Favorite
This Royal Oak spot brings 24 hours of sustenance to the Woodward corridor. Step up to the counter and order from the chalkboard menu before grabbing a stool at the counter or along the window ledge. Dishes include such diner musts as eggs, eggs, and more eggs, sausage and potato hash, burgers, and chicken wings as well as tacos and Read more...
Favorite
The two-story setting includes balcony seating in a big, open room where the bar gets equal time with the kitchen. The pop-Mexican menu – which includes guacamole, burritos, and the titular tacos – is backed up with an array of tequilas. Happy hour is 2-6 p.m. weekdays. L & D daily. Read more...
Favorite
The smoker where the dryrubbed meats are smoked for eight hours is the heart of this authentic barbecue. Choices such as pork ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, burnt ends, and chicken are served atop butcher paper on metal trays. No fewer than 14 sides are offered. There’s also a large selection of craft beer on tap and a full bar. Read more...
Favorite
Primarily a seafood restaurant, it also boasts craft beer. It pairs well with the fare: Calypso-spiced crabcakes served with tangy honey mustard or panfried Lake Superior whitefish filet, dusted in malt flour. L & D daily. Read more...
Favorite
The Greek “street food” at this popular spot comes in pork, lamb and beef, and chicken. There’s also a gyro bowl and hand-cut fries topped with feta cheese, plus gluten-free pita bread and vegetarian lentil soup. L & D daily. Read more...
Favorite
Jim Brady’s Detroit aims to recapture the aura of Diamond Jim Brady’s, which was founded in 1954. These days, the restaurant in the former Oxford Inn in Royal Oak pays homage to the original with burgers just like they made them in 1954; the menu is also rounded out by offerings such as baby kale with grilled salmon, a few Read more...
Favorite
The rustic setting of brick and old wood with strings of vintage light bulbs overhead has a romantic feeling at Luigi Cutraro’s new restaurant in Royal Oak. It might have been just “trattoria” but the wood-burning oven tucked into one corner and inherited from the previous regime made pizza almost obligatory. And it’s very good – with toppings of grilled Read more...
Favorite
Comfortably unpretentious, D’Amato’s features rustic Italian fare and contemporary cuisine. Pastas (many of them housemade) include cavatappi with grilled chicken breast and garlic Parmesan cream sauce. There are also fresh fish dishes and vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. With an adjoining martini bar, Goodnite Gracie. D Mon.-Sat. Br Sun. Read more...
Favorite
While it respects some of the standards, the menu at this old standby goes well beyond fish and chips and oysters on the half shell to include some elegant dishes such as oven-roasted sea bass, crispy fresh sardine, and Scottish salmon, all handsomely garnished. A specialty is the Spanish coffee, with more than 100,000 made over the past two decades. Read more...
Favorite
While much of the fare tends to the hearty side – the shepherd’s pie and short ribs are perfect examples of hard-core meat-and-potatoes eating – a lighter meal can easily be made of such dishes as the Santa Fe Chicken Salad or there delicious Veggie Sandwich stacked high with grilled vegetables. Wash it all down with their award winning beers. Read more...
Favorite
Wood Fired Cucina: You can still get a distinctive Neapolitan pizza fresh out of a wood-fired oven, but chef-owner Luciano Del Signore’s Pizzeria Biga restaurant group has been renamed to reflect a menu that includes salads, fresh pastas, wood-roasted meats, and fish. They are also opening an Ann Arbor location. L & D daily. Read more...
Favorite
A woodsy contemporary setting and expertly prepared sushi and sashimi make this Royal Oak corner a popular spot. The menu of expertly made sushi, ranging from spicy tuna rolls to yellowtail and salmon eggs and well beyond, is augmented by a concise menu of cooked fare. The room is broken up into sections by cedar columns and stands of live Read more...
Favorite
The half-pound choice beef hamburger has always been near the top of the local favorites. But since they added an option for the low-fat, high-flavor Piedmontese beef, they’ve taken the title. It’s even tastier than the original, only a tad more expensive and topped with tomato, shredded lettuce and/or anything else you might imagine, from banana peppers to zip sauce. Read more...
Favorite
The duo offers an American menu on the airy ground floor and a Mexican menu on the second. Diners, however, may mix and match burgers with enchiladas and tostadas if they wish. The first-floor space is also home to dueling pianos Wednesday through Saturday and enough TV screens for a sports bar. L & D daily. Read more...
