Tantrick Brewing Company
243 Hubbard StreetThe pandemic has really changed our habits. Not only the mask wearing, hand washing, cleaning everything habits like it has changed for most people but also our outdoor habits.
We had never went hiking before March of last year. A few weeks into the initial lockdown, I suggested we go to Asylum Lake. We were bored. The kids were bored. We just needed to get out of the house.
That trip to Asylum Lake turned into weekly then almost daily hikes for a while. Our kids went from, “I hate the outdoors” to “Can we go on a hike with friends.”
The novelty of hikes is starting to wear off and getting them out the door without whining is getting harder. Having other activities planned helps so I started scheming.
It’s been really hot the last few weeks so hikes have been really sweaty. What if we cooled off after the hike with a splash pad?
I started looking for hikes around Allegan because they have a splash pad and something for the adults…a social district.
We went to Ely Lake Park first…but could never find the trail. There are maps that say it’s there but it’s very poorly marked and after about 15 minutes of driving around the very rustic campground, we left.
We then went to what shows as trailheads for the Waukazoo Trail….but the parking areas were either roped off or the trail looked really overgrown.
The kids were actually being really good while we looked for a place to hike and finally, we found a trail that looked good at the South Swan Creek Trail Loop.
The loop is almost six miles and we were never going to do that. We did about a mile and a half our then headed back to the car. We had been promising the kids a splash pad and it was time to head in to Allegan.
The Perrigo Splash Pad is located in the Water Street Riverfront Park in Allegan right along the Kalamazoo River in downtown. The thing that really made this attractive for us is it’s within Allegan’s Social District….and right next to the Splash Pad is Tantrick Brewing Company.
Tantrick Brewing Company is actually on Hubbard Street in downtown Allegan across from the County Courthouse. They make really good use of the two story space with the main taproom on the upper level accessible off Hubbard and through a back door with stairs from the Water Street side. The space was Hubbard Street restaurant before Tantrick moved in and the Water Street side was used for ice cream.
We set the kids up at the splash pad first then I ran inside to scope the place out and grab some drinks. The space is pretty large and tables are pretty spread out right now due to COVID. The walls have murals painted right on to the brick wall to brighten up the space. The windows out front open like garage doors to let more air in to the pub during the summer.
I hit up the to-go cooler first to grab some cans for later then hit the bar to take a couple out to the splash pad to drink while we discussed lunch.
I picked the Main Squeeze which is a Session IPA. The drinks are served in plastic cups branded with the Allegan Social District logo and Tantrick’s logo so they can be taken outside. The beer is what it says it is. A crushable Session IPA. I had to slow down drinking it so I’d have some for lunch.
J didn’t go in with me and didn’t even ask for a beer so I just kinda guessed. I know she likes sours so I got here the Beach Bum. This beer is a Kettle Sour Lime Agave Gose. I didn’t take a drink because I’m not in to sours like she is. She said it was good so I’ll take her word for it.
I went back up to the bar to order food but they told me if we were going to sit outside, I’d need to order from the window at the back entrance. I had passed it on my way in but couldn’t tell if anyone was in there. This is the entrance from Water Street that is easily accessible from the parking lot/splash pad/park area.
There’s a buzzer to ring for service and the entire menu, minus the beer, is available from a walk up window just off the parking lot.
The menu is mostly dogs and burgers. In fact, you make the choice of whether you want your meal as a dog or a burger when you order. I got a dog for J, a dog for B, a burger for me, and just fries for L. The cost was about $45 and they gave me one of those buzzers that would go off when my meal was ready. I could take it back to the splash pad area where we had found a table and it would still work.
It took maybe ten minutes or so for the buzzer to go off. I went back to the window and they had everything packed up in to-go boxes with napkins and silverware. We unloaded everything at one of the tables and called the kids over to eat.
I picked the BCB and had it made as a burger. This sandwich is a pretzel bun with a 1/4 lb burger patty. The sandwich was topped with bacon, cheddar cheese, and BBQ sauce. This is a solid burger with everything I like in a burger. The burger was balanced enough so you got a little bit of everything in each bite but it was falling apart or dripping down the front of my shirt. The sandwich came with chips but I upgraded to fries. L ended up eating these instead of the Truffle Fries I ordered her because there was nothing on top of them (we’ll get to that in a minute.)
J ordered a couple of things with the intention of sharing with the rest of us.
She started with the Fried Things & Stuff appetizer. You can order this with either all pickles or all cheese curds….or a 50/50 split. These things are so delicious because instead of breading, they’re fried in a house made batter using Hopademic IPA. They were a little too fancy for the kids but J and I loved them. The pickles are chips as opposed to spears which J liked. I’m not even a huge fan of fried pickles and I really enjoyed them. The appetizer comes with a house made ranch to dip them in but I thought they were better as is.
J’s meal choice the Simple prepared as a dog. The hot dogs are a 1/5 lb Dearborn all beef dog served on a brioche bun. The Simple is…well….simple. It’s topped with house pickles and a garlic Parmesan sauce. She loved the sauce. It’s layered on pretty thick with pickle slices covering the top of the dog. She opted to stick with the chips since she ordered the appetizer. The chips served with the meals are tri color tortillas.
B has also taken a liking to hot dogs so I asked if I could just get him one with ketchup. He got the same dog as J but this once was just topped in their house made ketchup curry-ketchup. B ate about half. He struggled a little with the size of the dog and was thrown off by the slightly spicy ketchup at first but he must have been hungry. He stopped playing in the splash pad and ate more of this dog than I thought he would. We brought the rest home for a later meal.
L wasn’t really digging anything on the menu. She doesn’t like dogs or burgers. They do have chicken fritters (ie. strips) but she only likes her chicken chunks in nugget form so she passed. She likes fries though so I got her an order of Truffle Frites. The shoestring fries are tossed in white truffle oil, salt, pepper and topped with shaved Parmesan, paprika, dill, and the house made Duke’s mayo. She wasn’t really in to all the toppings and we figured that would be the case once we saw them so I saved my fries and we traded. I got the better end of this deal. The truffle frites were really tasty. I could have done without the mayo but there really wasn’t that much on them. I love truffle oil on fries and these fries were crispy, salty, and delicious.
This really was quite a successful day. We hiked three miles, played in the splash pad to cool off, and had a great meal from a local brewery. Tantrick just moved in to this spot along the riverfront recently and it appears to be such a good move for them. I love that we can grab a couple drinks and some absolutely delicious home made, high quality food, and just relax while the kids enjoy the summer.
SW Michigan Dining 