Nikki is the best bartender in town! We come from Bay City and our first stop is always Rare Bird to see Nikki and get drinks!!

Great atmosphere, beers and hospitality! Good selection of food - the pecorino fries are and awesome appetizer. read more

We love this place. We are local and come in often. The cold brew nitro martini on tap is so good. Very good, food selection is great and very good. The staff is always friendly. Today 4-15-2026 we had OG Tyler at the bar and he is always awesome. Best beard. Best bar tender. Great guy. read more

Rare Bird Brewpub - Bars Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Yummy food and lovely story, especially for a birder like me :). Ate faster than I remembered to get a picture! Everything was delicious. I especially loved my burger, and the truffle fries. Wings and dirty fries were great too! read more

Rare Bird Brewpub - Bars Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

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While exploring the local eateries during a trip to Traverse City, Rare Bird Brewpub proved to be an absolute gem. Situated just steps from the heart of downtown, but offering a relaxed, neighborhood charm. It delivers fantastic craft flavors, fast, friendly service, and an authentic local atmosphere. It is an essential stop when visiting Traverse City. read more

Rare Bird Brewpub - Bars Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

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Best buffalo chicken sandwich I've had in a long time. Also a great gluten free menu. Cant say enough good things about this place!

Great family spot for dinner for burgers! Staff is always friendly and food is always good.

We stopped in for dinner and split the Pub burger with fries...they were both excellent. Also tried the Lost Coastline hazy ipa, very good. Excellent service also...would highly recommend. read more

First evening in Traverse City and found this places right around the corner from our accommodations. Fantastic selection of microbrews along with a comprehensive menu with something for everyone. Our meal was served promptly and was delicious. Scott waited on us and was friendly and very helpful. An excellent experience! read more

Great vibe on a Friday night in July. Tables are a little hard to get, but don't be afraid to walk around and look for an open one. Great selection of beer (obviously!) but also a decent selection of wine and cocktails. We ordered the mahi-mahi tacos and cheese curds. Delicious. Btw - Service took a long time so definitely order a drink while you wait. read more

Love this place! Their food is so good, great beer selection and cocktails. Nice staff too. read more

Rare Bird Brewpub - Bars Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Stopped in for a quick bite and we both enjoyed the pub burger and shared the pecorino fries. Burgers were great and the fries will ensure a return trip! Beers were ok. I tried their Oktoberfest and it was good. Our server was awesome! Really talked up the town and gave us some ideas of things to do. I really enjoyed my time at Rare Bird and will return. read more

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Rare bird is one of our TC faves. The beer just cant be beat. Service always quick and super nice. My tacos had incredible flavor but the chicken meat was tough this time. The pork belly on the bahn mi was delicious but overall flavor just not there. However the parm fries were INCREDIBLE. read more

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Decided to give this a try based on reviews. We were not disappointed! We went on a Monday evening, so it wasn't too crowded. We had the trout dip, mahi tacos, and a beer flight. Everything was delicious! read more

Very cool spot! Parking is easy- you can just back in out front or park at one of the many lots or meters down the road. Inside is really cool! There's merch for sale too. Self serve water- tons of beer options. The food is all so good! Staff is nice and food comes out quickly. read more

Rare Bird Brewpub - Cobb salad - Bars Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Great energy from this brewery. Nice selection of crafted beer. We tried their 1/2 nachos and were not disappointed. The bartenders were kind. Would love to try this place again when in TC. read more

Rare Bird Brewpub - Bars Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

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I think these pictures speak for themselves! The food here was absolutely amazing. Service was on point as well. The restaurant is huge inside, but it was such a beautiful day we decided to eat outside. If you're in the area I highly recommend checking this place out! read more

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We sat outside last night. Beautiful evening and great food. I highly recommend this place. I had the beet salad, sweet potato tacos. My husband had the blackened Mahi tacos and a local beer. It was all excellent! I want to come back here! read more

