Brew pub in Detroit: Staff Pick

Simplified menus with items that travel well

Atwater is back, both the name and the concept of a great brewery with great food. Expect the original Atwater beers with "very, very good pub food." That will mean regional and seasonal specials and such German specialties as wiener schnitzel.

The cool ambience, eclectic crowd to the airy high-ceilinged space, with wooden tables and couches scattered about, dominated by a horseshoe-shaped fieldstone bar. The open “kitchen” at one end of the bar is so tiny that it precludes elaborate culinary preparations. The generously proportioned starters that average around $5 include crunchy and succulent hot or honey barbecued chicken wings, and nine sandwiches ($4.99-$7.49) are constructed with organic bread from Avalon, range from veggie or grilled chicken paninis to several Reubens and a vegetarian “tofurkey lurkey” with tofu, swiss cheese, tomato and honey mustard. The highlight of the simple menu is the array of juicy beef, turkey, buffalo and vegetarian burgers ($4.49). As for liquid refreshment, many beers go for $4.50 a pint. Monday through Thursday during the 4-6 p.m. happy hour, they are marked down to $2.50.

A true microbrewery; six to eight microbrews made on the premises. Spacious, high-ceilinged Chicago loft-style decor. Happy Hour Monday through Friday; 60-item menu served 'til midnight (until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday). Specials include Employee Appreciation Night, Two-fer Tuesdays, karaoke and College Night.

A unique European pub-like atmosphere with board games and puzzles. No television or food. Bring your own food, or order food to be delivered at the bar. A place to talk and play while sampling 30 beers on tap or some of our hand-crafted sodas. English cask ales also available. Recently awarded Best Amber Ale and Best Belgian Ale at the 2001 World Expo of Beer in Frankenmuth, Michigan, and Best Dark Ale at Chicago's Real Ale Festival. Also named Michigan's Best Brew Pub by Michigan Living.

With a German brewhall motif, this spacious restaurant/bar offers much for the eye and the mind. Board games, pool tables, foosball, darts and bubble hockey on the inside, beer garden and grill on the outside.

Michigan's second oldest brewery. Hand-crafted beer - hand-crafted tap room.

Although not even close to being vegged-out, Traffic Jam and Snug restaurant has some pretty interesting food of their own, not to mention, much of it is made in house. The selection changes all the time, so don't count on phony dogs anymore, but do enjoy any of Traffic Jam's own brewed beers. If coney islands aren't your thing, try the Delta Stack: collard greens, avocado, roasted peppers and dill ranch served on corn bread with sweet potato fries. Wash it down with Fruity Pebbles and Faygo Rock and Rye homemade ice cream. It's good.

"A neighborhood bar with lots of style." The top floor has huge windows overlooking Woodward. Downstairs has a sidewalk cafe and lounge with a view of the brewhouse. The WAB serves a selection of its own microbrewed beer, rootbeer and cream soda that has made the brewery #1 two years in a row. You won't find your typical bar food here, gourmet sandwiches, quesadillas, bruschetta, huge salads, and more.

Be it the art galleries popping up all over, or the bars and coffeehouses along Woodward Avenue and Nine Mile Road, Ferndale is fast becoming the place to be. And when the Woodward Avenue Brewers opened their doors in 1997, they got it absolutely right. With good beer, a creative and healthy menu (WAB serves no fried foods), a stellar jukebox, rotating art exhibits, and one of the most brilliant promotional tools ever (discount nights), the WAB is the kind of place where anyone can have a good time. Whether it's "Sunday $1.50 Well Drink Night" or "Monday Half-Off Food Night" this joint caters to everyone from hungry hipsters to the average Joe. (And while a Friday night spent in the throes of downtown Royal Oak could very easily become reminiscent of an episode of Blind Date, Ferndale still has some class.) - Eve Doster