[Model D] Green Grocer: Fresh food aplenty in Southwest Detroit

Honey Bee Market

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation's Green Grocer program exists to strengthen the over 80 independently-owned full-service grocery stores in the city of Detroit. Each week for the next several weeks, Model D will profile a selection of these stores in neighborhoods throughout the city.

This week we're focusing on Southwest Detroit.

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The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

From Imperial.

ICYMI:
~ For the next several weeks, I'll be profiling many of the full-service supermarkets throughout Detroit for Model D as part of a Green Grocer series for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. We started this week with select neighborhoods in northwest Detroit featuring stores like Metro Foodland, Glory Supermarket, and more. Now when people ask you "where do you buy groceries in Detroit [besides Whole Foods]," you can point them here. [Model D]

~Approved! Congratulations to Detroit City Distillery; they've been approved as a distillery by the city and will start major construction on their space in Eastern Market next month. They're looking to open next spring. [Model D]

~A pedal-powered brewery in Detroit? Shawn and Aaron Grose of Windmill Pointe Brewing Company want to make it happen. [EID]

~Tickets to One-Eyed Betty's FestivALE are now on sale! $20 in advance/$25 at the door. Christmas, seasonal, and flagship beers from Bell's Brewery, Inc. (Official), Arbor Brewing Company, and Dark Horse Brewing Co., plus a 30-tap takeover of Short's Brewing Company inside and a special booth of extremely limited Christmas ales from St.Bernardus, Unibroue, and more. Whole animal roasts and tons of decadent cold weather comfort food. This is going to be THE holiday party! [EID]

~Downtown Detroit's Bagger Dave's Burger Tavern is set to open November 10. [EID]

~What's going on this weekend and next? Oh just ALL OF THIS. [EID]

First We Feast has the trailer for the Fresh Off The Boat With Eddie Huang Detroit episode, in which he eats burgers with rapper Danny Brown and does other things. [FWF]

Not all of Corktown has found the pot of gold at the end of the Detroit Is Cool Now rainbow. PJ's Lager House has struggled since the day PJ bought it despite introducing a (very good) food menu in the past couple of years to bring in more business. Bottom line: it might seem like business is booming for all the trendy businesses, but such is not the case for everyone. [Crain's]

The next statewide MLive.com search: Michigan's best pizza. Dear Gonzo, you need an official Detroit consultant. And that person should damn well be me. Please someone make this happen. [MLive]

Imperial is once again hosting their Day of the Dead celebration this year from October 31-November 2 and the skulls designed by local artists for the charity art auction are even more amazing this year than last, PLUS they have a killer special menu with three different kinds of tamales and of course, special drinks as well. These guys know how to do shit, for real. And here are the skulls. [RDW / Imperial FB]

Dia de los Muertos is coming up (Nov 1-2). Celebrate with Savor Southwest by visiting the dozens of ofrendas displayed at restaurants, stores, businesses, and churches throughout the neighborhood. And here's a handy guide to all of them! [SDBA]

Royal Oak is get yet another pizzeria bar and cafe next year, this one called Iron Horse. This is in addition to the Blaze Pizza that opened today and Trattoria Da Luigi that opened just a couple of months ago, plus Pizzeria Biga - Royal Oak and...that...other one. The name of which I forget. It's right on Main Street. Something Neapolitan-nana-something. And the Franklin Cafe that opened earlier this year, which has fallen way short of the really cool cafe/market I thought it would be. [RO Patch]

Bistro 82 and Sabrage are moving along in Royal Oak (in the old Sangria space) and could be open by mid-November. The word "ultra-lounge" still makes me skeptical, even though the chef they have is outstanding. I mean, the place could have a great chef but still be super-douchey, you know? [RO Patch]

B. Nektar continues to grow and expand, now adding New York to their growing list of distribution markets. Plus, B. Nektar's Evil Genius IPA-style mead has been out of production for awhile but Honey Bee Market still has a ton left for all you merds out there. [BeerPulse / EID FB]

Eastern Market Corporation: the go-to example of placemaking from Next City. [Next City]

