In 1989 there was a restaurant in Farmington called Rueben’s Rueben which I ran with my family for 3 years. It has been many different places since then, and is currently Taqueria Victoria. Rueben’s Rueben featured sandwiches and subs, burgers and fries, and homemade chili and soups. I’m not 100% sure how or when it started, but sometimes on Wednesdays my mom (being the southern woman that she was) would make chicken and dumpling soup. It was an instant hit and became so popular we made it our regular Wednesday soup. It was so popular that people would call the day before to pre-order it for the following day. We only made a certain amount and some days we would run out before noon…and we opened at 10:30.

I guess just like on St Patrick’s Day everyone becomes a little bit Irish, on Cinco de Mayo we all tend to become a little bit Mexican and this week we are doing it in Brighton at El Arbol Taqueria.

We came across Alex’s in Independence Township (Clarkston area) a while back and we were intrigued enough to make a special trip back to check out all it has to offer. After some research we found that while this location is relatively new, the market itself is not.  Alex’s original market is located in Holly and was opened in 2007 by the Nannoshi family, and this is their 2nd location. 

With all the new chicken and rib places popping up all over the metro Detroit area, let’s not forget about the places that have been around “forever” and are still doing it right. Looking for some "Fun Food" for this weekend, give Mr. Chicken in Redford a try for some delicious broasted chicken and fall off the bone ribs.

Every now and then we are reminded that a place, that we have known for years, has really good food and a fun lively atmosphere. The Royal Oak Brewery is one of those places. We have known of their existence since they opened in 1995 but we rarely ever eat there, at least not in the past 10 years…until recently.

Every March 17th we all get to be Irish for a day.  It’s a day that a lot of us flock to our favorite local Irish Pub (or any local bar) for some “good craic” (Gaelic for a good time) Guinness, maybe a shot of Jamison’s and definitely some green beer. It is also a day for indulging in some great Irish food like Corned Beef and Cabbage, Sheppard’s Pie or maybe a good Irish Stew with a hunk of soda bread.  We have family and friends in Ireland, and have had real Irish food from real irish pubs…..so St. Patrick’s Day is special to us even though oddly it is not celebrated in Ireland like it is in the states.

We stumbled across Jezebel’s Saloon while walking back from a different destination in Brighton. We were walking back to our car and as we were walking by some people came out and we heard them saying how much they liked it so we had to go in and check it out. What we loved about this place, is just as much about the vibe/décor as the food and drinks that we saw. It was so cool we had to make a special trip to go back the following weekend.

We’ve heard from a ton of people that this place had the best Friday fish fry. Since it used to be Harold’s Bar, where our parents hung out when we were kids, living in Redford . . . we were a little skeptical. Turns out, they were right! AND this is not your parents dive bar any more.

When I am out showing houses, sometimes Teresa will join me when she can detach from her phone and computer. While I am driving, and in the houses doing my thing, she’s on her phone Googling to find a cool or unique location for us to stop for some food or drinks near where we are going. I will admit that with this one she outdid herself. She programmed the GPS to just give me directions. I had no idea until we were pulling in where we were going. We were in Roseville, so the options for places we’ve never been to before were endless, since it is not a city that we find ourselves dining out in regularly. Our destination? The World’s End Craft Burger Bar…she literally had me at BURGER!

Normally, we steer clear of “chain” restaurants and focus completely on unique, one of a kind, places to review.  However, this week’s Fun Food Friday is very cool chain restaurant that has ties to our area and the automotive industry…Ford’s Garage. We first came across Ford’s Garage in 2016 when we were staying in Cape Coral Florida, we didn’t know much about it so we thought we would check it out and we really liked it. 

We love the Speakeasy vibe in restaurants and bars.  We have been to several, (including some that are no longer with us due to COVID, and are always looking for new ones.  We had heard of this place, from many people, but since it is located in Howell it is not something we can just pop into.  We recently had a client that bought a condo in the Wixom area and the management company didn’t receive some of his paperwork so we offered to hand deliver it . . . and what do you know, it is in the same building!  We, we made sure to leave time to stop in and enjoy while we were in the area.  Located in the basement of the Heart of Howell building, this place with a serious Speakeasy Vibe, opened its doors in 2015. We are talking about 2 FOGS.

This week’s Fun Food Friday we are going to an old school steak house that has been going strong for over 60 years… The Clawson Steak House in, of course, Clawson. Voted best steakhouse in metro Detroit by Hour Magazine in 2014 and 2015.  Often referred to as a “Roadhouse-Nightclub”, Clawson Steak House opened their doors in 1958.  The entire restaurant seems like it has never been changed.

This week we are featuring one of those places that we have driven by 100 times and wondered “what’s that place all about”? We know it is a pizza place . . . but is it good? Well we finally decided to meet some friends for lunch in Royal Oak and this is where went. We are talking about Bigalora Cucina.

As you may know, we love going to unique bars and restaurants . . . especially if they have a cool history behind them. A while back, we featured The Shelby Detroit (downtown) which is a Speakeasy located in the basement of an old bank. Well we are back with another Speakeasy, except this one you don’t have to venture to Downtown Detroit to enjoy. Instead, just head to Downtown Plymouth to The Ebenezer, Plymouth’s first and only Speakeasy.

If you live in the Livonia, Plymouth or Northville area, you are familiar with this weeks Fun Food Friday location . . . but you may not be familiar 100% familiar with all they have to offer. I’m talking about Cantoro’s Italian Market. Cantoro’s itself is a wonderful place to shop. 

If you are not familiar with Brighton, the Downtown area (Grand River & Main St) has exploded with an awesome variety of eating and drinking establishments.  Living in Livonia, we don’t typically get out that way when we decide to go out. We decided that we were going to make a special trip to try out a restaurant that we just knew we would love…Bourbons!

Happy Friday! I guess it is time for this weeks Fun Food Friday! As you may know, every week we like to feature non chain or corporate owned places (even though we occasionally let one slip in). This week we are going to one of the local Livonia golf courses - 1 Under.

Cider and Doughnuts and Beer oh my!  It’s Friday and time for this week’s Fun Food Friday! It's that time of year and the smell of cider and doughnuts is in the air.  We know there are a lot of cider mills in the area, and everyone has their favorite.  If you are an Eastsider you probably go to Blake’s, Franklin Cider Mill is an old standby, and there is always Spicer’s in the Hartland/Fenton area and the Dexter Cider Mill out near Dexter/Pinckney. Here in Northville, we have Parmenter’s.

It’s Friday and that means it is time for this weeks Fun Food Friday. This week we are going for burgers. There are a number of places we could go to in our area, but this is one we only recently tried and can’t understand why it took us so long to get there. This was a burger spot we mentioned in our July post for the Burger Bash that happened Downtown…Rolling Stoves in Farmington.

It’s Friday and that means it is time for this weeks Fun Food Friday. We love small diners, especially ones you can tell are family owned and operated. Places that take pride in their food and their family heritage. This week we are going back to one of our favorite diners for breakfast: Murphy’s in Redford.