Taste Of The Town
Real Best of Detroit 2010, Best Spanish: Sangria
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Real Best of Detroit 2010
Best Spanish: Sangria
Paella. Three syllables ... and way more than three ingredients. Even great chefs have difficulty mastering the complex flavor profiles of this simply presented dish. When we need our Valencian food fix, we head to Royal Oak’s Sangria, where the paella is seasoned with saffron, flavored with fish broth and dished up with a variety of veggies and proteins. Classic Spanish tapas, from Patatas Bravas to Manchego and Chorizo, satisfy the eye and the appetite. Sangria also plates up a small selection of sexy entrees, with an equal representation of meat and seafood. These platters are flavorful enough to sate us, but light enough so we can dance the night away. Because Spanish isn’t solely about the food, we’d be remiss if we didn’t throw in our love for the sultry Flamenco artists who grace the dining room with their Gypsy-inspired movements every Thursday evening. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, you can even join a free salsa class in the upstairs Sky Bar and learn how to shake it, Spanish style. Finish with a sleek European dessert, like Bizcochos Borracho, and strut yourself home. The Cutraro family’s ode to their homeland gives us a taste of the languid lifestyle and warm tableside fare in bistros on the other side of the Atlantic. Our highest compliment — even the ultimate Spanish-loving Yankee, Ernest Hemingway, would feel right at home.
Once, Good Girls Go to Paris was once just a window on the side of John R. Now, we see that window as a door, a path to the simple yet sophisticated French food that we all deserve (and now crave). The new Midtown location in the Park Shelton features Fair Trade Coffee and San Pellegrino, plus our Crepe Cupid Torya Blanchard, who offers 20 delicious takes on the French specialty. Several new creations are stuffed with everything from Grand Marnier, orange batter, creme fraiche and orange zest on the Left Bank, to Nova lox, homemade horseradish spread, dill, spinach and capers on the Right Bank. More than satisfying our stomachs, Blanchard is a living example that a great idea just needs a lot of hard work to transform into a viable business. And with all the bad news we constantly listen to re:Detroit, let’s not forget that this might be the cheapest American city to open a restaurant or small business. Torya has gone national, with mentions in The New York Times and the New York Post, but our favorite Francophile remains committed to bettering her own restaurants, and even helping other prospective business owners navigate City Hall. If there’s one new Detroit restaurant (and one small business owner) we could see going national, this is it. Good girls may go to Paris, but now all of us can go to Detroit for crepes!
We’re aware that we’re blowing the lid off the best four-star secret in Detroit’s restaurant scene, but here it is: Roast’s cocktail hour offers a five-ounce Angus beef burger on an English muffin, served with bacon, egg and cheese for $3. Yep, the limited app menu at Iron Chef Michael Symon’s carnivorous kitchen in the Westin Book-Cadillac also serves up, for $3 each, a beast-of-the-day taco, mac & cheese, chicken livers and polenta and Scotch eggs. This is akin to having Wolfgang Puck deliver your pizza on Saturday night. We‘ll also acknowledge the $4 and $5 pours. Unbelievable. Happy hour prices apply to bar seating only so get there early to avoid having to throw someone off their seat. We may or may not have done that before. 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Joe Biden memorably said, “You cannot go into a ... Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” Mr. Vice President, we respectfully, and wholeheartedly, disagree. It wouldn’t matter if we talked like we came from Jupiter — we’d still be bouncing along those rings, craving a taste of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee beans. At half of the price of Starbucks, the taste is full, hearty and life-affirming; the perfect pick-me-up for an early morning, or after a long night. Dunkin’ Donuts just won their fourth First Place finish in .... well, four years ... in the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index in the coffee category. With java this addicting, we think it’s almost unfair to keep score.
This casual vegetarian destination in Royal Oak takes its culinary inspiration from all four corners of the globe, making for a progressive and interesting introduction to vegetarian cuisine. From Mexico, we’re treated to Enchiladas Coloradito, which riffs on the standard dish with optional soy cheese, black beans and a homemade Ancho chile sauce. Pizzas, stir-fries and homemade tempeh burgers are just some of the other standouts on the menu. But, of course, we’d be out of our minds to not advise you toward the outstandingly prepared salads, including a brown rice salad with Mediterranean influences that’s not like anything else we’ve ever tasted.
Someone on Facebook said Slows should be banned from any and all future Detroit foodie awards. Sorry, we’re not ready to stop OMG-ing over The Reason yet, and you shouldn’t be either. But maybe it’s time to go to Slow’s, ranked one of the top 10 BBQ joints in the nation by Gourmet, and try something new. A cup of gumbo that’s just ridiculously thick with crawfish and andouille sausage or that brisket enchilada appetizer that just goops with smoky Gouda and special hot spicy sauce. Or you can just do what we do, which is: Place a drink order ASAP, and tell those cooks to double up on the mac & cheese. Holla.
It’s not a chain. It’s not an aerobic dance routine, either. It’s Zumba, Royal Oak’s great refried hope for burrito greatness. And Zumba succeeds. Despite the quirky, open-faced burrito, this Mexican madhouse gets top dibs for their stewed chicken, quesadillas and the Bowl-rito — it’s basically a burrito, in a bowl, with chips to dip from. Plus, this place serves refried beans ... YUM! We get all loco at the salsa bar, which is loaded with spicy taste-itos, from black olives and fresh jalapenos, to cold sour cream and cilantro that tastes like it was picked that morning. A word up from our voters ... don’t forget the fish tacos.
What separates good sushi from that grocery store stuff? We think it’s tasting combinations and ingredients that don’t show up in your typical California roll. Like the Fuji apple, caviar and asparagus that’s rolled into the Big Apple roll, or the handmade citrus tomato mint sauce in the Sunset roll. This is gourmet sushi in, dare we say it, Dearborn’s most chic downtown dining and nightlife environment. Lounging on a white couch bed in the summer, champagne in hand, deciding whether to taste the live uni or the sweet toro nigiri — we could get used to this.
OK, OK ... we love going to Greektown to watch the tourists order Saganaki. Opa! It gets us every time! But this yummy bastion of addictive Greek food keeps us at our tables after the flames subside. The crazy decor makes us feel like we wound up at Zeus’ cloud palace for a little dinner and drink action, and we’re lucky enough to be feted with some of the tastiest Mediterranean food around. We go wild for that huge appetizer platter stuffed high with Dolmathakia, Tzazdiki sauce, olives and the famous $7.25 Taramosolata Greek caviar. And if it’s possible to taste even one bite of their delicately cooked lamb dishes, not to mention the Psastisio, without comparing this cuisine to the nectar of the gods — well, it hasn’t happened to us yet.
