Metro Detroit: Side Car Slider Bar

Everyone is painfully aware that dining out has become very expensive. As you probably know, we eat out often! Usually, when we go out, we end up sitting at the bar and sharing a few appetizers and a beer, bourbon or cool cocktail. It’s QUICK (because you get your drinks right away) FUN (because you get to talk to the bartenders, and other people at the bar) AND the best part, no leftovers to take home and no irritating styrofoam containers in your fridge. A lot of restaurants do SMALL PLATES / SHAREABLES or TAPAS. People don’t really want to commit to just ONE entree to eat. They want to sample things and share food! Although COVID changed a lot of things in the restaurant world . . . HAPPY HOUR HAS MADE A STRONG COMEBACK!

Starting this week we will be Helping you Find the Key to Your HAPPY Hour!

This week we are kicking things off by visiting one of our Favorite Happy Hour destinations in Farmington: Sidecar Slider Bar. We specifically like them because they offer their happy hour everyday of the week from 3-6PM and 10PM-close, for those of you who cannot get out of work during the week to enjoy happy hour, this might be the place for you. The food is good and they have a nice selection of sharables, craft beers and cocktails all for under $6.

In February of 2016, Dan Linnen, the owner of Rojo’s Mexican Bistro in Birmingham, decided to open a slider bar next to Rojo to add to the late night dining scene in the city. Since it was next door to his already existing restaurant, he decided to call it Sidecar . . . since it was a side building of his original restaurant. They offering sliders and other small plate offerings to the late night crowd.

Here we are 7 years later and they just opened their 6th location in Brighton, to go with their other 5 locations in Lansing, Plymouth, Farmington, Birmingham and Grosse Pointe.

If you have never been to Sidecar Sliders they are known for gourmet bar food with craft beers and cocktails. Since it is in their name, you could probably guess they are known for their sliders. While they have their traditional beef sliders, that are anywhere from a standard slider called the “drive thru” to the 9-1-1 which is a blackened patty with pepperjack cheese, habanero popper and habanero aioli. They also have what they call the “best of the rest” sliders which range from Ahi Tuna with siracha and wasabi-cucumber ranch to the impossible veggie burger slider and the Famous Dirty Bird fried chicken slider.

However they don’t only have sliders, there is a great selection of soups, salads and sharables (appetizers) as well, and this is where Happy Hour comes into play.

During Happy Hour you can get draft beers for $4, glasses of wine for $5, classic cocktails like their Margaritas, Martinis, Mules, Manhattans and Old Fashions for $6. They also offer up 9 of their Shareables for $6 each. We don’t know if it stands true for all of them, but the Farmington location barrel ages their own Manhattans and Old Fashions. When available, the barrel can be seen behind the bar next to the chalkboard in the wooden barrels.

The bottom line is this, you can enjoy a couple of nice appetizers and drinks and get out the door for around $25-$30. Also, during their Happy Hours you are not limited to just their Happy Hour menu, all their sliders, soups, salads and sides are also available at normal menu prices. On our last visit we enjoyed an order of coconut shrimp with a spicy mango sauce, an order of their loaded tots, an Old Fashion and 2 craft beers for $28.