Slows Bar BQ

I heard from several folks that Slows was the place to go in Detroit. We had no luck on Friday night so we tried again Saturday afternoon and only had to wait about 30 minutes for a table.

We ordered pretty quickly and our food came shortly after. The decor is very nice, dark hardwood floors and a casual atmosphere.

Pat ordered the Triple Threat pork sandwich which was ham, pulled pork and bacon. He ordered waffle fries with cheddar cheese on the side. From what Pat said the sandwich was really good and he loved their apple barbecue sauce. The waffle fries with cheddar practically sell themselves.



I opted for the Mary Ann which was pickle, white onion on top of cubed brisket with macaroni and cheese. Their mac n cheese is pretty damn delicious. It's large shells with a rich cheddar cheese sauce, cooked until bubbly and brown. The sandwich had a good portion of brisket on it and was sauced before coming to the table. Not my preference but it was okay. I would have preferred to sauce it myself. I like the spicier sauces and with the pickle and onion I think it would have been better. It was a pretty hearty portion and it made quite a mess.



I liked Slows but I'm not sure I would endure the 30-40 minute wait for it on a Saturday afternoon.

Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burgers

ANOTHER Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives establishment! We did indeed drive all the way from Detroit to Ann Arbor, Michigan just to have a tasty cheeseburger at Blimpy Burger.

I read ahead of time on their menu for their ordering decorum (nothing too difficult, I assure you). 1. order your fried items, 2. order your # of patties, 3. request any grill items, 4. request bun type, 5. request cheese, 6. request any condiments, 7. pay.

Upon arrival I ordered the fried veggies and a double cheeseburger. Pat ordered the quint cheeseburger with bacon. Yes, that is 5 patties. They make everything before your eyes. they grind the beef daily and its placed on the grill in a meatball sized portion and smashed on the grill to make a nice brown crust. 

Here is my double with cheddar. A very tasty burger, I probably shouldn't have wolfed it down.



Here's Pat's quint. Bacony, cheesy, beefy goodness.



Fresh cut steak fries were a nice touch.



These fried veggies were delicious. Fresh cut/battered veggies, absolutely delicious.



Blimpy Burger doesn't need my help. There are 3 generations of Wolverines that can attest to the deliciousness of their burgers.

New York Red Hots Coney Island

I am a fan of the diner foods. Since we were in Detroit I had to try a Coney Island dog. Being from Cincinnati I know a thing or two about Coneys but these were different. The Detroit Coney Island is more of a chili dog, and is quite tasty. The bun was perfectly steamed and the hot dog appeared to be a natural casing, it had that certain "snap" to it.



I had an order of the spinach pie which was great. It was HUGE and delicious. I was expecting more of a spanikopita sized portion but this was as big as a slice of bread. Lots of delicious onion, garlic, cheese and spinach and wonderful phyllo dough.



Pat had a ham and cheese melt with fries. As you can see they don't mess around with the fries. Pat said that the ham and cheese was good however the fries were more than likely frozen. Not bad for diner food though.



NY Red Hots Coney Island much like other CI restaurants is open 24/7 and has an expansive Greek American diner menu serving breakfast classics and dinner entrees all day. Good comfort food anytime or enough to soak up all that booze you just drank!

Zack's Hot Dogs

Before our concert we went to Zack's for a quick snack/meal.

Pat ordered the Chicken Fried dog which was battered, deep fried and then smothered in gravy. Pretty tasty!
 


I ordered the Baltimore dog which is a regular dog wrapped in bologna and then grilled. It was reaaaaally good!



I also had their onion rings which were pretty good. A little greasy as you might expect but still pretty good.



This location had less than stellar reviews from the other one and they did have some missteps upon our arrival but everyone was very friendly and I would definitely go back. So should you if you're not in the market for coney island style dogs in D-town.

The Spinning Fork

We went to Spinning Fork on a whim one Sunday. The decor was quite nice kind of like an Italian diner.

We ordered the garlic bread with cheese which was good. The marinara sauce is very good, smooth but substantial.



