The Ada Pour House Gastropub

Contrary to most people, I detest the idea of mixing connoisseur beer with food. When I want to drink top drawer beer, I don’t want to contaminate my palette with food, astringent grapefruit juice or cayenne pepper. So much for the gastropub concept. Therefore, I didn’t try the food today, only the beer. I thought the beer choices on tap were excellent and I like the location, ambience and parking. They had a few great beers on tap, such as New Holland Dragon’s Milk, Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA and Founder’s Backwoods Bastard. That’s pretty impressive, folks. If you don’t know what those beers are, you’re likely a craft beer novice and strictly a gastro person.
Next time, I’ll try the food, but unless they only serve sautéed raccoons’ buttocks, my rating stays at a «4» due to the great beer choices and atmosphere. Of course, I only visit places at senior citizen hours because I don’t like crowds, but at 3pm, it’s a great time to visit. However, I was likely the only patron at that hour not wearing a colostomy bag or lacking a Viagra prescription but that’s fine.

The food was above average and the service was great. Great option for good food and drinks in the area.

A coworker tipped me off to this place when we went for lunch. There was only one other table seated and a single person at the bar, not very promising being lunch time and all. A friendly server came up and proceeded to tell me the numerous list of things they were out of, not promising again. I quickly Unilocal the place and 2.5 stars… yikes. Having said that it was all uphill from there thankfully. The taplist was impressive and the create your own burger, which I got, was very tasty (but out of a few of the toppings). The french fries were scrumptious as well. I didn’t get the bad service others on here got. I’d have given it another star if they actually had a few of the items I wanted.

Well I liked them so much I went back and glad I was not. Ordered the drunken mussels with wine this time no favor and the wings which had no sauce hardly and were pretty tasteless. Then Wife ordered the 3 cheese Mac and Cheese and loved it daughter the grilled Cheese again loved it. I got the Fried Chicken which made us all wait about half and hour and came very rare I mean the meat was pink. I sent it back and waited about 15 more minutes it came overcooked and tasteless. The highlight of the meal for me was the Michigan Margarita which was great. Sorry guys I won’t be back anytime soon.

I wanted to like this restaurant more — great location in Ada and interesting menu .Held off reviewing as I understand growing pains and sometimes it takes a while to get the glitches out of a new place. This is our 3^rd visit and while the food is fine, the overall service needs improvement. Basically the kitchen and the wait staff team were not on the same page and our meals came out in different stages for our party of 4, Early weeknight this last time but have also had erratic service at lunch..

Date night!
I was very curious to try out The Ada Pour House. All most all reviews I have read have been very polarized. People either love it or well don’t.
We arrived Saturday around 6:10 and got seated immediately. The outside patio looked tempting but it was already chilly outside so we opted for a high-​top in the «bar» area so my husband could catch the last part of his football game. After a few minutes I was shivering anyway. The restaurant was cold! If I had wanted to shiver we could have just sat outside. Part of me gets it, as its that time of year where you start in a sweatshirt and end in shorts but when I looked around I saw several people sitting hands in sleeves and rubbing arms so I know I wasn’t alone in being cold. APH time to turn down the air!
They have an impressive bottled beer list and several on tap as well. If you are a craft beer lover chances are they are going to have something that will appeal to you. We asked or server what he likes «Corona». OK then, nothing wrong with that but it sounded funny when you are surrounded with literally 60 craft beers.
For dinner I ordered the fried chicken dinner and my husband got the beef brisket sandwich.
My dinner was delicious. The collard greens were spicy and perfectly cooked and the buttermilk mashed potatoes were to die for. I wish there had been one more piece of chicken. For $ 14 I got a leg and a tiny thigh, which were delicious but left me wanting more.
My husbands sandwich was more disappointing. The brisket was very tough and chewy. It was impossible to bite through the sandwich without either having to chew on the brisket a few times to get through or pull it out in your teeth. He ended up taking it off the sandwich and eating it separately with a knife and fork. Sorry if the brisket is so tough you need a knife to cut through it, it doesn’t belong on a sandwich.
When I was about 2/​3rds through my dinner our server asked if we wanted another drink. I ordered The Cinnamon Doughnut off their cocktail menu.
Now I had been lusting after this drink after I saw it on EatGR and really it fueled my desire to check this place out. Picture a copper mug with iced coffee, Baileys, Cinnamon whiskey and garnished with a fat, homemade cinnamon and sugar doughnut hole soaking up all the goodness.
Here’s where my dream fell apart.
Upon ordering, our server frowned a little and said «OK, just so you know the drink doesn’t take long but the doughnut can»
Since I wasn’t even finished with my dinner or first drink, and since I had ordered it as more of a dessert I said no problem.
About 8 minutes later I see the bartender make my drink and set it in the pick up area. About 4 minutes after that our server brings it to me and says «well heres the drink part I checked and the doughnut isn’t ready» Umm ok (Its fried dough seriously?)
The problem now was I had a drink with a lot of ice that was melting and watering down all the goodness. I took a few sips, and waited
and waited
and.waited.
Kid you not it took nearly another 15 minutes for him to bring me the doughnut hole. It came so late that not only had I pretty much finished my drink but we had even got the bill (of which he had taken $ 2 off due to the incompleteness of my drink order)
Sigh. Look if you’re going to have a drink called the Cinnamon Doughnut, I think a pretty important aspect is to actually have the doughnut. I don’t know what the issue was but they either need to get it off the menu or put a disclaimer that says *will take 45 minutes to prepare and for heavens-​sake don’t make the drink part (which only takes seconds) until its ready.
My sheer irritation at this and the tough brisket is why this is a 3 vs a 4 star.
I heard several times that they are going to be revamping the menu soon and we’ll be back to check it out, hopefully with a better outcome.