It’s easy to get fooled from this delicious roll’s title but, really, what’s in a name? Well, there’s no fizzy soda inside this popular fish-free maki roll. Head sushi chef Kaku Usui and his crew craft the Mountain Dew roll as a tasty mix of tempura asparagus, shiitake mushrooms and sweet potato in a light green soy paper. It may sound like an odd combination, but it offers up a little sweet, a little salty and just the right amount of crunch.
We remember being grateful to snag a seat during our last visit to the pride of Hamtramck: Polish Village Cafe. Bench tables, pictures on the walls ... it can feel like a totally overcrowded Polish summer camp. We could only hope that little Polish children get to eat Eastern-European food of this quality when they’re away from home. Bitterly sour, utterly satisfying kapusta, served along with succulent kapusta sausages. Homemade pierogi are lovingly folded by someone’s Babcia (grandmother) in the kitchen. They’re best washed down with a great selection of Polish beers. The robust dill pickle soup leaves a taste on the tongue that can’t be washed away by potato vodka — and that’s a very good thing.
Best Restaurant: Wolfgang Puck — MGM
Puck’s homage to L.A. gives Detroiters the chance to taste celebrity chef goodness without a flight. Under Executive Chef Marc Djozlija, Wolfgang Puck becomes more than a casino restaurant — the decor feels too chic to be located yards from Kahuna Kash slot machines and a glance at the menu reveals a lack of $300 caviar spoons or foie gras heaped on entrees. Just a perfect wild mushroom bisque, blended with equal measures of black truffle cream and earthy portabella flavor. Or a trimmed, thick-crusted steak served with a little tin can of hand-cut french fries and homemade sauce. Desserts, like raspberry souffle with chocolate and sorbet, exceed expectations. This is classically presented food concentrating on flavor, not fashion. In a city without much extra cash, this is one experience worth shelling out the dinero for.
Best Restaurant To Open In The Last Year: Quattro Cucina
The newest restaurant to make our hearts pound with excitement, Quattro Cucina is an offering of upscale Italian cuisine from the owners of Chen Chow Brasserie. From the first antipasti or primi plate, it’s clear that this is closer to the Italian you’d enjoy on a two-week vacation to the countryside. Gnocchi stuffed with wild boar, Grigliata Mista (pan-tossed octopus and squid with lentils and artichokes) and an ever-changing list of rope sausages, prosciutto and wonderful Italian cheeses, greet you at the door. The house specialty, branzino, is a whole salted European sea bass served for two. Quattro prepares their own ravioli, gnocchi, tagliatelle and lasagna — make sure you order one of these pastas to taste the difference. One more destination restaurant in Birmingham, for the time being, satisfying elites and gourmands alike.
Best Restaurant to Rediscover: The Whitney
How do you make a supposedly haunted old mansion in Detroit cool again? Ghost Bar. This trendy third floor lounge, full of spectral apparitions and lots of other spirits (of the potent kind), is the new upscale lounge in The D. We suggest making a reservation at Mr. Whitney’s Table, which offers a five-course prix fixe menu, complemented with wine pairings. Then amble upstairs and pretend you’re a multi-millionaire lumber baron, just enjoying one last snifter of brandy before bed.
Best Pan-Asian / Best Restaurant To Be Seen: Mon Jin Lau
After almost 20 years, Royal Oak's Mon Jin Lau continues to be the restaurant Real Detroit-ers turn to for modern food, sophisticated service and a whole lotta eye candy. Summertime Shanghai Wednesdays, located on the Zen-inspired patio, are the nights to groove out on fresh beats from DJs Tom T. and Matt A., all while sampling the even-fresher sushi and nigiri list (the Sunshine roll, sweetened with orange and mango, is one of our favorites). When we’re in the mood for something hotter than sushi, we turn to the adventurous dinner menu, offering spicy and sizzling takes on cuisine from Japan, China, Vietnam and more. Ladies: invite eight or more for dinner, and the first bottle of Belvedere is on the house — guaranteed to be an unforgettable evening on the town.
Best Restaurant With Live Music: Red Ox
Some of our favorite summer memories involve a fire pit, a cool nighttime breeze and an acoustic guitar singalong of some classic rock gems (“FREEEEBIRD!”). The Red Ox of Rochester has managed to recreate those magical summer nights with a comfortable outdoor patio lined with outdoor heaters and a real, live campfire. This tavern is located within spitting distance of Oakland University, but the Red Ox’s cherry wood decor, strategically placed plasmas and outstanding beer specials make this a four-season destination for students, professionals and even a Piston or two. Red Ox Karaoke nights, hosted by Zodiac Entertainment, are first-rate — we’re talking wireless mics, a huge song selection and great speaker equipment. Weekends are the time to catch live rock and acoustic artists, many from the nearby campus.
Best First Date Restaurant: Union Street
What makes a first date translate from sweaty palms to, well, sweaty ... other parts? Ambiance, spiked with liquid courage! Union Street is loud but not intimidating, upscale without the uptight and the kitchen turns out reliably delicious entrees. The bar/restaurant area is big enough for you to spot an acquaintance (but too crowded to pull up a chair for an ex). We love the summer Sangria on a hot Detroit day, perfect to loosen up your tongues and set the mood for a midnight make-out. As for entrees, you can’t go wrong with Scooby-Doo pasta.
Best Restaurant For Romance: Coach Insignia
You’re almost in space. That’s what it feels like, anyway, from the 72nd floor of the Renaissance Center, as you stare at the Detroit River, the lights of Windsor and the cars idling along Atwater Drive. We could live in space, if that dark universe served us appetizers of Alaskan King Crab and brie dip on a warm potato bread. But Coach Insignia is close enough to another world, so removed from the city, despite the floor to ceiling windows, that we do feel like we’ve left reality for the night. The crown jewel of the Matt Prentice dishes up some of the highest quality meats available in Detroit (Wagyu beef, Kurobota Pork Loin) and one vivid, exciting menu showcasing international cuisine with a Detroit touch. Romance here is expressed in solitude, so we suggest reserving the private couch booths for you and the one you love most.
Best Restaurant For Appetizers: 24 Grille
The marble entryway and those big, open oak doors are really the first appetizer. But the inventive starter plates, lovingly prepared with ingredients cultivated from far and near, don’t disappoint. A duck raised on the nearby Quaker Hill Farm is braised with brandy to confit, and served over polenta. Or a plate of delicate peekytoe Maryland crab, resting in a dollop of avocado mousse and tasting of sweet Meyer lemons. Tuna so fresh you can practically smell the Sea of Japan, sharpened by the brine of pickled cucumbers and some jalapeno heat. Roast is the celebrity of the Westin, but 24Grille’s laid-back sophistication suits us just fine. Sometimes the first taste IS the deepest.
