A popular Scio Township bar/restaurant changed hands in June, marking the local return of Arbor Brewing Company.
Dave Fichera and Steve Kleinschmidt opened the Session Room in 2016 in a former machine shop. They’ve now sold the business and are leasing the 7,000-square-foot brick building to ABC’s parent company Farm + Ferment, according to co-owner Mike Collins.
Related: The Session Room Opens
The group’s holdings include the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, the Plymouth Taproom, and four Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina Italian restaurants. They’ve been looking to open another Arbor Brewing Company here since the 2020 closure of the original E. Washington St. location.
Adding about eighteen of the company’s beers to the lengthy tap list will be the biggest change at the rechristened Arbor Brewing Company Session Room, Collins reports, and nearly all of Fichera and Kleinschmidt’s fifty employees chose to stay. Down the road, they may set up a brewing system there and extend operations to six or seven days a week.
With a similar menu to their other brewpubs, a family-friendly feel, an outdoor beer garden, and established neighborhood clientele, Collins says the fit is “really, really ideal, and we really like being on the west side of Ann Arbor.”
Arbor Brewing Company Session Room, 3685 Jackson Rd. (734) 585–7300. Tues.–Sat. 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Closed Sun. & Mon.
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