related items
The nightlife scene is thriving and Metromix doesn't miss a...
Status: A new local chain has taken root in Novi.
Epic Tavern & Grill is a 12,000-square-foot, multi-room complex that opened this fall in the former location of Novi’s Post Bar. (A Detroit location, with a more modest 2,000 square feet, opened in December. It’s in the former Post Bar location at 408 W. Congress.)
The sports bar and a restaurant also serves as a club, says Bobby Baadani, an owner in the Detroit location and manager in the Novi bar. The 1,000-person Novi venue has a designated dance floor with a border made of cutout figures back lit by multi-colored lights. Pulses of purples, greens and yellows illuminate dancers while elsewhere in the venue, a quiet outdoor patio awaits warmer weather, a game space displays pool tables and a small dining area is filled with padded booths.
Mood: Glass garage doors lead to the patio and there’s a greenhouse ceiling — all of which help bring the outdoors indoors. There’s also a small stage for live performances, something manager Bobby Baadani hopes to add to the schedule soon.
Kyle and Ashley Zielinski of Farmington Hills, both 26, showed up on a recent evening to check out the establishment. Ashley Zielinski found it “a little more upscale from when it was the Post. They still have the DJ, which is nice.”
Most nights, the crowd falls squarely in the 21-35 age group.
Gear: The dress code is sports-bar casual, but as the restaurant morphs into a club later in the evening, you can expect to see some club wear.
"I'm not trying to make it so that everyone is pretentious," Baadani says. "I want everyone to be accepted."
Pick me up: Chicken wings, pizza and burgers are a few of Epic’s staples. One unusual menu item is the Epic Dog, a 1-pound, all-beef hot dog with chili, cheese, tomatoes, bacon, onions and peppers. The oversize meal, which weighs about 3 pounds total, sells for $21.99.
“When I put it on the menu, everyone said I was crazy,” says Baadani, a baseball fan who also created a Tigers dog, a (Cincinnati) Reds dog and a (Kansas City) Royals dog for the menu. They sell for $6.99 to $7.49.
Other food offerings include mushroom risotto ($7.99), pumpkin ravioli and grilled chicken ($11.99) and a Philly cheese steak ($8.49).
There is a full bar, and daily happy hour specials are offered 3-7 p.m.
Entertainment: Sports events are usually found on the 30 flat-screen TVs throughout the bar. A couple of pool tables and a dance floor round out the entertainment. DJs Shortstop, Paul Martindale and Stevie Beats man the dance floor Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, respectively.
