Depot Town’s new home for music, madness and mustaches.

by Adrienne Ziegler

Andy, photo by Miss Shela

A new hotspot opened up on Cross Street in December, bringing with it a fresh crowd set to revitalize DepotTown’s late-night entertainment scene.

Woodruff’s, a bar and music venue, debuted Dec. 1 in the building previously home to Celebrations Banquets and Catering, and, before that, Cady’s Grill & Bar.

Woodruff’s is full of warm touches, featuring high ceilings, an inviting fireplace and a large stage in the back corner to accommodate Ypsilanti’s blooming music scene. The space is owned by Bill and Sandee French, also the owners of the Aubree’s Pizzeria restaurant chain, and leased to Hasan Mihyar.

The winding road to Woodruff’s began with manager Andy Garris at the Elbow Room. For three and a half years, he grew the following at the tiny dive bar, and nurtured that following with a unique bartending style that often included outrageous stunts peppered with a few strip teases and an occasional dangling from the rafters.

In June, Garris left the Elbow Room amid some light controversy to manage Savoy, a new 700-person music venue, formerly the home of Club Divine on Washington Avenue.

“We had an awesome canvas, you know, a blank canvas that was like, ‘Wow. Let’s go do something that everyone said can’t be done,’” Garris said of Savoy.

But his time at Savoy was short-lived. When DTE first shut off the lights to the venue during the last week of October, it became clear that Garris needed a new gig, one where he could be sure there would be stability – and electricity – on a daily basis.

“I’m not rich. I have to work. If I’m not pouring drinks, I have no money coming in,” Garris said.

As friends and business partners, Garris and Mihyar started laying the groundwork for Woodruff’s in Depot Town, and they set the opening for January. They named the venue for the village Woodruff’s Grove, which predated Ypsilanti on the banks of the Huron River.  And then DTE shut off the power at Savoy again. This time, it didn’t come back on.

“When the power went out again the day before Thanksgiving, it was very obvious that things were changing,” Garris said.

Local news outlets reported that DTE had shut off the electricity due to an outstanding $30,000 energy bill for Savoy and Pub 13, which owner Dave Curtis said was due to a faulty meter that hadn’t charged the businesses enough over several years.

With Woodruff’s already in the works, Garris left Savoy, and he and Mihyar moved up the opening day to Dec. 1, less than a week later.

Help poured in from friends willing to build the website, a social media following, and a stage.

“Hasan signed on Monday, we built the stage on Tuesday, and opened on Wednesday,” Garris said.

Since the opening, the bar has run full throttle leading up to the four-day New Year’s event, Mittenfest V, a 60-act music festival that generates money for 826 Michigan, a non-profit literacy and reading organization.

In just the first month, Woodruff’s hosted bands like Graham Parsons and the Go Rounds, Gun Lake, Ben Daniels Band, Laith Al Saadi, Jehovah’s Witness Protection Program, Swimsuit and more, with several special events like the DIYpsi Handmade Holiday Fair.

“Savoy was great, and I would have loved to grow into that space, but it was hard to make Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday feel like home to people,” Garris said. “Depot Town, I feel, has needed a music venue for a long time. It’s too great of an area not to capitalize on everything.”

Garris said he’s looking forward to having all kinds of music at the venue in the future, including a Sunday jazz night, an open mic every Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. hosted by local folk artist Dave Boutette, karaoke Thursdays, and Laith Al Saadi playing every Monday night.

“I can listen to any kind of music as long as everybody is digging it,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a genre that we won’t touch.”

Garris also plans to open a food window in the venue, where revelers and concert goers can grab a unique late-night snack.

But what’s evident in speaking to Garris is how proud he is to have created something that feels like a home for so many people – that brings people to Depot Town and helps to grow the ambiance of community budding on Cross Street.

“It’s still surreal to me – looking out the windows at Cross Street,” he said. “It’s just home again.”