Best Diner: Fly Trap
There aren’t any flies at Ferndale’s Fly Trap — just a line of famished fans waiting patiently at the door for “blunch,” the all-day breakfast and lunch menu. Greasy spoon? As if! Real Detroit readers flip for the excellent Fly Trap take on Vietnamese pho and the renowned Tempting Tempeh veggie burger. Breakfast fiends know that omelette goodness is spelled B.L.A.T. + C (an excellent egg creation packed full of peppery bacon, spinach, avocado, tomato and cheddar cheese). Early morning blunch specials can run high-end with ribeye steak and crab entrees, but the homemade jam and smashed garlic fried potatoes are reason enough to pull up a seat. It’s fast, fun and friendly — exactly what you’d expect from a “finer diner.”
Best Food To Cure Your Drunkenness: Lafayette Coney Island
There aren’t too many items on the menu. That helps when you’re drunk. The wait’s short, even when the stools and tables are jammed. That helps when you’re drunk, too. There’s always parking, or you can grab a cab from the Westin if you’re still seeing double. And the cooks wear white paper hats. Do you really need another reason? Let’s face it, nobody’s ready to go home at 2 a.m. All your friends are going to the city’s most famous hot dog diner. And slopping chili and hot melted cheese all over your face after a dozen drinks is Detroit shorthand for, “It was a good night.”
Best Coney Island: National Coney Island
Detroit is the birthplace of the Coney Island restaurant, and local chain National Coney Island has the recipe down pat. From the citrus tang of the chicken lemon rice soup to the warm gyros dripping in tzakiki sauce, this is classic Greek comfort food served hot whenever you want it. A new non-smoking ban means you can enjoy your dolmathes without the diner-requisite tobacco aftertaste. Stin ighia’sas!
Best 24-Hour Restaurant: Leo’s
The little restaurant started by Greek immigrants Leo and Peter Stassinopoulos is now as omnipresent to metro-Detroit as Red Wing jerseys or snow tires. We’ve always been grateful to relax here after midnight, drinking some coffee, shooting the breeze with our buds while the hours drift by. At the Royal Oak location, open 24 hours a day, we dine content in the knowledge that, no matter how many refills we ask for, Leo’s will never ask us to leave (but make sure you tip big!). The Greek specialties — massive gyros, chicken kebab plates, flaky spinach pie — are all reliably delicious. We admit that we often end up ordering from the Americanized portion of the menu, specifically the Chicken Fingers pita or a plate of coney dogs. By the way, Leo’s coney chili has the rabid kind of following normally reserved for college football teams.
Best Delivery: Jimmy John’s
Sometimes, Real Detroit Weekly readers are so worn out from a weekend of parties, bar specials, concerts and flicks, it’s all we can do to get to work on Monday. Thankfully, we can rely on Jimmy John’s sandwich delivery, the greatest invention involving two slices of bread since ... well ... probably the sandwich. Whether we were too lazy to pack a lunch or simply too hungover to walk to the fridge, JJ’s speedy door-to-door service delivers ...pun intended. Whole wheat or French bread is a debate in itself ... but choosing between the Turkey Tom, Beach Club or JJ Gargantuan takes on the weight of a massive life choice. At about $5 a sandwich, it’s hard to go wrong. Crunchy Jimmy John’s chips and deliciously chewy cookies make our lunch bags and tummies smile. A special vote goes out to the Jimmy John’s delivery folk in downtown Detroit, who we often see biking and running orders at lunch. Sometimes we want to tackle them and steal those tasty sandwiches for ourselves, but we usually resist.
Best Coffee House: AJ’s Cafe
More than just a coffeehouse, Ferndale's A.J.’s Cafe is the nucleus for many of Detroit’s young artists, musicians and organizers. What lures them in? A respectable vegan menu, free Wi-fi and an open and thriving spirit of community. Like the coffeeshop in Friends, there’s always something going on at A.J.’s: art gallery showings, nightly open-mic opportunities, political forums, wacky fundraisers ... if you’ve got an idea, A.J.’s will host it. Our favorite event: The Assembly Line Concerts (check the Guinness Book of World Records), which broke the record in 2009 for longest multi-artist concert (268 hours straight!). With that kind of energy, it’s not surprising that the lattes are also favored.
Best Bagel: New York Bagel
Detroiters are always talking about moving to The Big Apple. We say why leave when you can find the same bagels on Woodward Ave.? We lucky denizens of Motown have three locations for those unparalleled crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, salted rings of doughy delight. Homemade cream cheese (the crunch of the vegetable flavor is a can’t-be-missed) is sold in tubs, and for cheap. Do you try an egg bagel your first time around, or Parmesan, garlic ... maybe a salt stick? You keep coming back for more, that’s what we think. This friendly neighborhood deli even cooks up bagels made specially for canines. When you and Fido can agree on a breakast bagel, that’s how you know you’ve picked a winner.
Best Breakfast: Toast
We at Real Detroit Weekly are of the opinion that all breakfast foods should be fattening, flavorful and topped with Hollandaise sauce if at all possible. In every department, Toast reviews are sunny-side up — from the cheeringly-mismatched crockery of its Ferndale location to the sunny patio of its Birmingham joint. Their adventurous takes on Eggs Benedict are a must for any hedonistic morning person, and we love watching the staff personally grind your coffee beans before making our fresh cup of joe. Anyone who’s living for the weekend needs to sample The Cure the next morning — fried egg, cheddar, sausage gravy and green chiles heaped over home fries (it’s just like heaven!).
Best Sunday Brunch: Beverly Hills Grill
If any brunch could reproduce the style of Beverly Hills, CA, in Michigan, it’s the aptly-named Beverly Hills Grill. Here’s some friendly advice from our RDW readers: don’t roll out of bed and toss on sweats. This is fine dining, only with toast and eggs, and Detroit’s finest are sure to make an appearance. But all the beautiful people dining are still upstaged by the Beverly Hills Grill’s breakfast entrees. One example: A potato latke sandwich gives the familiar English muffin-and-protein combination with an unexpected Polish twist, and then delivers the upscale factor with brie cheese and premium Canadian bacon. For early-morning decadence, it’s hard to top the Lobster Cobb omelette, and we’ve never seen another plate quite like the Breakfast Carbonara on metro-Detroit menus.
