Jolly Pumpkin Cafe And Brewery Ann Arbor

adamette

Ohio

4.2/5  rDev +2.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Just found my notes recorded the day of my visit:

Read about this place on BA and on the Jolly Pumpkin web site. They celebrated their one month "anniversary" last night according to the greeter. Great location in a thriving business area of walk up coffee shops, artist's studios, U of M souvenir shops, next door to an Indian cuisine restaurant.

Atmoshphere: Just very comfortable. Hard wood surfaces, large leather covered bench seats against the wall with standard wooden chair opposite the bench. Very clean, modern but also has a 40's speakeasy style of low hanging, dim lights. Love the JP signage in its black and white simplicity. Really nice framed images of several of their beer's label graphics. Could they be originals?

Service: Excellent. John M. was our server. Friendly, attentive, conversational on a reasonably slow Thursday afternoon. He helped with identifying the beers as he brought them to me and was available for some light discussion about it. He also accepted praise (for the beer) graciously.

Value: Good. Sandwich with fries, wife's chicken Asian salad, several beers from draft came to $36 before tax. It is just reasonable. 750 ml bottles were $13 from what I recall.

What follows are memories that I recalled the other day: Based on a visit there 10 15 09. Review from limited notes, mainly memory.

Atmosphere A very modern setting in an extremely new location, probably a few weeks old, they told me that they are planning on brewing on location soon but for now they are apparently delivering beer from the brewery location elsewhere. Anyway, very nice dark wood features, brushed metal fixtures and displays of kitchen like utensils arranged in decorative patterns on the wall but also forming impromptu light fixtures which were really cool. Large coolers near the entrance display the JP beer bottles and there is a long bar to the left as you enter with all of the on tap beers but also bottles for sale. Large framed images of the beer label art are interesting for anyone familiar with the label art. 4.0

Quality Very good. Not only the quality of the available beers but the quality of the atmosphere, service were high. 4.5

Service Very good as mentioned above. Our waiter was patient and accommodating and everyone else that we interacted with were very good with service. I even mentioned that I was something of a beer fanatic and that was met with enthusiasm. 4.0

Selection Well having several JP beers on tap as well as several guest beers on tap makes the selection very good indeed. The place offered mixed drinks as well but I was there for the beer. 4.0

Food There was a chef on staff at the time of my visit and the salad that my wife and I ate was very good indeed. I could tell that the quality of the food is very high indeed. 4.5

Value Just fine. I do not recall our bill but I think that it was reasonable.

11-24-2009 05:26:54 | More by adamette

hotsudge

Ontario (Canada)

3.91/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Some excellent beers... some not very good ones but at least they have 5 or 9 flights to try out the vast selection.

The truffle fries are out of this world. The butchers board excellent - actually anything we've had to eat there has been very good.

The servers are generally students and only ok for the most part.

It's a must visit.

05-12-2013 23:16:35 | More by hotsudge

theecaleb

Alaska

3.9/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

Food: Excellent, I'm not a big pizza fan normally but I decided to give it a try. Well worth it. Above average food for a brew pub.

Value: Pretty average for your local craft brewery. The bottles get a little more pricey, but drafts are not bad.

Service: It seems like everytime I eat at a pub I get awful service. It was a little better this time around, still waited a bit to long for him to check back and get more drinks. Other than that it was about average.

Atmosphere: Dark, but cool. Two stories with an upstairs patio and second bar. It definitely needed to be dusted though. The 'Chandler' (made from kitchen utensils) had about an inch of dust hanging over my head... Nice.

Overall: If your into craft beer its worth checking out. Very unique taste in their brews, and they make their own whiskey and vodka (didn't try them, but heard they are good).

Keep in mind, they don't serve any alcohol they don't make. So no Jack and Coke, or fizzy light lager..

08-25-2012 21:47:55 | More by theecaleb

cratez

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

When I visited: March 2012.

What I had: Bam Bière (draught), La Roja (draught), some of my friend’s Bière de Mars, Sauteed Duck Breast entree.

What I liked: Bustling cosmopolitan vibe, awesome artwork, comfortable seating, quick service (though not the warmest), killer draught list with a solid range of styles, kick ass beers.

What I disliked: My duck breast was overcooked, but the rest of the dish (fingerling potatoes, wilted greens, roasted brussels sprouts) was superb.

Would I go back? Definitely.

Overall Rating: 82

07-22-2012 18:11:09 | More by cratez

BlackBelt5112203

South Carolina

4.13/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

I was really looking forward to visiting this place since I've heard so many good things about Jolly Pumpkin's beers. The atmosphere is very nice. It has sort of an old-time feel with wooden bars, tables, chairs, floors, etc. which I really appreciate. Decent selection of food and of course a good selection of beers. The food was very good and surprisingly the beers that I had were only alright. I'm not sure what was going on but they tasted different (and not in a better way) than the bottled varieties of the same beers. It took a lot of swishing around in my mouth to get all the subtle flavors out of some of the beers. Service was only ok but the place was really busy, so it was understandable. For the quality of the food/drinks/atmosphere, prices were definitely reasonable.

I love Ann Arbor and I would definitely come back to this place. I would definitely recommend it if you're in the AA area.

03-19-2012 02:59:16 | More by BlackBelt5112203

BMMillsy

Florida

4.33/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$$

Jolly Pumpkin creates some really unique beers and has the best food of any brewpub in Ann Arbor. If you are here at the right time, you have got to try the Baudeliere IO Saison. Really not like anything I've tried elsewhere.

