A Michigan chain known for serving gourmet sliders and craft beverages is coming to downtown Ferndale this month.
Sidecar Slider Bar from Sidecar Restaurant Group plans to open its eighth location in the former home of Public House space at 241 W. Nine Mile Road, according to a press release. Sidecar Slider Bar is no stranger to the hospitality scene. Its first location opened in downtown Birmingham, Michigan, in 2016 as a small restaurant and bar that was a “sidecar” to a bigger venue. Since then, it has grown with other locations around Michigan, including Lansing, Plymouth, and Grosse Pointe.
Public House began to wind down operations in early February after over a decade of serving as a neighborhood gathering spot and Metro Detroit brunch destination. Opened in 2013 as a classic American heritage bar, Public House quickly became a neighborhood gathering spot known for its gourmet sliders and craft cocktails until its initial closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The location was re-opened in 2021 under Ferndale-based Hometown Restaurant Group, which added a second kitchen, a four-season garden room, a flower wall, and a focus on vegan fare. Now, the restaurant group has decided to close this location.
“This was a very difficult decision, and a heartbreaking decision,” Hometown Restaurant Group CEO Brian Kramer said in a press release. “The restaurant business is very difficult right now. In my 30-plus years in the restaurant business, I’ve never experienced a tougher economy than what we are experiencing today. Add to this the high food costs, high labor costs, intense competition, the need for constant quality control, tight profit margins and endless hours of work — we just agreed the time was right to close the restaurant, take a step back, focus on our other restaurant operations and give someone else a chance to re-concept the location.”
To give regular customers a chance to say goodbye and enjoy Public House one last time, the restaurant was open for limited hours for the next two weeks, including weekend brunch service. Sidecar Slider Bar is known for its gourmet sliders, shareable salads, gourmet dogs, and more. Kramer said the new concept will fit well with the current mix of offerings in the city’s core.
“We have started the process to get city and state approvals, but the game plan on February 15, 2025, is that we will hand the keys over to Sidecar Slider bar,” Kramer said. “Sidecar is locally owned and operated and will be a great addition to our Ferndale community.”
While an exact opening date has yet to be announced, Sidecar Slider Bar will take over operations at the location, remodeling and opening very quickly in mid-February. Its menu includes beef sliders, such as the Drive Thru, with American cheese, lettuce, pickles, and special sauce. Those wanting something more should order The Rojo, which has bacon, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle aioli, or the 9-1-1, a spicy option with pepper jack cheese, habanero poppers, and habanero aioli. Other unique sliders include ones with bourbon BBQ, peanut butter and jelly, and a fried egg.
Outside of beef, the menu features pulled pork, chicken, fish, and vegetarian sliders. Sidecar Slider Bar also has hot dogs, salads, soups, smoked wings, chicken tenders, shrimp, and various sides. Its beverage menu includes craft beers, both local and regional, wines, cocktails, and spirits, including rare bourbons.
