We love Prohibition chic, but these places are the real deal: century-old bars tucked away in residential neighborhoods that operated as bonafide blind pigs during the days of Prohibition and are still slinging drinks to this day.
If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the way to mom's heart is through fancy brunch buffets and prix fixe menus. The more she raves about how nice the place is and how you're spending too much money on her, the more you win.
Cinco de Mayo, Southwest Detroit style: these bars are some of the best in Southwest (especially for those who enjoy a good dive).
Veggiemites rejoice and meatheads take heed: here is an exhaustive list of vegetarian-friendly restaurants for all occasions (and also my own articulations on why you should all just shut up and eat it).
Detroit Restaurant Week starts this Friday! If you're looking for a room with a view, these places offer the best perches in the city.
There are two staples to all freelancers' diets: booze and WiFi. These are the places that have plenty of both.
Did you fail to make plans for Easter brunch in a timely fashion? Here's the best of what's left. Hey, we all have days like that.
There is no reason sacred brunching should only be for Sundays. These places serve up Bloody Marys and mimosas bright and early on Saturdays too, and we love them all the better for it.
We revisited and expanded one of our first-ever Hot Lists in honor of Detroit's Irish roots and our proud corned beef culture. Eastern Market is still ground zero, but the Irish-settled Corktown is making gains. 'Tis the season for green beer and corned beef!
Good sushi should be fresh and affordable, but it also better have some flayva. Skip the talk of "authentic this-or-that;" just shut up and eat it! These places serve inventive rolls with fresh fish at affordable prices, and that's all we really care about.
Today is National Pancake Day! From the griddle to your gullet, these places treat pancakes as more than just a simple starch.
You don't have to be observing Lent to enjoy some good fried fish. "You buy we fry" fish markets are something of an unsung Detroit specialty. They might not be pretty or trendy, but they take their fish fry very seriously.
Next Tuesday is Fat Tuesday, and that means one thing: paczki. Hamtramck's varieties are pretty indisputable in superiority, but there are plenty of other spots to get your paczki fix (and some have them year-round). And don't miss all the paczki parties in Poletown!
Grilled cheese is a fond favorite from childhood; now this classic comfort food has gone all grown-up gourmet (and, predictably, is also better with bacon).
Every February guys have the Superbowl and girls have Valentine's Day. Coincidence? I think not. If you're going to say it with chocolate, skip Godiva and check out some of these Michigan-based chocolatiers
These restaurants tend to get written off as "OPF" (Old People Food) places, but these European-influenced American steakhouses and pubs have the BEST French onion soup.
Who run the world? Girls. From professional chefs to freelance writers, students to stay-at-home moms, these are some of the best female-authored food blogs in metro Detroit.
The NAIAS Charity Preview has less to do with the cars than the clothes; this is all about the faces, fashion, and - inevitably - the food. Well, drink. But also food. This is a night to feel all shiny and special, so here's some of the shiniest, most special places to party.
In a major upset that majorly upset city residents, Ferndale took home the prestigious fake "neighborhood of the year" trophy in Curbed Detroit's first-ever annual Curbed Cup. In honor of this, here are some of the awesome places in Ferndale for morning, noon and night (and then some).
The year in food in Detroit. (Which refers to the whole of metro Detroit, as we explain in the post.) Eat It Detroit is born and starts an epic meme (sort of), Corktown continues to "hog" all the attention, Ferndale wins at life, B-ham stops sucking so hard, the Food Network is all up on Detroit's balls, and more.
Chinese restaurants are an undervalued Christmas tradition. Here are some places for both Gentiles and Jews to take refuge on December 25.
The holidays are a time of widespread celebration, particularly in Europe and the Americas. Celebrate the season with some of metro Detroit's finest examples of global holiday multi-culturalism.
Putting together a good gift basket is like putting together a good mixed tape. Here are some of our favorite Michigan-themed gift baskets that can be shipped to loved ones near and far.
I have only one hard-and-fast rule when it comes to hot chocolate: IT MUST BE MADE WITH MILK. These metro Detroit places "get it," from a coffee house with traditional Spanish hot chocolate to a chocolatier with a hot chocolate menu longer than some restaurants' wine lists.