Pat tried the Italian Wedding Soup which he enjoyed. That surprised me. I wouldn't normally think he would like this soup. I tasted it, it was very flavorful and a nice portion in lieu of a salad.



I had their side salad which was okay. The house Italian dressing was too sweet for my liking. I can't believe I had to say that Italian dressing was sweet. Meh, it's not a deal breaker.



I ordered their Fettuccini Alfredo which was pretty good. I've had better but it was good. It tasted freshly made and the pasta was cooked perfectly. If I had one complaint is that it could have used more salt in the cooking process. Still a hearty portion.



Pat had the Spaghetti with meatballs, 2 large meatballs to be exact. Pat liked the marinara, which was smooth and flavorful. The meatballs were large and flavorful due to the beef and Italian sausage. Really tasty.



Spinning Fork was a great alternative to other "Italian" restaurants that you could try. This is going in our regular rotation.

Union Woodshop

Union Woodshop was both worth the drive and the wait. My god, was it ever. This is another Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives location. I actually didn't know that in advance! The decor was cute, kitschy Americana with wood details. The floor was made of wood particle paneling complete with lumberyard stamps.

Nothing was really photogenic here so you'll have to trust me.

We ordered the burnt ends appetizer which was a large portion on a piece of toast. The Burnt Ends were delicious. They have a really great sauce that's smoky and slightly sweet with a little heat. The burnt ends are a misnomer they're not burnt at all but tender and flavorful. It will make you want more.

Pat ordered the back ribs platter with fries. It came cleverly in a baking pan for ease of cleaning. Pat really liked their ribs and sauce. The smoke ring on the ribs was rich and deep. And by the way, I had a bite of Pat's mac and cheese that came on the side. UW makes the BEST macaroni and cheese that I've ever eaten. It was a really creamy sauce, penne pasta, and a crunchy crust. MMM!

I ordered the pineapple and tasso pizza. Yes, ma'am you read that right. Grilled pineapple and house made tasso ham on a wood fired pizza crust with San Marzano tomato sauce. God. Was. This. Good. I am a fan of the tasso ham and with the grilled pineapple it was really tasty. I added roasted garlic for an extra kick. In fact I just had some as leftovers. MMMM!

For dessert pat had the deep fried twinkie which he enjoyed a lot. I can't do them, they're too sweet. I opted for the Butterscotch Pudding which was topped with house-smoked sea salt & our fresh whipped cream. I would drive 4 hours from Cincinnati to Detroit for that pudding ALONE. Damn!

UW has a great craft beer selection and the bar staff is more than capable of making any cocktail that you could want.

Stockyards Steakhouse

After Phil's graduation from MMI we decided to treat him to a steak. I found Stockyards and it was a really cool joint. they have a giant cow on the roof. How could you go wrong?

 We were greeted with a bread/cracker basket while we perused the menu.

I had the filet mignon with their parmesan potato stack which is simply au gratin potatoes with parmesan. It was very tasty and dense. Their filet was very good. Nicely seasoned and cooked perfectly. It was at a right price at $36 for 8oz., in my opinion. It's also worth mentioning that they were running a side item special that day on sauteed chanterelle mushrooms at $10. Worth it! God those are my kryptonite.



Pat opted for the Buffalo steak which was $55 for a 20oz Ribeye. Pat really loved it and pretty much cleaned the bone. Pat had a nice loaded potato on the side which was a generous size.



Phil on the other hand had the world's largest, bloodiest piece of prime rib ever. He had the "Cattle Baron's Cut" of prime rib which was $36 for 18oz. He also had the parmesan potato stack and horseradish on the side. This was a really generous portion and according to Phil it was top notch. I don't know why but I am always really happy when all of our food comes out perfectly cooked and at the same time. I mean look at my filet and this big old slab below... same time!



We ended up sitting in the same booth that John Wayne liked to sit at as did Barry Goldwater. Yep, we're that cool. The Duke also blessed us with delicious food and great staff to take care of us. On your next trip into Phoenix please swing by the Stockyards. It has a wonderful atmosphere and great food to keep you coming back.