We recently attended a special “Detroit - The City of Chefs” dinner at Schoolcraft College, and were seated at a table with some wonderful people, Mark & Sadina Pulgar. They are foodies, just like us, and shared their love of dining out, wines, bourbons etc.  Sadina specifically said she loves to be in the kitchen . . . not just cooking, but specifically baking.  They mentioned their daughter, Ellen Genaw, had just opened a new restaurant in the heart of Downtown Monroe called PRIMAL PLATES. 

In 2012 the Yaquinto family opened The Sardine Room.   They were not new to the restaurant industry. They started in Dearborn, with Paisano’s Pizza over 40 years ago. In the early 2000’s they opened Campari’s On The Park, a very popular downtown Plymouth dining location.  Around 2009 they opened Fiamma Grill (which is currently being renovated) right next to Compari’s. Finally, in 2012, The Sardine Room was born. If you live in the surrounding communities, you are likely familiar with at least one of these 3 locations

In 2013 Bob & Dorothy Ostendorf, and their business partners Jim & Kathy Sulllivan, took over a pub located at 860 Fralick in Downtown Plymouth.  It was an old Irish Pub  and the Ostendorf’s and Sullivan’s were not crazy about what the place was, even though they frequented it regularly.  They changed the name to Stella’s Black Dog Tavern. The name comes from the Ostendorf’s Bernese Mountain Dog Stella. 

In 2016, Michael Ransom decided to return to Detroit to open a casual restaurant featuring Japanese inspired food with Midwestern ingredients. He named this restaurant IMA. Ima in Japanese kanji means ‘now’, as in ‘in the moment’. Chef Ransom said “My philosophy behind the ‘now’ thing is that food is an escape. When you’re sitting down at a table with great food and great people … nothing else matters. It’s kind of an escape from reality a little bit. It’s that break in the middle of your day or night that really does allow time to stand still.”

This week we are visiting Coach’s Corner in Livonia, checking out some of their great Happy Hour specials.  We went back through our posts and realized we have never featured Coach’s Corner before . . . so it’s about time we do so!  Coach’s Corner is located in Livonia on 7 Mile at the Fox Creek Golf Course. However, you don’t have to be a golfer to go there.  They are an extremely family oriented sports bar and are known to be a gathering place for sports teams of all ages to gather after a game or event.

This week we ventured out to Downtown Northville, to a place that is serving up some great happy hours selections available ALL DAY MONDAY and from 1-6 PM Tuesday through Thursday.   The Northville Sports Den. This is not a new place. It has been open since around 2010. They are a family owned restaurant, located in the Northville Square business complex. There is an entrance in the rear right off the parking lot behind the building so parking is usually not a problem. 

Located at the north end of Walled Lake, just east of Pontiac Trail, is a long standing restaurant that has been many names through the years.  My memories are from when it was Key Largos back in the 90’s. Today, it is the home to The Beach Tiki Bar & Boil

Everyone is painfully aware that dining out has become very expensive.  As you probably know, we eat out often! Usually, when we go out, we end up sitting at the bar and sharing a few appetizers and a beer, bourbon or cool cocktail.  It’s QUICK (because you get your drinks right away) FUN (because you get to talk to the bartenders, and other people at the bar) AND the best part, no leftovers to take home and no irritating styrofoam containers in your fridge. A lot of restaurants do SMALL PLATES / SHAREABLES or TAPAS. People don’t really want to commit to just ONE entree to eat.  They want to sample things and share food!  Although COVID changed a lot of things in the restaurant world . . . HAPPY HOUR HAS MADE A STRONG COMEBACK!

Located a ¼ mile apart, on M-59 (aka Highland Rd) in White Lake Township, are two places that are worthy of making a trip for some legitimate carry out food.  We are taking you from Nashville to Graceland in 30 seconds, visiting Nashville Detroit for their great Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich and Graceland King Gyro, a liquor store selling some great gyro sandwiches.

The story of Karl’s Cabin goes back to January of 1936 when Romanian immigrants, Alex and Katie Rusceak, purchased a 220 acre farm in Salem Township, MI for $1 from the Union Stock Land Bank of Detroit.  1 years later they opened Rusceak’s Rustic Tavern, a log framed tavern with a fieldstone fireplace build form boulders found on the property. 

