25 things to eat in Detroit before you die

By Metro Times editorial staff on Sat, Aug 10, 2019 at 1:03 pm

There are plenty of stellar restaurants in Detroit, and some of them have come up with some truly to-die-for dishes. From beignets covered in raspberries and dark chocolate to corned beef egg rolls, these are all of the Detroit specialties that you must try at least once before heading off to that great Dream Cruise in the sky.

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Fruity Pebbles French Toast

Honest John’s
488 Selden St., Detroit
What happens when childhood nostalgia meets breakfast food? You get Honest Jones’ Fruity Pebbles French Toast. It’s your favorite sweet, colorful childhood cereal with a savory, carb-loading take.

Photo via Honest John’s Detroit / Facebook

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Vicki’s Ribs

Vicki’s BBQ
3845 W. Warren Ave., Detroit
Vicki's is one of Detroit's barbecue old-timers that's up at the top of the list in any conversation on our barbecue heavyweights. That partly owes to the St. Louis-style cut ribs that Vicki's cooks over an open pit (though you can also get them smoked). But the highlight in what's basically a highlight reel meal is the vinegar and tomato-based sauce. Though there's a heavy dose of acidic vinegar, this isn't Carolina-style, but perhaps a unique composition that mixes in the best of several barbecue worlds.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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Corned Beef Egg Roll

Asian Corned Beef
Multiple Detroit locations
The corned beef egg roll is exactly what it sounds like: salty, cured deli meat, cheese, and cabbage wrapped in a crispy egg roll, sold for just $3 apiece.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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Mac and Cheese

Southern Smokehouse
14340 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit
There’s nothing like mac and cheese done right, and Southern Smokehouse’s soul food strip earns all the stars for doing just that. The high-grade, deep yellow-orange mac and cheese comes webbed with stringy cheese that stretches from your fork in every bite — as proper mac should.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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Duck Rueben

Dime Store
719 Griswold St. # 180, Detroit
The duck Reuben, despite using confited duck leg (basically, meat cooked in fat) is less greasy than most of its corned beef counterparts. The duck is paired with pickley red cabbage for a mouthwatering experience. The “American Brunch Bar” offers an array of other delicious options for breakfast and lunch as well, including the Sweet Poached Pear Salad.

Photo via Dime Store / Facebook

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Sweetwater Wings

Sweetwater Tavern
400 E. Congress St., Detroit
There's reason to be skeptical of old-school Detroit restaurants considered to be the best at certain dishes. Oftentimes, what passed for good for decades is now mediocre. But Sweetwater, a perennial favorite for wings, doesn't disappoint. These are what wings should be. Vinegary, spicy, and charred but still moist. Where mere mortals will pack wings with too much salt or rely heavily on cayenne and heat, the wing gods at Sweetwater know about balance and how to produce a piquant wing that lives up to the hype.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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A slice of Supino Pizza

Supino Pizzeria
2457 Russell St., Detroit
Hot, golden, and irresistable, it might get too NSFW if we keep going, but you know what we’re talking about — Supino’s Pizzeria, of course. A classic slice of Supino’s Pizzeria is all you need to satisfy your cheesy cravings.

Photo via Supino Pizzeria / Facebook

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Salted Maple Pie

Sister Pie
8066 Kercheval Ave., Detroit
Sweet, savory, salty, and maybe a bit smokey, the salted maple pie is a perfect balance between every flavor your taste buds are craving. Sister Pie has become a West Village favorite, with seasonal pies, breakfast items, and a list of hot or cold beverages to choose from.

Photo via Sister Pie / Facebook

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Michigan smoked ribeye

Apparatus Room
3100 Woodward Ave., Detroit
Michelin-starred chef Thomas Lents dry ages for three weeks beef brought in from Ferndale's Farm Field Table, then cold smokes it before cooking. The resulting subtle smokiness is perfect — you'll know it's there, but it doesn't dominate. That's crucial because you'll not want to be distracted from the deeply flavorful beef au jus made from roasted oxtail, or the mellow, creamy celery root purée, which is superior to the standard starch side. That's all served with root vegetables roasted in rendered beef fat, and the plate is finished with black trumpet mushrooms and flowering watercress.

Photo via Jesse Green

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Cosmik Fries

HopCat
4265 Woodward Ave., Detroit
If you haven’t had the infamous “Cosmic” fries from HopCat yet, where have you been? With restaurant locations in Detroit, Royal Oak, and Ann Arbor, it’s likely that you’ve heard about HopCats fries — the ones that, like potato chips, you can never have just one. With the loaded cracked-pepper seasoning, these fries are a perfect pair with the cheese sauce that comes along on the side.

