Ashley's

BeerFink

Ohio

4.7/5  rDev +10.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

Stopped in for the first time yesterday, and was very impressed. I was there for lunch, but first things first - I picked up their drinks menu (which was an entire binder). They have all of their beer selections neatly categorized with short descriptions of everything. With around 70 beers on tap, it is sometimes hard to decide. They make it easy by offering free samples. The waiter was very knowledgeable about the beers and was able to make good suggestions. He even brought me extra samples that I didn't ask for because he figured I'd like them (he was right). I had a burger and fries to eat, which was pretty good. The atmosphere is pretty cool - lots of breweriana, but not enough to make things cluttered. Also, there was some good music being played piped in. When I was paying attention, it was some good jazz and classic rock. The music was very quiet - it was not intrusive at all. I'm glad I'm not too far from Ann Arbor. I think I'm going to have to make a habit of this place.

02-06-2005 20:57:33 | More by BeerFink

nomad

Kansas

4.35/5  rDev +1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Ashley's is an integral member of the Ann Arbor beer scene, with a welcoming interior and the best beer selection you'll find for many miles in Southeast Michigan. Since it's 20 yards from the Univ. of Michigan campus you, your buddy, your shadow, everyone will be carded and thoroughly given the once over, and then seated by a hostess. Its a pain that you can't just amble on in, but there are plenty of drunk undergrads stumbling around the neighborhood, so I understand.

Upstairs is lots of wood interior, tasteful breweriana, and a nice jukebox. There is no standing room, only seating, but the basement downstairs has a foosball table, Golden Tee, and a cramped but large enough array for groups to stand.

The beer selection has about 60 taps, 3 casks, and dozens of bottled beer. They work hard at covering a truly wide array of styles from Russia to the West Coast U.S., easily covering any taste any day. For example, they keep thick winter beers like Scotch and Old ales up year round. Though the casks seem to be served correct, at least in terms of temperature, they can go flat as expected at a place with such a wide selection. I've not had a truly good cask ale, you can tell they've been up for more than a few days. More like often a week or more.

Service is fair enough. The food is just pub grub though the Stilton Fries are made by angels in heaven. But if you hanker for anything from Weihenstephan Weisse to Fuller's London Pride to Caracole, they'll have it. And a gang of great liquor.

09-17-2004 13:53:10 | More by nomad

CRJMellor

Arkansas

3.83/5  rDev -10.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5

Nice relatively small pub right on the corner of U of M campus. Somewhat small "dining room" and very small bar. There is a much bigger bar in the basement which was a prett cool place, very cave-like.
Food was average to slighly above average pub grub. Menu was pretty varied and something for everyone, even are Vegan friends.
Beer and whiskey list is very impressive Issue for me is that they don't have everything they advertise on draught and not sure about some of the slower moving kegs or the cleanliness and maintenance of the lines.
Service also quite frankly sucked and was not a high point.
All that said, it was very cool to see 50-60 taps lined up in about a 30 sq. ft. area and they get very high marks for having some cask conditioned beers available for trying to promote draught beer as key part of the experience.

03-14-2004 17:38:48 | More by CRJMellor

PhantomVodoo

Ohio

4/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4

Over 60 beers on tap. My only concern is whether they keep the beer fresh and care for the lines properly with that many taps. More available in bottles. Large selection of Michigan microbreweries. Great selection, obviously.
Beer tap handles, signs, posters, bottles, etc. cover the walls and shelves creating a neat atmosphere for a beer lover. Could use a little freshening up though. Beer bottles look like they haven't been touched in years.
Service was fast and friendly, but our waitress didn't have a lot of knowledge about the beer side of things. We didn't test the bartenders knowledge.
My brother-in-law and I were both thoroughly pleased with our food which arrived very quickly.
Was surprisingly empty for 6pm on a Saturday night, but I'm sure that changes when U. of M. isn't on summer break.

07-28-2003 03:45:43 | More by PhantomVodoo

marburg

Michigan

3.53/5  rDev -17.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4

When I first began my quest for beer perfection, Ashley's was my favorite bar, hands down. As an undergrad at U-M, it was right next to campus and thus a perfect place to grab a beer. With 60 taps, it seemed pretty daunting.

But as I began to leave the nest a bit, so to speak, and find other bars, I realized that the chairs were all breaking, the beer was getting more expensive, some of the kegs must have been ancient, beers were consistently being served at a variety of temperatures that weren't necessarily correct, there was little variety in glassware, if they run out of the proper glass you'll get your beer in a juice glass, and it was pretty smoky (which I'd never minded until it started impeding my beer drinking). Oh, and there are lots of beer bars in the world with better selections -- so even that wasn't too impressive anymore.

Definitely order two beers at once. Maybe your server will make it back by the time you're finishing that second brew. (OK, slight exaggeration.)

I still visit Ashley's -- but generally nowhere near peak times. Some of the food is pretty good (the Jerk Chicken sandwich is awesome), though it pales in comparison to the Heidelberg or even Conor O'Neill's, and they obviously have a good amount of beer for a Detroit/Ann Arbor area bar. But you can tell it's a student hang out because it gets run like one.

02-02-2003 20:08:10 | More by marburg