Couple of factual gaffes here (Tom's Tavern is in Detroit, not Ferndale; Dangerously Delicious pies vacated Comet Bar months ago, and the then-editor of Thrillist even wrote a story on it for this very same publication), but an otherwise nice rundown of some of Detroit's best dives. [Thrillist]

Under The Radar Michigan stopped in Detroit for a full episode and covered Shinola, Dangerously Delicious Pies Baked in Detroit, and Diner en Blanc on Belle Isle. [PBS]

Most of you will probably roll your eyes, but the Starbucks inside of the Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown-Convention Center is now open. Good for travelers and for when locals are staycationing and in need of immediate caffeine. [EID FB]

Misc.
~Some excellent advice for you all working and aspiring chefs out there from Marc Vetri. (Most of this advice can very easily be translated into most other professions too; it is the ethos that is important here.) [HuffPo]

~America is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind on tea, the world's second-most popular beverage (second only to water). Starbucks is looking to change that, aiming to do for tea what they did for coffee. [Freep]

~Yessy yes yes. [EID FB]

~Anyone else remember going to the local police station to have your Halloween candy scanned after trick-or-treating? The poisoned/needle-stuck-inside candy scare was big in the '80s; not sure if it's even still really a thing now. [some blahg]

[HOT LIST] Best new patios

Red Crown.

Another summer, another slew of "best patio" lists. I'll let you in on a little secret: these lists don't change much year to year. The Rattlesnake keeps being located on the Detroit River and the Whitney keeps having a garden and the Old Miami keeps having a big-ass lawn with a koi pond.

But this year, things have changed. New places have opened. A LOT of new places. And these places have built patios. Really nice patios. So instead of the same old reminder that the Rattlesnake's patio has a nice view of the Detroit River (and it does! so very nice!), here's a look at the best new patios to pop up just this year (and some as recently as last week).

SIDEBAR: It seems that Corktown is becoming PATIOTOWN.

El Barzon.

#1 El Barzon Southwest Detroit
For years you've loved the food and merely accepted the ambiance, but their new enclosed patio is a thing of real beauty. If you haven't been over there recently, it's time you went back.

#2 Red Crown Grosse Pointe Park
The Grosse Pointes are becoming quite the hotbed of new restaurant activity, with a second location of Luxe recently opened, a new Atwater brewpub in the works, Dave Gilbert's new restaurant Marais getting ready to open, and all of restaurateur Mindy Lopus's new ventures opening this year. The first was Red Crown, a Southern BBQ and comfort food restaurant with an excellent craft cocktail program and an even better patio. Whether its for Sunday brunch or an evening of cocktails, this is a pretty happy place to be.

St. Cece's Pub.

#3 St. Cece's Pub Corktown
There are a few spots in Corktown that could be considered one of the locals' favorite hangouts (Green Dot, Astro, Sugar House), and St. Cece's is among them. Is it the farm-to-table food? The fireplace? The dog-friendliness? The quintessential local neighborhood pub feeling? Whatever the case, get ready to love it even harder with their fab bum-proof patio. You know what I mean.

Griffin Claw beer garden. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

#4 Griffin Claw Brewing Company Birmingham
I have a total beer boner for this place despite it being in Birmingham and all of the inherent Birminghamness that implies. (The latest news: Dan Rogers got to rights the Screamin' Pumpkin recipe back - originally his when he was brewing for Michigan Brewing Company - and is now brewing it under the same name at Griffin Claw. AND IT IS THE BEST.) Another thing to love about it is the three-season beer garden.

The Jefferson House. From my iPhone.

#5 The Jefferson House Downtown
The subtlely bum-proof patio at the Jefferson House - featuring a plexiglass partition just high enough to keep Detroit's vagrant population from intruding on your meal, which isn't so much an insensitive comment as something WE ALL FUCKING KNOW HAPPENS - may effectively be located on Jefferson as it becomes the Lodge Freeway service drive, but the design is comfortable and contemporary and the view of the GM Renaissance Center doesn't suck.