This is my second time here. The first was during the very early days. This experience was much better overall. The waitstaff was wonderful, fast and polite. The restaurant was clean and had a nice warm environment. In ordered the steak frites med. rare and that is just how it arrived. Our only blip was that it did not arrive with a steak knife but a quick inquiry solved that. The prices are still a dollar or two high on most everything but the experience this time raised my opinion quite a bit. I will be back.

Food pricey in comparison to quality. Slow service and décor left me feeling unwelcomed

Normally I wouldn’t bother to write a review and I don’t like reviews that just talk about the service – I don’t care. I want to know how good the food is!!! So, I am making an exception. First, the service is excellent and the bar tender was so excited to share his enthusiasm for craft beers. He gave us free tastings just because we ordered one his favorite beers from Deschutes Brewery. Second, their fries may be the best in town. The rest, I’m not sure. I enjoyed my time there ;-)

What I’ve noticed here is a lack of consistency. I still like to come here, but the food quality varies randomly. (They also took the «Pretzel Crusted Chicken Sandwich» off the menu, which was really a great sandwich, and replaced it with a Caprese-​like thing on naan bread.)
I’ve gone here a few times and had a wonderful meal with outstanding service. Other times, the service has been very friendly, but very slow. The food quality has also varied from excellent to just «ok».
The last time our family went, the burgers were back to being overcooked, the other sandwiches were just so-​so and the service was very slow due to another large party dividing her attention. Bummer! I was really liking this place…

My husband and I went to the Pour House for dinner this evening. We hadn’t gone yet because we were scared off by bad reviews. I wish we had gone earlier. Their menu is very interesting. Imagine a southern-​inspired gastro pub. We had the smoked trout dip appetizer; the dip was delicious but it would have been better with plainer crackers. I had the grilled Caesar salad and pan-​fried Brussels sprouts. My husband had the brisket plate. Both of us were very pleased with our entrees. The drink selection was interesting also. I had the michigan margarita — a tart alternative to the overly sweet margaritas that are typical. All in all, we enjoyed our meal and the atmosphere. The fact that this is relatively close to our home is an added bonus. We will be returning soon. The appetizer menu alone looks like it would make for a varied and delicious meal!

The atmosphere at Ada Pour House is a bit lacking. It’s somewhere in between pub and bistro, but I think it wants to be more upscale. The food was pretty decent. My friend and I shared the wings for an appetizer after encouragement from our server. They are not chicken wings… they’re turkey wings. So, a lot bigger… and not as flavorful. They were tough and almost dry, with only a little bit of meat on them. It was more entertaining as a novelty than anything. I had the pretzel crusted chicken sandwich, which I really enjoyed. It had a cheese sauce on it that was amazing. We then split the chocolate chip cookie, again at the recommendation of our server. It was just okay. It was weirdly oaty, and had the consistency of a brownie, but with oatmeal? It was strange. I probably would not make the trip again.

Everytime I read a good review on this place I think that the reviewers must be reviewing a different restaurant. For reals. I’ve gone to the Pour House three times and have been less than impressed each time. The food is over-​priced and frankly it’s just NOT good.
First time I went I tried the calamari. It tasted like they rolled it around in some corn meal and fried it with no seasoning. First of all, you don’t use corn meal on calamari; that’s just disgusting. We also had the Thai pork belly sliders. If you’re going to make sliders put enough meat on them to cover the bun. Seriously. It’s a tiny bun, put some darn meat on it! We also tried their tots (which were complimentary from the owner who is a really nice guy! It almost pains me to leave a poor review… he was really nice!) They were bland and kind of mushy in the middle. Granted we went on opening day; I chalked it up to first day problems.
The second time I went in was just for drinks but I decided to try the mac & cheese balls while I was there. The mac & cheese was bland. Kraft mac & cheese would have been an improvement. Seriously. The third time was again for drinks, but my friend was hungry so we tried the Not Poutine, which was surprisingly decent.
If you’re going to charge high prices your food better be fantastic. You can’t just charge a lot of money because you’re in Ada. The drinks are also over-​priced. Don’t get me started on that one.

