Ashley’s, located on State Street near North University in Ann Arbor, is a surprisingly good Irish pub with surprisingly good food. The surprising part is that although it is “Irish,” its selection of imported beers, ranging from high-quality Belgium beers to Irish to local Michigan microbreweries, is astonishingly vast and cheap. They have a book of beers (with extensive lists of wines, liquors and mixed drinks in the back) that has beer descriptions, a taste guide and even flights. It is a fun place to go, which is likely why it is packed to max most evenings and nights. I even enjoyed having dinner at Ashley’s sometimes – it was a little pubby of course, but they manage to sneak quite a few interesting (and even healthy) dishes on their menu. Nothing spectacular like the beers, but definitely worth eating at if you’re trying to decide.

Read this and other reviews as well as my own recipes at www.autofoodography.com

As a bar, the beer selection is unmatched by few places. As the shirts say, “Life is too short to drink cheap beer.” As a restaurant it leaves a little to be desired. The food is okay, the atmosphere is okay but the service STINKS!

The only thing I ask from my server is that they keep my glass full or at least come by and check on it. In about an hour of sitting there and eating, our server disappeared for everything except to bring out our food. Overall, it was okay, but nothing to write home about.