HopCat

"With 130 brews on tap, HopCat always leaves room for a few ciders. Find Blake's Hard Cider, Magpie, and a Vander Mill cyser (a blend of mead and cider), among the offerings." - Eater Staff

"A private equity firm has scooped beer bar chain Hopcat out of bankruptcy. Under the entity Project BarFly LLC, Congruent Investment Partners and Main Street Capital bought the restaurant chain and its sibling establishments Stella’s and Grand Rapids Brewing Company for $17.5 million." - Brenna Houck

"This Grand Rapids-based beer bar chain is an essential stop for beer geeks in search of sheer variety and seasoned french fries. The Detroit location boasts 130 taps as well as bottles and cans. The menu is sorted by style and dominated by Michigan beers with some craft beer favorites such as Oregon’s Rogue thrown in." - Eater Staff

"Terrible puns aside, the Vladimir Poutine takes HopCat’s beer-battered Cosmik fries to the next level. The plate is topped with cheddar curds, caramelized onions, hickory smoked bacon, and potato-cheese pierogi, then smothered in gravy, and completed with freaking pierogi for a bombastic flavor explosion." - Mickey Lyons, Eater Staff

"Michigan-based gastropub chain HopCat has finally rolled out a new name for its signature fries after management finally realized in December after 11 years of business that the original 'Crack Fries' title was offensive. Meet the new old french fries: Cosmik Fries. Beginning today, after a little more than a month of scrubbing away the past moniker, operator BarFly Ventures unveiled the Cosmik Fries on menus across its 17 locations, according to the Detroit Free Press. The new moniker is a reference to a song called 'Cosmik Debris' by Frank Zappa — an avante garde musician who famously abstained from drugs. Apparently the song spoke to HopCat's founder, who is a fan of Zappa's music. HopCat's online menus have been updated with a new Cosmik Fries section. The recipe itself is identical to the original with beer-battered fries topped with cracked black pepper seasoning. The company is also in the process of updating its signage and other materials that made reference to the old name. For years, the fries played an integral role in HopCat's identity. The company used them heavily in marketing and drew lines of people to its openings with the promise of free baskets beer-battered french fries." - Brenna Houck