[Thrillist] Detroit's 8 Best Places for Poutine

Nicole's Poutine at Rock City Eatery. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg - THE namesake Nicole of the poutine.

Poutine, that unholy trinity of French fries, gravy, and cheese curds, is one of Canada's great gifts to America. In Detroit, a city that's located right across the river from our benevolent Northern neighbors, it sure did take a while for the poutine trend to take root. Luckily, Detroit's come to realize that crossing the border for some late-night eats isn't really practical, which is why we've started making it everywhere. Here are the eight best spots to get it:

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[HOT LIST] Hot dogs

Atomic Dawg. Photo from their Facebook page. 

The hot dog has come a long way in metro Detroit since our first Hot Dog Hot List in the summer of '11. The gourmet hot dog trend got off to a halty start here with some places shutting down just as their buzz started building. But now the haute hot dog, yet another cheap food blue collar food made fashionable and now costs $9, has reached bonafide trend status. And that trend also happens to be wrapped in bacon (more often than not). While there are none on this list quite so patriotic as the most America-est hot dog in America, we can still hold out hope that Chef Andy Hollyday will recreate this Le Haute Duck when he opens his own place later this year.

In honor of National Hot Dog Month, here are the hottest dogs in metro Detroit.

The hot dog that should come with a waiver: Imperial's new Egg On Your Face late-night dog.

#1 Imperial Ferndale
In case you didn't know, Imperial is one of the best bars/restaurants/hang-outs in metro Detroit. So now you know. Now that we've got that cleared up, let's on to the hot dogs: they started with the simple Sonoran, a bacon-wrapped hot dog with stewed beans, tomato, onion, poblano lime cream, and salsa verde. That became so popular that they added MORE hot dogs to the menu. And the place became so popular that they also decided to add more menu; specifically, a brand-new weekend late-night menu, which includes items like the Egg On Your Face bacon-wrapped hot dog with queso fresco, jalapeno onion relish, chipotle aioli, carne asada, chorizo, and (AND) a fried egg. Yeah, that's one hot dog.

The 3 A.M. Dog at Vinsetta Garage.

#2 Vinsetta Garage Berkley
So I recently wrote this in Metromode: "The historic old garage reborn as a restaurant opened less than a year ago, and from day one has been filling its waiting list. The iconic building's history and the excellent adaptive reuse notwithstanding, people come here for one primary reason: the food. Classic American comfort food meets classic American car culture here, but in addition to the Union Joints' signature macaroni and cheese and the out-of-this-world disco fries (get the disco fries), the burgers are the real stars at Vinsetta." Okay so yeah, the burgers are the stars here but the tube steaks are no slouches. There's the Classic Detroit Coney with house-made chili, the Yeti Dog which is wrapped in bacon and deep-fried, and the 3 A.M. Dog, the hot dog version of the burger by the same name with house-made bacon jam, sriracha mayo, a sunny fried egg and crispy fried onions.

#3 Atomic Dawg Berkley
At this point I'm just repeating myself, so here again is what I wrote about Atomic Dawg for that same story in Metromode: "Though technically the Atomic Dawg is not owned by Corridor Sausage, it is 'owned' by Corridor Sausage in the pwned kind of way. As American chefs continue combing through the archives of the greatest hits of American junk food for the Next Big Thing in garbage gone gourmand, it seems that sights are set on the good old all-American hot dog. Atomic Dawg uses Corridor Sausage for their sausage selection (which includes a sausage of the week) serving what is, essentially, a really dressed up version of a meat tube." They also have a big selection of big "dawgs" that come with such toppings as pulled pork and grilled pineapple, plus they've got veggie dogs for those who like everything on the hot dog except for the hot dog itself.

#4 The Grindhouse Detroit
The Grindhouse is the recently-launched food truck owned by the folks at Corridor Sausage. Since Corridor will be mentioned on this list a total of three times, I would be remiss to not give it its own place on the list. Now, we could split hairs here - what defines a "hot dog" versus a sausage, and if we're including sausage here what about [all of these other sausage places]? Um. 'Cuz Corridor rulz. And Grindhouse has corn dogs! So. There. (Even Charley thinks so, and he's the mustard dude.)

#5 Ford Field Detroit
Not only is Ford Field stepping up their game this year with a new Corridor Sausage cart, but they've been serving Dearborn Sausage Co. hot dogs with Charley's Ballpark Mustard (the mustard dude!) for awhile now. And that, really, is all you need in a hot dog.

Recent hot dog specials at Falling Down Beer Co.