Photo via HopCat / Facebook

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Brown Stew Chicken

Jamaican Pot
14615 Eight Mile Rd., Detroit
Detroit's small Jamaican food community doesn't get quite the attention that it should. If you've never sampled curry goat or jerk chicken, a good place to start is the Jamaican Pot, a small carryout spot on Eight Mile Road near Greenfield Road. But chef Mama Rose's best plate is her brown stew chicken, which is a full and flavorful mix of tender chicken, garlic, scallion, thyme, onion, browning, and other seasonings.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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Vegan Coney Dog

Chili Mustard Onions
3411 Brush St., Detroit
Prior to opening Chili Mustard Onions, owner Pete LaCombe asked himself, “What’s the ballsiest thing you could do in Detroit?” Lo and behold, we now have a vegan coney dog. Regardless of what you might be thinking, it’s 2019, and it’s time to respect and support vegan food spots. This vegan coney dog is giving plant-based Detroiters the opportunity to take their taste buds back to their roots. There’s nostalgia in ordering a meal that can teleport you back to the 11 p.m. runs to the local coney for the post-football game sloppy dog. Same concept, made with plants.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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House smoked salmon with roe

Ima
2015 Michigan Ave., Detroit
Close your eyes and throw a dart at Ima's menu and you'll hit something worth considering for Detroit's best dish of the year, but the bright house-smoked salmon with roe over rice stands apart. Chef Mike Ransom's dry-brined, applewood-smoked salmon fillet is cooked sous vide, which he explains is what leaves it with a silky texture. Mix up fish with avocado, cucumber, cabbage-wakame slaw, pickled ginger, micro shiso, sesame-yuzu sauce, salmon roe, and house furikake seasoning, and you have what are some of Detroit's best bites.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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Whole Chicken and Couscous

Maty’s African Cuisine
21611 Grand River Ave., Detroit
The great thing about Detroit is that it can take you all around the world in just a few neighborhoods. Maty’s African Cuisine offers an authentic Senagalese dish that anyone, from any part of the world, would devour (unless that person is plant-based, of course, but there’s always the couscous). This whole chicken is picture-perfect with the dark, crispy outside, and tender, juicy, white meat flavor. You can’t go wrong sticking to a simple dish with mouth-watering flavors and sides.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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Fried Oreos

Downtown Louie’s
30 Clifford St., Detroit
Get your sweet tooth ready, Downtown Louie’s heard the audience loud and clear and brought fried Oreos to the table. America’s classic cookie, but with an even more American, deep-fried twist.

Photo via Downtown Louie’s Lounge / Facebook

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Arepas

El Rey De Las Arepas
6874 St. John St.
Arepas are the Venezuelan version of the empanada (or samosa or pasty). It's ground corn flour shaped into a circle, grilled, split like a biscuit, then filled with whatever you like. It's sort of like a huge English muffin, but with flavor. The texture of El Rey’s arepas is perfect: a crisp exterior and fluffy interior — and the stuffed versions are marvelous. The menu suggests combinations of cheeses, ham, black beans, or scrambled eggs; or chicken, shredded beef, pork, chicharrones, steak, or chorizo. Add avocado or tomato if you like.

Photo via Rob Widdis

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Lamb Shanks

Sullaf
814 W. Seven Mile Rd., Detroit
Among Sullaf's best plates is the lamb shank, which has slide-off-the-bone meat laced with glorious lamb fat. Sullaf submerges it in a volcanic-looking stew with whole cooked tomatoes, onions, and oil, and serves it with triangles of pita bread. It's a piquant and lemony dish — the kind that you think about for a week after the meal.

Photo via Tom Perkins

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A Love Letter to the Corner Deli sandwich

Rocco's Italian Deli
3627 Cass Ave., Detroit
Genoa salami, capicola, mortadella; what more-tadella could you ask for? Rocco’s Italian Deli brought authentic Italian to Detroit last June, making a mark on the Detroit deli scene with its meat-stacked sandwiches and house-made vinaigrette dressing.

Photovia Tom Perkins

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Paczki

Pietrzyk Pierogi
Canfield Market in Eastern Market
You don’t have to wait until Fat Tuesday to give into your paczki cravings, especially when Pietrzyk Pierogi is right around the corner. With soft powdered sugar coating the top and ooey- gooey filling inside, there’s nothing more satisfying than taking a messy bite out of an authentic Polish dessert.

Photo via Pietrzyk Pierogi / Facebook

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Coney Dog

American Coney Island or Lafayette Coney Island
American: 114 W. Lafayette Blvd.; Layafette: 118 W. Lafayette Blvd.
Democrats and Republicans. Dogs and cats. Howe and Yzerman. Death and taxes. American and Lafayette. American might be the best one day, Lafayette the next. Most people pick one and stick with it.

Photo via James R. Martin / Shutterstock

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