The Brakeman, which is referred to as a “Beer Hall” on their website, was opened in March of 2019 by the NOHO Hospitality group. They operate many successful restaurants in New York and have cornered the market here with The Brakeman, also owning Penny Reds, Mister Dips and San Morello in the Shinola Hotel. 

While it feels more like a sports bar than a beer hall, it’s a cool place to stop in for a refreshing cold beverage and maybe play a game of shuffleboard, beer pong, foosball . . . or just watch your favorite team play on one of their many TVs. 

After nearly 2 years of anticipation, earlier this week was the official opening of Portillo’s Livonia location. Portillo’s original Michigan location was opened 3 years ago in Sterling Heights. The Livonia location is quite spacious (7900 square feet) but is actually a bit smaller than their Sterling Heights location. But, it still offers seating for 175 plus 50 on their outdoor patio. And of course their food is just as delicious! You may also have seen the Portillo’s Beef Bus around which rolled into the area earlier this year.

We are here to talk about The Detroit Burger Bar. More specifically, their Happy Hour.  Happy Hour is Monday-Saturday from 1-5 PM featuring discounted beer, wine, cocktails and choice appetizers.  With “Detroit” in their name, they try to use locally sourced brands like Better Made Potato Chips, Faygo soda and craft beers from Michigan breweries. Most of their menu items have names referencing Detroit landmarks, streets or neighborhoods.

On March 3rd of this year, brothers Eric and Ryan Sokolowsi, along with their business partner John Skrbal, opened Great White Buffalo Brewing Company in Downtown Northville.  They secured a prime location, right at the corner of Center and Main Streets. The space was previously occupied by Yogurt Palooza a few years back.

The Craft Grill, at Schoolcraft College, is a new and exciting Brew Pub featuring beers made in house by the Schoolcraft Brewing and Distilling program at the college.  The Brew Pub has been there for a few years, but their recent multi-million dollar renovation has allowed them to expand from being open 1 day a week for 3 hours to being open 5 days a week for 10-12 hours 5 days a week. They now offer food as well.  This is a great hidden gem in Livonia since no one would think to go to a school for lunch or dinner.  The brew pub is located at the north end of campus in the Vista Tech Center and is attached to the American Harvest Restaurant.

If you are a long time Clinton Township resident you may remember a place called Fazzalari’s which was located at the corner of Moravian and Utica roads. It was nothing fancy, but a typical club of the 80’s with “new wave” music and inexpensive drinks. In 1993 the Kourelis family, who are not strangers to the restaurant industry having owned the St Clair Shores Inn for many year, bought Fazzalari’s. They tore it down to make way for their new venture: Great Baraboo Brewing Company, this weeks fun food Friday adventure.

This week we are going to Art & Jakes Sports Bar & Grill in Northville.  What is Art & Jakes?  We didn’t know either until recently.  Art & Jake's is a chain of sports bars, founded by Victor and Brenda Trpcevski, in 2002 in  Shelby Township.  7 years later they opened their 2nd location in Washington township and then followed with other locations which were opened in 2014, 2016, 2017,2022 and now their latest endeavor in Northville in 2023.

In 1996-97 Mark Rieth, a lover of beer, founded a little brewery in the Rivertown District of Detroit.  Fast forward 26 years later and they have grown into a multi-million dollar craft beer powerhouse.  They were purchased in 2020 by the Tenth and Black Beer Company, the craft beer division of The Molson Coors Corporation.  Mark promised to keep operations as normal but needed the revenue and experience Tenth and Black Beer brought to the table. It helped expand their brand nationwide selling their signature Dirty Blonde and Vanilla Java Porter, 2 of their signature beers. While their Rivertown location is the original location, they currently have other locations in Grand Rapids, Detroit Metro Airport and Grosse Pointe Park. Which takes us to this week’s Fun Food Friday location . . . Atwater in The Park.

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.

This week we are visiting Coriander Kitchen and Farms, in Detroit’s Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood of canals . . . sometimes referred to as “The Venice of Detroit”. Coriander is a farm to table restaurant that not only uses locally sourced food in their dishes, but they are also the farm that grows the food, making them the only restaurant in the city that owns the farm and the table.

This week we are visiting a Mid-town Detroit Burger Joint that opened it’s doors in 2017, in the heart of Detroit’s Cass Corridor: Royale With Cheese. Honestly, we have driven by this place a thousand times, yet we had never been here until recently. We thought “well it’s just a burger joint” which it is, but it is so much more than that. Sure they have burgers . . . . some damn good burgers!