HopCat

Our group has visited Hopcat two of the three night we have been in town. They have a more comprehensive beer selection, offering more than just their own brews. The crack fries (all three types) are great. Totally worth checking out.

I know there’s a Hopcat about 20 minutes from the house but I craved the one across the state while visiting GR for a concert (TØP!!). This place was busy for a Sunday. In total we ordered two burgers, regular and shroom/​Swiss, Mac and cheese, and beer cheese soup. Soup was great, should’ve got more. Burger had a good char, but it was just a burger. I never tried the Mac but heard it was good. Water tastes kinda funny… Well– ish?
Décor super cool, staff nice enough. Fries were seasoned but didn’t knock me out.

Loved this place! This is one of at least 10 breweries that we hit up while we were visiting one weekend. We all found beer we liked tho we all have varied tastes; I think I found 2 favorites here! Also, the «crack fries» are seriously amazing! Great service too.

This restaurant was great– we stopped by during an overnight trip in the city. The draft beer list is exhaustive and has lots of local beers. I am not a huge craft beer drinker myself but found a great beer on the list (my boyfriend is and loved it too). Food was also awesome (try the crack fries!), and our waiter was very nice. Will definitely come back next time I am in town.

The cheese sandwich with Apple was delicious! Tomato soup was a little spicy, but good complement with beer! Great placer

So I realize tonight I don’t like too many flavors in my food. This place was recommended by a local. He suggested the specialty fries with bacon. Eww, I didnt care for it plus they were hard. My grill cheese taste like it was collected from dumpster diving, the apples gave it a sweet taste & I didn’t like it. Plus it was hard too. The tomato soup was cold. Overall it did take some time for our food to served. Service was great & top notch. Our waitress kept checking to see if our drinks were topped off. I just don’t care for the food.

This might be blasphemous, but I was disappointed in the Crack Fries. We did order the Loaded Crack Fries though, thinking cheese and bacon improve everything. Wrong. There was too much cheese, which tasted a little weird, and it made the fries soggy. Perhaps the regular Crack Fries are better. That being said, their beer selection was epic and we enjoyed our samples.

This place was amazing!!! Clean, good music, amazing staff, laid back chill restaurant. The food here is amazing. I tried a few different things chili, mac&cheese, loaded fries, and wings and every thing was incredible. Seriously, I was blown away by everything. From the art on the ceiling, to the hipster staff, to the delicious food.
We were traveling from out of town with family and sprung for the meal. Just a little over $ 66 for 4 adults before tip, including beer. What a bargain for such an amazing experience and awesome food.
If you’re in town, eat here!!! A cold beer, load fries and bbq wings will change your life

It’s Saturday night. Very loud and crowded. Barman had a tank top on so yes, pits are in sight! Good beer selection.
I prefer this place during the week.

My husband and I stopped in for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon and the place was packed. The wait was only about 10 minutes and they text you when your table is ready.
We were seated in one of the cool semi-​circle tables near the bar — eclectic and rustic décor, but comfortable. Our server was great and went over the beer menu since it was our first time there. We opted for a couple of their signature beers which did not disappoint.
Thanks to all the other reviews, we couldn’t pass up the crack fries — we got them loaded as an appetizer… fries are good enough just plain!
We split one of the wraps and would have been perfectly happy sharing a plate, but they had the halves separated, each with a serving of fries — most places wouldn’t even bother.
Great beer, food and service — we would definitely visit again next time we are in GR.

HopCat was a fun, lively brewpub in Grand Rapids I visited on vacation this week. Even on a Sunday evening, this place was lively and packed with locals. The atmosphere was fun, casual, and perfect for groups.
The food was delicious and a step-​up from typical pub/​bar food. I had the classic burger which comes with the famous «crack fries» (beer battered with cracked black pepper and absolutely amazing) and pickles. I tried the Zug beer (house brewed) for only $ 5 and sampled the hard apple cider (free small tastings available). Both delicious and fresh.
Only negative was slightly slow service.

