HopCat Bar opening in Detroit; will be biggest location yet

**SpartanDawg** · February-03-14, 08:57 AM

UPDATE: HopCat has announced that it will occupy the former Agave / Stewart's / Alexander's / Gregory's site just south of the Whitney Restaurant.

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hello crackfries

awesome stuff... phenomenal sports bar with biggest selection of beers on tap

it's opening in august.. and will have 130 beers on tap.. most in michigan!

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-m..._river_default

**DetroitPlanner** · February-03-14, 09:18 AM

Great. more drunken d-bags trolling the streets looking for fights.

As if the drunken food courts in suburban downtowns were not bad enough.

**Honky Tonk** · February-03-14, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by SpartanDawg

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-m..._river_default

hello crackfries

awesome stuff... phenomenal sports bar with biggest selection of beers on tap

it's opening in august.. and will have 130 beers on tap.. most in michigan!

Well 130 is a lot of taps! I can see some extending across the border to Canada.

**SpartanDawg** · February-03-14, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Great. more drunken d-bags trolling the streets looking for fights.

As if the drunken food courts in suburban downtowns were not bad enough.

yea we should keep all the bars and clubs in the suburbs... no entertainment in detroit! god forbid people get drunk here!!

**dmike76** · February-03-14, 10:02 AM

As a beer lover, I'm thrilled. As usual on the forum, there is a hater. Craft brew is a huge industry that isn't just about drunky drunks; to me its mainly about trying new and inventive styles and flavors of beer. I have to admit, I have not been to a Hopcat, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

**innercitydoc** · February-03-14, 10:02 AM

My concern is that there seems to be an overabundance of sports bars downtown and the market may become saturated. The biggest Bdubs and the largest Hopcat? Wish the best though..

**bailey** · February-03-14, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Great. more drunken d-bags trolling the streets looking for fights.

As if the drunken food courts in suburban downtowns were not bad enough.

Or...looking at it in a more positive note, there'll be more drunk suburbanites who can be mugged at gunpoint or otherwise forcibly relieved of their possessions! Face it, new blood is needed to feed Detroit's largest cottage industries [[after welfare fraud that is...) ... the pawning of ill gotten goods and chop shops. Too many downtown denizens today have developed situational awareness and not enough are leaving laptops/ipads/Louis Vuitton bags in plain view on the back seat of their car parked in broad daylight on Washington Ave. Need a whole new cadre of naive white kids to have common sense beaten into them and any thoughts detroit is a decent place to spend an evening stolen from them.

/sarc.

**Spartan** · February-03-14, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by innercitydoc

My concern is that there seems to be an overabundance of sports bars downtown and the market may become saturated. The biggest Bdubs and the largest Hopcat? Wish the best though..

1. There may be an overabundance of sports bars, but not good ones. There are only a couple good ones.
2. HopCat is not a sports bar.

**innercitydoc** · February-03-14, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Spartan

1. There may be an overabundance of sports bars, but not good ones. There are only a couple good ones.
2. HopCat is not a sports bar.

My apologies. I was going by SpartanDawg's original post

**Danny** · February-03-14, 10:21 AM

My question his what Downtown Detroit building is going to be the new hub for HopCat Bar?

**Spartan** · February-03-14, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by Danny

My question his what Downtown Detroit building is going to be the new hub for HopCat Bar?

11,000 square feet is quite a bit. They never said downtown either, though that seems the most likely option.

**WPitonya** · February-03-14, 10:27 AM

Wow this is great news! I wonder if Dan Gilbert had anything to do with this and if it will be in one of his properties. Either way, it's one less vacant storefront!!

**bailey** · February-03-14, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by Spartan

11,000 square feet is quite a bit. They never said downtown either, though that seems the most likely option.

Judging by the B-dubs announcement... it'll take about two years of fits and starts to identify a location and get it opened. Like the B-dubs, I'll believe it happens when it actually does.

**Eber Brock Ward** · February-03-14, 11:08 AM

wonder if it will go in the old serman's building with a beer garden/balcony concept on the rooftop?

**poobert** · February-03-14, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Great. more drunken d-bags trolling the streets looking for fights.

As if the drunken food courts in suburban downtowns were not bad enough.

Calling you out here. At the Detroit Beer Company, Motor City Brewing Works, Traffic Jam, Great Lakes, Grand Trunk, and the countless other crafty-beer establishments in the city, have "drunken d-bags trolling the streets looking for fights" been an issue? Is there even one reported incident of this?

You act like this is some kind of sleazy blind pig. You know a lot of us like to go out and have a beer and have a good time without fighting anyone. Are you some kind of bitter tea-totaling Calvinist or what?

