From bikes to buses, there are plenty of ways to see the city on wheels
As cities go, Detroit isn’t one of the really big ones. Sure, it takes up more space than San Francisco or Manhattan. But Houston and Oklahoma City sprawl over four times the area. Phoenix, Nashville, and Los Angeles are more than three times as large. Even Charlotte, N.C., takes up twice the square mileage. But…
8 Michigan craft brews for winter spring, and beyond
Late winter and early spring see a bevy of beer releases, but some are really worth celebrating. Here are a few. This year started off with a bang thanks to the buildup for Hopslam Ale from Bell’s Brewery. It’s a double IPA brewed with Michigan honey, and at 10 percent ABV, it packs a wallop.…
How Detroit’s food scene earned the national spotlight
For decades, Detroit’s food scene was behind the times. With a few notable exceptions, the fine-dining crowd embraced barnlike buildings with generous parking, places serving meat and potatoes, surf and turf, and spaghetti and meatballs. Outside that realm, the metropolitan area was a bastion of Big Food, where national chains prevailed, selling food-service portions to…
A new batch of microdistilleries are making their mark
Detroit has been called many things including, most famously, Rock City and the Motor City. It could just as easily be known as Booze City, given its long love affair with hooch — a love so strong not even the heavy hand of the state could quash it. It’s been that way from the beginning.…
Learning the feuds, fables, and fixtures behind longtime eateries
A food business doesn’t stay open in Detroit by phoning it in. To last through decades of boom and bust, growth and upheaval, eateries need something special, even if it’s often just a gimmicky dish. It helps if it’s something inexpensive and earthy, a comfort food or a quick snack that can draw a passionate…
Take a piece of Detroit home with you
When you visit a place like Detroit, it’s always nice to come back from your journey with a few bits of swag to spread around among your pals. Naturally, you’re going to get something bigger for yourself or those important folks in your life. But here are a few cheapies that will garner grins for…
How to score in Detroit, right between the buns
Are you a burger maven? Do you love belly bombs? Are you the kind of diner who loves biting into a two-hand, seven-napkin burger, feeling the juice streaming down your arms? We have good news for you. While the blossoming of the gastropub has helped widen the city’s offerings, it has always been a city…
10 shops you’ll only find in the Detroit area
People are fond of saying, “Detroit is different.” Indeed it is. And its richness often comes from the “only in Detroit” things it has to offer. Here are 10 shops that we challenge you to find equal to anywhere else. Architectural Salvage Warehouse 4885 15th St., Detroit; 313-896-8333; aswdetroit.org Detroit is famous for its demolitions.…
Finally, vegans and vegetarians are getting an open-arms welcome
More than most U.S. cities, Detroit has long been a “meat and potatoes” town. We’re talking insane portion sizes and gargantuan piles of meat. Until several years ago, being a vegetarian (let alone a vegan) meant subsisting on garden salads, half-hearted pasta dishes, and anything but the house specialty. We’ve changed a bit. The age…
20 arts and culture experiences you must have in Detroit before you die
1) Bask in the grandeur of prewar design in the Guardian Building’s mezzanine: The magnificent art deco building gets its Native American color theme from designer Wirt C. Rowland, who inlaid the 40-story treasure with colorful hues. But the interiors can be just as stunning. Drop in for a bite at the Rowland Café in…
Witness a brewing renaissance in full swing
If Detroit’s long and illustrious brewing history could be compared to a play, the first act ended in 1985 with the closing of the 135-year-old Stroh’s plant on Gratiot Avenue. Following an intermission of seven years, the second act began rather modestly in 1992 when the first brewpub license under Michigan’s new law allowing them…
Art buyers can still find great deals in the city
Believe what you read in the national press, especially given the arrival of New York’s Galapagos space, and and you’ll figure artists began to flock to Detroit just a few years ago. Luckily, they’ve always been here, and continue producing a body of work that often comes at a bargain price. Here are some likely…
Annual Manual ’16
Everybody from Detroit knows “that face.” It’s the face people have traditionally made the second after you tell them you’re from Detroit. The face isn’t scared or angry. It’s the face of somebody at a loss for words. Had you said you were from San Diego or Boston, they’d be able to say some small…
From prewar grandeur to postindustrial grit, Detroit has plenty to look at
Upon jumping out of a cab and looking toward the skies during his first visit to Detroit, New York Times architecture critic Robert Sharoff was startled and struck by what he discovered. “It was like Oz with the lights out,” says Sharoff, in what is perhaps one of the best descriptions of 1990s downtown Detroit.…
Detroit nightlife is always simmering, and sometimes cooking
Are you in the mood to check out some really good music, whether it’s a weekly jam session or a cool bar with a heavy schedule of solid local and traveling talent? Basically anything except for hip-hop and dance music? (Already expertly discussed elsewhere in our Annual Manual.) From stages where jazz is alive to…
Detroit’s city center has become red-hot real estate again
There’s a similar storyline playing out in major U.S. cities. From downtown Los Angeles to New York City to Seattle, younger people whose parents left for the burbs are moving back and breathing new life into urban centers that suffered neglect and the troubles that come with depopulation. In that sense, Detroit’s narrative isn’t totally…
An instant lesson in the history of Detroit hip-hop
Metro Times’ own hip-hop expert Kahn Santori Davison takes us on a tour of the four distinct eras of hip-hop music in Detroit: 1980-1992: The Jerry Flynn Dale era Many Detroiters over 60 will tell you music died in the Detroit area when Berry Gordy moved his franchise to the Golden State back in 1972.…
How to spend 48 hours in Detroit that don’t suck
Two days just isn’t enough time to see Detroit. But if you had access to some pretty serious resources, such as a chauffeur, a few assistants, and a little magic pixie dust to keep you flying, you might be able to see much more of it than the average person. It’s with this in mind…
Detroit’s hottest dance nights
It’s a beautiful thing when people share in the primal, near hedonistic urge to dance their asses off in a crowded room. Suddenly, our post post-modern malaise slips away, the glowing cellphone screens disappear, and all that matters is executing some awkward moves while bumping into sweaty, gyrating strangers for the next three hours. In…
Detroit’s historic neighborhood bars make their last stand
As more and more metro Detroiters flock to places like the Oakland and Wright and Co. for craft cocktails artfully prepared by mixologists with perfect beards, there’s a class of Detroit bars that has been almost forgotten in this rush to elegance. Abick’s Bar While the 5:01 p.m. crowd leaves Quicken Loans and walks over…
