We braved the freezing temperatures and swirling snow on Valentine’s Day to join hundreds of craft beer enthusiasts for the grand opening of Hopcat Ann Arbor.
Chuck wanted free Crack Fries for a year, but we weren’t quite crazy enough to wait in line all night. Only the first 200 customers were awarded free Crack Fries for a year. It is probably a good thing we don’t have access to free Crack Fries for a year. It wouldn’t be good for my waistline.
Amazing Draft List
We were perfectly happy to celebrate the opening with some very special beers that are not easy to find including the Founders coveted KBS and CBS.
A Good Sign
It is good to see the Hopcat sign hanging in Ann Arbor.
Hopcat Ann Arbor has 100 taps, but more importantly, they have the Local 30 that features some of the best beer Michigan has to offer — Ypsi Gypsy from Arbor Brewing, Crooked Tree from Dark Horse, Final Abosultion from Dragonmead, Hopmouth from Arcadia Brewing, and Two Hearted from Bell’s to name just a few. My goodness almost better than a beer festival! But not quite.
We went to the Hopcat Detroit a few weeks ago, so we were eager to see how they’d create a unique atmosphere for the Ann Arbor location.
Atmosphere
I think they nailed it with a some late 60’s psychedelic art, a splash of modern graffiti and a touch Salvador Dali weird.
Food
I’ve already mentioned the crack fries, which are perfect with beer.
We are very excited to learn the menu included several vegetarian options.
I wholeheartedly recommend the Reuben Kincaid – porter mushrooms, sauerkraut, grilled red onion & ainach on grilled light rye with melted Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing. I ordered mine without cheese and ate every bite!
Chuck ordered the Garbage Plate. He said it was delicious. It looked kind of messy, but Chuck licked the plate clean. It had literally everything, vegetarian chipotle black bean patty, Spanish rice, corn, avocado, Pico de Gallo, veggie chili, avocado ranch and haystack onions.
Wait Staff and Bartenders
They were very polite, friendly, and knowledgeable. They definitely knew their beer! I expected some chaos since it was a grand opening, but you’d have thought this crew had been working together for years. Many thanks to Jeff (our bartender) and Josh (our server) as they made our visit that much more fun.
We are looking forward to many more visits to Hopcat. Stop into the gallery to see more pictures from our visit to HopCat Ann Arbor.
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