HopCat — Restaurant in Kalamazoo

The hostess and waitstaff were excellent! We went during happy hour for $5 off burgers. The atmosphere was beautiful! Weathered wood with iron fixtures and colorful paintings made it comfortable and interesting. The menus were a little sticky, however.

We got a Euchre Pils, Barnyard Burger, and Paddy Melt. We also upcharged cheese sauce for the crack fries (the cheese sauce comes with a side order of fries but is not included with burgers), and a side of macaroni and cheese.

The Pils was cold and it paired really well with the Paddy Melt. The Melt was delicious! The burger was topped with corned beef, cheese, mushrooms, and carmelized onion. The fries were great -seasoned nicely with salt and cracked pepper. The "nuggz" were literally 2-3 chunks of pickle spear. I preferred eating them this way -however, maybe at least 6 chunks (a whole spear) would be nice. My husband only got two pieces of pickle which just seemed silly.

I ordered the barnyard solely based on the weird combination of ingredients. A burger with fried egg salad, bacon, and cheese curds on Texas Toast? I just had to order! It actually worked really well together and was delicious! Both burgers were cooked perfectly to request (medium-well).

What I would not repeat: I would not order the cheese sauce for the fries. It was $1 for less than a shot glass-full and it didn't add much flavor.

I would not order a side of Mac and cheese again. The portion was VERY small for $3. It was good, but not worth the money for less than 3/4 cup of food.

Value? Well, the menu was pretty pricey. The Paddy Melt was good -but $14 for a burger is steep when other burgers around this glorious college town are priced $6-9. The appetizers were around $10 each. Looking at similar pubs around town, the prices are almost double here. Unless you go to Happy Hour!

Barnyard Burger: $12 Happy Hour cost: $7

Paddy Melt Burger: $14 Happy Hour Cost: $9

Cheese for dipping: $1 Teeny Mac and Cheese: $3

Overall experience: Great if you go for Happy Hour, too expensive otherwise. Good, solid food. Questionable portions for the price.

Helpful Hints: Drive on M-43 (West Main) into downtown Kzoo. It turns into Walbridge and you'll make a "left-hand-turn" into the parking lot (right after Food Dance). There is another entrance if you are heading west from Gull Rd on Water Street (also turn left into the...

I want to preface this by saying this is my 3rd or 4th time I’ve had this exact meal from this location. I placed an online order yesterday for two meals one for me and the other for my partner. He picked it up, brought it back to my apartment. I ate my salad but not the entre as I had already had pasta 30-45 mins prior. So my meal sat in the fridge overnight. I wake up this morning hungry and heat up the meal as I got to eat it I realized that my chicken was black and after tasting it, I realized that it was burnt. The burnt flavor was all that I tasted. I call the location and was put in contact with the manager I explained the situation to her that my mashed potato’s were fine but that the chicken was burnt and I was wondering if they could remake the chicken. She stated yes and asked when I would be able to get there and I said 11:30am. I reach the restaurant around 11:22am, go in and let the associates know that I had spoken to their manager. She comes out greats me takes my food to toss out I’m assuming and lets me know they’re finishing up my “new” meal. She brings it out hands it to me and it feels lighter than my last meal that I had just returned so when I get in the car it prompts me to look at it/ taste it and the images are what I was served. I go back in and now I’m frustrated because I’m not understanding why it was thought that I would eat the meal with the mashed potato’s that look like someone regurgitated them up. I say at This point I want a refund and she informs me that because it’s the next day it may not be possible but that she can talk to the cook manager in the back. I say let me know what you can work out. I was frustrated but I wasn’t yelling at all. She comes back and tells me that they reheated them up or whatever but that no matter what that is just how the batch of mashed potato’s that were made today looks. I told her I’m not eating that. And questioned if I could be given a gift card for the amount of the meal but the food no longer looked appetizing. She said she will give my name and number to the general manager and I should be given a call so that’s where I’m left...

I have been a HopCat fan for several years, but my experience tonight has ruined that. My boyfriend and I stopped in for dinner and drinks tonight, and our experience was just awful. We were happy to see it was not very busy when we arrived, and figured we'd be seated/served fairly quickly. We ended up waiting almost 10 minutes before even being seated. Upon being seated, we waited another 10+ minutes before a server acknowledged our table. I actually went up to the bar to ask if there was a server for our section. Our beers came out fairly timely, but that's where it ended. Our server, Ana, was busy doing anything but taking care of patrons. We ordered some fries (not the loaded ones)for an appetizer, and waited over 20 minutes just for them to arrive lukewarm and overcooked. Over 20 minutes for fries is insane! We put in orders for our entrees ( a burger w/onion rings and some tacos)and waited another 30 minutes or so before finally managing to get Ana's attention to ask her if we can just get the order boxed to-go. At this point our plans for a fun dinner out have been completely ruined. Upon finally receiving our food, I open the bag to check the orders. My boyfriend's medium burger was so over cooked, that the outside was black and crispy. He asked for onion rings instead of fries, and still received the fries. We let Ana know, and she said she forgot about them and would go grab them. Well, they were way over cooked as well. He tried eating them, but they were just too overcooked. My tacos were average. I asked for the burger to be taken off of the bill because it was burnt to the point of being inedible. We didn't want to try to have the food remade, as we didn't have time for anymore disappointments. After all of the inconvenience, all Ana had to say was, "Thank you for your patience." Wow!! The complete disregard and total lack of awareness was astounding. Ana's horrible service and the extremely overcooked food have ensured we will not be returning. Such a huge...