I've seen this building go through several gyrations through the years. It has been a club, a sports bar, and now a bar and grill. The official grand opening has not yet happened so I know my review is still happening when the kinks are being worked out. Overall my feeling on this new place is positive.
First of all the menu has a lot to offer. There are NY style pizzas, burgers, and finger food like you might expect from a bar and grill. In addition they have some great steak offerings and some great looking sandwiches and other dishes. The entr'ees come out promptly and have a touch of fancy dressing to them that tell me some care was put into creating my meal. This little touch differentiates Sips from other big name franchise restaurants that have mostly all the same food.
Next is the layout of the first floor. It might change on weekends when Sips may be more of a club atmosphere after 9 pm (I can't comment on this yet) but one thing that seems to be "wrong" is the orientation of the tables to the many, many TV's this bar and grill has. The tables face one way and the TV's face another. Therefore if you want to watch TV you are not facing any of the people at your table. Easy enough to fix. Again, this is pre-grand opening times at the time of this review.
The rest of the first floor offers a nice open floor plan layout. It feels spacious yet segregated. The four pool tables are off in their own area, yet you can catch an ongoing game from your seat in the eating area. The dance floor blends in with the tables in the eating area. I wonder how this will work on weekends. The game room area is the most separated area of the building, off by the rest rooms in a corner. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the area is small. Pinball game would be cool.
I hope to have a further review later after the Grand Opening this weekend. So far the new Sips looks good, I give it a thumbs up.
Pros: Great service, plenty of parking, easy to get to from I-696 & Orchard Lake, friendly staff, something for everyone
Cons: Menu might be overpriced slightly but pay the premium for the speed of service
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