The Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery, Ann Arbor

The Blue Tractor Menu.  I bet the guy who came up with the 'tractor that looks like blue utensils' thinks he's pretty sharp.

I went to the Blue Tractor is one of a few breweries around Ann Arbor.  My previous brewery experiences having been pretty good, so I had high hopes for the Blue Tractor.

The walls were made of large wooden beams.  They were pretty much untreated, they were just cut to be square.  It added an almost rustic feel to a place that otherwise wouldn't have any.

 A shot of the Blue Tractor Interior.  It was really dark, and I worried that the flash would bother people (the woman on the far left looks like she was bothered anyway).

The Blue Tractor's interior decorations featured some rusted tractor parts.  There were also some artsy black and white photos of tractors on the walls.  This level of tractor dedication was a bit surprising, but I suppose if there was any restaurant in which I expected to see ex-tractors, it was a tractor themed one.  Interestingly, the tractor parts came in all the primary colors except blue.

It was kind of dark, though not so dark that it impaired the experience.  It was also a lot quieter than I would expect for a bar, though I suppose I was eating dinner really early.  Given all of the lumber and tractors, I thought that the chairs and tables were conspicuously modern, as though they could only take the themes so far.

The Burger was, frankly, overcooked.  It was dry, and it lost some flavor in the overcooking.  The bun was just a straight, white, slightly toasted bun.  The burger was better after I put some ketchup on it, but not a lot.  As far as I could tell, it wasn't seasoned at all.

The waitress actually asked how I wanted my burger, and I said medium, which is why I was so bothered when it was overdone.  Additionally, she specifically asked me if I wanted sweet potato fries, and I clearly said 'no,' which is why I was so bothered when I got sweet potato fries, instead of fries made from regular potatoes. 

The sweet potato fries weren't bad, most of the time.  There was some nice flavor, and the sweet potato was pretty smooth.  They had an unpleasant aftertaste, though, sort of an oily taste.  They also had some weird seasoning that hits you all at once.  It tasted sort of like a mouthful of bad parsley, which is something I don't want at burger time (or, I suppose, ever).  The quality of the fry was inversely proportional to how much surface are they had, which is why it sort of sucks that they were ruffle cut for extra surface area. 

My friend Claire, who joined me for dinner, made me promise to note that they had Coke products, not Pepsi, and now I have.  

Frankly, between the bad service and ungood food, I don't think I'll be back to the Blue Tractor.  I saw someone else who ordered the barbecue, and it didn't look too bad.  If I ever find myself there again, I guess I could try the ribs.  But I'm going to endeavor not to find myself in that situation.

The Blue Tractor BBQ and Brewery.

Vinnie's Stock Pot, Bay City

I spent a significant portion of this past spring living in Bay City, Michigan.  While I was there, I spent a great deal of time at Vinnie's Stock Pot, a place where everyone knows your name.  Maybe not your name, but they certainly knew my name by the time I left.

The Stock Pot's Interior.

Of the many diners I've been in, the Stock Pot was the second most diner-y.  Besides the tables, chairs, benches and coat rack, many of decorations were very reminiscent of the 50's and 60's, or some other decade that can be accurately called ancient history.

This picture was taken in a mirror.  Read the sign backwards, and it says "Route 66," which you may have learned about in a 90's jeans commercial.

The Stock Pot delivered a good, hot burger.  There was no extraneous tastes to it, just straight, grilled beef.  It's a hefty burger to eat at lunch (as I was doing), but it definitely keeps you full all afternoon.  The meat retains the heat from the grill well, for lunch which was probably a nice warm-up in winter, but which is a bit much for early summer.  This didn't stop me from eating it, it just meant I was quite hot at the end.

The bun was toasted, but still soft.  It was moist enough to not crumble, but not so moist that it took away from the burger experience (a wet burger can be unpleasant).

The fries, like the burger, were delivered hot from the kitchen.  They were simple square cut fries, with a lot of surface area, but  also a lot of potato at the center.  The surface was fairly well done, and there generally was not much to the fries besides simple fry taste.

I also have to mention the price: a half pound burger was just under $4, and the fries were not much on top of that.  A very reasonable price for a meal that doesn't leave you hungry later.

I honestly can't say enough nice things about the Stock Pot's wait staff.  The burger wasn't exactly special, but it was cheap, and it was filling.  I don't know how often I'll be back in Bay City, but I know that I'll stop by Vinnie's every time.

Vinnie's Stock Pot