We wish we lived nearby to make this our weekly neighborhood bar because it was perfection. They had no opening when we arrived but would text us when a table was ready so we walked along the river for a short bit until we received the text. We were seated in a spacious booth. We were here in summer and tried the blood orange and chief coconut brown beers and loved them. I could drink the coconut brown beer nightly I think. A perfect stout with just a hint of sweetness but lots of creaminess. We started with the salad which surprised us with its size and freshness. Rather than a sad slice of tomato, the salad comes with a delightfully flavorful roasted tomato. And then we got the fried buffalo chicken sub sandwiches. We were worried the buffalo sauce might be too spicy so I got mine on the side. The chicken was juicy with a well seasoned batter. The made in house buffalo sauce was tangy and perfectly spiced without being blow your mind spicy, and worked well with the blue cheese on the sandwich. Service was on point. Our server was knowledgeable and efficient and seemed pleased at how much we loved the beer and sandwiches. read more

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Stopped in after a long trip back to TC and had a great visit at one of my favorite places in town. Kushies hit the spot and the food was great. Tyler and Pam are legit pro bar keeps, great service and real people, great convo. Glad the fire didn't slow this place down. Keep it up RB, love your joint. read more

One of the best things about traveling anywhere outside of your backyard (or front piece of grass if you live in a New York high-rise), is trying all the food possible. And since most of my life is based on food, anytime I travel I try to eat all of it. The food. All of the food. Even when I travel within my state and have been to places I've been to often, 11/10 my goal is food consumption. With that being said, let's dive right in. First, I want to get off my chest the fact that I have dined here before, but forgot what I ordered as well as forgot to leave a review. So if the jury could please disregard that piece of evidence, I would like to try again. So before any meal, you have to always order an appetizer. How else are you supposed to be full and hate yourself BEFORE your meal arrives? Luckily for us, we ordered the pretzel sticks, complete with a beer cheese and the kind of mustard that has the seeds? Or the chunks? It's not smooth mustard. Stone ground? I don't know. It was the not normal yellow hotdog mustard. I'm always never a huge pretzel fan, but sometimes they sound good. And when they're done right *chef's kiss*. These pretzels were top shelf. Pretzel experience 10/10. Moving on to the main course. Maybe it was the mood I was in, or perhaps my brain and stomach were battling it out, but nothing sounded particularly enticing. Not in a negative way, but more of an indecisive, wasn't feeling it vibe. Because of that, I settled on an oldie but goodie menu choice. The Chicken Sandwhich™. The ingredients were your basic lettuce and tomato, but also a cilantro sauce and garlic aioli. I'm a sauce man not only by trade but by nature. So those were my selling point. I did 86 the avocado because I respect myself. The dish came out and it looked great. Fries were shining like long, golden trophies of potato. Sandwich was built and stacked like an immovable jenga tower. I was excited. I was pumped. I was put into this booth for a reason. And then it happened. Did you ever wish for one thing for your birthday? Just the one thing? And then you get socks. Not even new, but hand me downs. That's how I felt with this sandwhich. Let me clarify, the flavor of this sandwhich was wonderful. Everything worked together. However, the chicken breast was just a little thicker than college ruled lined paper. With a sandwich flavor profile like this, you need to accentuate it with more CPB (chicken-per-bite). Grilled Chicken Sandwich Enjoyment 8/10. read more

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Excellent place for elevated bar type food. Space is large and comfortable, service solid and food tasty. The chicken nachos were a standout with tasty marinated/grilled chicken, a decidedly thinner than typical but delicious cheese sauce and other toppings including pickled jalapeño's. We also enjoyed the smoked trout dip and burger. Will definitely visit again. read more

Solid beers and solid food. Cocktails and wine for those who don't realize how awesome craft beer is. Inside and outside seating. Friendly and attentive staff. read more

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Cute little brew pub close to downtown. You have to pay for parking and back into the spot. Server was so awesome. They had an extensive beer menu and two ciders. We got pretzels and I had the cherry chicken salad. Highly recommend this place read more

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Great brewpub Super service and amazing server Food was completely delicious Grandkids had the Mac cheese and can't wait to come back for more. We split some pretzels (yum) I had the beet salad (and would definitely order it again) Wife had a salad that came with Gargonzola cheese (and to our surprise that is a Bleu cheese) so waitstaff took care of that for us (thank you). Next time we are here in Traverse City we will come for a meal. read more