Best New Vegetarian: Mind, Body & Spirits
Sustainability, at every opportunity, seems to be the maxim behind this progressive new Rochester eatery. Our best new vegetarian restaurant is housed in a newly-renovated, 100-year-old building, utilizes solar energy and geothermal heating and cooling, and is tricked out with a rainwater catchment system. Management is also hard at work cultivating an indoor greenhouse to supply Mind, Body & Spirits with truly homegrown produce and herbs. This is the first USDA-certified organic restaurant in Michigan (why the wait?), and we’d like to report that they do serve up several omnivore-friendly plates, like a free-range, grass-fed beef burger, and sustainable Artic char. But we suggest you go green and get hip to the outstanding vegan and veggie portions. Our picks? The West Indian Vegetable Pepperpot Stew, which gives us the gusto of the famous Guyanan recipe, or the root vegetable flatbread, straight from a wood-brick oven. Wine and beer are available — capitalizing on the philosophy that eating healthy doesn’t have to mean puritanical self-sacrifice. Mind, Body & Spirits stands for something more than tofu, and we’re digging their vision.
Best Steakhouse: Guacho Steakhouse
The Brazilians believe in obtaining maximum flavor from their cuts of meat by cooking them over the fire with heaps of spice, salt and bacon, which they serve at upscale steakhouses called churrascarias. At this locally owned, Portugese-influenced carnivorous castle, the gauchos (meat-slicing waiters) do the work for you. A massive salad and appetizer bar with unexpected additions of risotto and antipasti begin the experience. Once you flip your Gaucho disk to green, expect to be bombarded with 15 different kinds of skewered meat. This is all-you-can-eat territory, featuring filet mignon, linguica (Brazilian sausage), roasted lamb, chicken wrapped in bacon, picanha (rump roast), parmesan pork tenderloin ... you get the idea. At a fixed price of $44 per person, we suggest you bring a healthy appetite.
Best Soul Food Restaurant: Beans & Cornbread
Visit the Beans & Cornbread website, and you’ll see this very funny ad: “Cabernet Sauvignon — OUT. Grape Kool-Aid Martinis — IN." Somehow, that sums up this laidback kitchen completely. What warms the body and the spirit? Perhaps a plate of pork chops, smothered in red-eye gravy. More than half a century after The Great Migration brought hundreds of thousands of Southerners to Detroit to work in our bustling automotive factories, Beans & Cornbread continues to serve soul food favorites that always make us feel like we’ve crossed the Mason-Dixon line. Other than the aforementioned Grape Kool-Aid martinis (don’t toss back too many!), we always have a hankerin’ for the catfish, cooked four ways, or a plate of Dynamite shrimp. Beans & Cornbread also gets an extra vote from our readers for the jazzy decor, complete with portraits of luminaries like Aretha, Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson.
Best Seafood Restaurant: Streetside
Streetside Seafood, an intimate 55-seat Birmingham bistro, gives patrons the feeling of eating in a handsome Midtown saloon (and by Midtown we mean the one in Manhattan). That’s a fancy way of saying we appreciate the ambition and dedication of this fish-and-steak supper club, from the attentive wait staff to the four star cuisine. This isn’t avant-garde dining ... just premium ingredients, flown in from across the country and prepared perfectly. The daily special list serves up seafood so fresh it tastes like it was caught that morning. Recent offerings include snow crab claws, sturgeon and swordfish. There aren’t many female executive chefs in Detroit, but judging by the quality of Executive Chef Sharon Juergens’ cuisine, there should be.
Best Raw Bar: Tom’s Oyster Bar
All of our favorite raw foods are at Tom’s. And we aren’t talking about health food. We mean that dig-able raw bar piled high with fresh shrimp and oysters, a refreshing beginning to a leisurely meal of well-prepared seafood and upscale cocktails. It gets better — classic presentations of Oysters Rockefeller, mussels marinara, several smoked fish appetizers and even a perfectly executed beef carpaccio appetizer. We also dig the huge fresh catch of the day page. It features just-flown-in specialties from around the world: tilapia harvested from Costa Rica, Ahi tuna wrestled out of the waters in Kona, HI, and sea scallops collected from the Nantucket shoreline. If we had our own yacht, we would sail around the world eating the planet’s freshest seafood. Until then, we go to Tom’s.
Best Restaurant For Pasta: Antonio’s Cucina
There’s something so comforting about old-school, “old country” Italian cuisine. Gnocchi, polenta, minestroni, eggplant Parmesana. When we need some tender loving care, we place ourselves in the hands of this Westside fixture. Antonio’s has been creating their fine Old World cuisine for metro-Detroiters for over four decades, and the grapevine-laden dining room is a refreshing throwback to a simpler time. As for simple, it doesn’t get more basic than the Linguine Al Pesto, tossed with pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and lots of basil. It takes confidence to cook this simply. Antonio’s approaches every plate with the quiet assurance of chefs who have done it many, many times before.
Best Fondue: The Melting Pot
We know several people who have popped “the question” and received a favorable response at The Melting Pot. One dinner at this cozy, upscale fondue restaurant and we think you’ll be lulled into admitting, “I do.” Just imagine the first taste of the Traditional Swiss Cheese fondue, composed of Grùyere and Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses, white wine, a touch of garlic, nutmeg, fresh lemon and Kirschwasser. The two of you, trading spears of filet in a Coq au Vin sauce of herbs, spices and Burgundy wine, spooning the last of the pot of chocolate, wiping a trace of sweetness from her lips. We don’t know why sharing food and feeding each other richly decadent food gets us in the mood for romance ... oh, wait.
Best Local Menu: Woodbridge Pub
We don’t know if $3 cocktails is what y’all meant by a “local menu,” but the prices are right at Jim Geary’s neighborhood pub, a bar that still feels fresh in an 80-year old building. There’s no fryer or microwave in this joint. But there IS Motor City GhettoBlaster on tap and local artists on the walls. The brick-oven thin crust pizzas and tasty veggie options make us want to swear off the fast food and rent a flat on Trumbull. And we love those sandwiches named after our favorite local yokels, like the “Stevers McFevers” black-bean burger.
Best Tex-Mex: Loco
Ay-chi-ta! Where would we be without our favorite downtown Mexican eatery! The only thing better than watching a Tigers game on TV is camping out for the night with a big plate of fajitas and doing tequila shots with the friendly bartenders at Loco. For starters, those fresh Texas gulf shrimp are so big and juicy, it’s hard to believe we’re within stumbling distance of a casino, instead of a beach. We go wild for the tangy tomatillo sauce inside the Suiza enchiladas, and Rico’s Loco taco special literally makes us want to grab a green card and head for Laredo. But with Tex-Mex swagger and spice so close, why should we?
