Depot Town - Businesses

Businesses

In addition to antique stores, a costume shop, a tattoo parlor, and one of Ypsilanti's two farmers' markets, Depot Town is home to several well-known restaurants. Sidetrack Bar & Grill has occupied the southwest corner of the River Street-Cross Street intersection since 1980, while Aubree's Saloon is in the last building on the north side of Cross Street. The Ypsilanti Food Co-op, established in 1975, moved into the Mill Works Building in the 1980s and in addition to groceries, sells sandwiches, salads, soups, and fresh bread from the bakery next door.

The River Street Bakery, also in the Mill Works Building and now owned by the Co-op, claims to have the only wood-fired brick oven in commercial use in Washtenaw County. Originally called the Depot Town Sourdough Bakery, the bakery was founded by Tom Kinney as an independent cooperative non-profit with a $20,000 loan from the Cooperative Whole Grain Education Association and pledges from prospective customers. To stretch the limited funds, the brick oven was built by hand in 1989. From the beginning, the Ypsilanti Food Co-op retailed the bread.

The Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum is housed in the world's last surviving Hudson Motor Car Company dealership, across the street from the Thompson Block.

The Depot Town Farmers' Market, one of Ypsilanti's two farmers' markets, began near downtown in 1919, moving several times before settling in the freighthouse in the late 1970s. Inside the freighthouse, the market operated year-round, and included a coffee shop and frequent live music. Since the 2004 closure of the freighthouse due to structural concerns, the farmers' market has operated seasonally only, in the courtyard just outside the freighthouse.