Honorable mention: Falling Down Beer Company (Warren)
These Dearborn Sausage Co. dogs were a recent special, but deserve their proper dues regardless (they will also most likely be making their way to a new late-night menu, so stay tuned). Word is out in the beerie community: Falling Down has some of the best bar food in town. Pictured: Southern Dog - homemade pimento cheese and crumbled bacon; Chipotle BBQ Dog - BBQ pulled pork and creamy chipotle slaw; Guacamole Dog - house made guacamole and cumin-salted corn tortilla strips; Horse Relish Dog - McClure's spicy pickle, red onion, horseradish and sauerkraut relish with stoneground Dijonaise.

Bubbling under Roast (Detroit), Biercamp (Ann Arbor), The Wurst Bar (Ypsilanti), Bucharest Grill (downtown), Rosie O'Grady's (multiple locations), Detroit Under Dog (Ferndale), Mercury Burger Bar (Corktown), Five Guys Burgers and Fries (various locations), Hippo's Hot Dogs (Troy, Clinton Twp.), Old Shillelagh (Greektown), Epic (Novi), The Henry Ford (Dearborn), Comerica Park (Detroit), Tortitas el Rojito (SW Detroit)

[Metromode] Where's the Beef in Metro Detroit? (and Lamb, Pork, and Duck)

Morrisey named one of his seminal albums Meat is Murder. Comedian Denis Leary took that one step further in his 1992 stand-up special No Cure for Cancer, saying, "Meat tastes like murder, and murder tastes f@#%ing good.

With all the love for vegetarians and vegans going around, it would seem like our carnivore friends are merely an afterthought. Vegetarians get their own cookbooks and whole recipe sections of cooking magazines dedicated solely to their lifestyle. So do the gluten-free folks, who are quite literally the one-percenters of the world, and yet have permeated mainstream eating. Vegans, they get their own lists and guides and books and TV shows and other special snowflake treatment. Not sure if someone is a vegan? Don't worry, they'll go out of their way to tell you.

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[NEWS BITES] New TV show UNITED STATES OF BACON features three metro Detroit restaurants this Tuesday

America has a new TV show that follows a douchey overweight loudmouth with age-inappropriate spiked hair and an affinity for patterned button-downs as he traipses across the country from restaurant to restaurant, only this one is dedicated entirely to bacon.

THE UNITED STATES OF BACON (that's the proper given title of the show, in all caps) airs Tuesday nights on Destination America, and this Tuesday, January 22 at 9pm metro Detroit will watch as Guy Fieri Todd Fisher descends upon the Union Woodshop (for their all-pork sandwich), Vinsetta Garage (for their Macon Bacon Burger) and Jacoby's (for their beef and bacon Rouladen).

There's really nothing else to say about this except: bacon.

[Metromode] A New Breed of Restaurateur Pt. 1

The days of metro Detroit's restaurant empires are over. The latest breed of successful restaurateur is anti-corporate and anti-chain. They create unique businesses in unique spaces, care about people and preservation, and even managed to open some of Metro Detroit's most successful restaurants in the midst of the economic downturn.

Read more.

This is part one of a two-part series. This half focuses on Curt Catallo and Ann Stevenson, the couple behind the Union Joints which operate the Clarkston Union, Union Woodshop and Vinsetta Garage; and Luciano del Signore, celebrated chef and owner of Bacco Ristorante and Pizzeria Biga.

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

UK vs US

Tomorrow night the Rattlesnake will be featured on the Detroit episode of Chef Race: UK vs US. Other stops on the BBC America's city your included Eastern Market and the Grosse Ile Yacht Club, but it was in the Snake's kitchen that the elimination challenge took place. Executive Chef Chris Franz even got to take part in the judging. The episode airs Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. on BBC America. [Rattlesnake Official]

Some major kind of filming is happening this week at Vinsetta Garage and Union Woodshop, but they have since scrubbed their Facebook accounts of all mention of it. Good thing I have a good memory (even if I do only ever skim things): Vinsetta and the Woodshop (or is it the Clarkston Union? again, I only ever skim things and for porkssake they both have the word "Union" in the name) will be featured in a new series on the Discovery Channel called "United States of Bacon." Filming is scheduled for this week. [hazy Facebook recollections]

Wolfgang Puck's new Pizzeria + Cucina inside the MGM Grand Detroit is very much open and very much awesome. The space, however, still looks exactly like Saltwater, though perhaps a bit less blingy. [EID FB]

