Shelby Oberstaedt grew up on a Monroe County horse farm and “always dreamt of running a country western bar.”
Taxidermied big game and enlarged photos from her grandfather’s rodeo days now hang from the walls of The Ranch Honky Tonk, formerly The Den extension of the connected Grizzly Peak Brewing Company. Every other bar seat is a horse saddle.
A $5 cover charge on Thursday through Saturday nights leads to live music on the main floor and DJs in the lower level (the former Cellar wine bar).
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Oberstaedt, who’s been with Mission Restaurant Group since 2008, is now president and chief operating officer of True North Hospitality Group, formed from Mission’s recent merger with GROW Hospitality to encompass twelve Michigan restaurants they manage.
Miguel de la Torre Ruelas, longtime chef at Grizzly Peak, which shares its kitchen with the Ranch, has built a menu heavy on Southern and Southwestern specialties—green chile bison burgers, carne asada fries, elotes queso, bone-in pork chops, Nashville hot chicken—to complement Grizzly Peak’s continuing brewpub fare.
Drinks range from $6 whiskey and tequila shots to $48 “10 gallon hat bowls” serving two to four. Happy hours (Mondays through Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m.) offer a gracious plenty of drink and appetizer specials.
Oberstaedt says the early reception has been hot, as local options for live music with dinner are limited, and they’ve picked a genre on the upswing. Zach Bryan drew 112,408 to the Big House last September. “I think that was a big start to bringing country music to Ann Arbor,” she says. “And then now this year, you have Morgan Wallen coming and selling out two days in a row [July 24 and 25] with other big artists, and you see this whole atmosphere around country music, and it’s all ages.”
The Ranch Honky Tonk, 122 W. Washington. (734) 741–7325. Mon.–Thurs. 3 p.m.–midnight, Fri. & Sat. 11:30 a.m.–2 a.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.–midnight. theranchhonkytonk.com
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