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Rare Bird Brewpub

4.3 (779 reviews)
Closed • 12:00 pm - 10:00 PM
Updated 1 month ago

Rare Bird Brewpub Photos

RARE BIRD BREWPUB ATMOSPHERE

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Moderate noise
Hipster
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Recommended Reviews - Rare Bird Brewpub

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Reviews With Photos

Seth D.

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.

Danny W.

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.

Pecorino Garlic Fries (we were hungry and snapped a photo late!)
Jamie G.

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.

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

Menu
Jen P.

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.

Cobb salad
Nikk S.

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.

Madison D.

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.

Andrea P.

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!

Beer menu
Frances B.

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.

Brent M.

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.

Beer and menu

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2 months ago

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4 days ago

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2 months ago

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2 months ago

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1 month ago

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!

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27 days ago

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

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30 days ago

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2 months ago

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!!

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1 year ago

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2 years ago

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7 months ago

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1 year ago

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3 months ago

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

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3 months ago

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

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1 year ago

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3 years ago

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11 months ago

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!

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1 year ago

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1 year ago

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

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11 months ago

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.

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2 years ago

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Ask the Community - Rare Bird Brewpub

Is there any gluten free food or drink?

Hi Helen, Thanks for the question! We have lots of options: all of our beer is gluten reduced, we have wine, cider and cocktails, and we also have some great GF food options… 

Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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The Workshop Brewing Company

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0.5 mi
•$$

Terrific "local joint".., great feel, great vibe! Wednesday night live jazz band that is…read moreincredible! Food was terrific..."smash burgers" and craft beer...what more could you want! And the service is incredible! Ammie is a "Joy" and absolutely the best! Fun, friendly and attentive and helps you navigate thru the beer menu. A sweetheart..., makes you feel like family...and that is what makes an amazing night into a memorable experience!!!

My girlfriend and I recently returned from a vacation to the area, we spent a day in Traverse City…read more I wasn't impressed with the Workshop in the slightest. Although the wildfire smoke likely kept some people away, we came around mid afternoon in what should be the beginning of prime time hours and the place was empty. Not a good sign. I found it a bit odd that we had to order at the bar, considering only 2 other groups were there. There were like 4 employees just chatting away at the bar as well. At this point I know what I like in craft beers and I usually never have an unpleasant experience trying them, but we liked nothing we ordered on the beer flight! We had put in an order for the BBQ flatbread as an appetizer as well, and the chicken was super dry. I can't blame the sauce for being to spicy since I'm sure it's a popular local brand. That one's on us. We decided to have an actual dinner closer to our cabin.

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The Workshop Brewing Company - Inside Workshop Brewing - fun décor - February 2023

Inside Workshop Brewing - fun décor - February 2023

The Workshop Brewing Company - Inside Workshop Brewing - cans to go and Kombucha - February 2023

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The Filling Station Microbrewery - Wolverine, Memphis line and cheese

The Filling Station Microbrewery

4.5(838 reviews)
0.5 mi
•$$

We enjoyed a dinner after arriving in town on a recent Friday evening. It was quite busy, and there…read morewas a decent wait, but we passed the time in the beer garden. It was a mixed crowd, with lots of families and young children. I had the Northwoods Blueberry Açaí mineral water while I waited and it was SO GOOD. Once we were seated and placed our order at the bar, the food came out fairly quickly.We had the hummus appetizer, the Rocket and the Three Rivers. I loved the Rocket - I love any pizza with goat cheese! This was a great spot to kick off our vacation with the fam after a long day of travel!

