Not that I want to sway your votes but doesn’t this sound good…
The Mexican Blucy
We’ve loaded this guy up with queso fresco and cilantro in the middle and pico de gallo, creama Mexicana and some spices to top it off! Can you say, “muy bien?”
Just a quick note, the B.O.M. is actually the Blucy of the Moment, not the month. A good thing too since the current B.O.M. (cajun blucy/jiffy burger hybrid) is my favorite and has been around for a while now.
Honestly, they all sound awesome, but I’m currently rooting for the major underdog. Go Granny Apple Bliss!
If I am lucky enough and my BOM is elected onto the Menu at the Blue Door Pub, I promise as a BA member also to where the BOM shirt proudly wherever I go, especially Winterfest. I will take friends, coworkers and relatives to the BDP to enjoy their newest creation. That is my promise to you.
Curious about something; why are folks so jazzed about the BDP?
The Blue Door Pub has twelve taps, four of which are pretty dang uninteresting macros (Schlitz, Bud Ale, Blue Moon, Mich Golden Light.) There are about fifteen tables and ten bar chairs. The pub is noisy, claustrophobic, and the tables are kind of badly managed. We’ve been there a couple of times when a single patron was tapping away at her laptop for fifteen minutes, food and beer done, in a booth that sits six while families of four waited.
The waitresses have very little of an idea about the beers that they’re serving. If you’re a beer geek, you’re going to want to correct them (resist that urge; just get the beer that you wanted and leave them alone).
I’ve attempted to go three times with wife and toddler. When we arrive, there is no one to give us an idea of when we would be seated besides other, rather impatient surly customers in line. Usually, we would have to wait several minutes before anyone actually gave us the time of day and how long we would have to wait…often more than fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes? To get a table for bar food? Come on.
We dropped by yesterday to try again. Same issues. We got there before five o’clock, and everyone in front of us acted hungry and exasperated, and a couple walked in, took one look, and walked straight back out again. We followed and strangely, they showed up where we ended up eating.
Now, the one meal that we’ve had there as a family was perfectly nice. We _like_ the owners; they’re folks who used to work with the Groveland Tap before striking out on their own. But the restaurant is chaotic and very, very loud right now, and there seems little hope that it’ll be less so anytime soon.
I suggest that anyone who is interested in a quick beer and burger might wish to go somewhere else for a few months and let the buzz about this place die down just a bit, or go sometime that isn’t busy (which appears – from our attempts – to be before 4:30 or after 10:30). They look like a place that is going to be great to go to in about four months, but it’s an utter mess right now.
Yeah, it’s hard to get a seat many nights, but I’ve been there for lunch a few times and an early dinner and had no problems.
The crowd thing isn’t unique to Blue Door. It certainly keeps me from stopping in certain nights when I’m in the mood for a tasty grease bomb, but that’s also been a factor to consider just about anywhere I go on a Thurs., Fri. or Sat. night. I just work around it.
Hi Drew- thanks for giving us a shot, we really appreciate your patronage and we look forward to seeing you in the future. As new restaurant owners we’ve had many challenges to overcome in the last 7 months. Everything from loans to framing out walls to scouring grout with steel brushes and screwdrivers, we’ve gone through about as much as we physically and mentally could handle. We work hard every single day to make our little pub the best it can possilbly be. We stand behind our servers and service, and yes there is room for improvement and that will come quickly. We like to think that our food is not just “bar food”, we’ve spent an incredible amount of time putting together a menu that is not only delicious but also interesting and it will continue to evole in that fashion. Think about the economic time we find ourselves in right now, part of our “buzz” is certainly due to our food and beer quality (i’m not going to defend our tap list, it’s always changing and it’s going to be inclusive of every person, i.e. blue moon, mich light) but also people getting behind a couple of idiots opening a pub in one of the shittiest economic times in our history. Our spot is energetic not chaotic-it’s filled with laughter and conversation, we have waits for tables and god willing we always will. Right now in these early months it is incredibly important for us, a couple of local guys, to have as much exposure and business as we can and to keep that rolling for years to come. I appreciate criticism, I believe it helps people like us get better, but please, do not try to steer people away from something we and many other people find exciting and great! Introduce yourself next time your in, I’d love to buy you a beer!
Great to hear you weigh in, Pat. I’ve been to the BDP once (during the first week of opening), and it was VERY energetic. It was extremely loud, but given the space you all have to work with, I don’t think there’s anything you can do about that. I was also amazed to find so many people bringing in infants and children under, say, 6 (probably saw 4-5 tables with such “patrons”). For atmosphere and conversation, I’d probably go elsewhere until the hype dies down, but the burger was AWEsome. I love juicy lucys, and the BDP did NOT disappoint. Not to mention they were one of the only places that actually had Surlyfest on tap. YUM.
So for now, it appears you have to put up with the noise (and the wait staff gave us each 2 beers for free because of their disorganization – hate to see disorganized servers but you can’t argue with the free beer) and the energy of the place if you want to reap what the BDP sows, which of course is tasty beer and even tastier food (battered green beans FTW). I can tell the effort is being made to run a good restaurant and to make as many people as happy as possible with the food and service, and that’s enough for me to recommend the place, albeit with a couple of caveats.
Not that I want to sway your votes but doesn’t this sound good…
The Mexican Blucy
We’ve loaded this guy up with queso fresco and cilantro in the middle and pico de gallo, creama Mexicana and some spices to top it off! Can you say, “muy bien?”
