Travelers Club International Restaurant & Tuba Museum

Travelers Club International Restaurant & Tuba MuseumTravelers Club International Restaurant & Tuba Museum
Travelers Club International Restaurant & Tuba MuseumTravelers Club International Restaurant & Tuba Museum
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

2138 Hamilton
Okemos, Michigan, 48864
United States

// CLOSED //
BEER STATS
Average:
0
Beers:
0
Ratings:
0
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.97
Reviews:
8
Ratings:
8
pDev:
7.3%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by CortexBomb:
Photo of CortexBomb
Reviewed by CortexBomb from Michigan

3.38/5  rDev -14.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Weird place to review if only because I think of it as a place to get food first and as a place to have a beer second. The Tuba Museum is a slightly upscale diner with a tonne of international food options on the menu. You can get anything from a standard American burger (covered in chili even) to continental foods and wraps. I have really enjoyed the food that I have eaten there and I think it is top notch in its niche in that regard.

The place has a handful of beers on tap, including locals like Founders' Dirty Bastard and Dragonmead's Final Absolution. They also have a metric tonne of bottles up for sale at bar style inflated prices unless you buy them to go, in which case they revert to standard beer store price. I rate selection based on taps though (as I almost never buy bottles in bars, why spend the extra money for something I could get for a few bucks less at the local brew store and enjoy at home?), and in that regard, they're nothing special.

Service here, it's hard to rate. I have had exceptional service by very friendly wait staff, but I've more often had anemically slow service by similarly friendly staff. If you're not in a hurry it won't be a big deal, but I would term it unpredictable. The slow service is something of an on-going joke among my group of beer-loving friends who have visited the place with me.

Prices, well, not bad but not great. The beers on tap run about 5$ per American pint but the food is a bit higher than one might expect, but I do think the quality makes up for it.

The bottom line is that this isn't the kind of place that I would regularly haunt because of the service and food prices, but I do like it and stop by occasionally when I'm in Lansing.
Feb 19, 2007
More User Ratings:
Photo of shillaij
Reviewed by shillaij from Michigan

3.93/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3
I like the hole in the wall unique atmosphere of the Tuba Museum. The food is all right. Some of the specials are pretty good. The bottled beer selection makes this place worth every trip! Today I enjoyed a Hitachino's Nest White Ale, a very difficult to find Japanese Craft beer (at least difficult to find in MI). My preference is lots of MI craft beers on tap (or whatever locality I am in). But I really like the European and some Asian beers they offer here in bottles. Good selection. It allows me to try different beers that are hard to find. Some small label wines that are good as well. A cool little place to get a meal or hang out and have a drink!
Aug 23, 2011
Photo of BehindtheFinBrew
Reviewed by BehindtheFinBrew from Iowa

3.95/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
The Travelers Club is a classic place-down-the-street style restaurant. The beer selection is fantastic with the menu segregated between countries. There were 6-8 taps of mostly Michigan brewed beers and a house-brewed pale ale. However, upon ordering the house pale ale, about half way through I was told this was a different commercial brew and not the a house-brew. Despite the misleading taps and ordering the second beer (Dragonmead Final Absolution) made the trip worthwhile. Food is diverse and made with care. Overall I would recommend The Travelers Club as a good place to warm up with a local brew and good food. Prost!
Dec 15, 2009
Photo of sloppymoose
Reviewed by sloppymoose from Michigan

4.3/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5
they have an excellent selection of michigan beers and belgians, as well as other beers from around the world. 8 beers on tap from michigan, bring a growler to fill or buy one there, reasonable prices. 3.50 pints on tap, bottles priced individually, with a mark down if you want to just buy the bottle there as if it was a beer store. have not tried one of their beers on tap yet. the food is outstanding. they have a wide selection of anything you could ever want with attention to quality food. plenty of vegan options as well as meat. buffalo meat is pushed there as well. very cool atmosphere with tubas all over the place and old pictures of men with big beards with tubas. all in all, an excellent place and a must stop if in the okemos area.
Jun 16, 2008
Photo of nicholasb
Reviewed by nicholasb from Michigan

4.2/5  rDev +5.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
My girl is from Okemos and she worked at this place in high school--she's the one who recommended it. I'm glad she did because I doubt I'd ever have thought to go there otherwise. It's pretty nondescript from the outside and the interior has the ambience of a nice basic cafe with some bohemian nuances. It was a little past dinner by the time we showed up, but the place was very dead. There were booths and tables, and it was a laid back sort of atmosphere. I can't say I remember any particular type of music playing.

My girl claimed Tuba Charlie's had a good beer menu, and she was right. Nothing notable on tap, but a great beer list. There were a good number of Belgians. I started with a Karmeliet. She had an Urthel and an Aventinus. The servers were friendly, but I'm sure I was happier to be there than they were. When our server disappeared, another brought me a Kwak beside a frosted mug. Ouch.

The veggie stir fry with black bean sauce was outstanding and it came at a very reasonable price. The place features dishes from different regions of the world on a monthly schedule.

This will probably be my spot whenever we visit the East Lansing/Okemos area. I've tried out Dusty's Tap Room a few times, and they have a fair selection, but while the staff there is friendly, they're also a little condescending and neither their beer selection nor their knowledge of it gives them any reason to be.
Mar 30, 2007
Photo of plaztikjezuz
Reviewed by plaztikjezuz from Michigan

3.88/5  rDev -2.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
tuba charlie's is know really as the international club in the area is very good resturant and beer bar. the selection of beer is very good and covers a wide selection of styles (mainly bottles) the tap selection is some of michigans best and sometimes there is a batch of the tuba charlie's stuff. the system will has for brewing would make most homebrewers jeolous (25 gal 3 kettle rack system) but for a brew pub and the frequency of the brewing it does not work.

the food from the international club is from all around the world (as is the staff) and is as close to traditional as you are going to get at a corner diner in mid-michigan. but the food is good and you do get "feed" some dishes are expencive but you can eat for $7+tip. they have a monthly country (like india or germany) where all the special food is from that country and they are paired with beer and wine and come in courses.

the deceration are the pub is very interesting the walls are covered with old tubas and other brass insturments.

you can get beer to-go and they has scaldus (bush) 12 and many other fine belgians. tuesday night is $1 off belgian beer night. and they have board game you can play. and a very small patio in the summer.
Jan 10, 2006
Photo of nortmand
Reviewed by nortmand from Illinois

4.38/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Nice place, though no in house brewed beer when I was there. They have a nice selection of six rotating Michigan micros, with an available sampler. They also have a wide selection (80?) of bottles from, mostly European. Pretty good for a hole in the wall.
The food is great with a wide selection from many different worldwide regions. Anything I've had there is great, plus their cobbler is an awesome dessert item.
If you're in the Lansing area and want some great beer, great food and great company, this is a good choice.
Jun 07, 2004
Photo of yen157
Reviewed by yen157 from New Jersey

4.06/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
From the signs outside I thought the name of this place was "Travelers Club International Restaurant
& Tuba Museum", but the website says both so "Tuba Charlie's" it is!

Very unique atmosphere with tons of tuba's and other horns on the walls. Small, cruddy looking place, but that's the charm. Nice beer and wine list (huge for central MI!) featuring a few local brews available as a Michigan sampler. They only have one of their own beers available at a time, and unfortunately I didn't get a chance to try it ("Baritone Brown" at the time)
Dec 02, 2002
Travelers Club International Restaurant & Tuba Museum in Okemos, MI
Place rating: 0 out of 5 with 8 ratings