Metro Detroit: Redford’s Michno’s Cafe

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. Since moving out of the area, we don’t get back over there to eat, unless it is for a special trip to Sandy’s for a burger or Murphy’s for breakfast. Oddly enough both are within ½ a mile of Michno’s.

Harold’s Bar was opened in the late 40’s or early 50’s by Harold and Pauline “Sue” Loosemore. The Loosemore’s owned and operated Harold’s bar for 40 years before selling it to Ronald and Aileen Michno in 1989. Teresa and I both grew up 2 blocks from Harold’s so when the name suddenly changed we were a bit shocked. I mean it’s always going to be Harold’s to us…right? How can they change the name of our neighborhood bar? Well it turns out (34 years later) they must be doing something right.

At first, they didn’t change things much, but as time went on they started to gradually make some changes to bring it more into the modern era. Today it is known as Michno’s Café. I don’t quite understand the Café part of the name. It’s not a place to grab coffee and breakfast, like you would expect form a Café. Its more of a restaurant/bar . . . but I can see where they didn’t want to call it Michno’s Bar. Inside it has been brightened up quite a bit. They added brighter lights and LED accent lights in the ceiling. The staff is great, very friendly and attentive. They must be family, because we see the same faces every time we go there. Their kitchen is not big, but they have a good system in place to put out food that is not just hot and fresh, but really good as well.

The main reason we went there was we heard that they have really good burgers and sandwiches and that they serve an awesome fish dinner every Friday, and not just during lent. They offer more than your traditional fried Cod Fish & Chips. They also offer Walleye, Grilled Salmon, Lake Perch and Fried Shrimp. They also offer a fish sandwich and shrimp basket.

All their fish dinners are served with fries and slaw before 4PM and choice of 2 sides after 4PM. We ordered the traditional Fish & Chips with rice pilaf and mac & cheese (because we asked the server and he said those were the best choices) and The Best Burger On The Block- classic cheese burger which came with fries. The fish is lightly battered and it seemed to have a touch of corn meal in the batter. It was a nice light batter that was crispy but not greasy . . . exactly how we like it. The mac & cheese was super cheezy and not dried out, it was so good. Teresa is a mac & cheese snob and she said it was perfect! We always order our burger medium rare, in the hope of getting it at least medium, and this one was cooked perfectly.

They take a lot of pride in the food they put out, we saw a number of other items we are going to go back and try soon - like Trish’s Ultimate Ruben or their Classic BLT. All sandwiches and burgers are served with fries, which to me is a big plus. I am not a fan of paying $12-$15 for a burger and being charged extra for fries. They also offer a Beyond Burger and salads for the more health conscious.