly, efficient, made great recos), and all of the beers were served in their proper glassware. A brewery or bar with those types of attributes will tend to garner high marks from me.

not going to question your food acumen. if you liked the food, then sure. great.

No denying that Blue Monk is a truly great beer bar, though in my three visits there the draft list has never been quite as impressive as HopCat GR's. But they're both great bars IMO.

when Blue Monk is on, it's on. amazing tap list. i just went to the website to see what's on tap. Lots of Anderson Valley, so whatever. a few nice beer on tap, a good MI selection, that's for sure, and Obsidian on tap is nice to have. otherwise, it's not overly mindblowing.

if you want to quote lists that rate world bars, i'd remind you of that list a year ago that ranked Volo in the top 3 in world bars. i guess lists are also like assholes...

napoleon wrote:

atomeyes wrote: i found the GR location to be incredibly underwhelming both times i went there. talked to others and they agree.
Blue Monk is twice the bar that HopCat is, including the food

I've been twice. The first time we just didn't feel welcome. The staff were not friendly, it was hard to get seated, and we just hated the vibe. The second time was better…out of lots of beers and the food was "meh", but at least we felt like they were somewhat happy to have us as customers.

the service was pretty good when i was there. 1 server was really nice. gave us VIP tickets to the Lagunitas thing that was there later that day.

in all, i'd rather spend my time and money at Pyramid Scheme a block away. less fratty/touristy, more dirt, tonnes of amazing beer and PINBALL

atomeyes wrote: the service was pretty good when i was there. 1 server was really nice. gave us VIP tickets to the Lagunitas thing that was there later that day.

in all, i'd rather spend my time and money at Pyramid Scheme a block away. less fratty/touristy, more dirt, tonnes of amazing beer and PINBALL

I think my first trip there might have just been a one-off with a couple especially jerky staff. But I definitely was not feeling the love the second time either.

My favorite spot in GR is Brewery Vivant…less convenient to get to, but awesome food and beer.

Anyway, didn't want to provoke anyone who enjoyed themselves there. I can definitely see how it could be a great experience if you got the right server.

I'm just so glad that thimble-sized servings for eight bucks have finally caught on in Buffalo. Certainly the demand is unwavering. They have latched on to a good market.

atomeyes wrote: sure. and then Napoleon posts a drab review. so i now know 5 friends, their spouses, me and my wife who thought the same. all of us were there for separate visits.

So again, you and your buds and one poster on BT vs. the collective opinion of 300+ reviewers on BeerAdvocate and RateBeer. I'll leave it to others to decide which carries more weight. I could've noted that Sammy's a fan of HopCat, but I didn't.

atomeyes wrote: when Blue Monk is on, it's on. amazing tap list.

Can't argue with that.

atomeyes wrote: if you want to quote lists that rate world bars, i'd remind you of that list a year ago that ranked Volo in the top 3 in world bars. i guess lists are also like assholes...

Ratings on BA and RB aren't comparable to "lists" you see in magazines written by authors who learned about craft beer last week. They reflect the consensus of hundreds, sometimes thousands of enthusiastic and (usually) knowledgeable beer geeks. Just the other day you mentioned that you reference BA for style traits / tasting notes. Although I'm not as big a fan of Volo as others on this site, I don't question the fact that it's a world class beer bar, and it's not surprising to see the bar ranked highly on international sites, lists, etc.

To be fair, the atmosphere at hopcat leaves a little to be desired - but the taplist is always great and cheap and the food is extremely solid.