Detroit: Bobcat Bonnie’s
It was a Thursday, March 29th to be exact. It was Opening Day for the Tigers in 2018 and the weather was not good. The game actually was rained out. But that didn't stop all the pre-planned opening day parties and celebrations from happening. My last destination was the Corktown Tavern, yes in Corktown. Due to the weather and the game being canceled they closed down early. I parted ways with the group I was with, and suddenly realized I could not find my car keys. Yes, I had locked them in my car. The Corktown Tavern was closed. It was raining, cold, and my phone was on life support. I was able to get someone to rescue me, but they couldn't be there for over an hour. I couldn't wait outside in the rain and I needed a place to stay dry and warm. So…I stumbled into Bobcat Bonnie’s . . . this week's Fun Food Friday feature.
While Bobcat Bonnie’s had been open for 3 years, it was the first time we had heard of them. We hadn’t started with our Fun Food Friday blogs yet, and had limited knowledge of restaurants in Detroit. Finding new and exciting places were not on our everyday agenda back then . . . and Bobcat Bonnie’s changed that! We featured Bobcat Bonnie’s in 2019, early on in our Fun Food Friday Facebook posts, for their Corktown location. After recently visiting their Ferndale location, we were reminded of how it all began. Teresa had the chicken salad on multigrain bread and I had their biscuits and gravy with eggs, everything is always delicious. They even let her taste a sample of the chicken salad, to make sure she liked it. Who does that?
In 2019, they had 3 locations to choose from: Downtown, Ferndale and Wyandotte. Today they have grown and now have 9 locations, 8 in Michigan and 1 in Ohio. The name Bobcat Bonnie’s came from a very special grandma, who used to love working her favorite piece of farm equipment on her Ohio farm . . . The Bobcat.
Whose grandma, is not clearly explained, but we have to assume it is the owner, Matt Buskard. Each location often features an homage to who preceded them in the space they occupy with a special “throwback menu” featured in their honor. Ferndale, was formerly Zeke’s so they sell Zeke’s fried BBQ mac & cheese rolls, Corktown was previously Oblivian’s who was known for chicken fingers, and Grand Rapids was Houlihan’s’ and their fried mushrooms.
They offer a wide variety of scratch made food with many vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. They offer daily specials and features like their Thursday all night happy hour where they run their happy hour specials from 3PM to close. We especially love going for their weekend brunch (Saturday and Sunday from 10-3) when they have a Bloody Mary and Mimosa bar for $5.
The food is wonderful and creative yet simple. Their menu is quite diverse - with something for everyone’s taste. They even have the impossible burger on the menu, for you vegans out there. A few of our favorites are their loaded tots and Buffalo chicken nachos. They do an awesome blackened salmon sandwich and we hear their “Totchos” are also really good.
They have a happy hours M-F from 4-7 and all day on Thursdays with $5 Apps, $5 signature cocktails (try the cucumber mule), $5 glasses of wine and $1 off draft beers.
Until next week . . . live well, eat well and enjoy life!
-Keith and Teresa Becker