Arts, Beats & Eats Lineup: Stone Temple Pilots, Bobby Brown, and 50 Restaurants

Plenty of restaurants are signed up for the return of Arts, Beats & Eats, the 23-year-old Labor Day weekend street party in Royal Oak.

A new, local Mexican restaurant is joining Eats this year: Tequila Blue, a cantina from downtown Royal Oak. Also new this year is the fine-dining restaurant Imaginate, also of Royal Oak.

Festival-goers can also expect baked goods and pizza from Crispelli’s; Sedona Taphouse, which specializes in hand-cut steaks and sustainable seafood selections, and Café Muse, which offers fresh, locally produced, and organic ingredients to create comfort food with a twist.

Other returning highlights of the festival are popular chain Wahlburgers, owned by the family of actor/singer Mark Wahlberger; Gosia’s Pierogies, whose food is made from a secret family recipe originating in Poland; Trattoria Da Luigi, a local, rustic Italian restaurant; and Beans & Cornbread, a soul-food restaurant based in Southfield.

The remaining lineup of metro Detroit tastes includes Chick-A-Dee, Great Greek Grill, Cinnabon, Kona Ice, Big Mike’s Mexican, Niko’s Gyro, Drunken Rooster, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Korean Beef, Proving Grounds, Eddie V, Frick N’ Good Cookies, For the Love of Cheesecake, Trapped Coffee, Ryba’s Fudge, DutchTroit, Cool Jacks, Island Noodles, Big Mike Butterfly, Fun Foods, Shatila Bakery, Bowdler Smoothie, Crepe Day-Twah, Andre’s Louisiana Seafood, La Feast, Lekker Choco Treats, A Taste of Motown, Fork In Nigeria, 2 Fat Boyz and a Grill, Almond King, Kozmic Gardens, Niko’s Greek Truck, and Mercurios. Eight additional restaurants are expected to be added in the coming weeks.

Festival organizers also said they had landed the biggest music act in its history, booking Stone Temple Pilots to headline opening night. The veteran rock band is one of 200-plus national and local performers for the Royal Oak festival, officially named Soaring Eagle Arts, Beats & Eats Presented by Flagstar Bank.

Other main stage performers for the weekend include Canadian classic rock band the Guess Who, Detroit’s Thornetta Davis, R&B singer Bobby Brown and ’90s hitmaker the Gin Blossoms.

Admission to the four-day party is free before 5 p.m. on Friday, September 3 and $5-$10 all other times. In July, organizers announced that it was ditching its ticket system for food and drink vendors and patrons could now pay directly as they go.

• Arts, Beats & Eats to return in September — minus ticket system for food, drinks [Detroit Free Press]