The HopCat is a winner in my opinion but I only say this when I sit at the bar! What is the most interesting to me about this, is that I was never someone who enjoyed sitting at the bar and always preferred a seat at a table. HotCat has changed my world when one time I didn’t want to wait an hour for a table and found myself at the bar.
In comparison I would like to note, that for some people that would knock a star down, the table service I have received is good. I actually have nothing negative to say about it, I just think the service at the bar is just THAT much better.
I like that they are more personable, you can grab someone whenever you need something and don’t have to wait for your service or constantly be on the lookout while ignoring the person you are dining with.
The atmosphere is fun and upbeat. There are posters hanging, upside down and sideways from the ceiling that help create a lax, fun, laid back atmosphere.
The draft list they have exceptional, as well as their bottle list. There are always about a half dozen beers I want to try and sometimes have a hard time picking just one. You can order smaller pours that can help with this issue or the bartenders can usually help lead you in the right direction.
I have also been a part of some meetings upstairs and enjoy the set up. The loft is full of lounging furniture and even though the walls aren’t closed off or anything the sound from below doesn’t interfere. It is a great spot to rent out!
The food is great as well, with great specials and happy hour specials (on food too)

Enjoyed our night here whilst visiting GR. The crack fries were great and nicely seasoned along with the wings being awesome.
There seemed to be a wide range of beers and wine available too.
The atmosphere is great with open space and a very homely feel to it. Certainly did not feel like a ‘chain’ restaurant /​bar.
It was busy for a Tuesday night and seemed to get a lot busier around 10pm when happy hour was starting.
Would visit here again perhaps a little earlier to avoid the crowds but overall a very enjoyable meal and evening.

3 words… loaded crack fries!!! :) We are here probably once a month and it is in our top 5 go to places when out of town people ask where to go.
I love that the beer menu has changed but some classics stay the same. We’ve tried several items on the menu and have never experienced disappointment.
For dinner in the summer and on the weekends though be prepared to wait 45 –70 minutes. I promise it’s worth it!
Can’t wait to hit up the Chicago one next year!

I’ve been going to Hopcat for years, and I continue to return regularly because it remains not only Michigan’s best beer bar, but that I’ve visited anywhere in the US. And it isn’t just my opinion; year after year, Ratebeer, Draft Magazine, and numerous other reliable beer sources recognize it as being among the best beer bars in the country. Hopcat has dozens of taps, yet because of the volume of business they do, turnover is still quite quick, especially for the rarer beers they get.
I have never once gone and been unable to find at least half a dozen interesting beers that are new to me. Hopcat manages to get some of the rarest beers sold in Michigan on tap, and not just as part of special events, but on a fairly routine basis. Occasionally, they feature beers made exclusively for them from breweries such as New Belgium, Acoustic Meadery, Saugatuck Brewing, and Vander Mill. And what began as an underwhelming in-​house brewing operation has matured into the only brewery in Michigan whose quality level approaches Founders. From Blambic, a blueberry wild ale, to S’more Sassiness, a milk stout made to taste like s’mores, they’ve proven themselves capable of turning out some highly enjoyable beers in an array of different styles. Even some of their more experimental beers, like Naughty Nicodemus, made with cucumber, have turned out surprisingly well. Like any brewery/​brewpub which produces such a wide range of beers, they occasionally miss, sometimes quite badly, like with Lyemon Lyavender and Sin & Temptation. Still, between the beers they manage to obtain, the beers they have brewed exclusively for them, and the beers they brew in-​house, Hopcat almost always has the best beer selection in Grand Rapids. And as you would both hope and expect of a beer bar, you can buy taster sized pours of anything. Sadly though, tasters these days are five ounces and correspondingly more expensive than the two ounce pours they used to make available when I first began frequenting Hopcat more than half a decade ago.
When it comes to food, Hopcat is best known for its delicious crack fries. The exact blend of seasoning isn’t disclosed, though cracked black pepper is obviously the main element. Crack fries have received national attention, and justifiably so. Short of poutine, this represents the zenith of french fry potential. Speaking of, somewhat more recently Hopcat has begun serving its own take on poutine, a dish called the «Vladimir Poutine.» It consists of their famous crack fries, topped with potato & cheese pierogis, cheddar cheese curds, stout caramelized onions, bacon, and a sour cream gravy. The actual dish is rather far from being poutine, at least to my Canadian trained tongue, but just as delicious. It may clog your arteries, but it is well worth it. I will note that their macaroni is also good, but quite overpriced compared to other food options of superior quality like the aforementioned items. The couple of occasions I’ve ventured into more experimental territory with one of their rotating specials has proven decidedly less rewarding.
While I love the beer and the food, service is often lacking. Many of the bartenders/​servers are both knowledgeable and passionate about beer, though numerous experiences at Hopcat have made it clear that neither are considered prerequisites for employment. Even those who know their product well seem to often provide less than excellent service. I can only surmise that Barfly doesn’t do a very good job training their front of house personnel, since I have experienced similar problems at Grand Rapids Beer Co and Stella’s, both of which they also own and operate.