Best dessert: Pronto!
We love everything at Pronto!, but their baked goods take the cake ... no pun intended. Whether it’s the jumbo peanut-butter cookies piled on the counters of the general store, or the rotating monthly special sweet list, we pretty much just accept that a few cavities are worth the experience. February’s romantic-themed desserts include an unbelievable red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and Chocolate Sin, a tempting little teaser made of chocolate chiffon, a brownie crust and chocolate mousse that's “iced in chocolate buttercream.” Carrot cake, toffee bumpy cake and flavored cheesecakes are also to die for. There’s no such thing as overkill (or restraint) on the part of the pastry chefs at Pronto! ... crafting uninhibited, voracious, in-your-face confections that make dessert — usually an afterthought — the most thrilling course of the meal.
Best Fried Chicken: Chicken Shack
Michigan’s best chicken comes between two buns, in a bucket, on a plate, or as part of a combo. Not too greasy, full of spice and flavor and vigor, the broasted chicken is cooked specially to be less greasy and more delicious. But believe us, you’ll need to undo your top button after sampling the butter-broasted potatoes. And then you should use your biscuit to sop up the rest of the delicious butter-potato juice. An easy five bucks for lunch gets you a plate of chicken, potatoes, a biscuit and drink. Chicken Shack is amazing after an evening of binge drinking.
Best Ribs: Oxford Inn
We watch BBQ Pitmasters religiously, so we know a proper rib dinner needs to attack the palate with a mixture of sugar and spice (it makes everything nice). They should be properly sauced without gooping on the plate, and pull clean from the bone without the meat getting stringy. Oxford Inn delivers award-winning ribs that completely nail the texture — and despite many attempts and Best Of awards, they still won’t tell us what secret ingredient amplifies their mouthwatering BBQ sauce. We want our babyback, babyback, babyback ribs ... from Oxford Inn.
Best Gyro: Plaka
Considering Detroit is full of Coney Islands and home to Greektown, it might surprise you that the city’s best gyro can be found in Plymouth. But that just means you haven’t been paying attention. And don’t let the plastic silverware fool you. Just wait for owner George Costos to set down the Gyro Platter, heaped to the point of ridiculousness with freshly grilled lamb meat, served with onion, tomato, tzatziki sauce and a soothing warm pita. At $9.95, this overwhelming platter of food is one of the best deals in Detroit. We also dig the Zesty Gyro, which gets a zing from the addition of spicy feta cheese and pepperoncini. If you don’t live in Plymouth, Plaka is worth a trip.
Best Salad: Club Bart
Club Bart is already famous for a boozy weekend brunch, plus a steady and reliable lineup of blues bands on the weekends. Well, here are more claims to fame for this unassuming Ferndale bar — a loaded Greek salad that could feed a few of us and an amazing Caesar with a massive breast of perfectly-seasoned flame-grilled chicken. Is it the dressing? The plethora of additional ingredients added to the bowl? Or just the fact that we can have a beer with our salad without feeling guilty? A great and reliable bar with fast carry-out makes Club Bart the ideal stop-over during a busy work day.
Best Tapas: Small Plates
You can order a regular-size salad or sandwich at Small Plates in Detroit, but ordering lots of little dishes is so much more fun! The Spanish tapas tradition encourages table-sharing and flavor-tasting. We love that Small Plates steps outside of the typical Catalonian and Basque flavor profiles, so we can taste well-presented bits of cuisine from all over the globe. The pan-Asian lettuce wraps give P.F. Chang's a run for its money, and we always make sure to order the Crab Cakes and the Petite Tenderloin with a gorgonzola cream topping. The brick-oven pizzas are a surprise (but a delicious one!). The tragedy of Small Plates is that when food this delicious is presented to us ... we’re not inclined to share.
Best Fast Food: McDonald’s
Truth be told, we were kind of jealous of that Super Size Me guy. Kidding, but no doc comes between us and the Angus beef burger. McDonald's recently went up-market with a surprisingly delicious menu of coffee drinks, and we think the Mocha rivals anything you’ll slurp at Starbucks (for half the price!). There are lots of new fancy items that we munch on when we’re in a hurry, but let’s get serious. McDonald's french fries are the best-tasting fast-food item in the world. No question. Even James Beard loved the peeled potatoes at the Golden Arches.Are we too old for Happy Meal toys?
Best Sub Sandwich: Potbelly Sandwich Works
Forget the “five-dollar footlong.” We’ll gladly pay an extra 40 cents for one of those Potbelly “Bigs” on fresh, soft multigrain bread, and listen to some nice person strumming acoustic guitar in the corner. This is thoughtful “quick” food, a chain created by a couple who used to make sandwiches for their customers in the back of an antique store. True story. When tasting a fresh salad or carefully toasted sandwich, you’ll sense the difference. Thanks, Potbelly, for being a chain we’re not ashamed to love!
Best Bar Food: Boston’s
We’re of the opinion that every great bar needs one awesome sandwich to keep us in our seats after the second beer. At Boston’s on Hall Rd. in Shelby Twp., that two-handed triumph is called the Grilled Chicken Chipotle sandwich, served with a homemade aioli that catches the richness and spice of our favorite peppers. Elsewhere, chipotle potatoes, served with a cactus and sour cream dip, are great for soaking up the alcohol after a pair of Boston’s shooters.Wings are available lightly breasted or oven roasted, but our favorite bar treat might be the make-your-own pizza entree. There are over 30 toppings to choose from ... and after a few more of those shooters, we like to get creative. When we want something a little fancier, the Oven-Roasted Halibut and the mouthwatering seared Tuscan sirloin do the trick. For balancing comfortable bar food with classier restaurant fare in a great setting, Boston’s is the destination.
Best Bar Burger: Rosie O’Grady’s
Where were you hanging out this summer? Our guess is you found yourself at the new Rosie O’Grady’s, which debuted a sleek bar and terrific outdoor patio this summer in downtown Ferndale. And while there’s plenty to love about the new interpretation of one of Ferndale’s old haunts, we’ll limit our fawning to the massive burgers on the new menu. A “small” burger runs 1/3 lb., and the bigger burger weighs in at a hefty 1/2 lb. Fresh meat is ground daily in the kitchen, and these burgers are not only cooked to order but consistently grilled to your liking (so say our loyal RDW readers). Loads of cheese, fresh soft buns and hand-cut french fries dusted with garlic. Look for Rosie’s to get even more jammed up than usual once the word spreads. We sense a booming summer season in Rosie's future ...
