The 10 best new Detroit restaurants to open so far in 2019

Photo by Jay Jurma

Antihero
231 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248-307-7383; antiheroferndale.com; Starters are $5-$6; raw items $10-market price; vegetables $7-$8; mains $8-$16; hibachi $2-$8, dessert, $8.
Open 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday; 4 p.m. to midnight Wednesday and Thursday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday

Photo courtesy of Antihero Facebook

Black shells puttenesca.

San Morello
1400 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-209-4700; sanmorello.com; $6-$17 for antipasti, $19-$42 for dinners
Mon–Wed. 7 a.m.-11 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-11 p.m., Thurs, Fri. 7 a.m.-11 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-11:30 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 5 p.m.-11:30 p.m., Sun 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

Photo courtesy of San Morello Facebook

Yum Village
Chef Godwin Ihentuge's Afro-Caribbean restaurant Yum Village has been open for lunch in New Center for several months, but he says it's just about time for him to expand to include dinner hours. The menu is full of Caribbean and West African dishes like jerk chicken, maafe, jollof rice, suya fried chicken, smoked pepper fries, and several vegetarian options. We recently took our first bites from the new restaurant and can say that it's nothing less than excellent. The spot is operating out of the short-lived Atomic Chicken space, and the area is still a little challenging for a new restaurant as there's little residential in the immediate vicinity, and many of the storefronts are still under renovation. But Ihentuge says he's confident Yum Village will be successful. Plans also include evening events like cooking classes and S U Y A Fridays that involve art shows or music on the last Friday of each month.

Photo courtesy of Yum Village Facebook

Yum Village 6500 Woodward Ave., Detroit; facebook.com/yumvillage
11 a.m.-8 p.m., daily

Photo courtesy of Yum Village Facebook

Fort Street Galley

It's a food hall, it's an incubator, it's a food court, it's an accelerator. Fort Street Galley, open since December, is a pretty cool way for chefs to start a new place and for ADD-infected diners to try out a bunch of new spots at once. Currently, Fort Street Galley houses four restaurants: Allenby, which offers a selection of “stuff in bread” ranging from Yemenite falafel, a Persian dip made with pomegranate molasses braised brisket, bulgarien feta, spiced verde, and au jus, and a chicken schnitzel with a hawaij spice and Israeli pickles. Then there’s Lucky’s — a decadent BBQ spot heavy on the Wagyu beef, including Lucky’s Famous Waygu Kalibi beef sandwich that has been dry spiced and cooked low and slow. Also cooked low and slow, is the smoked BBQ Atlantic salmon salad as a fresher entree option. Offering up four variations of what they call the Korean sushi bowl, is Pursue, which consist of raw sustainable fish mixed with a selection of greens, and spicy gochujang, scallops, and topped with radish, horseradish, house made soy dressing, and Korean seaweed. Lastly, Isla — what appears to be the only Filipino restaurant in Detroit. For those who have little experience tasting Filipino cuisine, Isla is masterful in covering the spectrum of flavor with it’s colorful and varied menu. From pork and beans (bbq pork skewers, mung beans, sprouts) to Inasal (half cornish hen with pickled green papaya) and an MT reviewer’s favorite, pancit palabok which consists of rice noodles, shrimp, crab and chicharron.

Fort Street Galley
160 W. Fort, Detroit; 313-230-0855; fortstreetgalley.org
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Fort Street Galley Facebook