4 /5 Gavin Swick: TL;DR - I dont know if its a place Id recommend to people that have never been there before, but since my wife and I knew what it used to be, we find ourselves still coming back to be slightly let down each time. Closer to a 3.5 than a 4.
HopCat seems to be a shell of what it once was almost 20 years ago. I was in college at GVSU when the first one opened in Grand Rapids and knew a couple original employees at that location. Fast forward almost a decade later and I introduced my now-wife to HopCat and she fell in love with it as well; we visited the AA location several times before work has moved us all over the Midwest. Now, whenever we find ourselves in the area, HopCat is near the top of our "you wanna try and make time for that?" list.
Our food was just a notch above mediocre: the cosmik fries have a substantially different texture than when they went by another name, and dont taste as great because of it. The accompanying cheese sauce also doesnt pack the flavor and texture it used to; the sauce used to be extremely thin, yet still thoroughly coat the fry with just a quick dip.
I ordered the steak frites cooked to medium and I received a true rare; not a big deal for me, but I know plenty of people that would be an absolute no-no for. The Caesar salad was decent, but would have been better if it wasnt swimming in dressing. The brussel sprouts were somehow the best part of the dish: cooked to the correct doneness and the balsamic drizzle was the right amount to add flavor without overpowering it.
Our server did an acceptable job; she was pleasant and checked on us twice, right after our food came out and then several minutes later to offer refills.
