Best No-Cover Bar (Wayne County)
The Town Pump
Sitting in the shadow of the Fox Theatre on Park Avenue, the Town Pump is hard-core proof that you don’t have to be named Ilitch or Forbes to operate a thriving entertainment establishment in the heart of our theater district. Kudos to the Pump’s Sean Harrington for taking the reins of the family’s Park Avenue Hotel and turning it into a regular pit stop on any downtown hipster’s barhopping escapades. Although the Town Pump has not been around for a long time, its tin-ceilinged charm, ivy-framed windows and clubby interior make it seem like a longtime mainstay on our local bar scene. The bar draws a diverse mix of regular downtown scenesters, Park Avenue residents and happy-hour types, with a smattering of DJ and live music thrown into the mix. The Town Pump is the type of bar you’d find in droves in other cities the size of Detroit, but, this being Detroit, we’ll just have to settle for one. However, the Town Pump has set the mold for other pubs to come along, including the equally impressive State Bar as well as the Centre Street Pub in Harmonie Park. As for the future, look for Harrington & Co. to continue their longtime efforts to transform the old Iodent Toothpaste Building across the street into a glittering pool hall/bar/loft development ... as long as the City of Detroit doesn’t lose their drawings again.