Sometimes a pop-up is more than the sum of its parts. Cafe con Leche del Este is a coffeehouse, yes, but it is equally a community effort and a bit of a social experiment. With help from the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation's Revolve Detroit program and many others, this pop-up is both testing the waters and the theory that a community CAN build a business if there is enough demand and support. [Deadline]

And while you're there, try La Lumbre del Diablo. [Thrillist]

1917 American Bistro celebrated three years in business this weekend. [1917 FB]

Old people are the original hipsters. [Deadline]

A rising tide floats all boats in this retail desert that is Detroit. (Though it's a bit of a stretch to position Astro Coffee as a competitor of Sugar House and Slows.) [Det News]

Calder Dairy's egg nog is now available in stores. Oh yes, this is happening people. [EWOW FB]

And I did, too. [Pie-Sci FB]

This too. [EID FB]

Eat It GR
~It's Founders Brewing Co's quinceañera and there is much celebration to be had. [MLive]
~Mitten Brewing is now open and is very sports bar-meets-microbrewery. It's less douchey than it sounds: think more vintage sports memorabilia and less 42 flashing flat screen TVs visible from any point in the room. [Rapid Growth]
~Grand Rapids Brewing Co. is still on track for their Dec. 5 opening. [GRBC FB]
~Someone is living my dream life on Michigan's west coast. Her name is the Cheese Lady, and she recently opened her third location in Grand Rapids in addition to her Muskegon and Kalamazoo shops. [some blog]
~Want to buy a brewery? You can buy this one via Craigslist and have your very own Beer City USA-adjacent microbrewery. Provided you have half a mil. [MLive]

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

HE MADE IT! The Official Eat It Detroit Hatch Candidate of 2012 Rock City Pies made it to the top 4, thanks to all your help! This is a real David v. Goliath story in the making ... and don't we all just love those underdog stories? Of course we do, especially here in Detroit. SO VOTE. Round 2 starts Monday. [Hatch / EID FB]

Detroit Pop-Up City. Also, Great Lakes Coffee is the best thing that happened in Detroit this year. (Green Dot Stables being second.) [NY Times]

So much the best thing that when the Detroit News finally tuned into the story, they made a joke about jumping the shark so I didn't have to. Also, this means the Freep's version of The Coffee Story is soon to follow. Sure am glad I beat them both by over a year (also here). But seriously though, why do we have two newspapers? [Det News / GLCB FB / Metromode / Curbed Detroit]

And since we're on the subject, here's Hour's version of The Coffee Story too. Oh, media. [Hour]

ZOMGZ MOAR COFFEE. Transplanted Detroit-area person in New York is opening her third coffee shop in her hometown hood. The signage for the soon-to-open Roasting Plant Coffee in the First National Building is up; I'm no Curbed Detroit but I kind of love the look here. [Curbed Detroit]

DevNews-a-Palooza courtesy of Curbed Detroit: Gold Cash Gold is going to have to rush Phil rush so that the banquet center is open in time for the Auto Show (the rest is targeted for end of summer 2013); Avalon International Breads now has a retail location at Henry Ford and will open a third on Canfield as part of their expansion; also - more lofts and greenways! [Curbed Detroit]

The design of Vinsetta Garage is praised by the Preservation Nation blog. Gears, steers and beers! [Preservation Nation]

The second-annual Detroit Design Festival got a lot of buzz this year, but not all of the coordinating events got a lot of people. Eastern Market After Dark at least appeared to be a big success. [HuffPost Detroit / DDF FB / EM FB]

Detroit is the capital of mac 'n cheese. TAP inside MGM Grand Detroit opened this week, and they managed to make this most artery-clogging of dishes even worse -- by deep-frying it. [MGM FB / EID FB]

Slows is on another best-something list. [The Chive]

Jolly Pumpkin released their La Roja Grand Reserve this week, but if you haven't purchased any by the time you read this it's probably sold out. Sad trombone. [JP FB]

Traverse City (and surrounding areas) shall now henceforth be known as the Hamptons of Michigan. Because everything must be the something of something. [Forbes]

Speaking of the area, a new winery opened on Old Mission this weekend (which brings the grand total up to 8). Say hello to Hawthorne Vineyards! Another new winery also opened on Leelanau over the weekend, but I'll leave that one for Batali. [Hawthorne Vineyards FB]

Forbes is crushing on Detroit in a major kind of way. Whether Another Detroit Is Happening or not, if you say it enough times it must be true. [Forbes]

Then again, reality bites. [Deadline Detroit]

