New joint offers gourmet sliders in Clinton Township

We just heard about a new gourmet slider joint out in Clinton Township. It's called Metro Sliders, and it's the first burger joint we've heard of that's aimed at millennials. 

Owner Ryan Bischoff may be youthful at 24 years old, but he's no stranger to the culinary business. His parents own Passport Pizza, and he's helped them open a restaurant or two. (Yes, he shares a unit with Passport in Clinton Township, but both businesses have their own distinct kitchens.)

What makes Bischoff's sliders "gourmet"? He says he makes his own bread and sauces in-house, and uses nothing but high-quality meat with a bit of butcher-ground pepper in it.

"I try to make as much as I can in-house, and, unlike those other slider places, I don’t just use onions and mustard and pickles."

Actually, he does make an "original" slider, but the onions are caramelized, the mustard is brown. Everything gets kicked up ever so slightly. In his "LTO," the L is red leaf romaine, the T is Roma, and the O is raw white. These you can get for $2 apiece.

It just gets more exotic from there, with a peanut butter bacon slider, featuring creamy peanut butter, thick-cut bacon and Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce. The Bacon Bleu is Gorgonzola cheese, Hellman's mayo, lettuce, and tomato.  There's a Jalapeño Cream Cheese with cream cheese, freshly cut crunchy jalapeño, and cilantro. These are $2.50 apiece.

For those who dare, there's an even more exotic menu of specialty sliders, all available for $3 a pop. There's the West Coast Slider, with caramelized white onion, a Parmesan frico, and an over-easy egg. There's also a Spicy Pineapple slider, with sriracha mayo, pineapple, and thick-cut bacon.

Bischoff says he was inspired by the burgers at Umami, especially the Truffle Burger, which has truffle cheese, truffled aioli, and a truffle glaze. Ever nice, he's been trying to build the better slider.

The joint also serves a variety of hand-cut fries, in various styles, including Cajun, Caribbean , Ranch, Truffle, Garlic, and sea salt.

Metro Sliders is at 35520 Groesbeck, Clinton Twp; 586-232-6800. No website yet, but a Facebook page has been created.