The Wine Loft
161 E. Michigan AvenueIt is harder than I thought to find a place to grab drinks after a show that isn’t a crowded bar in Kalamazoo.
We had tickets to see Spamalot at Miller Auditorium on Saturday night. J’s parents offered to watch their kids at their place in St. Joseph County so we had the night to ourselves.
When the show was over, we started looking at places to go for a couple drinks. It was just before 10:00 and to our surprise, a lot of places downtown close at 10:00 or 11:00.
Our first stop was Grand Traverse Distilling downtow, but I read the hours wrong and they actually closed at 10:00. Not wanting to get back in the car, I looked across the street and saw a place we haven’t been in over eight years.
The Wine Loft is right on the curve on Michigan Avenue in downtown Michigan Avenue at Portage Street. The restaurant is on the bottom floor of the Haymarket Building which has been a part of downtown Kalamazoo since the early 20th Century.
The Wine Loft takes up the suite right inside the door. Once through the doors for the building, there’s another set of large wood doors that lead into a dimly, elegant pub space.
A waiter told us we could find a seat wherever. There was one big party right inside the door then a few other couples at the different seating options throughout the space. We picked a table in the front near the windows. There are also a few couches with coffee tables along the walls but the ones nearest us were being used.
There’s also a really great bar near the back of the space near the actual “loft” in The Wine Loft. A lighted front adds a little bit of a glow to the space which is kept pretty dimly lit.
J is much more of a wine drinker than me so I let her grab the wine menu off the table first. She immediately saw something she had to have. A wine flight.
She picked the sweet tooth which consisted of three sweet wines and moscato’s. The three two ounce tastings came in a metal rack with a card that said what each was. She was already trying to decide between two of the options on the Sweet Tooth flight before she noticed the option to get three so this worked out best for her.
I don’t really like wine. I’ll drink it but I don’t know enough to know what I like or how to order. Luckily, the waiter noticed what must have been the panic on my face. He offered up the Signature Cocktail list and started listing off beers they had on tap. He had me with the Northern Trippin IPA from Tapistry Brewing.
The beer was pretty delicious but after he walked away, I looked a little closer at the cocktail list and found something that sounded really good. Once I finished the beer, I decided to order another drink but this time, I did an Anise Sazerac that had Bullit Rye whiskey and a whole star anise seed alongside the usual sazerac ingredients.
We had eaten a big lunch and pretty much skipped dinner so we thought it would be a good idea to order a little something to eat as well.
The menu is pretty simple and focuses on sharing. We picked the Margherita Flatbread. The twelve inch flatbread is topped with San Marzano Tomatoes, Bufala Mozzarella, olive oil, fresh basil, and salt. The crust of the flat bread was nice and crispy all the way through and the tomatoes were super sweet. The flatbread was given a really fresh taste from just a few small basil leaves. We each could have easily eaten one of these by ourselves but we were better off splitting this one and ordering dessert.
For that dessert, we picked the Bouchon. This very simple, yet delectable dessert is a dark chocolate brownie with salted caramel gelato, and some powdered sugar. The dessert isn’t big and at only $3, I wasn’t expecting it to be. There was just enough so each of us could get a couple of bites and they were bites that really made an impact.
We kind of went all out (for us) and our bill came out to a little under $50 before tip.
We have never really been people who go out for drinks but when the opportunity presents itself, we’ve been taking advantage of it lately.
The Wine Loft is a great place for wine drinkers in this town amongst all the breweries. As much as I love all the beer, I know there are a lot of people out there who like to unwind over a good glass of wine. The Wine Loft is a great place to meet up with friends after work or spend a night with a significant other and do just that.
SW Michigan Dining 
Well I went there for the first time & will NEVER GO BACK!! Our waitress was LESS THAN FRIENDLY, we were the first ones there when they opened at 4:00 & we were NOT TREATED VERY WELL AT ALL!! It took 45 minutes for our food & we had an appointment & didn’t even have time to eat!! NOT GOOD!!