Oakland County’s suburbs may be a far cry from the “quaint little villages here and there” along the Atlantic, but Franklin’s main drag is pretty charming as far as local villages go.
That’s where retired Rocket Companies CEO-turned-restaurateur Jay Farner and his partners at Ronin Capital Partners saw potential in an 1848 carriage house, most recently occupied by The Franklin Grill.
The restaurant’s transformation into The Franklin Oyster Bar and Eatery, an East Coast-style oyster bar, was inspired in part by Franklin’s 19th-century settlers from New England, who feasted on oysters shipped in by train and steamboat.
The update also channels Charleston, South Carolina (where Farner owns a vacation home), and its many charming restaurants near the ocean that occupy converted old houses.
Co-owner Nicole Vallianatos oversaw the interior design, which subtly transports diners with its stormy blues, dark wood furniture, and a mix of wallpapers, paintings, and historic photos that evoke maritime life.
Executive chef Nick Geftos (previously of Birmingham’s Tallulah and Detroit’s BESA) assembled an impressive team for which he has no shortage of praise, including pastry chef Tanya Bowers, general manager Robert Cook, assistant general manager Taylor Cramer, and chef de cuisine David Coon.
The raw bar offers a rotating selection of eight different oysters. Just as terroir influences the taste of wine, each oyster species has its own merroir, unique marine aquatic conditions that affect its flavor profile.
“We don’t discriminate; we love all the oysters,” Geftos says. At The Franklin, selections represent the East and West coasts, and more niche varieties come from places like the pristine waters of New Zealand.
While there’s room for diners to branch out, there are also plenty of familiar comforts. In fact, the two most popular orders are the cheeseburger and fish and chips.
But The Franklin even elevates traditional bar night go-tos. The cheeseburger features a bun baked from scratch in-house, a patty made of ground Wagyu from West Michigan’s Stonefall Farm, and a melty topping of horseradish cheddar and grilled onions.
The fish and chips started as a special before popular demand drove it to menu status. Instead of cod, The Franklin serves Icelandic haddock with Savoy cabbage coleslaw and ultra-crispy twice-fried potatoes.
Geftos’s philosophy is simple: “I don’t need something nobody’s ever heard of or seen before. I just need something that tastes incredible.”
32760 Franklin Road, Franklin; 248-771-4747; thefranklinmi.com
More of Hour Detroit’s Best New Restaurants 2026
Wilder’s in Birmingham
Rose’s in Detroit
Little Liberia in Detroit
Best New Bars
Sunda New Asian in Detroit
Medusa in Detroit
Bar Gabi in Hazel Park
This story originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
