Union Assembly, a Massive New Restaurant, Will Overlook Comerica Park and Fox Theatre

8/12 update: See the photos of the interior

Union Joints, the restaurant group behind suburban hotspots Vinsetta Garage, Clarkston Union, Gran Castor, and others is close to opening Union Assembly, a new restaurant at Woodward and Columbia in Detroit.

The massive space, which anchors the Little Caesars corporate extension, has elevated views of Woodward and Comerica Park from the indoor-outdoor bar, and profiles of the Fox Theatre and Fillmore Detroit. It’s Union Joints’ first new construction restaurant.

Eater recently had a sneak peek at the restaurant interior. Here are six things to know about the restaurant, which the owners are hoping will open in September.

1. They’re hiring, looking to fill 25-30 positions in the kitchen alone. Union Joints is holding a job fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, August 7-9 at the restaurant, 2131 Woodward Ave. Applications are also accepted online.
2. It’s spacious. The two-story 14,800-square-foot restaurant has room for up to 500 guests, with seating on the mezzanine and two large patios. There’s also a room available for private dining.
3. The views are stupendous. With the Fox Theatre and Fillmore Detroit as bookends, the second-floor lounge, indoor-outdoor bar, and three-season terrace afford views of Comerica Park.
4. The menu will include game-day classics, including Detroit-style pizza, “grown-up hot pockets,” macaroni and cheese, hot perch, an extensive lineup of salads, and other items that draw on the national and international experiences of the executive chefs, Mara Jaffe and Philip Vernier, who both recently returned to Michigan. Jaffe, a Roeper and Cornell hospitality program grad, is coming home after stints in Dubai, Nantucket, and California. Vernier is returning to Michigan after finishing culinary school in Portland and overseeing myriad highly-respected kitchens in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

5. The bathrooms are a must-see with an Andy Warhol wallpaper print of Muhammad Ali on the second floor. Vintage wallpaper lines the walls throughout the restaurant. Designer and co-owner Ann Stevenson is known for revamping building projects from old Hooters restaurants to former radio station transmitter buildings.

6. There’s a DJ booth that extends over the first floor, and another room on the second floor, which Stevenson says will contain “something special” to be revealed later.

Union Assembly is at 2131 Woodward, Detroit

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