[Real Detroit Weekly] Fifth Avenue

Fifth Avenue is one of the hottest spots to party in Royal Oak. Whether you're coming to check out the live bands upstairs, shoot some pool, take advantage of their great beer selection and killer happy hour deals, watch the game(s), or just chill with a group of friends, Fifth Avenue has you covered from every angle.

What sets Fifth Avenue apart from other bars that try to be all things for all people is that it actually succeeds at doing so. In the front corner you'll find a Vegas-style (albeit scaled down) sport book setup with leather lounge chairs and multiple big screen TVs. Grab your buddies and hole up for the night in this stylish and comfortable setting without missing a minute of the game.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Drive: A New Kind of Social Club

If you were to think to yourself, "What is the one thing Detroit really needs?" and your answer was "A ping-pong club!" then WISH FULFILLED because Drive: Table Tennis Social Club is now open on the ground level of the Lofts at Merchant's Row on Woodward in downtown Detroit (in the area affectionately known to some as "Quickenstan").

To be clear, Drive is not just a table tennis social club the way Bell's Hopslam is not just a beer and The Walking Dead is not just a TV show. Drive is a veritable ping-pong emporium, a house of worship for ping-pong professionals and table tennis enthusiasts.

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[Model D] Drive: Table Tennis Social Club is a whole new kind of social hub for Detroit

We certainly aren't lacking for more "traditional" social clubs – i.e., bars – in the city of Detroit, but Drive is a whole new kind of social hub.

Drive: Table Tennis Social Club is a ping-pong palace, recently opened on the ground floor level of the Lofts at Merchants Row on Woodward Avenue in the space formerly occupied by City Loft, the pop-up retail space operated by the Somerset Collection.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] Orleans Billiards Cafe

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

"Downtown Mount Clemens has seen plenty of change over the last two decades. Before it was the charming, somewhat quaint brick-paved hub of independently-owned businesses and outdoor art installations that it is now, it was ... well, NOT that. When Orleans Billiards Café opened 15 years ago, it was right at the beginning of downtown Mt. Clemens' transformation, and the place is still evolving.

''We have to keep it fresh,' says Paul Boone, who owns Orleans with his brother Mark. 'We have to do something new every year. I want people coming back asking, "what's he done now?"

'His latest change will be a revamping of the menu. Wait, what? What's that you say: Menu? They serve food in a pool hall?

'First off, DON'T call it a pool hall! Yes, there are six pool tables. There are also three shuffleboard tables, three dartboards, 27 plasma TVs (32''-63''), 10 LCD TVs, Keeno, Quizzo, even beer pong on Tuesdays (and starting in August, Thursdays too). There's also a nice outdoor patio. So it's not a pool hall. It is the watering hole equivalent of an everything bagel..."

Read the rest of the story here.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.