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Dog friendly patio was a highlight. Beer was okay. The food was excellent however. Cheese curds and nachos were both favorites. Turkey sandwich was nothing special but still good. Truffle fries were great too. Service was good but didn't have to interact much as we ordered and cashed out all at once at the bar. read more

We stopped by here just a few minutes after 10 p.m. on a Friday night just for a flight. The host immediately notified us that they stopped serving food at 10 p.m.; the last call was at 10:30 p.m. and closed promptly at 11:00 p.m. We were directed to sit at the bar even though high-tops and booth seating were available. They offer a 4-sample flight with no substitutions, exceptions, or flight board. So, if you're not an IPA fan, tough luck. I decided to have a full pour of coconut brown, which was true to the description but underwhelming. There were patios, high- and low-tops, booths, and bar seating. The bar seats were super uncomfortable. The service was okay. The environment was loud, and I felt unwelcome. I probably would not return. read more

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Made my second visit to Rare Bird. The first time I went during restaurant week was great. This time not so great. I ordered a burger ketchup and onion only. Showed up no ketchup. I used my ketchup for my fries. Burger wasn't anything special. The fries were pretty good. I met a friend, we are both locals, and were in the last booth street side. We were catching up when waitress asked us to leave!! I haven't been asked to leave a restaurant in years. She said they were starting trivia and they needed the seats. My friend had already paid and tipped so we couldn't express our dissatisfaction there. Traverse City has plenty of restaurants and many with better burgers. I doubt I will return here. read more

Sat outside and food was great. We came here last year and enjoyed the food and glad to be back again.

Rare Bird is a stellar find--dog friendly patio, excellent brews, and a knock-your-socks-off burger. With ample patio space, bring the doggos and enjoy a local beer after a day at the beach. They have a great lineup that will appeal to most. I had the POG beer, which has an infusion of juices. It was light and refreshing, but slightly too sweet for the other half. She had an IPA and it hit the spot. The pub burger with blue cheese and BBQ sauce was . Upgrade the fries to one of their specialties. You'll thank me later. read more

Our server Mickey was so kind and accommodating when we asked to take ingredients off our nachos nachos were so fire

The Rare Bird is an awesome brewpub! The Pub burger and pork belly sandwich on ciabatta were yum yum, and the double IPA beer was so good! . Food, service, and atmosphere were all amazing and I love the name and merch too. Can't wait to come back! read more

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Rare Bird is a great spot to stop off in Traverse City for some delicious eats & brews! The service was prompt and attentive. We sat on the patio with the pup- thankfully! There is a great shaded outdoor sitting area if you want to enjoy the beautiful northern michigan weather. All the food was amazing. The kids really enjoyed it! Very family friendly. read more

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Place Is worth the stop! All the food was fantastic. Shares the Banh Mi with Dirt Bird Fries, lamb burger and pecorino fries. The banh mi is much better food and the pecorino fries were much better! Check it out! read more

Great spot. Friendly service and good crowd. We came in after a long day and had appetizers and a drink. I would return here. Tasty!

Giving a solid 5-stars here. The food is on point. Service is great. I don't drink so I can't comment on the beer. But definitely suggest eating here. The vegan burger was the best I've ever had by far. Tyler at the outside bar was super friendly and accomodating. Great spot! read more

Great food wonderful service fantastic drinks. All was fantastic just filling delicious.

The food and beer are exceptional. Loved being able to bring a can home to enjoy. We had burgers and a beer flight to try their fare.

The service was friendly, but the food was not tasty. I had the beet salad, which was a bowl full of spring mix salad with some diced beets and cheese. Super bland. They were out of pepitas, so maybe that makes a difference. My husband had the curry chicken sandwich and didn't like it. My kids' had the cheeseburgers, which didn't come with any toppings but were probably the best out of the bunch taste-wise. The cheese sauce for the cheese fries was very watery. read more

Rare Bird Brewpub - Beet salad - Bars Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Food was excellent, but hostess on entering was not a good start. No smile, not happy to be h there