Best Slider: Malone’s
"Five Little Leprechauns" ... sounds like either a kid’s cartoon or a grown-up nightmare. That is, unless you’ve spent a night at Malone’s Tavern in Warren, with a platter of just-made sliders to keep you company. These bitty burgers come with just-sauteed onions, fresh pickles and hot steaming buns. We recommend the aforementioned platter of five, with pepper jack cheese and a big frosty mug of beer. Are sliders technically Irish? We’re not sure, but they’re definitely delicious.
Best French Fries: Bastone
Get it straight. These aren’t French Fries or Freedom Fries: they’re pommes frites, cut by hand and according to custom in the bistros of Bastogne, Belgium. That means these pommes frites come to your table double-fried. We think the first fry keeps all the moisture inside, and the second fry creates that deliciously light crust on top. Add plenty of salt and stick in a Bastone mug. Then there’s mayonnaise, not ketchup. At Bastone, Royal Oak's land of designer pomme frites, your choices are a traditional creamy mayonnaise, or those flavored subtly with basil, tarragon, artichoke, roasted garlic or bleu (not blue) cheese.
Best pizza (round): Green Lantern
After 55 years of making pizza, you deserve to call yourself an expert. While we don’t bestow that title lightly, the pliably soft, perfectly sauced pizza creations from Madison Heights’ Green Lantern pizza taste like they was conceived by a math wizard — witness the perfect ratios for dough, sauce and pepperoni. And while a pizza should be greasy, somehow a Green Lantern slice retains its integrity, so the hand-shredded cheeses and tasty toppings don’t slide off when you pick up your slice. There are a lot of excellent items on the menu, like the cheese-slathered Lantern bread, or a chili boat (a calorically-outrageous take on a calzone), but it’s the hand-cut spicy pepperoni that sates our stomachs every time. There’s a mathematical equation to pizza pies, and the answer is baking in the oven at the Green Lantern.
Best Pizza (deep-dish): Buddy’s
Did you know that the original Buddy’s in Detroit, located at 6 Mile Rd. and Conant, was once a blind pig? But it’s not the Prohibition pours that have kept Buddy’s on the map for almost three quarters of a century. Indeed, while bars are now common in most dinner restaurants in Detroit, the charred-corner crusts of Buddy’s deep dish square pizza remains a rarity. Alan Richman, the food critic for GQ, lauds Buddy’s Pizza for producing “one of the best crusts in the country.” Thick yet light, burnt yet bursting with flavor, chewy and crunchy, Buddy’s was a revelation to Richman, and the world. But that’s something we’ve known for 75 years.
Best Pizza (delivery): Jet’s
We remember the first time we tasted Jet Bread. It had to be around the time when our mom actually trusted us to use the phone and not make prank calls. And the first legit thing we did was call Jet’s Pizza. And we haven’t stopped since. Why? Great prices, Jet Boats, late hours ... and it seems like there’s a store on every corner. When the late-night munchies hit, Jet's is the most reliable pizza chain in Michigan. An added bonus — online ordering will soon be available at every Jet’s Franchise in metro-Detroit. You know, since our mom still takes the phone away after too many “Mike Hunt” calls.
Best Ice Cream Shop: Ray’s
We were born about 30 years too late to hang out at a soda fountain wearing bobby socks and a letter jacket. That is, until we experienced metro-Detroit’s preeminent independent ice cream, which looks just the same as it would have back in the days of T-birds and poodle skirts. Retro decor aside, when it comes to the cold stuff, Ray’s gives Baskin Robbins’ 30-some flavors a run for their money. There are over 40 handmade ice cream flavors to taste, including some off-the-wall flavors: Maple Walnut, Fat Elvis (flavored with prescription drugs and a 1/2 dozen peanut butter and banana sandwiches ... that’s a joke!) and Egg Nog are a few of the more eclectic choices on the board. Ray’s also chills a mean spumoni, and their ice-cream cordials are a totally cool treat for a birthday or special occasion. But you know what really warms our hearts? It’s a family affair. Ray’s grandson still runs this excellent ice-cream palace, and you’re bound to see a few great-grandchildren behind the counter if it’s not a school day.
Best Bakery: Pinwheel
Isn’t it scary that lots of bakeries don’t even make their own cookies and cakes anymore? We know! That’s why we always head to Ferndale’s Pinwheel Bakery when we have a sweet tooth. Not only do they make tons of yummy goodies, but there are plenty of delectable desserts we’ve never heard of. Lavender shortbread? Cappucino coins? Chocolate beet-root cake? For the more wholesome tastes, we hear the buttercream frosting on wedding cakes is to die for. If you need a cover to furtively duck in for your sweet fix, the paninis and salads are a good front.
Best Sushi Chef: Kenny Wee -— Inyo
Since opening INYO, his first restaurant, Wee’s small upscale Ferndale lounge has seen the kind of crowds reserved for the Jonas Brothers. What makes his sushi rolls different? “I grew up in Melbourne, Australia,” Wee says, “and I traveled around to a lot of Asian countries, working in different sushi restaurants.” Wee says he merged all those influences into one menu that bursts with flavor. The most popular? The INYO California roll. True to Wee’s vision, it’s flavored with a four berry and mango puree. Make a reservation and taste the difference.
Best Chinese: Peking House
Sometimes you just want to eat reliable food out of a cardboard container. When we’re in the mood for some serious sweatpants and movie action, Royal Oak's Peking House is on speed dial. The spicy Mongolian beef entree, tossed with green onions, is enough for three meals. The sesame chicken comes with extra sauce for re-heating. The wonton soup tastes like it’s been simmering on the stove all day. When we crack open our fortune cookies, we always hope the message will say, “Peking House will deliver your Chinese food forever.”
Best Caribbean: Waves
You can’t have a Caribbean feast without the beach. Or at least the water. Waves gets it right with their thatched dining huts, seashell lamps and potent Tsunami cocktail. But we love this reliable Eastside dance destination for going above-and-beyond with their irie-influenced menu. Malibu butter, mangoes and bahama rice are just some of the flavors assisting the transformation of these dishes. A saffron-flavored paella and seafood offerings from mahi-mahi to grouper fritters really deliver the flavor of the islands. Toss down a few pina coladas, hit the dance floor and leave your inhibitions back at home.