After being here many times, I’m just giving Hopcat an «OK».
Yeah!: The atmosphere and the space itself. The old building with the exposed brick and hardwood ceiling is pretty cool. To echo everyone, yes the crack fries are great. Loaded, even better. Awesome rotating selection of beers; you’ll never have the same beer menu twice.
Ehhh…: I love the mac & cheese, it’s really good, but charging $ 2 for meat and $ 1 for veggie add-​ons is pretty expensive for a small/​medium serving. Mine ended up being $ 13, which I thought was a little rediculous. And what the heck Hopcat?! You took the GRAND ROYALE off the menu?! What in the world… how dissapointing and confusing. Half the reason we came there was for that. Boo. Service is so-​so. Waitress was not super friendly last time we were there and was told «well, I don’t make the menu» when we asked about the changes. Correct, you don’t, but part of your job is to answer customers questions about the menu. Pretty rude. That said, my husband did get the Grand Royale, but «just for today». While I like the space, I really wish it wasn’t so crowded. We couldn’t get a drink at the bar because it was so jam packed in there.
The bottom line for me is, there are plenty of breweries in Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas where you can get great food, great beer, and not wait an hour for a table. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll be back, but probably not as often as we’ve been in the past.

I’ve been the the East Lansing HopCat several times and I definitely like the GR version much better. The atmosphere is by far better. This has a nice homey feel and there are some nice half-​round tables in the middle of the bar that give you a nice central location.
The trademark for HopCat is the beer selection. Here’s a fun game to play with friends: go through the draft list and count how many of the beers you have heard of before. Loser has to buy the winner a round.
Fun place to go to with friends but try to show up early or you may end up waiting.

What can I really add to the 500 current Unilocal reviews about a Grand Rapids legend like Hopcat.
My review comes from dining here twice a week or so for the past 4 years. I work right next door and HopCat is always a local favorite.
The best way I can describe It is that you are playing Russian Roulette but that the odds are stacked in your favor, but every once and a while you shoot yourself.
Hopcat is always pretty good, but sometimes it’s fantastic and other times it’s just ok. It’s not ever bad, but having ok after fantastic is always a let down.
Usually the let downs come in terms of shoddy food prep (frozen ingredients in salad, no crack on the crack fries etc), but since it is so busy sometimes the service can be extremely slow and in Un attentive.
My biggest recommendation is to not do take out– some how the food is always less good when you don’t eat there, almost like they care less.
Now for the heros: they have one of the best happy hours in town. The burgers are always good, the Chicken salad wrap is amazing, and to be fair when they are right the crack fries are the best spuds in town. The beers are always flowing and with lots of options how can you really go wrong?

I was so excited to hear that a HopCat was coming to my town soon because I’ve been to the flagship a few times. And if it’s anything like the original, my hometown is in for a treat.
The HopCat in Grand Rapids has been voted one of the top 5 beer bars in America over and over again and with good reason. The bottle and draft lists are amaze-​balls. And they even have their own small list of home-​brewed beers, as if all the Founders and other Michigan and great American offers weren’t enough.
OK, so the beer is spectacular. You don’t need good food when you have the beer offerings this place serves up. But they do it anyway. They call their fries «crack fries» with good reason. They are irresistible. Everything else I’ve ever had here is tremendous too, from the burgers to the quesadilla to the pizza bites to the pretzels.
So … One of best beer lists in America… great food… excellent location in downtown GR … Good service and lots of seating … Yes, please bring this to my hometown ASAP!

By a well-​known standard, craft beers per square foot of establishment, this place is meteoric!
On the first Friday of Fall, I stopped in during mid-​afternoon. The bar was lively, relaxed.
They offer. .. besides rows of craft beer, they offer their version of a bar menu.
The bartender steered me toward the burgers, over the fried fish – always good to have an expressed opinion.
I chose the Bar Zee – bacon, jalapenos, and bar cheese. It was a very solid burger, coming exactly as requested, medium. Knowing this, I’d go medium rare next time – you can tell a reliable kitchen that.
The bartenders know the drill, making sure that each patron gets refilled when their glass goes low.
Crack fries are as good as advertised.
The kitchen is slow, but the bartenders for drinks are not which seems like the right timing for a craft beer place.