Chop Detroit (Ann Arbor)
2121 Oak Valley DriveI don’t normally blog about concession stands at ice rinks outside of the main blog. I chose to do something different when I wrote my most recent blog post about the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube – Ann Arbor. I only mentioned it in passing opting instead for a full blog post.
Why would I do that?
Well, the concession stand at this particular rink isn’t a typical concession stand.
Chop Detroit is inside the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube – Ann Arbor on Oak Valley Drive just to the south of Scio Church Road in Pittsfield Charter Township. The stand is on the main floor between Stadium and Olympic Rinks. It takes up the space that was just a few years ago more of a traditional sports arena concession stand.
There are actually four locations for Chop Detroit and all four are in ice arenas. Brighton, Hazel Park, and Mt. Clemens are the other locations. The concept was born out of a family spending all their time at hockey rinks and wanting a healthier option than what is typically offered.
The Ann Arbor, Hazel Park, and Mt. Clemens location all have pretty much the same menu. Chopped sandwiches, chopped salads, and pizza. The Brighton location is a little different because they have a bar there so there’s some more traditional pub food in addition to the sandwiches and pizzas. The menu is on a TV monitor behind the counter. Most of the traditional concession food are not there. There’s no candy or no fountain drinks. They do have soft pretzels, popcorn, and canned Coke products.
Chop Detroit offers online ordering but there was no sense in doing that since I was literally sitting ten feet from the order counter.
I hadn’t eaten yet on Friday because we ended up at the Briarwood Mall for about four hours while waiting for the rink to get power back. There’s not really a food court there anymore. There are some restaurants but the one the rest of the group chose was Chipotle and I just wasn’t feeling that.
After L’s first skate, I headed to counter to put in my order for a sandwich. There were a couple that looked interesting to me but there was a sign for a special that I couldn’t pass up.
I put in a order for the Spicy Chirp. The cost was a little over $14 and it has to be paid with a card. Chop Detroit is cashless. The person taking the order asked for my name but when orders were coming up, someone else would just yell what kind of sandwich he had so not sure why they took the name. It took about ten minutes for my sandwich to come up.
The Spicy Chirp is thinly sliced chicken (deli meat), cheddar cheese, fried jalapenos, and lettuce that is chopped together with ranch and Frank’s Red Hot sauce. The sandwich comes on am Amoroso Roll. The deli meat was a little bit of a surprise at first. I was expecting chopped chicken breast but once I realized what it was, I realized there was actually quite a bit of meat. Really, there was quite a bit off food stuffed in to that bun. The jalapenos really added the crunch that the lettuce kind of lose due to the Ranch and hot sauce. Speaking of that hot sauce, there is enough on the sandwich to really give the same that spicy kick I was looking for but it’s not overpowering. I know it’s weird to say but I’m not a huge ranch guy. The ranch didn’t bother me too much on this sandwich but it would have been so much better with bleu cheese dressing….of course I’m just saying that because I prefer bleu cheese over ranch. I have to imagine most people would disagree with me on that.
At some point over the weekend, J and L both got smoothies. This is the part of Chop Detroit that they really love. We almost always do Tropical Smoothie Café at competitions…and we did that for dinner later this night as well, but having the smoothie option on site is really nice.
They are three options for smoothies. The Barnburner is made with a “fusion of fresh berries,” strawberries, and orange juice.
The other mainstay on the menu is The Gongshow. This one is bananas, chocolate and peanut butter.
There were several pizzas that came out amongst our group and the reviews were kind of mixed. I was handed a slice at one point and found it pretty tasty. The chief complaint among those that didn’t like it was that it was not cooked long enough. I could see that. I didn’t have a problem with the slice I had and would definitely have eaten a few more slices had I been the one to order it but it could have used five more minutes in the oven to get a little bit firmer. Unfortunately, I didn’t grab a picture.
Chop Detroit is so much better than the typical concession stand. I love that you can get a tasty sandwich and a pizza without having to leave the rink. L likes to call me “Dad Dash” on these competition weekends because I feel like I’m always on the go when they kids aren’t skating getting food or supplies. Chop Detroit provides a restaurant quality option right on site.
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