HopCat — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

HopCat is a chain the seems to exist more for the perpetuation of its own brand identity than serving food, a fact driven home by its logo emblazoned on the paper resting beneath these onion rings. Given the relative uniformity of appearance, with the exception of several racked onion rings, I’m certain these are the popular, albeit bad, Brew City frozen onion rings.

This is one of the better examples of how to cook frozen ilk, cracked rings aside. The aroma wafts past the metallic tray where the decently-sized side portion sits, and they are noticeably seasoned after the frying. They are certainly a better effort than the same frozen onion rings at other local haunts like Atwater Brewery or 5 Lakes Brew Pub, but that is an extremely low bar.

If I had to guess, I think HopCat followed the cooking instructions on the spec sheet (“Fry frozen product at 350°F for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes”) precisely, a good example of both the precision and lack of heart essential to this enterprise. Of course, that narrative is undercut by the stray French fry sitting at the bottom of the tray.

With frozen onion rings, much of the eating experience boils down to luck of the draw. I imagine most restaurants tip an arbitrary amount out of a plastic bag covered in ice crystals directly into the frier, not caring about size, shape, or distribution. These seem almost curated, like there was at least some amount of effort made in finding similar enough rings to make the fry time work.

Still, there’s only so much selection can do with frozen rings. Even with this relative uniformity and well-sized onion slices, the taste is disappointing, mothing but a vague hint of sweetness. There’s so little flavor in the greasy onion juices that the batter, which is somewhat flavorful, almost entirely steals the show, but it’s more like the tech rehearsal of a community college production of Annie than something you would actually want to pay to see.

This is a rare instance where I think these onion rings are screaming for some kind of dipping sauce, but alas, there is none.

The biggest ding to texture is the cracked onion rings. The fractured halo is a clear sign of haste, lack of care, or both. Most of the onion rings on the tray are intact, and the onion is thick and meaty, moist without being too wet and relatively rigid. Likewise, the batter is smooth and consistent, and there are no signs of slippage, not even in the cracked rings.

I tend to think of chain restaurants, particularly those (like HopCat) that were acquired by private equity firms in 2020, as inherently overpriced, peddling middling frozen swill to make up for corporate overhead and aggressive advertising budgets. HopCat bucks the trend with this side order of onion rings coming in at $3.50, which is a downright reasonable price for the quantity and execution, if not for the weak and underperforming flavor.

These are about the best one could reasonably hope for with frozen onion rings, particularly a variety that is nigh ubiquitous, but they mostly serve to inoculate the stomach to weather...

Their burger is one of the best. The atmosphere is rich in beer.

The Signature Double- $13.25: Simply delicious and executed well. It was a larger burger overall. The two patties were smash like, but a tad thicker. The signature kitty island sauce was similar to a thousand island, but a LOT smoother and delicious. The American cheese was spot on. The toppings were tad on the lighter side, but still great. The bun was fairly standard, but good.

Cosmik Fries (comes with the burger): HopCat is famous for their Cosmik Fries and it is not hard to see why. The seasoning on them is potent and powerfully delicious. They used to be more seasoned (more than five years ago), but they dialed it back slightly from what I remember. They are medium cut standard otherwise with a little bit of batter.

I ordered it with a side of their signature cheese sauce ($1.50). The cheese sauce was a bit more on the sharper side. I did not prefer it, though it does objectively compliment the fries well. You be the judge on that one. I prefer a standard nacho-like cheese myself.

Madtown Grilled Cheese - $14.5: There are TWO halves (the picture seems to only show one). Amazingly delicious! They add apple slices which sound weird, but it totally supported the flavor well. The sourdough, cheese choices, garlic aioli, and honey all fit perfectly. I am not a grill cheese fan, but this one is over the moon good!

Tomato Basil Soup (comes with the grilled cheese): Another amazing component! Thick and full of flavor. The seasoning really compliments the flavor and dipping the grilled cheese into it was perfect. You can certainly eat it by itself and it will work well.

Service: Wonderful waiter. We didn’t wait any longer than I’d expect for a sit down restaurant. He was helpful, well informed, and even talked shop about another great restaurant without prejudice. They are wonderfully healthy with the competition.

Atmosphere: A lot of beer class here. I don’t drink beer often, but the history is thickly infused with modern themes. The atmosphere is darker, but still positive. The booths are super comfortable, fun, conducive for fun conversation, well thought out, and fun. There was music playing, but it was a notch lower than the common volume of other restaurants. There is a ton of beer themed displays.

Conclusion: I’d highly recommend the burger and fries. If you like beer, you’ll love this place. They have it together for sure.

Visited...

ordered delivery …. UbEr got here under 10 minutes guy was waiting for food too cook good delivery Person! i remember it like it was only 1/2 hour ago… it was buy one get one, double stacked , with kitty sauce or somthing perverse listed for toppings …. what could go wrong…. way over saluted fry’s, good seasoning but, it was all you could taste., mushy salty seasoning. under cooked fry’s frozen meat paddy’s!! never good, dryer than a women’s “lady town” after having too shovel her own driveway at five AM too get kids too school on time, just too find out school was canceled! D R Y! best for feeding other people’s kids that u don’t even like at your own child’s B-day party. also goid for sucking up cheep beer from the night before. other wise nasty when sober. . to top it off, if u call that american Cheese! i want too be Canadian! Processed Cheese!!! it’s a 15$ burger!! you can melt the cheese down, turning it back in too a fossil fuel and use it for gas in the tank of your car/truck. look, leave it out side once, not even the Bugs will eat it. Buns are good, pickles (the ones i got, only one of the butchered burger meals came with a side) fresh, crisp tasty, the sauce most delicious! kitty somthing idk

change the kangaroo, soy bean, possum meat too a real cow, also, get another real cow too make the cheese ( ameri-CAN Cheese) and for the love of starch, fry dem fry’s till crisp! maybe offer the seasoning on the side….. ? include utensils, napkins and make sure corporate, Gas lighting clowns, don’t convince their employees that 16 0z is really 20……. $3.45 for 7.3 oz of the world’s greatest, most delicious and in no way bad for anyone, ever! DR. Pepper… she’s a women by the way, tall, legs for days…… getting off point here…… in closing “ the burger was like edging, the whole time…. just too have me spit in it, then flip it over, close my eyes and pretend it was Jessica Beil and take it like i should…..down the hatch…. i was starving back to my real job, Giving the neighbours BIG Deck envy…. ;)

( i’m confused, but It’s going...