Pizzeria Biga Royal Oak.

Honorable mention:
Last year I ran a list of the worst patios in metro Detroit. Because I get really bored with this shit, honestly. So I ripped into Pizzeria Biga Royal Oak and it was kind of a big deal but now we've all moved past it and are friends, but they also made some serious improvements to the patio (including a covered floor and enclosed roof, blocking out a lot of the undesirable sound and preventing the tables and chairs from wobbling, my two biggest bones of contention). While the patio is not NEW new, in that it existed in a form last year, it's new in the sense of being totally redone, and certainly worth a redeeming mention. So, I take that one back. Go check out their patio.

Bubbling under Ottava Via (Corktown), Ashley's Westland (Westland), MotorCity Wine (Corktown), Green Dot Stables (Corktown), Brooklyn Street Local (Corktown) - new concrete poured this year

What did I miss? Leave it in the Facebook comments.

[Model D] Kitchen Connect will help launch new triple-bottom-line food start-ups

FoodLab Detroit is a network of triple-bottom-line food businesses in Detroit, founded by Jess Daniel, a Local Economy Fellow at Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. FoodLab launched in 2011 and has become a significant resource for food start-ups in the city, a place where entrepreneurs can share information, resources, provide mutual support, and learn how to balance their triple-focus businesses.

One of the unique functions of FoodLab has been inadvertently performing is that of an informal connector between entrepreneurs and commercial kitchens in the city that will allow small start-up food businesses to use their space to make their products, a necessity for many of the food start-ups that aren't classified as cottage industry (the Cottage Food Law specifically excludes all items made with dairy and other products like salsa, pickles, and barbecue sauce) and for those that need more space than a home kitchen provides. From this emerging need for rentable commercial kitchen space, Kitchen Connect was born.

Read more.

[Real Detroit] Armando's

This post written by EID Co-Conspirator Stefanie Cobb.

There is an abundance of excitement in store for Armando's Mexican Restaurant this summer. Although they've been open for over three decades, Armando's continues to stay in the running for the best Mexicantown cantina determined by popular vote (a.k.a. you metro Detroiters). There are many reasons to fall in love with Armando's. Whether they gain your fondness through their coma-inducing cheesy enchiladas or their wildly cheap drink specials, Armando's is definitely not a place to miss out on.

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[Real Detroit Weekly] El Barzon

This post authored by EID Co-Conspirator Stefanie Cobb.

Photo by Stefanie Cobb.

The neighborhood lines of Southwest Detroit are nearly bursting with the number of authentic Mexican restaurants. Although some are more popular than others, they all attract the crowds of metro Detroiters making the commute with the promise of satiating their cravings for true Mexican cuisine. With so many palatable options to choose from, how does one establishment stand out amongst their competitors? They must be unique and acquire a quality unbeknownst to their competition, much like El Barzon.

It cannot be denied that El Barzon deserves precedence in their neighborhood for serving up traditional Mexican cooking, only with a twist. The twist is that they are half a Mexican restaurant and half an Italian restaurant. If you have yet to be graced with the awesomeness of El Barzon, you might be perplexed as to how they are able to be both Italian and Mexican, while still maintaining true authenticity and notable plates. Owner and head chef Norberto Garita has proven that two very dominant cuisines can indeed be paired – and paired beautifully at that.

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[Model D] People places: Getting neighborly in Southwest Detroit bars

There’s one thing you should know before walking into one of Southwest Detroit’s many neighborhood watering holes: you’re going to drink way more than you planned. “What are you drinking?” is the greeting of choice at these establishments, and even if it’s your first time visiting -- and they’ll be able to tell, because these are the kind of joints where an unfamiliar face is noticed immediately -- you’re only a stranger your first time.

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[Deadline Detroit] Everything You Need To Know About El Dia De Los Muertos In Detroit

Niagara's sugar skull interpretation for Imperial's Dia de los Muertos art auction.

Lately it seems like El Dia de los Muertos has been infiltrating mainstream culture, bringing in Halloween from the rear for a sort of spookshow double-header.