Best Indian: Star of India
With reasonable prices and fascinatingly flavored Indian cuisine, it’s no wonder Star of India moved from Troy to their present location on 9 Mile Rd. in Ferndale without losing their devoted following of fans. Hand-baked naan is served with everything from chicken tikka to almond raisin and coconut. Newcomers to Indian food will appreciate the chef’s willingness to adjust spice levels — believe us, they like that curry with some heat attached. Great service and a huge vegetarian menu make this one of Ferndale’s most reliable dining experiences.
Best Italian: Andiamo
Here we've got Italian food conceived outside the homey kitchen stereotype; the Italian restaurants that could be just as easily found in Naples as Detroit — sophisticated and tailored to business lunches or romantic dinners. There’s still marinara sauce on the menu, but it’s presented next to poached salmon in a lemon-basil broth. A varied small plates menu, top-notch seafood with Italian notes and an abbreviated menu of lean (but still flavorful) entrees set Andiamo even further apart from the competition. To sum it up, Andiamo is a lot like a Valentino cocktail dress — chic, expertly constructed and reliably fabulous without ever appearing showy.
Best Japanese: Kyoto
Japanese people eat more than sushi. As a reminder, we have Iron Chef Morimoto on the television, and Royal Oak’s Kyoto Steakhouse. Specializing in personalized cuisine and service, Kyoto offers the teppenyaki tables and majestic knife tricks of a Benihana, in a less-banal, "not-a-chain" atmosphere. The sushi rocks, but the hibachi menu, featuring combinations of chicken, beef, lobster, scallops and shrimp, shouldn’t be missed. The strawberry-infused sake is the perfect way to end the evening. Just sit back, relax and watch those knives go chop-chop-chop.
Best Middle Eastern: Sheesh
After the La Shish closed their doors, we wondered where we would find Arabic cuisine. But along came Sheesh, reportedly staffed by the former staff that made La Shish so beloved. Elsewhere, all the familiar menu elements are available and accurate, like falafel, baked kibbee, shwarma and hummus chicken. But we were most excited to find that those ridiculous combo platters were still on the menu.
Best Mexican: Rojo
We know this is supposed to be about food.But the quality of tequilas offered at this upscale Novi eatery make us feel like we’re hangin’ at Cabo Wabo. Gran Patron Buerdos ... Jose Cuervo La Familia ... Don Julio Real ... those succulent names just roll off our tongues (that is, until we start drinking them). Aside from the bomb-ass tequila selection, and a bevy of mixed cocktails, we live and die for the fresh guacamole, prepared tableside. Mexican cuisine is heavily dependent on rich, flavorful sauces. Rojo’s smoky-sweet chipotle, the homemade red enchilada sauce, and barracho bean stew add incredible flavor to a slew of familiar Mexican classics and upscale takes on South of the Border cuisine.
Best Thai: Sala Thai
With three great locations, you’re never far from hot and spicy Thai food. We love the Eastern Market outpost, housed inside an old Detroit fire house. The carved wooden booths, beads and plants make us feel like we’re in Bangkok for the evening, and the food is convincingly authentic. Be wary with your spices, because Sala Thai serves it HOT! We give it up for the Sala Thai fried rice packed full of veggies, the Gaeng Pak curry stir-fried with coconut milk, and a Tom Yum soup that only makes us hungrier for what comes next. Fresh sushi and fast carry-out service make Sala Thai a perennial winner.
Best Cajun: Howe’s Bayou
We weren’t born on the bayou, but if being Cajun means you get to drink bourbon all day and eat delicious food, we’re thinking of relocating. Those inventive Cajun cocktails, from an oyster martini to Swamp Water lemonade, make us pretend we’re nestled in a cozy lounge somewhere in the French Quarter. The Voodoo Gulf Shrimp taste like black magic, the sauteed alligator sausage (no kidding) is way juicy and hot, and we can eat popcorn crawdads all day. And those are just the appetizers. The worthy main course dishes, from N’Awlins po’boys to crawfish etouffee, warm us up on a cold winter night. Authentic Gulf Coast dining, and we swear we hear Jimi Hendrix on the jukebox every time we stop by. As the sign says, "Laissez les bon temps rouler!"
Best Fillipino: Royal Kubo
Downtown Clawson has become a destination for interesting restaurants in the past few years, and the re-opening of Royal Kubo in 2007 did a lot to put this formerly sleepy neighborhood on the map. Whether we’re singing karaoke or sipping halo-halo (a milkshake-like concoction of shaved ice, ice cream, sweet red beans, jackfruit, condensed nuts and palm nuts), we love the happy island vibe of this great little restaurant. Filipino cuisine has a lot of similarities to Asian cuisine, but get adventurous and try some of the house specialties. We always order the garlic fried rice and the sinigang, an authentic Filipino stew flavored with tamarind.
Best All-You-Can-Eat: Mongolian BBQ
We don’t know a lot about Mongolians. But if BD’s Mongolian BBQ is any indicator, they must have loved shoving bowls of food down their gullets. Our favorite make-your-own-combo food phantasmagorium recently started thinking low-cal, offering lettuce wraps and brown rice as serving options. You can even go to the website (gomongo.com) and design your dream bowl, calorie count included. Our big bowl of steak and lamb goodness was 475 calories, including the tortillas. All-you-can-eat health food? Bang a gong, get it on!
Best Irish: Gus O’Connor’s
This gastropub carries the torch for quality Irish cuisine in Detroit. The Braizen Head Beef brisket, plated alongside champ mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, would satisfy its namesake’s customers (Dublin’s original Brazen Head pub opened in 1198 and is still running). History matters at a place like Gus O’Connor's, which is why Detroiters love stopping by this Irish blessing of a restaurant to sample authentic flavors like bangers & mash, Scotch eggs and Jameson Irish stew. Worth trying this St. Patrick’s Day: the boxty, an Irish potato pancake stuffed with delectables and cooked on the griddle. Gus O’Conner go bragh!