Just a quick note, the B.O.M. is actually the Blucy of the Moment, not the month. A good thing too since the current B.O.M. (cajun blucy/jiffy burger hybrid) is my favorite and has been around for a while now.
Honestly, they all sound awesome, but I’m currently rooting for the major underdog. Go Granny Apple Bliss!
404 – Beer not found.
Tyson – fixed that… whoops!
alright – so vote for an underdog and a BA member!
Andrew’s It’s All Greek to Me – I need yr votes dammit!
much thanks
-A-
If I am lucky enough and my BOM is elected onto the Menu at the Blue Door Pub, I promise as a BA member also to where the BOM shirt proudly wherever I go, especially Winterfest. I will take friends, coworkers and relatives to the BDP to enjoy their newest creation. That is my promise to you.
I just hope there doesn’t have to be a recount….
I meant I am a AHA member, not BA. Don’t want to start any controversy.
Curious about something; why are folks so jazzed about the BDP?
The Blue Door Pub has twelve taps, four of which are pretty dang uninteresting macros (Schlitz, Bud Ale, Blue Moon, Mich Golden Light.) There are about fifteen tables and ten bar chairs. The pub is noisy, claustrophobic, and the tables are kind of badly managed. We’ve been there a couple of times when a single patron was tapping away at her laptop for fifteen minutes, food and beer done, in a booth that sits six while families of four waited.
The waitresses have very little of an idea about the beers that they’re serving. If you’re a beer geek, you’re going to want to correct them (resist that urge; just get the beer that you wanted and leave them alone).
I’ve attempted to go three times with wife and toddler. When we arrive, there is no one to give us an idea of when we would be seated besides other, rather impatient surly customers in line. Usually, we would have to wait several minutes before anyone actually gave us the time of day and how long we would have to wait…often more than fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes? To get a table for bar food? Come on.
We dropped by yesterday to try again. Same issues. We got there before five o’clock, and everyone in front of us acted hungry and exasperated, and a couple walked in, took one look, and walked straight back out again. We followed and strangely, they showed up where we ended up eating.
Now, the one meal that we’ve had there as a family was perfectly nice. We _like_ the owners; they’re folks who used to work with the Groveland Tap before striking out on their own. But the restaurant is chaotic and very, very loud right now, and there seems little hope that it’ll be less so anytime soon.
I suggest that anyone who is interested in a quick beer and burger might wish to go somewhere else for a few months and let the buzz about this place die down just a bit, or go sometime that isn’t busy (which appears – from our attempts – to be before 4:30 or after 10:30). They look like a place that is going to be great to go to in about four months, but it’s an utter mess right now.
One word, man, burgers. yuuuummmm!
Yeah, it’s hard to get a seat many nights, but I’ve been there for lunch a few times and an early dinner and had no problems.
The crowd thing isn’t unique to Blue Door. It certainly keeps me from stopping in certain nights when I’m in the mood for a tasty grease bomb, but that’s also been a factor to consider just about anywhere I go on a Thurs., Fri. or Sat. night. I just work around it.
Hi Drew- thanks for giving us a shot, we really appreciate your patronage and we look forward to seeing you in the future. As new restaurant owners we’ve had many challenges to overcome in the last 7 months. Everything from loans to framing out walls to scouring grout with steel brushes and screwdrivers, we’ve gone through about as much as we physically and mentally could handle. We work hard every single day to make our little pub the best it can possilbly be. We stand behind our servers and service, and yes there is room for improvement and that will come quickly. We like to think that our food is not just “bar food”, we’ve spent an incredible amount of time putting together a menu that is not only delicious but also interesting and it will continue to evole in that fashion. Think about the economic time we find ourselves in right now, part of our “buzz” is certainly due to our food and beer quality (i’m not going to defend our tap list, it’s always changing and it’s going to be inclusive of every person, i.e. blue moon, mich light) but also people getting behind a couple of idiots opening a pub in one of the shittiest economic times in our history. Our spot is energetic not chaotic-it’s filled with laughter and conversation, we have waits for tables and god willing we always will. Right now in these early months it is incredibly important for us, a couple of local guys, to have as much exposure and business as we can and to keep that rolling for years to come. I appreciate criticism, I believe it helps people like us get better, but please, do not try to steer people away from something we and many other people find exciting and great! Introduce yourself next time your in, I’d love to buy you a beer!
Best regards,
Pat McDonough
The Blue Door Pub
Great to hear you weigh in, Pat. I’ve been to the BDP once (during the first week of opening), and it was VERY energetic. It was extremely loud, but given the space you all have to work with, I don’t think there’s anything you can do about that. I was also amazed to find so many people bringing in infants and children under, say, 6 (probably saw 4-5 tables with such “patrons”). For atmosphere and conversation, I’d probably go elsewhere until the hype dies down, but the burger was AWEsome. I love juicy lucys, and the BDP did NOT disappoint. Not to mention they were one of the only places that actually had Surlyfest on tap. YUM.
So for now, it appears you have to put up with the noise (and the wait staff gave us each 2 beers for free because of their disorganization – hate to see disorganized servers but you can’t argue with the free beer) and the energy of the place if you want to reap what the BDP sows, which of course is tasty beer and even tastier food (battered green beans FTW). I can tell the effort is being made to run a good restaurant and to make as many people as happy as possible with the food and service, and that’s enough for me to recommend the place, albeit with a couple of caveats.
I’ll be going back for sure.