The Fed Community. Husband and wife team Sarah and James Schneider, who were always looking for a reason to host their next dinner party or event, look at The Fed as an extension of their home.  They encourage guests to “come as they are” with their exquisite, yet laid back atmosphere . . . and no dress code.  I’m not sure if James and Sarah had previous restaurant experience, but they DO like to entertain! The Fed Community is a way for them to host a couple hundred people every night for dinner. 

This week we are back to Ann Arbor, visiting one of our all time favorites for not only BBQ but for great home brewed beers. Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery.  The beautiful thing about this local brewery is that they also have a full liquor license so they don’t just sell beer and wine.  We have featured the Blue Tractor before, in 2019, as part of our Fun Food Friday posts . . . but a lot can happen in 5 years so we felt them worthy of another mention. 

This week we are “Losing Ourselves” at Eminem’s restaurant collaboration with The Union Joint’s from Clarkston, which opened it’s doors in 2021.  The name was inspired from a line in the song Lose Yourself from 8 Mile. Let’s go check out Mom’s Spaghetti. 

This week we are featuring Rebecca’s Family Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor at 134 N Center Street in the heart of Downtown Northville.  This place is adorable and so much fun!  It’s decorated throughout with all sorts of antique photos, model airplanes and a whole section dedicated to the Red Wings. But the coolest thing is the miniature train that is constantly circling the dining room which is a big hit with the kids.

This weeks adventure takes us to Wayne, to a locally owned establishment that is serving up some creative scratch-made-to-order food.  It is a bistro, but some refer to it as a sports bar in the sense they have tv’s and they usually have sports playing.  The Avenue American Bistro is not new, but it is new to us.  We were told about it by some friends that told us we would love it, and we did.

Located in the Heart of Downtown Wayne, it is a culinary delight! They opened their doors in 2010 and are still going strong today.  The inside is wide open with lots of space.  There are murals painted on the cinderblock walls depicting the blue collar workers the Detroit and surrounding communities were built on. The atmosphere, food and the service are exactly what we look for when we go out. 

On March 3rd of this year, brothers Eric and Ryan Sokolowsi, along with their business partner John Skrbal, opened Great White Buffalo Brewing Company in Downtown Northville.  They secured a prime location, right at the corner of Center and Main Streets. The space was previously occupied by Yogurt Palooza a few years back.

It all started in 1995, when Curt Catallo and his wife Ann Stevenson opened up the Clarkston Union.  Curt’s parents had bought the old church, to save it from disrepair, and were not sure what to do with the place. Curt and Ann had an idea, and together with their opening chef Bill Fortin, they opened the Clarkston Union Bar & Kitchen. 

This week our adventure takes us back to Clarkston to Honchos. Honcho’s is a Latin street food inspired restaurant and coffee house. It is part of the “Union Joints” which started in 1995 when they opened their first place, The Clarkston Union. Today, they have expanded and are behind The Fenton Fire Hall, Union Rec in Ann Arbor, Vincetta’s Garage in Royal Oak and Union Assembly and Mom’s Spaghetti in Downtown Detroit to name a few.

The story that we heard, was that in 2008 Bogdan Tarasov, a Romanian construction company owner was working in the downtown Detroit area and would bring in sandwiches for his crew.  His sandwiches were so good that he was encouraged to open his own place, serving these delicious shawarma sandwiches. Bogdan was able to secure a place, inside the Park Bar, at the corner of Park and Elizabeth . . . and The Bucharest Grill was born. It was a small “walk up” and “order sandwiches to go” place which quickly grew in popularity. 

The Craft Grill, at Schoolcraft College, is a new and exciting Brew Pub featuring beers made in house by the Schoolcraft Brewing and Distilling program at the college.  The Brew Pub has been there for a few years, but their recent multi-million dollar renovation has allowed them to expand from being open 1 day a week for 3 hours to being open 5 days a week for 10-12 hours 5 days a week. They now offer food as well.  This is a great hidden gem in Livonia since no one would think to go to a school for lunch or dinner.  The brew pub is located at the north end of campus in the Vista Tech Center and is attached to the American Harvest Restaurant.