From funky artisan farmstead esoteric cheese to old-country Amish farmers cheese, Michigan cheesemakers are earning the Mitten its "Great Lakes, Great Cheese" moniker. Stick that on your plate and eat it.
Say what you will about coneys; metro Detroit just wouldn't be the same without its sliders. Behold, the best of Detroit's little white huts.
Our locally-based pizza chains - some of them found across the country with headquarters right here in SE Michigan - are some of the best in 'Merica, and in metro Detroit we also pay the least amount for the most variety. One thing you never have to suffer in Detroit is bad pizza!
Another favorite fall food is pie. Warm, delicious, comforting, fattening pie. From Scottish cheese pies to glorious pumpkin and sweet potato, here's where to stock up for winter.
No autumn in Michigan would be complete without cider mills, and the best ones are those an hour out in the country that beg you to make a whole day out of it. From U-pick fruit and pumpkin patches to piping hot doughnuts and fresh cider, cider mills are just ANOTHER rest why fall is *THE BEST.*
From wine to beer! This week is all about Detroit Beer Week, now in its third year celebrating the craft beer culture of metro Detroit with more than three dozen participating venues and nearly 50 different official events.
En route to or from Chicago? Make it an impromptu wine tour by exploring Michigan's southern wine trails, conveniently located off of I-94.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 Wineries of Northern Michigan
Meet Michigan's northern wine country, the two little peninsulas that could that are cranking out wines made to catch the world's attention. Bordeaux, schmordeaux - we're on the 45th parallel too.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 Best of Restaurant Week With 21 restaurants participating and just a little over a week to try all of them, we sift through the offerings and come up with our five favorites for this go-round of the always popular event.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 Donut shops
The classic American doughnut shop stands strong in metro Detroit, with from-scratch fried dough classics like fritters and French crullers in settings that are throwbacks to a time before Starbucks and Krispy Kreme.
Now more than ever, you are what you eat. As the general public becomes more conscious of creating sustainable food systems, food activists use it as a vehicle to enact social change.
AUGUST 29, 2011 Halal
Metro Detroit has the largest population of ethnic Arabs outside of the Middle East, many of whom are Muslim. To celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the Muslim holiday Eid, we look at some of metro Detroit's best (and most unexpected) certified halal restaurants.
AUGUST 22, 2011 Hot dogsHot dogs. NOT Coneys. There are whispers of the gourmet hot dog trend throughout metro Detroit and that's no surprise considering our proximity to Chicago, the hot dog capital of the country.
We realize that metro Detroit might not seem like the friendliest food place for our herbivore friends, but there are still plenty of stellar spots committed to the raw food movement. These are the best of metro Detroit's California dreamin'.
It's the Macomb County of Oakland County, the bastard child of two places that nobody loves either -- Pontiac and White Lake -- but what it lacks in fancy it makes up for in food. From classic coney joints to Lebanese knock-outs, Waterford tastes pretty damn good.
With the Motor City abuzz over the stunning announcement that Whole Foods had decided to build a store at Mack and John R, we decided to take a look at the very best grocery shopping options currently available in what many in the media continue to mislabel a "food desert."
The dollar can dives will always have their place, and a good brewpub is a joy forever (we've seriously contemplated moving into Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor once or twice ), but sometimes, you just want a ton of choice. Hey, this is Detroit -- any old way you want beer, baby, you got it.
No matter black white or beige, ice cream in Metro Detroit is a cross-cultural delight, showcasing the area's diverse flavors and the flavors of diversity.
Agriculture is Michigan's #2 industry. As such, we're about as crazy for good fruit and veg as we are for cars. (#1, duh.) Here are five of the top farmers markets in Southeast Michigan.
Sy Ginsberg, Wigley's, Grobbels -- Detroit is corned beef country. This week, we take a look at the best places to eat the brined brisket of the gods.
JUNE 27, 2011 Breakfast
From Birmingham to Mexicantown, Metro Detroit's coffee roasting & cafe scene is heating up, and quickly. We've got the goods on where to go.
