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.

This week we are visiting the Side Hustle Lounge, a retro bar which is located and part of Mootz Pizza in Downtown Detroit.  Mootz Pizzeria opened its doors in late 2018 or early 2019 serving their authentic New York style pizza.  Shortly thereafter they opened their “side hustle”, which is a walk up “grab n go” pizza by the slice, for those who do not want to have a sit down meal.  It is designed to resemble a NY subway station.  Fast forward to April of 2024 when they opened The Side Hustle Lounge.

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.

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. 

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 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.”

Located at the north end of Walled Lake, just east of Pontiac Trail, is a long standing restaurant that has been many names through the years.  My memories are from when it was Key Largos back in the 90’s. Today, it is the home to The Beach Tiki Bar & Boil

Everyone is painfully aware that dining out has become very expensive.  As you probably know, we eat out often! Usually, when we go out, we end up sitting at the bar and sharing a few appetizers and a beer, bourbon or cool cocktail.  It’s QUICK (because you get your drinks right away) FUN (because you get to talk to the bartenders, and other people at the bar) AND the best part, no leftovers to take home and no irritating styrofoam containers in your fridge. A lot of restaurants do SMALL PLATES / SHAREABLES or TAPAS. People don’t really want to commit to just ONE entree to eat.  They want to sample things and share food!  Although COVID changed a lot of things in the restaurant world . . . HAPPY HOUR HAS MADE A STRONG COMEBACK!