Detroit’s Most Anticipated Restaurants and Bars, Fall 2018

Fall always proves to be a great restaurant season in Detroit when upcoming spots make the final push to get the doors open before winter hits. This summer has already seen some long-awaited restaurants finally spring to life, from Caribbean comfort food restaurant Norma G’s to the largely under-the-radar opening of tasting menu spot Albena at the Siren Hotel. Detroit now has a vegan coney island. Even Detroit Shipping Company made it to the finish line with a few of the lingering food stalls set to come on board later this year.

From now until the end of 2018, there’s still loads of exciting projects on the way including two meat-centric restaurants, a food hall, several bakeries, a piano karaoke bar, and an East African restaurant. Without further delay, here are the 13 upcoming projects to keep on your radar this season.

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Michelle and Chris Gerard

Marrow

Location: 8044 Kercheval 1B

Key Players: Ping Ho, Greg Reyner, chef Sarah Welch

Projected Opening: October

Sister Pie’s meaty new neighbor Marrow is set to bring a combination restaurant, bar, and butcher shop to Kercheval this fall. Owners Ping Ho (the Royce) and Greg Reyner (Cafe Muse) have tapped former Republic and Parks & Rec executive chef Sarah Welch to run the restaurant, which will feature a menu focused on local produce and ethically raised meats butchered in-house. Diners can expect to see a yakitori at the restaurant as well items like dumplings and marrow croquettes. The butcher shop and retail space is expected to open first, followed by the restaurant.

Brenna Houck

Gratiot Avenue Provisions

Location: 1528 Gratiot Ave.

Key Players: Detroit Optimist Society, Jessica Woll, Don Stewart, chef Aramis Jones,

Projected Opening: Fall

Detroit Optimist Society, whose bars and restaurants include the Sugar House and Wright and Company, is branching out into Eastern Market with a new charcuterie-centric restaurant inside a former butcher supply store. Helmed by former Roast chef Aramis Jones, the restaurant will be an anchor for the Gratiot Avenue Provisions charcuterie brand that launched earlier this year.

Michelle and Chris Gerard

Shinola Hotel Restaurants

Location: 1400 Woodward Ave.

Key Players: Bedrock Detroit, Shinola, NoHo Hospitality

Opening Timeline: 2018

Detroit-branded company Shinola will gain its very own downtown Detroit hotel in 2018. The project includes the redevelopment of several buildings on the 1400 block of Woodward with designs by Gachot Studios and Kraemer Design Group. One significant and intriguing feature of the Shinola Hotel’s is its 16,000-square-feet of food, beverage, and retail space. At the head of the food and beverage programming will be New York-based restaurant hitmakers NoHo Hospitality. Owned by chef Andrew Carmellini, Luke Ostrom, and Josh Pickard, NoHo is known for spots like the Dutch and Lafayette. What exactly the group is plotting for Detroit is still unclear. More details are expected to be released soon.

Baobab Fare [Official photo]

Baobab Fare

Location: 6568 Woodward Ave.

Key Players: Hamissi Mamba and Nadia Nijimbere

Projected Opening: November

This East African restaurant owned by refugees from Burundi is set to anchor the corner of Grand Boulevard and Woodward Avenue in New Center. The 2017 Hatch Detroit winners plan to open a casual 65-seat restaurant serving breakfast and lunch with options like coconut rice, goat, chicken and skewered meats, as well as plantains, fried sweet potatoes, and cassava. The owners are currently hosting pop-ups around metro Detroit.

Sid Gold’s Request Room [Official image]

Sid Gold’s Request Room

Location: 1509 Broadway

Key Players: Paul Devitt, Joe McGinty, the Siren Hotel

Projected Opening: Early December

Popular New York-based piano karaoke bar Sid Gold’s Request Room is expanding to a second outpost on the ground floor of the Siren Hotel this year. Sid Gold’s is known for its eclectic approach to karaoke where customers can request songs and belt out their favorite tunes — anything from pop to punk to soul to classic rock — accompanied by a live pianist. It’s expected to seat roughly 70 people and will have a 1970s “sophisticated basement bar” feel, according to co-owner Paul Devitt.

Jenna Belevender

Ochre Bakery

Location: 4884 Grand River Ave

Key Players: Jessica Hicks and Dai Hughes

Projected Opening: Corktown’s hit cafe Astro Coffee is expanding its operations to Core City. Owners Jessica Hicks and Dai Hughes have already moved their fledgeling coffee roasting operations to a new space located across from forthcoming restaurant Magnet and have plans to open a wholesale bakery and cafe alongside it. Hicks and Hughs are working with bread baker Max Leonard to produce naturally leavened breads using heritage grains. Ochre will also offer items like Australian-style meat pies, sausage rolls, sandwiches, and salads.

Brenna Houck

Cork and Gabel

Location: 2415 Michigan Ave.

