HopCat Gets Mixed Reviews On Its Opening Weekend

ROYAL OAK, MI — HopCat bar and restaurant opened Saturday in downtown Royal Oak to mixed reviews. Yelp reviewers gave it mostly high marks for staffing and decor, but others complained about wait times for service on a crowded opening weekend. Yelp reviewers gave HopCat an overall rating of three-and-a-half stars out of five.

“I am pretty excited that Hopcat opened in Royal Oak, especially replacing Woody's,” wrote Maureen M of Royal Oak on Yelp in a May 21review. She gave HopCat four out of five stars. “They have done a fantastic job of remodeling. The 3rd floor is by far the best of the three floors. They were well staffed, and seemed very prepared for a big crowd.”

HopCat is located at 208 Fifth Street and offers more than 100 craft beers and boast more than 130 taps. HopCat is occupying the former Woody’s and Onyx on Fifth Street establishments. The new three-story restaurant features a rooftop beer garden. It’s HopCat’s sixth Michigan location.

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Rebecca N’s of Rochester gave the bar and restaurant just two out of five stars in her May 24 Yelp review. “My first time was Sunday for lunch with my fiancé and again on Tuesday evening for dinner/drinks with a group of friends,” she wrote. “Sunday they nailed it, we were seated quickly and greeted immediately by our server who was knowledgeable about the beer and menu.”

Rebecca N’s Tuesday experiencewith HopCat didn’t go as well, she wrote. “We had a large party of 12 so we expected a wait. While waiting for our table we checked out the rooftop to have a few beers. Almost an hour in of waiting for our table still no text saying our table was ready, so one of our friends went back to the host stand to get an update and somehow they cancelled our name off the list… It will be a few months before I try this HopCat location again.”

Several reviewers did give HopCat five out of five stars, including Chelsea S of Detroit on May 20. “Huge Hopcat fan so I couldn't be more excited to hear one opening in my part of town,” she wrote. “I was lucky enough to be one of the first 200 people in line today who received a card for free crack fries once a week for a year. The interior of this place was gorgeous and each level had its own theme.”

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