Spencer is a neighborhood wine shop and restaurant in Ann Arbor, focusing on the best ingredients and meticulous food preparation. It offers an intimate and cozy fine dining experience, often featuring a fixed, seasonal menu with specific wine pairings. Reservations are highly sought after and essential due to limited seating.
Customer Perception
Customers consistently praise Spencer for its exceptional 5-star dining experience, delicious and creatively presented food, and remarkable service. The wine selection is highly regarded, with staff noted for their knowledge. While considered pricey, many feel it's worth it for special occasions, offering a sophisticated atmosphere reminiscent of larger cities. Reservations are critical and fill up quickly. Some reviews mention communal seating.
Spencer operates as both a restaurant and a wine shop, allowing patrons to enjoy their meal with expertly paired wines or purchase bottles to take home. It is located at 113 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
Vegetarian options available (dedicated vegetarian menu offered)
Best Times to Visit
Reservations are necessary and fill up extremely quickly, often requiring booking as soon as they open at the beginning of the month. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday, making these days ideal for a visit, especially for dinner.
5
We went to Spencer’s to find some great wines to bring home and they did not disappoint! I found their staff extremely knowledgeable and their selection broad but not overwhelming. We will definitely be returning the next time we are in Ann Arbor and hopefully for dinner too! Their menu looks incredible.
Lovely evening outside being served with a fixed menu. I do agree that this is a 5-star experience, however, beware that it is super pricey and you may not make any adjustments. So, know what you are getting into ahead of time. Reservations are necessary and fill up extremely quickly, as there are not very many tables. Most of the dishes were delicious. We had the vegetarian menu designed for the month. The gnocchi and dessert were top notch. The hard beets, meh, but everyone has different tastes. It was quite enjoyable and the service was great.
I usually don’t leave 5stars. Most excellent places are 4, but this place is exceptional. Went there about 1.5 months ago during labors day weekend with my boyfriend and his mom. Was so excited to try for a long time and it did not disappoint me! The presentation is fantastic, the talk they give for you is nice. The food, is of course so good. If you do $75 dinner option the portion is pretty huge, but it could depend on the time and menu, I guess? This is probably the only fine dining restaurant I can recommend to anyone who’d like to have a full experience and amazing dishes for special occasions. - and don’t forget grab some wines their selections are quite interesting even I don’t know much about wines could see how unique each wine is. Excited to visit them again for fall/winter menu!!
Wow, one of the best and most intimate dining experiences we have had in Ann Arbor. We went and had their December menu and everything was divine. I love how they give you specific wine pairings to go with the menu, anywhere from reds all the way to sparkling. I can’t stop dreaming about the pistachio dark chocolate cake we had. By far the best thing I have ever tasted. We enjoyed the cozy vibe. Be prepared for communal seating and sitting at a table most likely right next to other people. But everyone was super nice and we even had opportunities to chat with those next to us which made the whole experience a fun communal setting, yet super intimate at the same time. Service was remarkable. We are planning to make this a monthly thing to go and try the menu every month. It felt truly like we were in NYC or Chicago, not A2 ( in the best way)!
Superb! The food was creative and incredible - we especially loved the butternut squash ravioli with kimchi and the sausage with white beans. The menu was prefix and $75 a person, with immaculate service and generous portions. Perfect vibe to celebrate my anniversary with my partner.
Note it's hard to get a reservation - you need to book as soon as reservations opened at the beginning of the month. October dining is indoors, which was a cozy vibe.
