Sidetrack Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Ypsilanti

The onion rings arrive plated in a classic, practically quintessential, black plastic tray, with plain wax paper beneath. The simple and unassuming style allows the appearance of the rings to shine even brighter, albeit with a nearly overflowing plastic cup of ranch delicately balanced betwixt batter and barrier.

In contrast to many onion rings, they're not served in an overflowing pile. Rather, they are tastefully plated in a delicate layer of cascading circles, bringing to mind a fried and breaded ratatouille, exclusively made from onions, and at a bar for some reason.

The onion rings themselves are very clearly hand battered, with the telltale sign of crumbs, pock marks, and small mountains of hardened batter throughout the rings, though chiefly concentrated on the interior. The coloring is a delightful golden brown, though some of the aforementioned bits are somewhat darker in color.

Despite the hand breading, the batter is generally smooth, and relatively consistent, with a few patchy areas on the bottom, which also covers a surprisingly large pool of grease at the bottom of the basket.

With onion rings, there's often a standout star, whether the batter or the onion, and rarely are they both top billed. The marquee of Sidetrack's onion rings (if it existed) would be shining through the deluge of rain that evening with one, golden brown word: batter.

Though, as mentioned above, it had some issues with excessive grease, that's usually a sign of strong flavor. This was no exception. The taste of the batter was more buttery than greasy, well seasoned with just the right amount of salt, and left a pleasant aftertaste. The onions were decidedly weaker, with a subtle, sweet sensation, possibly because the interior was just slightly undercooked, and unable to release more of the deluge of Alium flavor I so desperately crave.

The accompanying ranch, which certainly tasted house-made, was mouthwatering, and truly excellent. The slight tang, and an even subtler kick of some unidentified spice, meshed beautifully with both the buttery batter and the sweeter onion.

The batter continued its stardom through texture as well, combining a delicate, popcorn like crunch with something that literally melts in your mouth, dissolving almost instantaneously after each bite. The crunch is not too hard, as one might find in burnt or overcooked onion rings, nor is it too abrasive, as you might see with some thicker, breaded rings.

Though not one-to-one, the batter reminds me in many ways of a tempura battered onion ring, particularly through the heavy grease and the pockmarks sprinkled throughout. The grease does bring the texture down somewhat, as the onion rings were almost wet at times, and not with any juices from the onion.

The onion core again fails to stand out from the batter. It was just a little too hard, though not quite raw, making it sort of feel like a thick paper straw in your mouth. On reflection, I think the onions were deliberately undercooked, because otherwise the delicate batter would collapse in on itself like a dying, greasy star.

Due to the undercooked onions, slippage was not present at all. However, its obscure cousin, shedding, made a few appearances, as the batter chipped off the onion rings in bits and flecks on a handful of bites.

$5.75 will get you nine or so homemade, medium-to-large sized onion rings, with a light, flavorful batter, albeit lacking a bit in onion taste. All told, these were of a good quality, and a more than ample quantity for a dinner for one (at least, if you're the kind of person who would just eat onion rings for...

This place has been a landmark here in Ypsilanti’s Depot Town for several decades. They have what is arguably the largest selection of beers on tap in the Detroit metro area. The staff are fun and friendly, the food is delicious (my personal favorite includes their Reuben sandwich and also their grilled macaroni). At the time of writing this review (Feb 2025), the Sidetrack hosts a brunch on the weekend (call ahead for details).

PRO TIP #1: While there is plenty of parking behind the Sidetrack, there is even more across the tracks adjacent to the car museum.

PRO TIP #2: Keep your eyes open for the Amtrak train that periodically speeds through town (there are safety crossing gates/warning bells/etc.) which should be a big hit if you have kids and/or adults in your life who are train enthusiasts).

There is a LOT of history in Depot Town (too much to cover in this review) but there plenty of other things to do while you’re here. Suffice to say that there is shopping, a place for an afternoon stroll through the paved pathways throughout the Frog Island Park, a restored vintage caboose, antique stores, vintage jewelry and clothing stores, and more.

Depot Town is the kind of place you can come back to again and again as you make new memories in this vibrant and ever-changing community. I’ve been revisiting for the past 40+ years and still never get tired of visiting.

Finally, at one time Frog Island Park hosted an annual summertime jazz festival (you may want to check to see if this tradition has...

The food was so so until about 30 minutes later when I got hit with food poisoning feelings. My son also started feeling really dizzy and got a headache. Idk what they did to our food but we won't be back. It was also incredibly loud in there and we went during lunch on a Friday. I get it was social hour for older ppl and they have hearing aids but dang I couldn't hear myself think it was so loud and we were in the corner.

Edit to response:

Thank you for responding. However, when I wrote this review is no where near the day we were at your establishment so you cannot possibly know how many ppl you served on that given day as I waited until Google asked me to contribute which is usually weeks after. Secondly, I am a restaurant manager and therefore I am required to be Food Safety Certified. I have a very fast metabolism. By 30 minutes I knew something wasn't right but I was hoping it would pass. Within 2 hours, it did not and it got progressively worse. My son personally thought there was something wrong with the IBC since it was flat and unusually sweet and that's what he was blaming it on but considering I know the truths about what really goes on in kitchens, I know it can be anything. I came here on a recommendation and the food was definitely not what it was hyped up to be. Maybe for a little ole town like Yspsi it is. Thirdly, this food was the only thing that my son and I had to eat for the entire day so it couldn't have been...