**Bigb23** · February-03-14, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by innercitydoc

My concern is that there seems to be an overabundance of sports bars downtown and the market may become saturated. The biggest Bdubs and the largest Hopcat? Wish the best though..

Reminds me of when I lived in Hamtram in the 80's. I vowed to have a drink at every bar in town.
Wow- 100 + ? I did my best. [[Irish).

**Spartan** · February-03-14, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Eber Brock Ward

wonder if it will go in the old serman's building with a beer garden/balcony concept on the rooftop?

Hmm.. this would be pretty cool. Anyone know how big it is?

**DetroitPlanner** · February-03-14, 12:12 PM

Big bars in general bring big crowds of folks hellbent on acting like jerks. Nothing wrong with smaller places. 11,000 sq ft is about 7k too big.

I hope I am wrong, but large bars are not conducive to the area if you want to fill the upper floors of Downtown with residential. No one want to live next to a bar full of a bunch of screaming howling 30-40 year olds who still think they are in a frat.

**bailey** · February-03-14, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Big bars in general bring big crowds of folks hellbent on acting like jerks. Nothing wrong with smaller places. 11,000 sq ft is about 7k too big.

I hope I am wrong, but large bars are not conducive to the area if you want to fill the upper floors of Downtown with residential. No one want to live next to a bar full of a bunch of screaming howling 30-40 year olds who still think they are in a frat.

Its about the size of the BWs [[12,000) currently in operation downtown now. Is that a source of complaints?

**DetroitPlanner** · February-03-14, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

Its half the size of the BWs [[20,000) currently in operation downtown now. Is that a source of complaints?

No residential here nor will there be; now is there?

**rb336** · February-03-14, 12:26 PM

Never heard of Hopcat, went to their site. looks OK. definitely not a sports bar - didn't see a TV in any of their pictures. typical bar grub, which is fine by me

**downtownguy** · February-03-14, 12:46 PM

Not to be picky, but did he say it would be in Detroit proper? While I hope it is, "Motor City" might be a general reference to Metro Detroit, say Royal Oak perhaps.

Restaurateur Mark Sellers said the Motor City will be site of the third HopCat, a popular craft beer bar brand he's planning to expand into 12 to 15 cities around the Midwest in the next five years.

That said, if they do indeed mean within the city limits, perhaps they're looking at the hockey arena site. A place this size will need to locate where they can do volume, and sports bar or not, having 3 sports venues nearby would be good for business.

**poobert** · February-03-14, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Big bars in general bring big crowds of folks hellbent on acting like jerks. Nothing wrong with smaller places. 11,000 sq ft is about 7k too big.

I hope I am wrong, but large bars are not conducive to the area if you want to fill the upper floors of Downtown with residential. No one want to live next to a bar full of a bunch of screaming howling 30-40 year olds who still think they are in a frat.

So bars the size of 4 bedroom colonials will prevent people from being jerks. Got it.

Some of you here are so contrarian it is absurd. Somebody could discover the cure for cancer in Detroit and you'd be bitching about all the sick people that will be coming here giving you cancer.

**motz** · February-03-14, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Big bars in general bring big crowds of folks hellbent on acting like jerks. Nothing wrong with smaller places. 11,000 sq ft is about 7k too big.

I hope I am wrong, but large bars are not conducive to the area if you want to fill the upper floors of Downtown with residential. No one want to live next to a bar full of a bunch of screaming howling 30-40 year olds who still think they are in a frat.

Well I mean, if you don't like people drinking or loud, rowdy crowds maybe you should stay in another part of town? The people who want to live downtown EXPECT that that is what their surroundings will be like. Some people move to Indian Village because they want a more family friendly atmosphere. Seriously, lay off the bars. Its a great way to attract people downtown and entertain visitors who want something to do after, say, 11pm.

**Spartan** · February-03-14, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by downtownguy

Not to be picky, but did he say it would be in Detroit proper? While I hope it is, "Motor City" might be a general reference to Metro Detroit, say Royal Oak perhaps.

That said, if they do indeed mean within the city limits, perhaps they're looking at the hockey arena site. A place this size will need to locate where they can do volume, and sports bar or not, having 3 sports venues nearby would be good for business.

Unless Royal Oak is now called the Motor City, I don't think there's a ton of gray area here. If they were looking at Royal Oak, Troy, Birmingham, etc., I would imagine he would have said "Metro Detroit" or "Detroit area" or something similar. The article did not seem to make any indication it would be outside the city either. To do that kind of volume, I don't see the hockey arena as all that viable for a couple reasons. One, it will be a while before the hockey arena exists. Two, there's very little else in that area right now. I don't see Comerica, Ford Field and the theaters spilling in the direction much with 75 as a barrier. I think it would likely to be somewhere relatively close to Greektown and the entertainment district [[the Serman's site, for example), or in Corktown.