Stray Hen Cafe

My absolute favorite brunch place in Ann Arbor. We went around 12:30pm on a Monday and it was jam packed. There was a snaked line to wait in before ordering at the counter but the wait did not feel terribly long. Make sure to grab a menu before getting in line so you can place your order when it's your turn. The cashier will hand you a table marker and point you to where your table is. If you order any drinks, you'll have to wait by the bar to hear the barista call out your order. I ordered a french hot coco. It was on the dark, bitter, watery side. Not what I expected and I did not enjoy it. What I do thoroughly enjoy is the fruit parfait with agave instead of honey. The berries in this bowl are comically large and fresh. The agave is the perfect sweetness needed on top of the plain yogurt. The granola is a perfect blend of crunch, taste and texture. Not hard where it's awkward to chew like other granola. The croissant sandwich made with ooey fried egg, turkey bacon, and gouda cheese was good though small but it was $7. I think what would make it better is more bacon and cheese because I could only taste the egg and the spice flavor in the ancho mayo. Note: no designated parking given it's downtown and meters are sparse in the vicinity. The parking meter app is: epark Ann Arbor, $1.40/hr. It doesn't take Discover.

I've now been to stray hen 2 times and can say it's amazing! The line does get pretty long if you go at rush hour (10am-1pm) but it's never too bad. I've had the salmon toast, cinnamon roll pancakes, latte, and tried the eggs. Everything is great.The pancakes are so so good, some of the best of had, but you should share. The salmon toast is also great but plated in kind of an annoying way, I have to rearrange it. The seating is good as well and the service but it's not so formal if you're looking for that. The coffee and matcha is also solid. Would definitely recommend and will continue to go back.

After hearing a lot of praise for Stray Hen, I stopped through with a group of four for Sunday Brunch this fall -- let me tell you, Stray Hen is quite an experience! The ambiance of the restaurant really meets the desires of the clientele -- clean, chic, and very Instagrammable. That said, if you come during a peak time, expect a solid wait (30 min or more). Stray Hen has adopted the approach of some brunch restaurants in bigger cities like Nashville, structuring the line such that you order up front and the food is brought to you, optimizing the throughput after ordering and leaving the bottleneck at the point of ordering. There are definitely pros and cons to this, but the upside is that there are usually tables open by the time you order! The food and drinks similarly meet the needs of the Instagrammer; very nice to look and you'll get a great story post from the food/ drinks. That said.... I was a little underwhelmed with the taste overall. The savory dishes were a little bland, and the sweet dishes were *crazy* sweet. Overall, you'll probably get a similar tasting but less visually appealing meal at your local Coney Island. Is it worth a visit? Sure -- especially if you're looking to check it out once and keep exploring for other brunch spots after that.

The Stray Hen is the perfect brunch cafe! They serve both breakfast and lunch items all day. Everything I have tried here has been delicious. They have you stand in line and order first before being seated, so if it's a busy time you could be standing in line for 45 minutes but it's so worth it. They serve Roo's Roast coffee which I love but they make the lattes a bit sweet for my liking so I would get it 1/2 sweet next time. Also, we subbed the normal sausage/bacon on our sandwiches for chicken sausage and they did up-charge us for it. Despite that I love the natural light ambiance here and would return at a less busy time! (We went Sunday morning lol)

First time to Stray Hen. High marks for food presentation and taste. The waffle flight is a delightful ensemble of four small waffles each creatively adorned with fruit and toppings. Dusted with powdered sugar, it's a decadent burst of flavors. My husband selected the north side scramble, which was good. He is less effusive in his praise but enjoyed his meal. Once your group gets seated it's a bright, spacious and inviting interior. Not too loud. On a Sunday morning arriving around 9:45, we had to wait roughly 35-40 minutes to work through the queue to place our order and find a seat. I think I understand the reasoning behind this system - it does work out that seats are available once you've placed your order - but I do miss getting to comfortably sit and enjoy coffee while waiting for food. Still, I am intrigued by Stray Hen and saw other things I'd like to try in their menu. Next time I'm in Ann Arbor, I'd visit again.

Not sure what this place is going for but it's confusing, and the food does not make up for it.Service wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. You walk up to the counter to order and seat yourself. They handed us utensils after we ordered, but only one set of them? They also never told us that we needed to grab the drinks that we ordered ourselves, and that it wouldn't be brought out to the table (we ordered coffee). If we never went up to look for water, our drinks just never would have came. The coffee we ordered wasn't bad, if anything I would ONLY come here for the coffee. We had the white mocha chocolate and the pumpkin spice. (Had great flavor and wasn't too sweet)The food though? Hard pass. Everything that was supposed to be seasoned felt under seasoned, and everything that wasn't supposed to be seasoned, was??? For starters, both things we ordered just felt like ingredients cooked and thrown on the plate with no preparation (just lacked any flavor whatsoever). But the fruit that came with the egg plate was salted? Not sure how that works. Hard to recommend this place when the best thing we had was the toast and coffee.

Be ready to wait as this cute, popular student/parent cafe is BUSY (at least on a Saturday morning). Let me just say, the wait is totally worth it! I had the Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake pancakes and I'm still thinking about them. Yum! The staff was as exceptional as the food and the prices are very reasonable. 5 STARS! Going back soon!

Ambiance: Pretty spacious and there is a long line so be prepared to stand and ponder on what you want to get! Service: It is pretty good! They give good recs. Food $$: I got the salmon bowl and they have good portions! Experience: I enjoyed it! It is a good mom daughter brunch or catching up with friends! Audience:Solo Trip [X]Family Friendly [ ]Friends [X]Date Spot [ ]Recommendations/tips:You should do doing non lunch hours if you don't like to wait.

Awesome breakfast! I would change and add a few things. I ordered the avocado toast and substituted tofu "eggs" for their regular eggs. It was delicious, but I would like to have seen more avocado on there and a little chunkier. Also, maybe some real sourdough bread. My husband had pancakes and I wish they offered a vegan option for pancakes We were also with our five grandkids and it would have been great if they offered a kids menu! Other than this all the food was delicious and we will be back!

Food is pretty good but overpriced. Small waffles with fruit is $15 and not very filling. However the breakfast bowl is pretty good and would recommend! Breakfast burrito and tacos are good for a snack and will not fill you up. Food is assembled aesthetically and nice lighting in the restaurant!