Mostly out of indecision, I somehow ended up at Arbor Brewing Company for dinner on Friday. Unfortunately, I think we visited on an “off day.”
We had about a 15 minute wait to be seated. To drink, I ordered the Bavarian Bliss Hefeweizen. This was my favorite Oktoberfest beer last autumn. I feel like ABC’s food is usually pretty solid, but tonight it was just subpar. I ordered the Drunken Chicken Sandwich, which is an IPA-marinated free-range chicken breast (see – this is why I like ABC: homemade, quality products) on a sesame bun with basil pesto, red onion, spinach, and goat cheese. However, I couldn’t find the goat cheese on my sandwich? The bun was also dry, while the chicken was bland. A disappointing sandwich. I had a side of broccoli with my sandwich, in place of fries, which was good.
The huz had the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich which was simply alright, with a side of onion rings. The onion rings cost $2 extra but he received literally THREE onion rings (albeit, they were giant ones). What the…?
Another weird thing that happened… After we ordered our food, I took about one sip of my beer, and literally like three minutes later our food was brought out. Whaaa? I appreciate fast service, but it makes me wonder. ABC did not bring their A-game Friday night.
To make up for our decidedly mediocre dinner, we went all out at the new Grand Traverse Pie Company location on Liberty Street. The huz and I each had our own piece of a berry crumb pie à la mode.
The pie was served warm and it was nothing short of AMAZING.
Eventually we ended up back at home for the evening and played a twilight game of Skip Bo outdoors on the deck (with a wine bottle in tote.)
Meg Goes Nom Nom 
Love the AA eatery reviews on your site!
I have had the same exact thing happen to me at ABC with the 3 onion rings–I typically feel like their food is “OK” (like you, I do like how they source their ingredients), but the portions typically seem skimpy for what you pay. I like the cherry bbq sauce they use, but I can see how it might be too sweet for some people. So I usually only go there on the insistence of friends who really like the place.
thanks! yeah, for real! if I am going to pay extra for something, i expect at least a reasonable portion and THREE onion rings seems so skimpy!