North End Taproom, the self-pour bar that put Royal Oak on the map for pay-by-the-ounce drinking, is closing its doors for good on August 30. Co-owners Katheryn and Jon Stoia opened the 40-tap bar at 111 S. Main St. in 2023, and now say the business is no longer sustainable for them.
As reported by The Detroit News, the Stoias made the announcement themselves, closing out a run that began before the taproom even had a legal framework to exist in Michigan. Self-pour taprooms let customers check in, grab a high-tech wristband, and pour their own beer, wine, or cider straight from the tap wall, paying by the ounce rather than waiting on a bartender for every round.
That model wasn't legal in Michigan until Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 656 in July 2022, a law that made Michigan the 46th state to allow self-dispensing alcohol technology, according to CBS News Detroit. Jon Stoia spent nearly two years lobbying in Lansing and testifying before state legislators to help pass that bill, work confirmed by DBusiness Magazine, before North End Taproom opened in August 2023. The Detroit News reports the couple also spoke directly to lawmakers about the legislation that made their business possible.
How the Self-Pour System Actually Worked
Once inside, North End Taproom patrons registered a credit card, received an RFID wristband, and poured their own drinks from the 40-tap wall before dropping the wristband in a box on their way out, according to Metro Detroiter. There was no tipping involved, and the system closed out tabs automatically at the end of the day. State regulation caps every pour at 16 ounces of beer, 12 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of mixed spirit drinks, per the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, and straight liquor was never on the table — self-pour machines are barred from dispensing spirits outright.
Michigan regulation MCL 436.1522(4) also forces the system to shut off after a customer pours 32 ounces total, at which point staff has to check in on the patron before their wristband can be reactivated, up to a 96-ounce ceiling per visit. Those built-in guardrails were part of what made self-pour bars a novelty rather than a free-for-all when the format arrived in Michigan.
Royal Oak's Self-Pour Boom Wasn't Limited to One Bar
North End Taproom wasn't the only self-pour operation to take root in Royal Oak. By summer 2023, the city already had two self-serve taphouses, and the trend spread across metro Detroit from there. Eastern Market Brewing Co. opened its own self-serve concept, Elephant & Co., in a converted 14,000-square-foot former Founders Brewing Co. space in Midtown Detroit on July 13, 2024, pairing 50 taps with Detroit-style pizza, according to Deadline Detroit — though that location has since closed. Other self-pour bars, including Corktown Taphouse in Detroit's Corktown and Social Brews in Detroit, have carried the concept forward elsewhere in the region.
The closure lands amid a rough stretch for metro Detroit's craft beer scene more broadly. Jbird, a self-pour wine bar in Wyandotte, closed after operating for only a short time. Cadillac Straits Brewing Company in Madison Heights, Heights Brewing in downtown Farmington, Brewery Faisan in Detroit, and Stumblebum Brewing in Troy have all closed or are set to close soon. Not every recent story has ended in shutdown, though — Motor City Brewing Works reopened its Cass Corridor taproom after a temporary closure and now pours beer Fridays through Sundays.
A National Slowdown Meets Local Overhead
The pattern in Royal Oak and metro Detroit tracks with what's happening nationally. Craft brewery closures outpaced new openings for two straight years in 2024 and 2025, with 481 closures against just 300 openings in 2025 as total U.S. craft beer production contracted 5.1% to 21.86 million barrels, according to the Brewers Association. Independent operators are contending with inflation, shifting drinking habits, and a more crowded field of competitors than existed when North End Taproom first opened.
Downtown Royal Oak's dining and drinking scene has felt that turnover directly. According to Hoodline, Bandit Tavern & Hideaway closed amid market struggles in July 2024, and The Office Coffee Shop shut down for good this past March, both cases tied to rising operating costs and shifting foot traffic downtown. North End Taproom had also become something of a civic fixture in that same stretch of Main Street, hosting the City of Royal Oak's official Sustainability Manager Meet & Greet in February, according to the Royal Oak Public Library.
Last Call Countdown Through Aug. 30
North End Taproom is winding down its hours as the final day approaches. The bar will run 4-11 p.m. yesterday through tomorrow, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. next Sunday, according to The Detroit News, until it pours its last drink on August 30. For a bar that helped rewrite Michigan's liquor laws just a few years ago, its exit adds another name to a growing list of metro Detroit taprooms unable to outlast the industry's current headwinds.
