Business

Crave Poutine? New Ann Arbor Spot Will Include a Bar with an Amusingly Canadian Name

April 25, 2017, 5:06 PM by  Alan Stamm

Who doesn't crave fries with gravy and cheese curds, right? And thanks to our almost-in-Canada location, poutine -- a Quebec tradition -- is a Detroit thing if you know where to snack.

Now Ann Arbor gets a taste of a Canadian franchise called Smoke's Poutinerie, coming to South University Avenue this spring. It'll be Michigan's first location and the fifth on this side of the border.


The signature item at Smoke's Poutinerie.

The nine-year-old chain, based near Toronto, offers an array of poutine add-ons that include beef, hot dogs, chicken, cheeseteak, chili and jalapenos. Hangover Poutine has scrambled eggs, bacon and maple syrup. (The menu is here.)

As if all that isn't Canadian enough, catch the name of a bar with 40 beer taps that'll be in Ann Arbor's restaurant: The Beaver Trap, as Jessica Haynes writes at MLive. (Careful, guys -- snickering makes you seem 14.)

The owners -- Detroit native Toine Murphy and Joel Northam of Canton -- "are looking to expand the franchise to Detroit and Lansing in the next year," adds the Ann Arbor reporter. She also reports:

Plans for Smoke's Poutinerie include patio space for 70 people and a walk-up window where people can order poutine from the street. The restaurant will stay open until 3 a.m. on the weekends to catch the resulting bar crowd 

 

Smoke's also is in Windsor, Sarnia and 74 other Canada cities. It moved south in 2014 with a spot in Berkeley, Calif., followed by sites in Los Angeles, Tampa and Glendale, Ariz. A Philadelphia outpost is in the works, the company announced last month.

Here in Detroit, poutine or a close-enough Americanized version is served at Brooklyn Street Local, Green Dot Stables, Mercury Burger, Firebird Tavern and Rock City Eatery in Hamtramck. Ferndale choices include One-Eyed Betty's and Local Kitchen and Bar, and Joe's Hamburgers in Wyandotte.

Back in 2014, Comerica Park had poutine ballpark franks.

And in Ann Arbor, reader Andrea Webber notes on our Facebook page: "Zingermans Roadhouse has been serving poutine for years."



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