But where Halloween is all about the scare (and sexy-anythings), El Dia de los Muertos—The Day of the Dead—is meant to be more joyous and fun. Traditionally a Mexican celebration that coincides with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2), Day of the Dead also just so happens to butt up against the pagan-rooted celebration of All Hallows’ Eve—Halloween.

And wonderful cultural melting pot that we are here in metro Detroit, we’re slowly but surely combining the two. (Regulars at Theatre Bizarre can attest that the most oft-donned costume is an interpretation of the sugar skull.)

Read more.

[HOT LIST] Best of Southwest (Cinco de Mayo edition)

Las Brisas. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Cinco de Mayo is this Saturday, and if your idea of Cinco de Mayo celebrations is a mariachi band in a sports bar with the Corona girls giving away free beer and plastic beads, you need to head southwest to see how it's really done. No need to find your passport and book a flight; look no further than Southwest Detroit and discover for yourself some of the lesser-known restaurants and watering holes that make this one of Detroit's most viable, walkable, vibrant neighborhoods.

Southwest Detroit is full of fantastic taquerias, restaurants of various ethnic Latin cuisines, bakeries, cafes and markets (and taco trucks!), but for the purposes of Cinco de Mayo celebrations this list is all about bars. Let's face it, this neighborhood is robust enough for more than one "Hot List."

#1 Donovan's Pub
AKA Southwest Detroit's Official Hipster Bar®. Being just on the other side of of I-75 on Vernor, Donovan's is sort of the Gateway to Southwest and catches what is presumably a lot of Slows spillover. It's hipsterific but the booze is cheap and service friendly and familiar. It's Polish-owned, located more or less in Mexicantown and crawling with men sporting mustaches un-ironically. It doesn't need to make sense; it works.

#2 Giovanna's Lounge
Giovanna's is a small dive bar with friendly service and cheap booze, but the best thing about it is their huge outdoor patio in the summertime. They don't serve food and it's cash only, but the atmosphere can't be beat.

#3 Las Brisas
By day it's a restaurant with a cheap lunch buffet and homemade Mexican and Mexican-American dishes; by night, it's one of Southwest's hottest spots for live music and dancing. The space is huge with separate areas for dining, dancing and a big, beautiful bar. They bring in popular music acts from all over Mexico with hundreds of people forming a line out the door on weekends. Cover and drinks are always cheap and food is served until 4 a.m. on weekends.

#4 Abick's Bar
A true neighborhood bar in every sense of the word (in that it is actually located in a house in the neighborhood, and that it is also a no-frills, divey kind of place where the crowd is mostly regulars and the locals all hang out), this pre-Prohibition bar is loaded with history and character. Grandma Manya (one of the sole old Polish hold-outs this far outside of Hamtramck) isn't as involved as she once was (she's not cooking those huge dinners for family, friends and guests anymore), but the bar is still comfortable and cheap. Manya is relatively sure Abick's is the oldest family-owned, continuously-operated bar in Detroit; no argument here. Stepping inside this place is like stepping back into history, when bars were social and community centers and not places to get who-do-I-need-to-apologize-to drunk.

#5 Mexicantown Fiesta Center/Lounge/El Club
First off, don't let the name fool you - this place isn't actually in Mexicantown. And the only reason this place doesn't rank any higher is because they don't keep regular daily hours (Fridays are pretty consistent but beyond that you may want to call ahead before making a special trip). But if you're lucky enough to catch this place when it's open to the casual passer-by, it's a small but fantastic bar with friendly locals and staff (which includes the owner Dolores Sanchez who also owns El Central Hispanic News, a free weekly paper that is Michigan's longest running bi-lingual Hispanic newspaper) and really cheap booze. If it's nice outside, be sure to check out the backyard. The space is also available to rent for private events and they host salsa dancing classes.

