The Filling Station Microbrewery - Traverse City, Michigan

Stephanie P.

Train station reconfigured to be a fun spot for dinner and drinks, very cool vibe. The red geraniums added a cool greenhouse vibe, it’s like you’re sitting outside but it’s heated. It’s self service, walk to the bar and order yourself kind of style. The pizzas were good but not amazing, ok red sauce- very thin which was great and piping hot from the oven at least. The salad was very pretty and colorful, good portion for 2-3 people to share with a pizza or two. I felt it was overdressed and the feta was not crumbly but very creamy- which overall made the salad super rich. Waitstaff and the hosts were super nice! We got seated right away and food came out promptly which was awesome.

Lindsey W.

We were recommended to try this place out while we were up in Traverse City for a wrestling tournament.
This place did not disappoint. I love the atmosphere, the staff were extremely friendly and explained how the whole ordering process takes place. From the time we ordered our pizzas to it getting to our table was exceptionally fast. We will definitely return!

Matt C.

Another one of those do it yourself setups but at least at this place they inform you of it. They were all very polite but let us know we order at the bar then they deliver the food. Bartenders will take care of everything. Being by the train station is cool and the names of the beer and such. We ate outdoors which was nice. The place was packed and even though we ate outside it was still pretty loud. Pizza is good. Sausage is a bit over powering. Mushrooms were good. Cracker crust and was good in flavor. Thin crust pizza. For the beer. Most beers were good. I’d say average. The Bourbon Stout was my favorite but that is my jam. I would go back. My wife had the BBQ chicken pizza and it was good, not great. Chicken was dry. Cheese was ok. Not enough cilantro and you can see it in the picture, not a whole lot of green. They were also shy on the onion. The BBQ sauce had good flavor.

Ed J.

This is an 'order food and drink at the bar' situation although the hostess will seat you.
The pizzas are amazing. I tend to like traditional tomato sauce and cheese pizzas but everything I've tried is something I'd order again. I suggest getting a beer first, then ordering a pizza and not thinking too hard about the pie choice as you're likely to be happy regardless. Even the seasonal St. Patty's Day pie (corn beef, roasted carrots, cabbage and potatoes) was 'smack your momma' delicious.

Davina J.

My husband and I stopped in for lunch while on an Anniversary trip to Traverse City. The atmosphere, food and beer were all great! The pub style ordering is great. Order at the bar and just a short while later the food appears. We will definitely visit again when in the area.

Joe H.

Great spot for families. Plenty of good food and fun for everyone. The pizza is wonderful. My favorite is the Firebox, which is spicy but not overly so. The salads are excellent as well. Beers are well done, especially the lower ABV ones. Definitely worth visiting if you’re in TC.

Brent H.

My wife and I wanted pizza for supper, so based on the reviews, this was our choice.

The restaurant was busy when we arrived, so we had to wait about 20 minutes for a seat. When we received our text that our table was ready, we went to the hostess, who walked us to the far end of the restaurant. I couldn’t believe how much seating this place had because it is so long.

We were seated at a large picnic table with another family. But that wasn’t a problem - the tables are big enough that you felt like you could still carry on a private conversation.

We were given menus and told that this place operates like a pub. We’d figure out what we want and go to the bar to order it. You’d get your drinks right away, and the food would be delivered to your table later.

The bartender asked if I wanted to open a tab, but we just wanted pizza and a couple of soft drinks, so I just paid for everything. We decided to order the Burlington Northern, which had pear, prosciutto, Brie and other toppings.

The pizza came out fairly quickly. It had balsamic vinegar drizzled across the top. I’m not a fan of that, but there wasn’t a lot of it, so I didn’t mind.

If you have soft drinks, you just go back to bar for a refill.

Parking seems like it would generally be plentiful.

While I enjoyed the pizza, I’d probably try some other places in town. And while we were comfortably full afterwards, if you have a hungry party, you might need to plan on more pizza. For example, a party of 4 might easily devour 3 pizzas.

Ash

This was place was an awesome find (suggested to us by someone working at a mission peninsula winery last year- shoutout to Riley) and I’m so glad we made time for it this year.
We ordered a few salads, a few flatbread pizzas plus the s'mores one, some beer flights, a couple glasses of beer after trying the flights, a kids grilled cheese meal and the spinach artichoke dip. Everything was ridiculously good! We were all blown away by the flavor of everything and found the portions and prices fair.
The atmosphere was unique and fun, being seated under a covered roof (old train depot) but outdoors next to tracks and a lively garden across from that. Parking was a little tight but there seemed to be a good amount of spots. It was LGBTQIA+ friendly and dog friendly (with leashes).
We went with a group of four adults, two toddlers and one baby on a Thursday night and did not have to wait. They had high chairs and slings but no booster seats since the seating is benches. There were a lot of staff walking around similar to servers, but they seemed to be around mostly to grab dishes and bring out food, since we had to order both food and drinks from a bar, which is probably our only complaint, just because it made it a bit tricky for us.
If we come back to town, we will likely return here.