Sidetrack's Long Run in Depot Town
The East Cross Street bar pairs a documented burger reputation with one of Ypsilanti's best-known building stories.
Sidetrack Bar & Grill operates at 56 East Cross Street, across from the historic depot in Ypsilanti. The bar's own origin story connects its name to a 1929 freight-train derailment that damaged the building. The Ypsilanti Historical Society maintains the broader local archive for Depot Town.
The story is memorable, but the restaurant has never depended on history alone. Its current role is simpler: a long-running neighborhood bar with burgers, sandwiches, beer, and a seasonal patio.
The burger reputation
GQ included Sidetrack's burger in its list of hamburgers to eat before you die. That national mention became part of the restaurant's public identity, but the useful present-day source is Sidetrack's current menu.
The menu keeps burgers at the center of a broader bar-and-grill lineup. Current builds and prices belong to that page, not to a years-old magazine list.
More than one famous item
Sidetrack's menu also covers wings, sandwiches, fish and chips, salads, and other pub standards. Its draft list rotates, with Michigan beer represented alongside familiar national options. This is a full neighborhood bar, not a single-dish counter.
The patio extends that role in warmer weather. Seating and service depend on conditions, so the restaurant's live channels should settle same-day plans.
An anchor without the mythology
Depot Town has added breweries, coffee shops, and restaurants around Sidetrack. The bar's importance is not that it froze the neighborhood in time. It is that Sidetrack remained a working restaurant while the blocks around it changed.
The train story explains the name. The burger list explains the national curiosity. The current menu explains why the business still belongs on East Cross Street.
Sidetrack Bar & Grill is at 56 E Cross St, Ypsilanti. Check the official site for current hours and menus.