Key Players: Joe Mifsud and chef Matthew McGrail

Projected Opening: Late October/Early November

German, Irish, and Italian flavors will all find a home on chef Matthew McGrail’s menu for Cork and Gabel. The restaurant currently under construction in a space next door to Two James Spirits will feature a large open dining room with an open kitchen and a horseshoe bar specializing in bourbon, whiskey, and scotch. An added bonus: plenty of off-street parking.

Marina Goldi

Cøllect

Location: 1454 Gratiot Ave.

Key Players: Lea and Kyle Hunt

Projected Opening: 2018

The team behind Gather are developing a new beer-centric bar on the second floor of their Eastern Market building. Cøllect will feature 14 beers on tap with more in bottles and cans with a focus on lesser-known breweries, breweries with limited distribution, and so-called nomadic brewers that utilize equipment from more established breweries. It will also — pending city approval — include a rooftop lounge space.

Michelle and Chris Gerard

Fort Street Galley

Location: 160 W. Fort St.

Key Players: Galley Group

Projected Opening: November

Pittsburgh-based food hall developers Galley Group are striking out into Detroit with a downtown food hall featuring at least four vendors. The chefs, who pitched their ideas to panelists this summer, are expected to be announced within the next month. When it’s completed the newly named Fort Street Galley will feature communal tables with seats for 225 people, a patio, and a full-service bar with cocktails and beer.

Poppies

Location: 1400 Van Dyke

Key Players: Molly Mitchell and Eggy Ding

Projected Opening: October

Rose’s Fine Foods co-founder and owner Molly Mitchell is preparing for her second act with the opening of Polish-inspired restaurant and bakery Poppies in West Village. The restaurant, located at the corner of Agnes and Van Dyke, will feature Polish classics complemented by naturally leavened breads from head baker Eggy Ding.

Michelle and Chris Gerard

Jamaican Pot

Location: 3031 W Grand Blvd

Key Players: Chef Rose Forrest and Bruce Cunningham

Projected Opening: 2018

This beloved carryout Jamaican restaurant is slated to expand to the New Center neighborhood this year with a stand inside the New Center One Building. Permitting delays appear to have held up the anticipated summer opening but there’s still hope that this spot will be serving jerk chicken and curry goat at a second outpost by the end of 2018.

Michelle and Chris Gerard

Bucharest Grill

Location: 436 W. Columbia St.

Key Players: Bogdan Tarasov

Projected Opening: Fall

Downtown Detroit customers lamented the departure of Bucharest from the Park Bar back in 2016. The mini chain has expanded to multiple standalone restaurants throughout Detroit since then, but the newest location heading to Columbia Street will bring Bucharest back to its roots of serving sports fans near Detroit’s major stadiums. It’s also on track to be the first location with a bar.

Michelle and Chris Gerard

UFO Factory

Location: 2110 Trumbull Ave.

Key Players: Dion Fischer

Projected Opening: 2018

Local favorite UFO Factory and vegan hot dog spot Laika Dog are on the mend after construction crews from a surrounding development seriously damaged their building, forcing the bar to shutter indefinitely. The Corktown bar began rebuilding in the spring and has hosted several pop-ups this summer. It’s on track to reopen before the end of the year.

Also Tracking

• Detroit is gaining a bonafide Japanese izakaya called Katsu Detroit in the Woodbridge neighborhood, which is slated to debut by late October or early November.
• Pastry chef Matt Knio is bringing his popular French pastries to a second Cannelle Patisserie outpost in downtown Detroit across from Lovers Only.
• West McNichols is about to gain a new breakfast restaurant called Simply Breakfast.
• Kate Williams’ forthcoming diner Karl’s inside the Siren Hotel is now on track for a winter opening. It will be joined by a bar inside Paramita Sound.
• Jefferson Chalmers’ Alma Kitchen is now facing a 2019 opening after permitting delays pushed back construction.
• New Orleans-inspired West Village restaurant Gabriel Hall is now aiming for an April 2019 opening and is continuing do pop-ups and catering in the meantime.
• There’s a high-rise restaurant from celebrity chef Shawn McClain coming to the RenCen, but there are scant other details available at this time. More announcements are expected to be made this fall.
• A new restaurant called Frenchies is taking over the La Boheme space in West Village in September.
• The team behind Takoi is aiming to bring a new “vegetable centric” restaurant called Magnet to Core City in late-2018 or early 2019.
• Batch Brewing Company’s brand new Funk Room and events space is slated to open in late-October in the North End.
• Chef Marcus Samuelsson, who’s known to sport an Eastern Market hat, is rumored to have a restaurant in the works for downtown Detroit.
• A Northern Michigan-inspired restaurant called North Cookshop from Jolly Pumpkin founder Jon Carlson and friend Greg Lobdell is now on track to open in spring 2019 in Midtown. It will be joined by an outpost of Barcade.
• A pizzeria called Grandma Bob’s (previously White Star Pizza) is in the works for Corktown. The restaurant was previously slated to open this summer, but the timeline is currently up in the air.

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• All Coming Attractions Coverage [ED]
• All Eater Tracking Coverage [ED]