The story of Karl’s Cabin goes back to January of 1936 when Romanian immigrants, Alex and Katie Rusceak, purchased a 220 acre farm in Salem Township, MI for $1 from the Union Stock Land Bank of Detroit.  1 years later they opened Rusceak’s Rustic Tavern, a log framed tavern with a fieldstone fireplace build form boulders found on the property. 

The Fed Community. Husband and wife team Sarah and James Schneider, who were always looking for a reason to host their next dinner party or event, look at The Fed as an extension of their home.  They encourage guests to “come as they are” with their exquisite, yet laid back atmosphere . . . and no dress code.  I’m not sure if James and Sarah had previous restaurant experience, but they DO like to entertain! The Fed Community is a way for them to host a couple hundred people every night for dinner. 

This week we are back to Ann Arbor, visiting one of our all time favorites for not only BBQ but for great home brewed beers. Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery.  The beautiful thing about this local brewery is that they also have a full liquor license so they don’t just sell beer and wine.  We have featured the Blue Tractor before, in 2019, as part of our Fun Food Friday posts . . . but a lot can happen in 5 years so we felt them worthy of another mention. 

This week we are “Losing Ourselves” at Eminem’s restaurant collaboration with The Union Joint’s from Clarkston, which opened it’s doors in 2021.  The name was inspired from a line in the song Lose Yourself from 8 Mile. Let’s go check out Mom’s Spaghetti. 

This week we are featuring Rebecca’s Family Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor at 134 N Center Street in the heart of Downtown Northville.  This place is adorable and so much fun!  It’s decorated throughout with all sorts of antique photos, model airplanes and a whole section dedicated to the Red Wings. But the coolest thing is the miniature train that is constantly circling the dining room which is a big hit with the kids.

This weeks adventure takes us to Wayne, to a locally owned establishment that is serving up some creative scratch-made-to-order food.  It is a bistro, but some refer to it as a sports bar in the sense they have tv’s and they usually have sports playing.  The Avenue American Bistro is not new, but it is new to us.  We were told about it by some friends that told us we would love it, and we did.

Located in the Heart of Downtown Wayne, it is a culinary delight! They opened their doors in 2010 and are still going strong today.  The inside is wide open with lots of space.  There are murals painted on the cinderblock walls depicting the blue collar workers the Detroit and surrounding communities were built on. The atmosphere, food and the service are exactly what we look for when we go out. 

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.

It all started in 1995, when Curt Catallo and his wife Ann Stevenson opened up the Clarkston Union.  Curt’s parents had bought the old church, to save it from disrepair, and were not sure what to do with the place. Curt and Ann had an idea, and together with their opening chef Bill Fortin, they opened the Clarkston Union Bar & Kitchen. 

This week our adventure takes us back to Clarkston to Honchos. Honcho’s is a Latin street food inspired restaurant and coffee house. It is part of the “Union Joints” which started in 1995 when they opened their first place, The Clarkston Union. Today, they have expanded and are behind The Fenton Fire Hall, Union Rec in Ann Arbor, Vincetta’s Garage in Royal Oak and Union Assembly and Mom’s Spaghetti in Downtown Detroit to name a few.

The story that we heard, was that in 2008 Bogdan Tarasov, a Romanian construction company owner was working in the downtown Detroit area and would bring in sandwiches for his crew.  His sandwiches were so good that he was encouraged to open his own place, serving these delicious shawarma sandwiches. Bogdan was able to secure a place, inside the Park Bar, at the corner of Park and Elizabeth . . . and The Bucharest Grill was born. It was a small “walk up” and “order sandwiches to go” place which quickly grew in popularity. 

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 roughly 1911, a piece of property was purchased at 7 Mile and Center street in the small community of Northville . . . roughly 40 miles from downtown Detroit. At the time, Northville was a rural community which was home to roughly 1600 residents. It’s original intended purpose was a private 9 hole golf course. A few years later, a group of men, lead by Ed Starkweather (this may be a familiar name if you are familiar with the Plymouth and Northville area) started an Athletic Park where harness racing occurred. The site was later turned into the Wayne County Fairgrounds, the location where Joe Louis trained for his world Championship bout later that year. In 1944 Northville Downs was born.

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.

When you walk in there is no question to the “type” of restaurant you are walking in to. The decor makes you feel like you are in New Orleans. It is cozy and dark. It is long and narrow with an antique ceiling and exposed brick walls giving that true feeling on an old New Orleans restaurant. There are Mardi Gras posters, beads and jazz memorabilia throughout…..This week’s adventure is at Howe’s Bayou in Ferndale.

Located in the Vista Tech Center, The American Harvest Restaurant may be the schools best kept secret.  Unless you are in “the know”, you have probably never heard of it, yet it has been around for as far back as I can remember.  It was there in 1985, when I attended.  It is not just a restaurant, but a class that is part of the culinary program and all student must take.  The downfall is that it is not open all the time, only when class is in session.  Don’t mistake the cafeteria as the restaurant. The cafeteria and culinary program are 2 separate entities.  Culinary Arts does not prepare the food for the cafeteria.

This week we are in Ann Arbor, at the Blazin Coop’s Nashville Hot Chicken, which is a food truck/trailer. It is located in the parking lot of the Shell Gas Station at 3240 Washtenaw Ave, on the SW corner of Washtenaw Ave and Huron Parkway.  Blazin Coop is a brand new venture, started by brothers Alex and Sonny Nasser, that specializes in Nashville Hot Chicken. 

This week we are back in Downtown Detroit, at a restaurant that opened in the fall on 2020. Probably not the best time to be opening a new restaurant anywhere in the world . . . but they pulled it off.  Who are they?  We are talking about Holly McClain, the owner, and Chef Andrew Shedden from Olin Bar & Kitchen.

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.