Best Restaurants in Detroit – A Visitor’s Guide

Planning a trip to Detroit and looking for the best local restaurants to visit? I’ve spent a little bit of time in Detroit these last few months and let me tell you, the food scene is all of that and a bag of Detroit Friends potato chips! I was not only pleasantly surprised with all the great choices to eat, but loved how ethnically diverse the food scene is.

If you’re planning to visit Detroit, you’ll want to know a few things before your visit.

First, it’s DETROIT. Not Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills, or some swanky part of San Fransico. It’s Detroit. Only six years or so ago, the city filed for bankruptcy. Yes, there are a few rough patches in the city. You’ll be fine, however. Stay on course and be nice. No one will bother you.

Also, be encouraged by all the changes taking place in the city. Detroit has made a big comeback thanks to investments with major players like Dan Gilbert who invested a reported $5.6 billion into 100 properties across the city.  The economy is doing much better especially downtown where you’ll be close to trendy neighborhoods like Corktown and Midtown. Those areas are attractive to millennials and urban hipsters who are looking for high-rise condos or warehouse apartments which are surprisingly still affordable and located in or near vibrant restaurant and bar scenes.

With all of that out of the way, below is a shortlist of some of my favorite restaurants in the city. The list is diverse in menu offerings and budgets. I couldn’t forget to include at least one or two coffee shops, of course. If you’re like me, you drink plenty of espresso while traveling.

So here we go!

Best Restaurants in Detroit – A Visitor’s Guide

Parc, Downtown Detroit. This upscale new American restaurant is located right in the heart of Downtown Detroit. With an eclectic menu and craft cocktails set in a chic restaurant, you’ll usually spot couples enjoying a special occasion, business professionals trying to make an impression, or urban hipsters enjoying happy hour. This is definitely one of Detroit’s best restaurants offering, as they call it, “The Parc Experience” and delicious food. I enjoyed the Wild Mushroom Tart, Roasted Giant Prawns, and both of my cocktails.

Lucky Detroit & Espresso located in booming, historic Corktown, Lucky is hands down the coolest place to grab an espresso or trendy flavored latte. Located inside a classic Barbershop that looks straight out of the 60s, Lucky’s ups the ante on the coffee scene in Detroit. If you’re undecided on which drink to get, go for the Vanilla Flavored Latte. You’ll be more than impressed with how it’s prepared and the flavor. Also, the coffee shop is upstairs. You’ll also be able to buy some cool Detroitish gear while your there.

Flowers of Vietnam, Mexicantown. Don’t be fooled by the neighborhood or outdoor appearance by one of Detroit’s best Vietnamese restaurants located ironically, right in the heart of Mexican Town. The food, the fusion, and the cocktails will have you forgetting all your manners and reviewing the menu to see what else you need (not want) to order.  If you don’t order the Caramel Chicken Wings, then you really didn’t go. Bonus, the menu offers a nice mix of small plates, shareables, and entrée size portions. Also, a great mix if vegetarian and vegan options are on the menu to accommodate everyone in your group.

Penny Red’s Buckets and Biscuits. The first question you’ll want to answer is how do you like your biscuits? “Dunk’d or dry?” That’s what they’ll ask you. By dunk’d they literally mean dunked in a honey-butter hot glaze. Penny Red’s serves buckets of fried chicken, honey-butter biscuits, and farmstead sides like watermelon salad, Mexican street corn, fries, and more. The restaurant is located next to The Brakeman, their craft beer and rec hall in downtown Detroit. We only had the biscuits as we were stuffed from breakfast and heading to lunch soon. The biscuits alone were enough to make it to this list. I had my eye on the chicken being served that night and as their website says, that chicken looked “DAMN FINE.”

Other favorite Detroit Restaurants not on this list:

• San Morello: Modern Italian. We went for dessert but it was so good, we went back for brunch the next day.
• Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails: Great cocktails and seasonal soups.
• MadCap Coffee Company: Another great coffee shop, located in downtown Detroit.
• The Apparatus Room: Although I have never been, I’ve tried to make a reservation three different times with no luck. That must be a good sign. Plus it comes highly recommended.

 

I love doing restaurant reviews! Want me to review your restaurant? Contact me at njones (@) justicejonesie.com.