Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery — Restaurant in Ann Arbor

I've been loving Jolly Pumpkin since they first opened, so the only astonishment here is that I'd yet to write a review. As you'll see in my profile, and as has been true of my profile for years now, JP has my favorite meal in the city. The grilled romaine salad with chicken and warm potato croutons. I get melty just thinking about it. Further, friends have told me that I get a little dreamy-eyed, and simultaneously a little car-salesman-y--just talking about it.

Beyond that salad, there are so many things to love about JP. I like the ambiance--populous yet intimate. I like the drinks--tasty sour beers and creative cocktails. And of course I love the food--the burger with cambozola, the snack boards (veggie and meat), the pizza... my goodness.

So why just 4 stars? Two reasons. One, their reservation system (as in, the lack thereof) absolutely sucks. If you want to eat here on a Friday night, for example, you have to go downtime about an hour ahead of when you want to eat and then sit around--at their bar is their intention, I'm sure--with one of those vibrating coaster things that doesn't work if you stroll more than half a block in any direction. Two, while I am consistently wowed by that salad and my fiance is consistently wowed by the south pacific pizza, it's not generally a place I bring people to to wow them (that's more like Seoul Street or Frita Batidos). I'll still bring them here, though, for a more casual meal.

Bonus: Nice outdoor...

It’s not one of our usual places, though on occasion it’s a nice change of pace. We were seated in a quaint table for two and found the menu QR code on the table before the waitress made her way over to point it out. It was dim and cozy, and a bit loud for conversation between the two of us. It was still a great atmosphere and we enjoyed being there. He enjoyed a fried chicken sandwich, and I enjoyed the grilled chicken with apricot and Brie. It was delicious, though I think we were off-putting to our waitress when I asked about ingredients (I have a lot of allergies/restrictions to work around). My husband mentioned that he didn’t think we were her favorites given her body language - maybe it was just a tough night. It may have also been a tough night for the table sitting next to us - given one of their handbags caught fire when it was pushed too close to the candle lit on the table. After pouring little bits of water on it from the water glass, they found it took a giant pour to extinguish it which led to water running across the table and onto a chair. At this point the waitress noticed a spill and brought napkins. We were happy to pay from the table’s QR code when we finished, but we still ended up asking at the bar for a box as our waitress never returned. The food was great, we can’t speak to the drinks, service was a bit off but that happens sometimes, and we learned to be extra cautious when open flames are left...

All I can say is wow. I've only just moved to Michigan 2 months ago and was told by an acquaintance that I needed to try the Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor. I don't think I've ever fallen in love with a restaurant so quickly.

We dined on a Sunday and it was a bit busy but still were seated almost immediately. Not only were we surprised by an interesting seasonal set of offerings but also an extremely attentive wait staff.

We settled rather quickly on splitting the brie chicken apricot sandwich and a truffle pizza and were completely surprised when our waitress split the sandwich for us without even being asked (having overheard our discussion about splitting the pizza and sandwich). We were also offered samples of the beers we were considering without prompting.

The food and drinks were superb, the truffle fries we ordered were well worth the upgrade, having a very subtle flavoring of truffle that wasn't overpowered by the salts for once. I think this is the first time I've gone to a restaurant in this price range and had anything that even resembled the actual flavors of a truffle. The pizza was also amazing, containing one of the best combinations of flavors I've ever tasted and the brie sandwich was gooey but fantastic.

For what's offered the price is phenomenal and reasonable by any standards and the décor is not just interesting but also fun.

If you are in Ann Arbor and you don't stop by you've made a...