Celebration on Tap

Mobile bars still on the rise in northern Michigan

A novel idea just a few years ago, mobile bars have taken off in northern Michigan with more popping up and different experiences available from each of them. A mobile bar is exactly what it sounds like: they bring the bar experience to you on wheels. These outfits will arrive at your birthday party, wedding, rehearsal dinner…any celebration!

In 2023, we covered three of these Up North businesses—Tonic & Lime, Wandering Spirits, and Roaming NoMi—and now we have three more to introduce. Whether you’re looking for a unique bar experience or hoping to create a completely customized occasion pop, these companies have you covered.

Urban Sips

Based in Cadillac, Urban Sips offers fun, creative bar experiences, with or without the booze. Robin Coombs had seen an idea on social media from a mobile bar in California. After years of research, Coombs started working to retrofit a vintage camper.

“It got to the point where we realized we just didn’t have enough knowledge to put it together and we needed to buy one that was already done and use that as our model,” Coombs says. So two Octobers ago, Coombs drove to Kentucky and bought a mobile bar from a mother-daughter team, updating it with a more modern feel. Thus, Urban Sips began its roaming journey.

Urban Sips’ most popular booking option is a wedding with a full bar. Current trends Coombs is seeing are having a signature drink—especially one named after a cat or dog. At a recent wedding Urban Sips did in Petoskey, both signature drinks (a gin paloma with a salted rim and an old fashioned with Michigan cherries) were named for beloved pets.

Weddings are, of course, a staple, but Coombs has also committed to exploring other pop-up options for the business, like doing a “bougie lemonade stand” at festivals. Beyond alcohol, lemonade in particular has been a hit, and Coombs tries to encourage clients to have a “hydration station” with infused water options for guests.

Urban Sips is also available for corporate events and holiday parties. “Anything that requires a cake I can come to—any kind of celebration,” says Coombs.

With mobile bar businesses on the rise, Coombs wants to be sure that she stands out from the crowd. Urban Sips did three festivals this past summer, handing out tons of business cards that led to bookings for open houses for graduates across northern Michigan in 2025. Coombs will also be popping up with Urban Sips at two winter festivals (like the first annual Cadillac Holiday Market), with coffee and hot cocoa options; she’s currently recipe-testing the coffee options every morning at home.

By the time Coombs shows up with the bar, she’s often been chatting with the party host for a year, and by the day of the event, they’re like old friends. “It’s been so busy; I’m so fortunate,” Coombs shares. “I wish I would have done this sooner instead of being so scared to try something.”

Learn more by heading to Facebook and searching “Urban Sips Mobile Bar LLC.”

Bubbles & Brews

For Bubbles & Brews owner Lesley Endres, starting her own business was the antidote to burnout she’d been experiencing from years as a real estate agent. “I was looking for something different and thought of something like a bar business,” she says. “You see a lot of horse trailers and other kinds of trailers, and I wanted something different.”

What Endres chose was a Piaggio Ape—cute, vintage, and small enough that it would fit through any ADA door, ensuring that the business could operate at both indoor and outdoor venues, extending its season. Bubbles & Brews is part of a larger national brand, giving Endres a community of other mobile bar owners to learn from.

Like other mobile bar businesses, Bubbles & Brews is a dry rental. Because of Michigan state laws, Endres can’t sell alcohol, but anything the host purchases, she can make available. “Whatever you want on tap, I can put on tap. We can do mixed drinks, we can decant wine, we can do mocktails.” (And signature cocktails, too!)

The bar is appropriately nicknamed Stella. “She’s Italian, so she had to have a cute Italian name,” says Endres. Stella has display panels that can be customized for any event, plus customizable tap handles. Endres refers to Stella as the “Vanna White of bartending” since it’s a streamlined system—just pulling taps. All of the cocktails are made from scratch, and Endres tries to source all the ingredients locally, like the lavender in her lavender lemonade cocktail.

Bubbles & Brews’ biggest business is also weddings, though they have also worked with local businesses like Trattoria Stella and Brick Wheels at anniversary parties as well as celebrated birthday parties, customer appreciation events, and nonprofit events. All Bubbles & Brew packages include a staff person (often Endres) who can serve as bartender if needed and who will stay on site as an equipment tech during the event.

Beyond the wedding day, Endres particularly enjoys doing rehearsal dinners and welcome parties, where people are more relaxed and getting ready for the celebration. “Honestly, I love them all though,” Endres says. “It’s fun to be around happy celebrations.”

Learn more at bubblesandbrewsbar.com/locations#Michigan

Mandy & Marlee

With something to fit everyone, Mandy & Marlee is a fleet of different types of mobile bars—think alcohol, ice cream, and more—that offer options for all kinds of occasions and venues. Owned by Courtney Lorenz and Sarah Boozer, the company just launched this fall but is already seeing demand for their unique offerings.

“Courtney and I traveled together to get these units and had a lot of great adventures,” Boozer says of the lead-up to their launch in September. “Since our launch party, we’ve made a lot of great connections with new people, which is always a wonderful thing about being a part of this community.”

With clever naming and custom add-ons, there’s a lot to choose from for potential clients. Mandy & Marlee recommends submitting an inquiry form so they can help you determine which option is the best fit for your day.

For example, Champagne Papi and Sparkle Donkey have been two of their biggest hits. Champagne Papi is a vintage ice cream and champagne cart; Sparkle Donkey combines a four-draft mobile bar with a photobooth. Then there’s Brandy’s Bar, which is a sleek, wooden bar cart with four taps and soft mood lighting, comparable to Bella’s Bar with six taps housed in a tuk tuk (three-wheeled taxi cab). Romi’s Bar is the “crown jewel” of the fleet, a larger, Art Deco-inspired bar with room for two bartenders and plenty of drink options.

The company also offers floral walls as an add-on backdrop to any bar option.

While Mandy & Marlee is new to the area, they’re already thinking generations into the future.

“In all honesty, we are really excited to be here and be able to be part of so many great memories ahead,” says Boozer. “We’re looking forward to starting hopefully with a bride and groom and continuing to be a part of the story through the baby shower, kids’ parties, and anniversaries in the future.”

Learn more at mandyandmarlee.com.

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