Metro Detroit: Livonia’s Hop Cat
They started in 2008 in Grand Rapids, aka Beer City USA, and are now opening their 11th location in Livonia on Monday July 24th. We are talking about Hop Cat. If you are not familiar with Hop Cat, you should definitely check them out. They are a craft Burger and Beer bar that features up to and over 100 beers on tap, many of them Michigan selections. They wanted a place where people could experience the “Michigan Beer Rainbow”.
The vibe is indescribable! It’s energetic, yet chill. It’s a great bar, for joining friends to have a beer . . . but it’s also an amazing restaurant with quality food, that you could bring your family for dinner. Since the founder is a huge Jazz music fan (the name Hop Cat is a play on Hep Cat, which is slang for stylish hip person in the Jazz world) each bar is decorated to pay homage to the music scene. The Detroit location has paintings throughout of local Detroit artists and the Royal Oak location has album jackets lining their walls. They also have 2 private rooms named the Swift Room and The Stripes Room.
They have locations in the following Michigan cities: Detroit, Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, East Lansing, Kalamazoo, Holland and 2 locations in Grand Rapids! We’'ll have to wait to see how the Livonia location is decorated. They always have a large establishment (less waiting) with most of their restaurants seating over 200, with plenty of bar seats. Livonia will have 2 large dining areas, 40 bar seats, an additional 48 patio seats in their 2 outdoor patios AND a game room.
It’s worth noting they are an environmentally friendly company with up to 90% of their waste being recycled or composted in most communities.
Our first experience with Hop Cat started in East Lansing, while in town for a Michigan /Michigan State Football game in 2014. We didn’t have tickets and we were able to get in to Hop Cat to watch the game. We immediately became fans! While ALL their food is awesome, they are known for their burgers and especially their fries. Formerly called “Crack Fries”, they changed the name to Cosmic Fries . . . for obvious reasons. We have been to most of their locations in Michigan, with the exceptions of Holland and Kalamazoo. With their Livonia location opening soon, I see lots of Cosmic fries in our future.
Drinks:
Hop Cat doesn’t serve just beer. Since they are not a microbrewery, they are able to offer a full bar as well as all the beers on tap. They have a great selection of cocktails like Paging Dr. Rum and The Dirty Shirly. They also have the Hop Cat Mule, and HopCat Meowgaritas.
Fries:
We’ve already mentioned the fries. They are a must have, when eating here, and they come with all burgers and sandwiches. Make sure to get a side of the cheese sauce to go with them. OR you can get a side of LOADED COSMIC FRIES with bacon, red onion, pickled jalapeno, cheese sauce and special seasoning.
Burgers:
Their burgers are all double patty smash burgers, with the exception of their turkey burger and beyond vegan burger.
Some of their specialty burgers are: The Hangover Burger (2 patties, garlic aioli, american cheese, bacon, hash brown patty, sunny side egg, on a pretzel bun) The BarZee Double Smash Burger (2 patties, pickled jalapeno, bacon, house made bar cheese, lettuce, red onion, tomato and haystacks - fried onions) and the Cowboy Double Smash Burger (2 patties, fried jalapenos, pepper jack cheese, barbecue sauce, bacon, red onion, lettuce tomato and haystacks)
Other amazing food:
They also have a few other sandwiches and wraps, tacos and Mac & Cheese entrees. We always enjoy sitting at the bar and like to have a drink or two and an appetizer. Our favorite is their Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls, but all their food is good. Did I mention the fries? Whatever you get, you will no doubt love it!
Hours vary from location to location and some even offer brunch on the weekends. They also have Happy hours from 3-5:30 and 9-close daily when you can get select drafts for $3.50, and deals on well drinks, wine, cosmic fries and BYO Burgers.
Until next week . . . Live well, eat well and enjoy life!
-Keith and Teresa Becker