After losing several participating restaurants to closings and remodelings, this season of Detroit Restaurant Week is down to just 17 restaurants ... which means reservations will be even more impossible to come by. It starts Sept. 28 and runs through Oct. 7. [Freep / EID FB]

Real Detroit Weekly got a bad case of the "me toos" and decided to host their OWN DAMN RESTAURANT WEEK the same days as DRW (remember, DRW is sponsored by the Metro Times). So now Plymouth has their own restaurant week and it too starts Sept. 28 and runs through Oct. 7. [RDW FB]

Didn't this story already happen? Apparently there was a resurgence in interest over Royal Oak's Taste Love Cupcakes due to re-runs. [Crain's]

[HOT LIST] Poutine

Brooklyn Street Local. 

Last week both the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News ran stories on Detroit's sudden poutine craze. Seeing as how I've been Pied-Pipering the poutine scene for the better part of a year now (while the bulk of that was covered on Facebook, there are also searchable archives here to support that), I feel it a matter of unfortunate timing that the results of my diligent research for this particular Hot List -- which is, make no mistake, the most thoroughly-researched Hot List I've ever published -- should come out after both of those stories. Let us remember who asked to henceforth be referred to as the Queen of Poutine before either of them ran. In other words what I'm really trying to say is FIRST.

Poutine is the most magical of comfort foods. Authentic ethnic cuisine from the exotic foreign lands of Canada, poutine is in essence French fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. And it must -- *MUST* -- be cheese curds; shredded cheese simply will not do. Perfect for the late-night drunchies, homeopathic hangover treatments and all hours of comfort food cravings, poutine is sovereign. With Windsor closer to Detroit than Royal Oak, it's a bit befuddling as to why poutine never became a "thing" until now. (Sidebar: If I had a dime for every time I've said "Poutine: it's gonna be a thing," well, I'd actually be getting paid for doing this which would be awesome.) But these dark days are now behind us and the poutine prophecy has been fulfilled.

Mercury Burger Bar.

Some things to note before we move forward, as this one has been particularly near and dear to me: with no fewer than three of the four hyper-trendy eateries in Corktown serving the stuff, Corktown can now be called Poutine Town. (Someone tell Slows that they're falling behind.) Some places serve what can only best be called variations on the theme of poutine (like Woodbridge Pub, which uses potato wedges with mushroom gravy and cheddar cheese cubes, or the Rattlesnake Club, which uses a bleu cheese sauce served on the side of their truffle fries), others need to go back to the drawing board (sorry, Mac Shack), and others still have been vastly improved upon after a little constructive criticism (Mercury Burger Bar before; Mercury Burger Bar after). And the trend shows no sign of stopping: Local Kitchen + Bar will have poutine on their menu too.

And finally, some might question why none of the Windsor joints are in the top 5. Easy: no one is paying $8 roundtrip to cross the border and deal with American customs for a $6 order of fries. Agree or disagree; that's just reality. Windsor will gets its due soon enough, promise.

#1 Vinsetta Garage (Berkley)
Yep. Number one. It isn't even called "poutine" on the menu, but their "Disco Fries" are no doubt of Canadian lineage. House-cut fries dolloped with perfectly melty gooey Ellsworth cheese curds and slathered in piping hot whole grain mustard gravy, chili flakes and scallions. How did this place beat out those of authentic Canadian pedigree? Well this restaurant is nothing if not a comfort food house of worship and while their mac + cheese is most exalted, the poutine is secretly king. Also, I have a bias towards spicy foods and the addition of whole grain mustard and chili flakes shot this over the top.

Vinsetta Garage.

#2 Brooklyn Street Local (Corktown)
Welcome to our country you lovely Canadians and thank you for sharing with us this part of your culture! Brooklyn Street Local serves the best traditional Canadian poutine: hand-cut fries with organic cheese curds and homemade beef gravy. Vegetarian? They'll swap out the beef gravy with a tasty homemade mushroom gravy. Bacontarian? They'll add caramelized onions and bacon. (That's the special house "BSL Poutine.") And and AND ... if what you really want is one of their other many fantastic made-from-scratch hearty diner eats, you can get a side of poutine for only $3. AND! As of this week, they now accept credit cards.

#3 Grange Kitchen + Bar (Ann Arbor)
No one's ever going to accuse their poutine of being pretty, but Chef Brandon Johns's duck confit poutine with goat cheese curd and duck sage gravy (all locally-sourced and made in-house, the cheese from Four Corners Creamery and the duck from Back Forty Acres) is not just awesome -- it is aw-awholelot. Grange, and quite possibly this dish in itself, is well worth the trip to A2.

