October 22, 2010
everything average except for beer selection. Good place to try different beers.

August 30, 2009 [ Updated July 9, 2011 ]
First time I’ve been here since I started drinking. Very impressive bottled beer list, along with some good tap selections. I was a bit apprehensive having read some reviews around the Internet regarding their current service and food, but it was all good when I was there tonight. Took a little while to get our first beer, but service was pretty quick after that. Food seemed good enough as well. I would prefer a bit more detail in the beer list, as it’s kind of hard to process without any styles listed. But the Box Bar generally seems like a good place for a great beer selection, while everything else if at least decent if not better.

Update: Went back, sitting at the bar tonight. Great beer, good service, with knowledgeable bartenders. Had a nice vintage Gale’s Prize Old Ale 1998 and discovered how amazing Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout can be; hadn’t decided to try it until tonight. Good time.

June 14, 2008
I think that the owner of this place should start reading the reviews regarding the service! I went in there, having read the reviews, and low and behold, the service was horrible! But the bit about the waitstaff not knowing anything wasn’t true about my waitress. I ordered a Samuel Smith India ale, and then asked if they had any more IPA’s and she suggested Lagunita’s IPA, which was fantastic. so, overall I would say they put too much into beer(which isn’t a bad thing) and not enough into who they hire.

April 5, 2008
This is where ratebeer.com was born.

March 12, 2007
Great selection on tap and in bottles. The wait staff has no idea about what they are serving but thats on par for the detroit area.

July 14, 2005
Food is generic bar food. Tons of bottles and lots of rarities. Good place to sit and drink, plus you can carry out bottles of anything in stock. retired bells stouts and other rarities arnt bought by the locals and are therefore often in stock.

June 25, 2005
clark has most of these on the money. 40 taps, nothing too special on draft. tons of rare bottles, i had a 94 thomas hardy’s, and old beers that are either no longer available or no longer brewed anywhere else. the food was decent at best, but the server was at least attentive if unknowledgeable about the beer he was serving. worth going to this place just to drink some rare bottles.

April 22, 2004
Sporting the largest number of bottled beers available at a Michigan bar, it had my expectations high. As far as the selection, you arent going to find any better in Michigan. Because so few people buy the really eccentric beers, you can find beers still available at the bar, that are no longer distributed in Michigan (3 Floyd’s), beers that are no longer brewed (Bell’s November 2002 Stouts) and breweries that no longer are in business (Lighthouse, Old Hat, Roffeys). Good selection of vintage beers (relatively speaking). Fuller’s Vintage 1999, Thomas Hardys back to 1994, JW Lee’s back to 1988 and Harveys Elizabethan 1997. Rarities such as Gouden Carulos Cuvee Van de Keizer are not uncommon and most beers that are or were brewed by the major Michigan breweries. The food is awful, the service slow and uneducated about beer.