Super cool brewery located in at an old train depot with a huge patio for seating!! They specialize…read morein flatbread pizzas and beers. When we got there, the hostess warned us that the pizzas were taking up to an hour to make. I appreciate that they warned us before we committed to dining there! We didn't mind the wait. There are no waiters, so you order everything at the bar then they bring your food to you with a table number. I ordered the raspberry beer and it was really good. I typically don't like beer, but I love fruit flavors. As an appetizer, we got the red pepper hummus and it was meh--I didn't really like it. It was thick and had the texture of cold refried beans and instead of pita, it was served with tortilla chips that tasted like Tostitos brand. For my flatbread pizza, I chose the Wolverine which was topped with pineapple, pepperoni, jalapeños. I've never had pineapple on pizza so I can't really be a good judge, but it was alright. I liked how thin the crust was. For dessert, we got the mini ice cream bars as recommended by the woman sitting near us. They're Ice Box Brand Ice Cream Bars by a Michigan-based company. They sell two sizes: regular and mini. I chose a mini toffee crunch and it was the perfect size. It was really good. I'd love to just buy these ice cream bars to have at home!!

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The Filling Station Microbrewery
The Filling Station Microbrewery - Mini toffee crunch ice cream bar

Mini toffee crunch ice cream bar

The Filling Station Microbrewery - Firebox...not too hot and definitely shy of filling and flavor

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Firebox...not too hot and definitely shy of filling and flavor

Stone Hound Brewing

Stone Hound Brewing

4.5(57 reviews)
5.6 mi

The beers are easily 5 star. Beautiful creations and well balanced. Very very tasty…read more The food is 2-3 stars. It took forever to reach us. Possibly the worst attempt at beer cheese in living memory. Avoid this unessersary upcharge unless you lick wallpaper on a regular basis. Parking and access are ok. All the seats are hard.

"Do you need something?"…read more I walked in on a Tuesday, just before the dinner rush. There were a few customers there already, some sitting at the bar, others placing to-go orders, and some scattered tables. In evaluating the relaxed pace of the two young ladies behind the bar and one the floor, this was not their busy time. I sat at the bar, looking at their beer menu on the wall and compared to their online descriptions, trying to decide what I'd like to try. Several minutes passed without acknowledgment from either staff members. No napkin, no "I'll be with you in a sec!" that's typical of any establishment. I am not inexperienced with restaurant operations; this was uncomfortably unusual behavior. As if I wasn't welcome there for some reason. Finally, after enough time had passed to where I was contemplating just leaving, one of them finally looked at me while she was walking by and uttered that phrase. I was so caught off-guard that I stammered while asking for a flight. I picked the four that interested me, she poured them, then left. No engagement, no conversation about the beers, nothing typical of a brewery proud of its product. The attitude reminded me of another metro Detroit brewery's snobbish standoffishness. Like how they're xenophobic about anyone who isn't a regular but how does one become a regular if they don't welcome you in the first place? After other customers came in, sat near me at the bar, were obviously also first-timers, immediately welcomed with menus and told of the dinner specials, that's when I knew. I was not welcome there. And the only reason I can surmise is my appearance. My behavior wasn't it (and I'm familiar enough with reactions to Internet reviews that are atypical to immediately blame the reviewer instead of considering uncomfortable possibilities). I was received brusquely, not offered a food menu, and only got one check-in -- again, unusual behavior for a brewery and I've been to countless ones around the country. It struck me that my last experience with implicit bias was also in the Traverse City region. I hated to admit the possibility but the anecdotal evidence was clear. I imagine that if I'd been a White man in a collared shirt and chinos, my experience may have been different. Obviously, I can't prove it and if there's an owner response to this review, it'll be full of cliches about how this isn't who or what they are, etc. The establishments in downtown are far more welcoming, so it was a relief when my fellow conference attendees mercifully texted me to say where they were going for dinner. I paid my bill with a modicum of a tip and resolved to strike Stone Hound from my list. For the rest of my business trip, I spread my money instead to places that didn't treat me like an unwanted outsider. Plenty of them in TC, including another brewery in town.

Photos
Stone Hound Brewing
Stone Hound Brewing
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Rare Bird Brewpub - bars - Updated October 2026

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