Detroit: Mad Nice
This week, we are in Detroit’s Midtown neighborhood, at its newest upscale Italian restaurant, Mad Nice. While the name doesn’t scream “restaurant”, it makes sense once you have seen the place . . . It is Mad Nice! From the outside, you don’t even think this would be a restaurant. It looks more like a nice modern office building. The only signage is “Mad Nice” in bold letters along the front of the building, which is on Second Ave between Alexandrine and Willis.
Mad Nice was opened in March of this year by Jeremy Sasson’s Heirloom Hospitality Group. Jeremy is not new to the restaurant industry in Detroit. He is the owner of some other prominent restaurants as well: Prime + Proper, Townhouse Detroit and Cash Only Supper Club are all part of the Heirloom Group. The original plan was for a Palm Springs inspired Italian Neapolitan pizzeria and store, called Sauce, which was slated to open in spring of 2020. Well we all know what happened in spring of 2020 . . . and when plans picked up in 2022, they decided to go with the name Mad Nice.
Like I mentioned before you wouldn’t know this is a restaurant from a distance, but when you approach the doors you start to feel the unique vibe this pace offers. It is not your typical, dark and intimate Italian place. It is bright with high ceilings. There are almost no walls, so you can see from one side to another. A lot of people have described it as a California vibe. The décor is all in pastels, the light fixtures are similar to an inverted wine glass and there is lots of greenery with plants and trees throughout.
Like a lot of newer places, it has the open kitchen concept. which runs the entire width of the back of the restaurant. There’s a triangular shaped bar, right in the middle of the restaurant, and they have private dining areas for more intimate dinners - with a lazy Susan style table that seats 14. They also have a retail store, Mad Nice Goods, offering merchandise, prepared and packaged food to go, coffee and pastries.
The kitchen is run by Chef Myles McVay who was Hour Magazine’s Chef of the year in 2017. In a press release, Chef Myles stated that “All the offerings at Mad Nice are meant to honor Italian tradition from a time, love, and care aspect while mixing in modern ideas of preparation, sourcing, and sustainability with a bit of Detroit sauce”
The menu features some interesting items you don’t see on the everyday Italian restaurant menu like the Soft Eggs, with celeriac, green onion churri, sour pickles and served with sourdough bread and Roasted Shishito Peppers with garlic Crispies, parmesan and romesco which is a roasted red pepper sauce made with almonds, garlic and Sherry vinegar.
The menu is broken into 5 sections (not including dessert) First Up: Antipasti - with everything from sourdough bread to the Scallop Crudo.
The Sauce - Primi: which are their pasta dishes like the King Crab Casarecce.
Fire & Embers - Secondi: which features selections of fish, beef and pork.
Side Show - Contorni: with a cool selection of side dishes that are not your typical sides.
And lastly Mad Nice Pizza which offers 8 different wood fired pizzas like the traditional Margarita or if you are feeling something different you might try the Clam Bake pie.
We were there for a late lunch/early dinner. While everything looked good to us, we opted for a couple of cocktails and the Shrooms Pizza made with gourmet mushrooms, wood herbs, whipped ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. They do not cut their pizzas. Instead they serve them with a large pair of scissors to cut it yourself.
The cocktails are delicious and come with some cool names. We had the 55 Thunderbird and a Drive-in Movie which is a bourbon cocktail made with Amaro, spiced pineapple, lemon and Angostura bitters and the They Are One Of Us! Which is made with Rye, Carpano Antica, Luxardo, Angostura bitters and Absinthe. Both were very delicious.
There is only one negative to this place and it is the prices, they are expensive. A Pizza and 2 drinks ran us $ $61.50 before tip and the Entrees range from $56 to $84.
Mad Nice is located at 4120 Second Ave and is one of the few upscale midtown eateries to be open for lunch. Their lunch hours are Wed-Fri 11:30 AM – 4 PM, Sat & Sun 11 AM – 4 PM. Dinner hours are Sun & Mon 4 PM – 10 PM, Tues – Thurs 4PM – 11 PM, Fri & Sat 4 PM – Midnight.
Until next week . . . live well, eat well and enjoy life!
-Keith & Teresa Becker