Bubbling under Kovacs Bar, Los Galanes, Armando's Mexican Restaurant, El Chaparrel, Stempien's Sidestreet Lounge, Corner Pocket Lounge, El Zocalo

[HOT LIST] Detroit Grocery Stores + Markets

(All photos by Nicole Rupersburg)

How do you start a hipster riot? In Detroit, it seems, all you have to do is click your heels together and say repeat the words "Whole Foods" three times. (Actually, you don't have to click your heels together and you only have to say those two little words just the once. Once is plenty.)

And, right, so, of course we get it. Some of you are happy with the existing options. And why not. Eastern Market is amazing. (We should know. We basically live there.) The Honey Bee on Bagley has Mexican Coke and guacamole and that is also awesome. Some of you, the sort content to go through life quietly punishing yourselves for various hidden sins, even think that University Foods is a real grocery store. (Let's not start another mini-riot; instead we'll just bob our heads up and down in agreement and move on.) You like to think that Detroit is just fine the way it is, give or take a light rail line or two. 'Grats. Loving your optimism.

Us, though? Well, if you're asking, we say Whole Foods can't come soon enough. Sure, it's not going to fix all of Detroit's problems, but you know what else won't fix all of Detroit's problems? Not opening a Whole Foods. That's what. (And neither will light rail, and neither will Dan Gilbert and neither will a Somerset pop-up store, but again, in the interest of keeping the peace, let's move on.)

Yes, come early 2013, we won't be pried out of our Eastern Market lair all that easily, but having a massive selection of organic produce, artisanal food products, assorted imported and organic food stuffs, boutique wine and craft beer, all within walking distance, available seven days a week and late into the evening hours? This is not something we will be unhappy about. Not at all.

Then again, a year and a half is a long way off. In the meantime, let's take a look at some of of Detroit's best existing markets and shops. Some you've heard of, some you haven't; they're all fanbloodytastic.
 
#1 E and L Supermercado Southwest
You love Honey Bee for the Mexican Coca-Cola in the bottle. Well, it's half the price here. E and L has a huge selection of fresh tortillas and other Hispanic food products and produce (this is Southwest, after all). They also have a fantastic prepared foods counter where you can get proper tacos (chicken, steak or pork with onions and lime) and quesadillas for a buck-thirty each or 3-for-$3 (and you can call-ahead order while on your lunch break for a quick grab-and-go). Their homemade guacamole is also cheaper than Honey Bee (and is better too, IOO), and their homemade tortilla chips and salsa will make you swear off all other pre-packaged store brands forever and ever, amen. But the real beauty is their butcher counter: they have the widest selection of butchered meats at the cheapest prices and highest quality anywhere in the city ... and, really, even beyond. Porterhouse steaks, ribs, filets, beef tenderloin, chorizo, al pastor, even goat (barbacoa); and let's not forget their 16-ft marinade counter loaded with marinated chicken wings, drums, fajitas, and carne asada; or their top-quality luncheon meat counter sliced to order. And it's all criminally cheap.

#2 R. Hirt Jr. Co. Eastern Market
It's Detroit's own genuine, bonafide, olde-timey general store selling lots of odds-and-ends and kitchen trinkets, but the reason we love R. Hirt so very much - despite its severely limited hours - is that cheese counter. THAT cheese counter. The cheese and deli counters are the showpiece of R. Hirt, located right front-and-center (and usually causing some massive bottle-necking in the narrow aisle). The selection is enormous. Blah blah blah meats, BUT, cheeeeeeese. Over 300 different varieties of cheese are on-hand here, some sitting out and letting their luscious aromas waft throughout the building, the rest stored in their massive backroom freezer. The emphasis isn't huge on locally-made cheeses (though there are some), but the import selection is outstanding and, no joke, up to $10 per pound cheaper than Zingerman's. Feel free to ask for samples; we certainly do.

