This week we are in Novi at Border Cantina for Happy Hour.  While we are not sure exactly when Border Cantina opened its doors, we can say it has been a long time.  We have been coming here for what seems to be over 30 years.

This years reopening of the Michigan Central Train Station has drawn a lot of visitors to the area, and the local restaurants are reaping the benefits.  In the vicinity you have at least a dozen places to choose from.  Places like Slows BBQ, Takoi and Ima, Supergiel, Cork and Gable and Grandma Bob’s, just to name a few, all right there within walking distance . . . but this weeks adventure is taking us to Mercury Burger Bar.

What do Goodnite Gracie and D’Amato’s in Royal Oak have in common?  Well to start, they are sister restaurants, owned by the same owner, and both offer a superb happy hour.  Happy Hour is the same at both places, just with different hours. We’ll get into that later.  What sets these 2 places apart from the others is their longevity.  Not only have they been in business for decades, they are also off the beaten path.  These are not places you are going to just stumble by and stop in, they are “destination” places that people go to on purpose.

If you know us, you know we are suckers for good BBQ.  In the past 15-20 years it seems that a lot of BBQ places have popped up in the metro Detroit communities.  Some good and some . . . not so much.  The problem that most people have with BBQ is that it can be expensive, and nobody likes to pay top dollar for average food.  Well Lockhart’s BBQ in Royal Oak is far from average. 

C.A. Muer Restaurant Group was founded in 1965 by the legendary restaurateur Chuck Muer, which at its peak had 18 restaurants in 4 states. Charles Rachwitz, also known as Chuck or Rocky, worked for the C.A. Muer restaurant group for 18 years. He served as their Corporate Executive Chef and was a mentor to many future chefs in the Detroit area. Rocky was a integral part of the Muer Corporation by creating and establishing many successful restaurants for his mentor and best friend Chuck Muer. A year before the tragic disappearance at sea, of Chuck and his wife in 1993, he helped Rocky turn the former Northville Charlie’s restaurant into Rocky’s of Northville and he is still going strong today.

336 Main was a great martini and piano bar in Plymouth, featuring live music, great cocktails but lacked in the food area.  The owners had been looking to make a change, from a piano bar into a restaurant bar. But they had to wait until they had finished their work on another property, Center Street Grill in Northville, formerly The Starting Gate. In 2017, 336 Main was closed and 7 months later Park Place Gastropub opened its doors. 

Iron Horse opened its doors in 2015 and is one of Royal Oaks hidden gems.  If you are going to Royal Oak this is probably not even on your radar . . . but it should be! It is located right next to the Royal Oak Music Theatre. You might even think it is part of the theatre, since there is a door from the theatre for patrons to enter.  We had been here before, following a show, so we assumed it was part of the venue that was only open during events.  We never realized it was it’s own place. But now that we do, it has become a Royal Oak destination for us when we are in the area.

This week we are enjoying happy hour at another one of Detroit’s fine dining restaurants: BESA.  BESA, in Albanian culture, is a pledge of honor and its literal meaning is ”to keep the promise”.  BESA opened its doors in November of 2018 and has been going strong ever since.

In 2015, Steve Savich and his father opened the first Mr. Miguel’s in Warren.  The name Mr. Miguel’s pays homage to the first restaurant he opened, with his father in 2008. You may have heard of this restaurant - Mr. Mike’s on Wayne Road in Westland. Today there are 4 locations in including  Brownstown which opened in 2021, Livonia which opened in 2022,  and Utica which just opened in April of this year. 

Shelby Detroit is located in the basement of 607 Shelby Street, in Downtown Detroit’s Financial District.  The building itself is historically known as the US Mortgage Bond Building which opened in 1925.   To visit them, head downstairs to Coffee Down Under and let a barista know you're here to see “Shelby”.

In 2012 the Yaquinto family opened The Sardine Room.   They were not new to the restaurant industry. They started in Dearborn, with Paisano’s Pizza over 40 years ago. In the early 2000’s they opened Campari’s On The Park, a very popular downtown Plymouth dining location.  Around 2009 they opened Fiamma Grill (which is currently being renovated) right next to Compari’s. Finally, in 2012, The Sardine Room was born. If you live in the surrounding communities, you are likely familiar with at least one of these 3 locations

In 2013 Bob & Dorothy Ostendorf, and their business partners Jim & Kathy Sulllivan, took over a pub located at 860 Fralick in Downtown Plymouth.  It was an old Irish Pub  and the Ostendorf’s and Sullivan’s were not crazy about what the place was, even though they frequented it regularly.  They changed the name to Stella’s Black Dog Tavern. The name comes from the Ostendorf’s Bernese Mountain Dog Stella. 

In 2016, Michael Ransom decided to return to Detroit to open a casual restaurant featuring Japanese inspired food with Midwestern ingredients. He named this restaurant IMA. Ima in Japanese kanji means ‘now’, as in ‘in the moment’. Chef Ransom said “My philosophy behind the ‘now’ thing is that food is an escape. When you’re sitting down at a table with great food and great people … nothing else matters. It’s kind of an escape from reality a little bit. It’s that break in the middle of your day or night that really does allow time to stand still.”

This week we are visiting Coach’s Corner in Livonia, checking out some of their great Happy Hour specials.  We went back through our posts and realized we have never featured Coach’s Corner before . . . so it’s about time we do so!  Coach’s Corner is located in Livonia on 7 Mile at the Fox Creek Golf Course. However, you don’t have to be a golfer to go there.  They are an extremely family oriented sports bar and are known to be a gathering place for sports teams of all ages to gather after a game or event.

This week we ventured out to Downtown Northville, to a place that is serving up some great happy hours selections available ALL DAY MONDAY and from 1-6 PM Tuesday through Thursday.   The Northville Sports Den. This is not a new place. It has been open since around 2010. They are a family owned restaurant, located in the Northville Square business complex. There is an entrance in the rear right off the parking lot behind the building so parking is usually not a problem.