Brisket? More like shitsket. I realize brisket has a fat cap but this was mostly fat and gristly, and served cold.
Beer was good, as was service. Might give it one more chance… on someone else’s dime.

Disregard the pretentious haters. This place was sorely needed in Ada. Great food, great atmosphere! Have always had good service too. I recommend the 30 oz ribeye. My 13 year old daughter and I were supposed to share it. That tiny girl ate almost all of it herself!

Just got done with my third dinner at Ada Pour House and could not have been happier. We have gone with different groups of friends every time and everyone has enjoyed the food and experience every time.
I noticed the reviews on here all have been from when they were first starting up and wonder if it has anything to do with the negative feedback. The first time that we went was in the first week that they were open and things seemed a little hectic since then every visit has been wonderful.
Tonight we had the beef tar-​tar and calamari appetizer and both were done perfectly. The tartare was one of the best I have ever had and I order it at every restaurant I go to that serves it. They do homemade fried capers that really made the dish.
The fried macaroni bites and tater tots were just okay from the appetizer menu. I have nothing to complain about with them they’re just did not seem to be anything special.
Twice I have gotten their hamburgers and both times they were worth the $ 15. They use 60% brisket and 40% ground Chuck beef that is locally sourced from Byron Center farms and is worth the extra couple dollars.
Another nice thing about the menu is the fact that they serve a 30 ounce ribeye steak that is fantastic. They also allow you to choose the size of cut for beef tenderloin that you would like making it easy to do any châteaubriand if you want a large dinner.
Overall, this was a great dining experience and a place I would recommend anyone looking for a informal fantastic dinner.

Saw a sign on the highway for a new non-​chain restaurant in town so had to give it a try. The place looks great, but only had two large tables to accommodate larger parties.
Open kitchen concept showed well, but saw food under lamps for too long. Maybe this place is still working out some kinks, but the service was on the slow side, especially for a business lunch.
Props for trying to do the locally sourced trend for the burgers. Unfortunately their breakfast burger with chorizo lacked flavor. For an app, tried the homemade tater tots — giant balls that were somewhat crispy on the outside and soggy in the middle. The accompanying curry catsup was bland. Whitefish dip was just ok.
The actual bar area was also on the small side. Looked to be around 16 local taps with the regular hard liquors available.
They had a $ 60 steak on their menu that caught my attention as it priced higher than some of our downtown steakhouses. Price versus flavor, I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

We went to Pour House after the recommendations of some good friends. The service was great, and our mouths were watering as soon as we saw the menu.
To start we each ordered a drink. I ordered a gin n tonic and my wife told the bar tender the types of drinks she liked and he made an awesome Caribbean cocktail which he proceeded to light on fire. It was a great show and the drinks were great too (and cheap).
We then went on to appetizers. I ordered the steak tartar ($ 15) and the bacon and cheddar stuffed tater tots ($ 8). Both were amazing in flavor and especially presentation. The tots were some of the best I’ve ever had and were served with an amazing curry ketchup.
For dinner I had the breakfast burger which I have to say was in my top 2 ever burgers. The chorizo and egg on the burger really made it perfect. Sweet potato Fries for a slight up charge were good too.
Wife had the avocado bacon burger which was also good.
The waiter was extremely friendly and our food came out in good time.
Seriously one of the better restaurant we have been too. We were super psyched that we now have a gastropub type restaurant outside of east town.

Overall cool at atmosphere. The food was good, I had a mushroom and Swiss burger for $ 15. Honestly, the prices are too high for what they serve. I was excited to have a great pub close by to enjoy more often but the food is too expensive for what it is. There aren’t any appetizers that I recall less than $ 10. I would suggest adding in some less expensive appetizers and lowering some menu prices. Not sure I will be back.

I was very excited for The Ada Pour House to open and support a new local business in town. Unfortunately, I was fairly unimpressed. While I give kudos to the atmosphere and large selection of beers, the overall experience just didn’t do it for me. I ordered the Stout Rib Sandwich for $ 12 — the presentation was basic and the fries were cold. The menu consisted of some interesting dishes, but almost everything just seemed overpriced… even down the drinks. Being the new restaurant on the block, it just seemed very overpriced relative to the other restaurants and quality of food at those places. I understand this is a new establishment and sometimes you just have to work out the kinks. Here are some recommendations — I may consider coming back in the future…
1. Add a few lower priced appetizers — I didn’t order one because most were the same price as my main course
2. Lower menu prices or add additional lower priced items to the entrees (selling 100 $ 10 burgers is better than selling 50 $ 15 burgers)