The taps rotate nicely, and there are JP staples in large bottles at all times. Brew their own liquor here, so don't expect to find any standard mixed drinks or liquors. Highly recommended, and a really fun feel upstairs. If you're on a brewpub crawl in AA, this is the place to start and eat your dinner. Only knock is it's almost always packed and getting a table is tough unless you're there early on Thursdays through Saturdays.

03-09-2012 19:33:29 | More by BMMillsy

MarcatGSB

Michigan

4.55/5  rDev +11%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Visited a few Sunday's ago for the La Roja GR release.

Building is located in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor (hipster capital of MI, duh). The building is a very nice older style building with dark wood trim and brick. Very inviting, but doesn't stand out. You have to be on the look.

The inside is the same way. Beautiful long wood bar in a very thin pub room that stretches way back with booths lining opposite the bar. Awesome beer label paintings and pictures hung on the wall. A small brew kettle lays to one side of the bar, real cool like.

The service was absolutely fantastic. This place was packed with beer geeks (many of us enjoying the worst hang over of our lives from Dark Horse the night before) and the staff handled us flawlessly. They were ready, thank you JP! Myself and a few others grabbed a table, settled in with a nice Noel de Calabaza on tap (which was fantastic!). Each one of us were supremely impressed with our meals. Everything was delicious. Get the olive sampler, how unique and tasty. Prices were reasonable, what you would expect for DT Ann Arbor.

I can't wait to go back and check this place out on an even keel. I enjoyed it thoroughly, even though I was feeling a little rough.

12-22-2011 15:30:38 | More by MarcatGSB

SpdKilz

Illinois

4.36/5  rDev +6.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

I have visited the Traverse City location of Jolly Pumpkin numerous times and was excited to finally go to the pub in Ann Arbor after hearing so much about it. Came last Sunday for the La Roja Grand Reserve release.

Located in downtown Ann Arbor, this is a awesome looking building and completely how I expected it to look. Inside is somewhat dim, lots of dark wood, awesome blown up pictures of the beer labels on the wall. Upstairs there is an additional bar and “family” portraits of Ron and other random stuff. Love the layout and décor.

The vibe was amazing – they let us come in and eat/drink before getting the bottles and it was bustling and filled with both BA nerds and other normal patrons. The service was excellent and everyone working accommodated our large group with honestly better service than others there. I did not have food, however, everyone around me did and they all gushed about how good it was. I opted for a Bam Biere on tap and enjoyed it thoroughly. The selection was fantastic in the sense they had MANY of their JP beers on tap (the TC location only has a couple normally). I was a bit disappointed they did not have any La Roja GR on tap for the release, however.

Price wise, it was not crazy expensive and cheaper a pint for their JP beer than anywhere else I’ve been.

All in all, I can’t wait to come back and enjoy some food and more beer. A wonderful experience.

12-19-2011 01:27:10 | More by SpdKilz

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.59/5  rDev -12.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

Large and nice place right downtown. Patios upstairs in back, as well as in front. Good sized bar. Bartender was neither too knowledgeable nor friendly with my group, an knowledgeable bunch of regulars. Lots of experimentals on, though mixed opinion about them. Nothing mind boggling on, but still worth a trip to this place and this great little beer city. You can buy all their regular beers here as well. Friendly college town crowd. I do not know how the other JP locations stack up, but nice for me to try other experimental JP beers.

09-05-2011 13:36:34 | More by northyorksammy

mrbeermug

Michigan

4.33/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Having lived around and frequented the brewpub since it opened, I've seen all sides the place offers.

BEER - There are always rotating seasonal taps, experimental taps that don't get bottled, standards, and new releases from Ron Jeffries' other joint business venture North Peak Brewing Co., which has some solid IPAs. Also got to buy and taste some 6-7 yr old beers from Jolly Pumpkin's first batches thanks to Ron holding a charity rare beer auction from his personal cellar. My favorites have been:

- Spring Sour (1 time only blend of several different beers)

- Raspinnicle - The 2nd in the "Green Leaf" experimental series of non-sour beers, brewed with spinach. Solid, unfiltered, biscuity pale ale. The other two beers in the series were good as well - a kale beer, and a nettle imperial ipa.

- Oro de Calabaza - world-class, lightly sour belgian golden ale with wonderful belgian yeast and punchiness. The best of their regular brews.

- Madrugada Obscura - Wow. Sour imperial stout - talk about breaking new ground in a beer category and doing it well! Phenomenal depth, complexity, and balance and I've still never had any other beer quite like it. Generally only brewed in Feb-Mar, it's still avail in bottles this summer.
- Biere de Mars - big, funky, biere de garde similarly complex to a Oud Gueze and just packed with flavor without being overly heavy. Wonderful beer.

Lots of other beers I like there too...

FOOD - I had lunch with the head chef and talked with her about her philosophy when it opened. She sources as much local/organic/seasonal food as she can and then does things like maker her own kimchi in-house. Very solid food for the price, but definitely a little more pricey than normal brewpub fare.

AMBIANCE - Gorgeous artwork from the bottle label designs, crafty chandeliers and sconces, dark woods, and friendly people abound. Big, spacious outdoor deck for the summer. Well-designed.

08-07-2011 16:33:22 | More by mrbeermug