Best Cupcakes: Cupcake Station
Even the kid-sized cake has gone gourmet, thanks to this adorable designer bakery for cupcakes of every flavor we can think of (and a few that just amaze us). Carrot cake, chocolate bumpy cake, banana cake ... these sweet but not saccharine baked beauties just melt on the tongue — and are priced as cheap as a cup of coffee. Michigan’s first gourmet cupcake shop is nationally known, even drawing praise from celebrity chefs like Martha Stewart and Bobby Flay. Dreaming of a fantasy flavor? Hit the website (cupcakestation.com) and submit your own recipe. Winners receive a half-dozen of their delectable dessert designs in the mail. Cupcake Station now operates two outposts in Birmingham and Ann Arbor, but they’ll ship their goodies in the mail on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Best Hidden-Gem Eatery: Christine’s Cuisine
Flourescent lighting, jam-packed tables, cash-only and no wi-fi. Nevertheless, that hidden-gem we like to call Christine’s continues to pack in the foodie crowd. You’ll get it once you sample the Odessa special, piled high with sauerkraut, Polish sausage and fresh pierogi. Christine’s Ukrainian heritage, also apparent when tasting the awesome potato pancakes and Reuben special with homemade kraut, steals the spotlight here. But regulars also rave about the breakfast omelettes and the Bomb Burrito. The quirky little unisex bathroom with the multi-colored tiles kind of says everything about this place. It ain’t fancy, but it’s presented with lots of tender, loving care.
Best Breadsticks: Hungry Howie’s
Enough salt to clog an artery, enough Parmesan cheese to wipe out half of Italy's farmers — Hungry Howie’s breadsticks are to Detroiters what manna was to the Israelites. Founded in Taylor, we are guessing that some deity came down to founders James Hearn and Steven Jackson with a heaven-sent recipe for baked pizza dough. Howie’s breadsticks are soft and so gently cooked, it’s like they dissolve on your tongue, leaving only a beautiful layer of butter. Oh my god, we’re so hungry.
Best Sunday Mimosas: La Dolce Vita
Nestled on the leafy, verdant patio with a few friends, ready to dissect all the gossip from last weekend — La Dolce Vita is always the recipe for a lazy brunch filled with laughter. In fact, we like to say that our Sunday religion includes a pitcher of champagne and orange juice cocktails, with some live acoustic guitar on the side. This blink-and-you’ll-miss-it beauty is hidden amid one of Woodward’s rawest corridors, where they serve up a great menu of omelettes, Eggs Benedict and a creamy mascarpone french toast. The bottomless mimosas are truly that; the wonderful servers will ensure that you’ll never wait for a refill. We love the Pajama Brunch events, where diners show up in their finest two-piece sets and nighties. And there’s even free valet when you leave, which might come in handy if you never found the bottom of your glass.
Best Cheap Breakfast: Whistle Stop
Follow the train tracks to Birmingham’s Triangle District, where the Whistle Stop refuses to coast on a well-deserved reputation for a no-frills, wallet-friendly morning menu. Nothing’s seemed to change in this homey flapjack factory in two decades, and that includes the prices. We’re not always flush like Daddy Warbucks, and that’s why we (and you fine folks) dig the breakfast special on weekdays before 10 a.m. For under $5 (tax included!), you can nosh on a big plate of eggs, toast, hash browns and wchichever meats you prefer from crsip bacon to turkey sausage. If you aren’t a believer in a balanced breakfast, or you’ve run out of Adderall, we suggest you stop by Whistle Stop’s bakery and help yourself to a slice of Bumpy Cake (aka dessert crack). Like all awesome local breakfast joints, we'd suggest getting there early.
Best Pancakes: Original House of Pancakes
There's always a line for OHOP’s pancakes, — even on weekdays! While there’s only one letter difference between this place and IHOP, but believe us, that O means everything. The Dutch Baby is a legend of early morning caloric overkill, and this small chain was flipping tasty thin crepes stuffed with goodies years before the French restaurant craze hit Detroit. Order your pancakes filled with sourdough, bacon, coconut, pineapple, pecans ... the list goes on.
Best Way To Cure A Hangover: Bloody Marys — Lily’s Seafood
We like Bloody Marys. A lot. We say the perfect Bloody balances the sweet taste of tomato juice with a kick in the you-know-what to make us semi-productive for the rest of the day. Lily’s Bloody Marys have enough adjectives to fill a bottomless glass — tart, peppery, juicy, vibrant, burning ... OK, that’s just the vodka. The killer make-your-own Bloody bar comes equipped with tons of hot sauce, pickles, celery, pepperoncinis, Worchestershire sauce and everything else you need to make a potent-verging-on-poisonous renewal potion. And at $3 per Bloody Mary, they’re cheap enough to warrant one more excessive drinking episode before the weekend ends.
Best Restaurant You Haven’t Been To: Rattlesnake Club
Restauranteur Jimmy Schmidt put Detroit on the culinary map back in the ‘80s, when he opened the ‘Snake in an “edgy” district of East Jefferson. Fast forward a decade or two to see the incredible adaptation of 300 River Place, lofts, a medical center and several businesses within walking distance — that shows you the power a great restaurant can bring to its neighborhood. Schmidt is the only restauranteur in Detroit to use Prime Certified Angus Beef, and we do consider his filet steak, infused with porcini and truffle oil, to be one of the most delectable pieces of meat in the Motor City. We also dig the seafood starters, like the sizzling sesame Hawaiian Ahi tuna or the icy Canadian oysters. If you’re ever looking to make a positive impression, stop by the restaurant that’s made that same impression — for Detroit, to the world — for 20 years. For a more affordable, yet delectable treat, try the Rattlesnake patio during lunchtime in the summer.
Best Tableside Service: Boodles
Boodles lets you know that you’re a VIP as soon as you walk in the door. Our server’s name is Jerome: the waiters are equipped with business cards and encouraged to develop regulars. He can be counted on to recommend wine, carve steak, pop champagne corks and pack the leftovers, all with a knowing smile and the good sense to know when to refresh a drink, or keep his distance. If you’re bringing a lover, you can gaze longingly at each other over Caesar salads and Steak Diane for two, or take turns feeding each other Cherries Jubilee. The chateaubriand and lamb specials for two are advertised as, “slow roasted to make the ‘King and Queen’ happy.” Meanwhile, the lounge singer croons a Frank Sinatra tune at the keyboard, and the cars rush by down I-75. For a moment, you both are royalty, hidden in a corner of Madison Heights — and Boodles is your kingdom.
Best Old-School Dining Experience: Mario’s
Mario's, the restaurant straight outta The Godfather. It seems like every waiter sports a 'stache and a tux, and their manners are dotted with enough "if you pleases" to make us feel "connected." There are six pages of entrees on the menu — if you have room to finish after your minestrone, fresh bread, salad, and pasta appetizer. We love modern cuisine, but there is something so enticing about a classic Lobster thermidor dish, veal Oscar, and Tournedos Maison — beef medallions flamed with cognac, simmered in cream, tomato, and sherry, served tableside. This is the perfect place to mutter lovely Italian phrases to your date, while enjoying an old-school drink (think Manhattans and Scotch on the rocks). Molto bene!
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