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.

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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Smoked Chicken Taqueria El Rey 4730 Vernor Hwy., Detroit In a 2010 article, we said El Rey is “Detroit’s king of chicken,” and to this day, there are no lies detected. Saucy and smokey, the chicken at Taqueria El Rey is covered in spices and is anything but bland. Photo via Serena Maria Daniels
“The Works” Beignets 2 Go Food truck, check website for schedule Beignets’ fresh and hot French doughnuts are a game changer, especially “The Works” order. With raspberry and dark chocolate topped with a thick coat of powdered sugar, nothing could be better than this hot take. Photo via Beignets / Facebook
Corned Beef sandwich Bread Basket Deli Multiple locations Each week, Bread Basket rolls through more than 24,000 pounds of corned beef, which owner Al Winkler tells us is the most of any restaurant in the nation. The sandwiches come stacked high with nine ounces of the meat. Photo via Bread Basket Deli / Facebook
Dark Sea Chocolate Shake Treat Dreams 4160 Cass Ave., Detroit Putting the adorable store name aside, Treat Dreams is one of Midtown’s greatest spots for creamy ice cream, with great vegan options as well. Our kryptonite, though? The Dark Sea Chocolate Shake. All chocolate, no play. Photo via Treat Dreams / Facebook
Salmon Tower LeCulture Cafe 1428 Gratiot Ave., Detroit The Salmon Tower comes topped with shrimp and crab meat in a flavorful and creamy sauce, and the dish is paired with both mashed potatoes and spinach. The savory dish is a favorite among pescatarians.. Photo via Le Culture Cafe / Facebook

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