#3 (Tie) Cost Plus Wine Shoppe Eastern Market + Motor City Wine Downtown
Detroit's abundance of liquor stores is well-documented (usually tagged with key words like "food desert"), but despite all the widely-available booze there are two - two - stores in all of Detroit where you can find a quality selection of small-production boutique wines from all over the world. Cost Plus has a larger store and thus a larger selection, and we've found some mind-blowing Chilean wines for a whopping $7. Cost Plus also has a nice collection of Michigan craft beers from some of our favorite labels (Bell's, Founders, New Holland, Short's). Motor City Wine has a smaller but exquisitely-curated wine selection, and is also a hotspot for live music with their "Hot Pot" Detroit techno Thursdays and world-renowned jazz on weekends. They have a leg up on Cost Plus with later hours, weekly events and regular wine tastings, and what they lack in craft beer they make up for by being located above another of our faves: the Grand Trunk Pub, which sells mix-and-match sixers of beer to go.

#4 Azteca Supermercado Southwest
Food desert. Pfffffff. The sheer abundance and per-capita density of grocers, supermarkets, butchers and bakers in Southwest Detroit more than makes up for what might be lacking elsewhere in the city. It's really quite astounding how many places there are to buy fresh food in SW, and how busy they all always seem to be. We don't really love Azteca for any one thing - we love them for all things. Fresh CHEAP produce (and a ginormous selection), fantastic butcher shop, fantastic bakery, a complete line of both American and Hispanic food items (like two full grocery stores in one), a huge and sparkling clean store, and awesome weekly specials that are cheap cheap CHEAP. If you want to settle for smaller selections at higher prices with lower quality and claim that it's "good enough," that's your prerogative.

#5 Goodwell's Natural Foods Midtown 
Goodwell's is essentially the local mom-and-pop version of Whole Foods. The focus is all on natural and organic foods with lots of vegan and raw this-and-thats. Their homemade pocket sandwiches are cheap and delicious, making it a nice little alternative to the often-overrun and rather 'spensive Avalon International Breads next door, while still maintaining the same ethos. The grocery selection is small but has all the staples you need; because it is all organic it is also more expensive, but such is the price you pay for eco-consciousness and sustainability. Which, if you're shopping here, you probably already know.

Bubbling under Honey Bee La Colmena (Mexicantown), Al-Madeena Grocery (Hamtramck), Lafayette Foods (Lafayette Park), Kim's Produce (Midtown), Polish Market (Hamtramck)

[EID Feature] Las Brisas: "Breeze" on Down Vernor for the Place That Has Everything

(All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.)

Southwest Detroit has been receiving a lot of attention lately. Sure, they have food trucks (LONG before it was "cool"), but the Southwest neighborhood has also been hailed by the Freep as one of two "thriving" neighborhoods in Detroit (the technicality of that point could be argued but whatevs, at least they still have concentrated street retail and foot traffic) and adventuresome types looking for an "authentic" experience have lately been taking up the mantle of SW urban explorers.

The fact is, Southwest Detroit offers something that no other neighborhood in the city can offer: a highly concentrated ethnic population that has made Southwest Detroit synonymous with "Mexicantown" (one small corner of the area at Bagley and 24th) and even reminiscent of the cultural diversity of the American Southwest.

There are a lot of popular go-to spots for urban explorers: Mexicantown Restaurant, Los Galanes, Xochimilco, Mexicantown Bakery, Armando's, Cafe con Leche, those newly-appreciated taco carts. But if you drive just a little bit farther down Vernor - outside of the population density, which tends to get damn-near claustrophobic on weekends (SW gets pretty bumpin'), a ways past Clark Park to just west of Springwells - you'll find a little-known gem called Las Brisas.

Las Brisas has been here about 25 years, but in 2005 the original owners sought to retire and sold the business to Ricardo Lopez, whose family owns the Aranda's Tire chain (which had a store right across the street from Las Brisas).

And then, the economy ... well, you know all about that. The Lopez family owned another restaurant which they had to shut down, but through it all continued to operate Las Brisas. But things are looking up now: most recently the restaurant went through a massive remodel which moved the bar, raised the ceiling, increased the space and updated the look. Outside it looks like a regular, unremarkable building on Vernor, but inside it is a warm and spacious restaurant with lots of natural light and one of the largest nightclubs in the area with live music and dancing every weekend.

