Good decent food n downtown detroit

[davidandbess]

Hi, have been going downtown to the greektown casino and always eat at wishbones due to my wife and friend loving the place(a bit overpriced if you ask me ),can you guys give me a few options so the next time we go I can offer alternatives.
Best Regards D/B

[rainsux]

A bit far to walk ...

Traffic Jam & Snug
Second & Canfield
http://www.trafficjamdetroit.com/

[berkleygary]

you know, from the greektown casino it's easy to jump on the people mover and travel around the downtown area. Now if only someone would take the time to suggest a few decent spots around the different PM stations........

[xman887]

good idea. here is my attempt at a public service travelogue for our visitors:

millender center:
sweet lorraine's - in the hotel, one of three places owned by lorraine plattman, creative, ecclectic cuisine, very good

opus one - a block walk east on larned, moderately upscale dining, decent food

buzz bar - across from opus, never been but just read a good review on another thread about downtown

tom's oyster bar - downtown outpost of a small, local chain, decent seafood, apps, and raw bar

ren cen:
seldom blues - upscale southern/continental, great room along the river, very good food, usually packed, pricey

andiamo - downtown outpost of small local chain, reliable italian

coach insignia - top of the hotel tower, part of matt prentice's unique restaurant group which has some great places, have not been but have heard veruy mixed reviews, great top of the city view, very pricey

bricktown (one block south of greektown):
the detroiter - a bar with a good burger

loco - middle of the road mexican; not as good as mexican town eateries, but a decent grazing and/or 2:00am option

nikki's - greek fare + detroit square pizza with greek sausage

greektown:
pegasus/golden fleece/etc - for standard greek fare

pizzapapalis - chicago deep dish pizza

mosaic - very good ecclectic mediteranean; one of my downtown favorites

fishbones: new orleans cuisine; deepfried everything + sushi (??); i hate this place

sweet georgia brown - upscale southern food; opened several years ago with great fanfare; the food was good but very pricey; owner now in the slam; sold to others; slosed for a while; not sure if it is even open again

cadillac center (might be the closest to the compuware hq)
hard rock - over hyped, over priced chain

the woodward - a little hip/upscale with a cool vibe, food is a touch ecclectic and good, another of my downtown favorites

broadway:
detroit beer company - across from the opera house; brew pub with good beer, decent apps, bar food, and a few entrees

small plates - next door to beer co; average; over priced; usually packed

oslo - sushi place on woodward - used to be good then it closed; i heard the club downstairs was open again recently and the sushi was going to follow

vicente's - cuban cuisine; authentic and very good; they have dancing on the weekends

lola's - in harmonie park; have heard decent things about it

rhino in harmonie park - offshoot of a legendary jazz club/restaurant; i have been there for drinks but never to eat; decent, fun atmosphere

grand circus park:
chelli's chili bar - walk across the park toward comerica park; good place for beers but food is very mediocre at best; despite the name, the chili is nothing special

hockeytown - shrine to the red wings in the fox; owned by the ilitch family; other than the strip of ice on the bar to keep your beer cold and a lot of tv's there is not much of a reason to go there; food is average at best; to make you feel like you are inside a stadium game they will sell you a 24 oz can of beer for $8!

da eduardo foxtown grille - upscale italian; i have never seen it busy at night; pricey; i have eaten at his place in grosse pointe and his food is very good

times square: nothing here

michigan ave: not much here but i suppose you could walk to the mgm casino (puck's grille, mina's saltwater & bourbon steakhouse) but i wouldn't walk it at night

fort/cass: again not much

cobo center - nada

joe louis arena - plenty of cheap hockey tix on the street for less than sold out games against an endless parade of blues, bluejackets, and predators + $8 beers and $$15 hot-n-ready pizzas inside!

financial district:
caucus club: old school detroit place in the penobscot building that used to be relevant; barbara streisand sang there when she was a teenager; used to be known for ribs back in the day

lafayette/american coney islands - legendary landmarks about three blocks north; "one of each heavy onions"

best of luck.

[davidandbess]

thank you all for your comments will post back after we have been down again

Regards david

[coney with everything]

awesome list! wish we could bookmark it somewhere for future reference, like when the Final Four is in town next year (and the Series in October!)

[Jim M]

My only addition in the Comerica Park/Grand Circus Park area is the Elwood--nice little Art Deco diner with home-cooked food, reasonable drink prices.

[omgalisamarie]

If you're looking to stick around Greektown, Pegasus, Cyprus, Hellas Cafe, and Pizza Papalis (not Greek food, but decent pizza) are good.
But otherwise, downtown Detroit has loads of good restaurants with good food. My favorites are the Majestic Cafe and Union Street. And Mexicantown has Senor Lopez, but a lot of restaurants are good in Mexicantown.

The Metro Times website has a lot of restaurant reviews, so I would look there for more options. But try Union Street or the Majestic Cafe if you're not stuck in Greektown.

[Jim M]

New Hellas is closed. Pizza Papalis may be your best bet in this group. Mosaic, right there on the corner, is supposed to be a cut above other Greektown places, but I haven't been there yet.

[davidandbess]

come on folks there must be some eateries you can reccomend

Cheers David

[Docsknotinn]

I think you would have better luck with suggestions if you were more specific with your request. I really enjoy Slows BBQ on Michigan Ave as well as The Whitney.