#4 24grille (Detroit)
Kind of glad I kept this one in my back pocket. Executive Chef Christian Borden is from Toronto. This is important because, as we know, poutine is an indigenous Canadian cuisine and Canadians do it best by nature. The poutine at 24grille is something of a best-kept secret: only available on their lunch menu, it's $6 for an order of proper poutine made with hand-cut Idaho potato, gravy, cheese curds, herbs, and then cranked up with a pile o' pulled pork.

#5 Green Dot Stables (Corktown)
How much do we love them? Let's count the ways! (1) Owners Jacques and Christine Driscoll are simply outstanding people (ditto Chef Les Molnar). You'd want them to do well even if their product sucked. While there is certainly no shortage of nepotism in Detroit, thankfully their product does not suck so you can support awesome people doing equally awesome things. (2) Cheap beer! (3) Cheap food! (4) Cheap GOOD beer! (5) Cheap GOOD food! (6) And also poutine! "Le poutine" is $3 in the classic Canadian style: homemade gravy and cheese curds over their crispy shoestring fries. For added emphasis, it's $3. In fact, nothing on their menu is more than $3 ... and that includes all their craft beer and cocktails. LOVE.

Bubbling under Sardine Room (Plymouth), Frenchy's Poutinery (Windsor), Woodbridge Pub (Detroit), Toscana (Windsor), Mercury Burger Bar (Corktown), Rattlesnake Club (Detroit), Pita Grill (Windsor)

 

The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

This is on the wall of the employee bathroom at Dark Horse Brewing Co. Really.

Easy Like Sundae, a new froyo shop set to open in Ferndale, would like to remind you to buy Michigan or the communists win. [Ferndale Patch]

*Yawn* OLD NEWS, but let's give the rest of the world some time to catch up. MillerCoors bought the Michigan Brewing Company brand and now a week later they're officially admitting it. [Beer Pulse]

Jolly Pumpkin releases Luciernaga at the Ann Arbor Cafe; Mae's in Pleasant Ridge is approved for a patio; Vinsetta Garage will start serving lunch next week (and oh yeah, they have poutine and it's rad). [EID FB]

Is this quite possibly the worst name for something ever? It may just very well be (or at least gives the Dan Gilbert Rebrand-O-Matic(TM) a run for its money). Which is unfortunate because the idea itself doesn't suck. [Curbed Detroit]

The Great Lakes Coffee Bar in Midtown opens softly but carries a big stick tap handle. [EID FB]

This was so funny the first time MLive decided to bring it back out for a second go-round: "Morse said he'd entertain the idea if the brewery was approached by a cool band, such as Slayer." Kid Rock now also wants a piece of Dark Horse Brewing Co., which just goes to show that, while "we all just want to be big rock stars," big rock stars just want to be a cool brewery. [MLive]

Last week was all about coffee shops; this week was all about urban farms. Curbed Detroit tries to figure out why Detroiters love urban ag but virulently hate the Hantz Farm project proposal. (The short answer is because Detroiters are never happy. The long answer is a bit more complicated but includes words like "corporatocracy" and "land grab.") [Curbed Detroit]

The iconic "Pizza! Pizza!" tagline returns for a new national marketing campaign for Little Caesars; the pizza is just as dreadful as ever. [Crain's Detroit]

Grand Rapids, which recently tied Asheville NC for Beer City USA, is releasing a collaborative Beer City Pale Ale on July 1. This collabobrew is the collective efforts of 10 western Michigan breweries. Road trip? [MLive]

As further proof that we only get better with age, Eastern Market continues to up the awesome ante almost every single week. This week it was by signing a lease for Corridor Sausage's new production facility. [Model D]

Detroit: City of Tomorrow. [Business Insider]

Opus One is going to take a long jump out of the "It's a Living" '80s and land heel-first into 2012. Tonight is the last night of dinner service as Opus One closes for a 4+ month renovation; plans are to open Opus Next in November. Shoulder pads and Aqua Net will no longer be part of the required dress code. [Det News]

Cliff Bell's is now open for lunch. [EID FB]

Deadline Detroit finds their inner Paula Cole and asks, where have all the cowboys Greeks gone? (The short answer is, "Because of those Injuns and that damn casino," and then it's like, ohhhhhh, Native Americans... followed by a wave of white guilt followed by the realization that while Greektown itself may no longer be the epicenter it once was Greek culture has been thoroughly assimilated throughout metro Detroit which is progress in itself.) [Deadline Detroit]