By day, it is a restaurant serving popular Mexican-American food. They've got all the favorites - tacos, enchiladas, burritos - and everything they do, they do very well. Mexican-American cuisine gets a bad rep - some people want to gripe over a lack of "authenticity" (ironically these people are almost never Mexican), while others have the impression that the food is just plain bad, an impression well-earned by lackluster Mexi-merican joints with sub-par fare. At Las Brisas, you get the very best of both worlds: traditional Mexican items catered to American palates (i.e., lots of cheese, lots of deep-frying) and all of it done exceptionally well.

The kitchen team gets in early every single morning to make all the dishes for the day, so everything you eat is homemade fresh daily. During the week you can stop in for their lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, for only $6.50 you get all-you-can-eat buffet items which include build-your-own tacos, deep-fried beef tacos (all the awesomeness of deep-fried mini tacos only homemade and fresh, not frozen), chicken flautas in crisp fried shells, chorizo-and-cheese burritos (drained of all that excess grease), creamy fresh-made guacamole and a variety of other items. Off the regular menu, their Mexican sandwich and tortas are their most popular signature items; you can also order extra-large family-style combo plates of tacos, burritos and enchiladas with beans and rice for dine-in or carry-out. They have different daily specials for carry-out, dine-in and the bar in addition to their lunch buffet.

The food may be simple and not treading any new territory, but when simple dishes are done well they far surpass their bland counterparts. Las Brisas may be a bit off the beaten path from the high-traffic stretch of Vernor, but the food here is 100x better than what you get at some of the better-known, more popular places that make up Mexicantown. As an added bonus, they have their own private parking lot that's guarded by security during all hours of operation, assuaging any concerns over safety for visitors.

On weekends, the place becomes a full-blown nightclub, bringing in popular singers, bands and DJs from all over the different states of Mexico (as well as mariachi bands earlier in the evening). It gets packed at night, bringing in crowds of 250+ people who will line up around the building to get in. Cover is only $5 for DJs (bands and singers will cost a little more), and the party goes all night. Afterwards, you can even stick around for your post-party late-night fried food feasting until 4 a.m., ending your evening in the same place you started it with dinner so many hours ago. (This is why they call themselves "the place that has everything.")

If you're having a party, they can cater, deliver, or you can even hold it at the restaurant starting at only $7.50 per person with all the food and service included, for anything from business meetings to birthday parties to weddings.

While the well-known hotspots of Southwest and Mexicantown certainly have their own unique appeal, try broadening your horizons a bit with a place with great food and top-notch international talent. Las Brisas ("the breeze") is well worth the journey off the beaten path.

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

Real Detroit Weekly: Burrito Wars!

My, that IS a big burrito! While Señor Lopez typically shines in the salsa department (it's made fresh with a secret blend), their Señor Lopez Big Burrito is definitely gunning for the number one spot. The Señor Lopez Big Burrito entrée features one BIG burrito stuffed full of beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomato and your choice of meat, served with beans & rice or a side salad. And it's only $6.50. Be sure to grab some chips and salsa while you're there – this salsa is thin, runny and HOT, none of that extra chunky bland gringo nonsense.

More "Burrito Wars!" here.

Real Detroit Weekly: Armando's

"If you've never visited Southwest Detroit for Cinco de Mayo, you are missing out on a distinctly Detroit experience. Vernor becomes gridlocked with cars and trucks blaring salsa and reggaeton, flying the flags of their various heritage – Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic. Bagley in Mexicantown is shut down to through traffic, and outdoor vendors grill up tacos and sell beer out of coolers. Lines to get into restaurants wrap around the buildings and can be several hours long, and everywhere there is lively music and dancing and LOTS of drinking.

'It is the Latino version of St. Patrick's Day. This fifth of May, head down to Armando's, located just far enough down Vernor from Bagley to be accessible, yet still close enough to the action. Join in one of the taco-eating contests while you wait, and later in the evening check out the three-piece band. Beer and tequila sponsors will be there too, and you know what that means – FREE BOOZE!..."

Read the rest of the article here.