Good Eats in Detroit

Food, glorious Detroit food! 

If you’ve seen the state of my husband's belly you can tell that we’re a couple that love to eat. Detroit has tons of great food and we’re drawn to the same places while we tool around the city.

I’m not talking about fancy, schmancy fine dining places where you have to put on your Sunday best to fit in. We like those places but we just don’t get to them often. I’m talking about tasty nosh that won’t break the budget and welcomes us as we are.

Our favorite places for good eats in Detroit:

Supino Pizzeria – Our favorite pies are the Bismarck and the El Greco.

Russell Street Deli – I’ve never gone wrong with their quiche or omelet of the day.

Roast Cocktail Hour – You must try the burger! Order the whole Cocktail Hour menu and it still won’t break the bank.

Slows BarBQ – The mac-n-cheese, the Yardbird, the Triple Threat. Yum.

La Dolce Vita – Sunday brunch with bottomless mimosas. Need I say more?

Lafayette Coney Island – What’s more Detroit than a few coneys from the best coney shop in the city?

Sweetwater Tavern – Wings. Seriously good.

Mudgie's – I love a place where I can build my own sandwich. Add bacon & avocado!

Niki’s Pizza – Detroit style pizza and saganaki at the same place? Yes, please!

Foran’s Grand Trunk – Great selection of Michigan beer and top-notch burgers.

Park Bar/Budapest Grille – You must try the Chicken Shawarma!

On the radar: Word on the Street is Cliff Bell’s is kicking off a happy hour menu on August 3^rd.  I’m hearing $2 shrimp cocktail, $3 calamari and mac-n-cheese, $6 fish ‘n chips, and more! We’ll be checking it out!

What are your favorite places in Detroit for a good, affordable, meal?

Detroit Moxie's Weekend Roundup

Detroit was founded on July 24, 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.

Happy Birthday Detroit! You're 309 years old! I made this just for you. (Yeah, I know it's kind of ugly, it's the best I could do.)

Weekend Roundup

1. Corktown Music Festival - Enjoy live music in Detroit's oldest neighborhood. The festival takes place in Roosevelt Park, in the shadows of Michigan Central Station. July 24th.

2. 4th Fridays in the Park - Free concerts, film and fun in Campus Martius. The events go on all day and culminate with the Mega 80's, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and the film "Whip It." July 23rd.

3. Meadowbrook Concours d'Elegance - Over 230 cars and motorcycles will be on show on the beautiful grounds of Meadowbrook. July 25th.

4. Green Breeze: Green Living Fair - This free fair at the Birmingham Community House showcases over 100 eco-friendly vendors and their green products. July 24th.

5. Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival - Relax along the riverside and sample over 300 Michigan brews from more than 50 Michigan breweries. July 23-24.

6. Detroit Chicken Race (Facebook Link) - The first ever Detroit Chicken Race takes place at Temple Bar. Only city chickens are allowed to compete! July 25th. (How could I not include this?)

7. Belle Isle Art Exhibit - Head to our beautiful island park and check out local artists. July 24-30.

8. Detroit Children's Museum  - This Saturday is a FREE family fun day! Hands-on activities, arts and crafts, storytelling, & games. July 24th.

Don't forget the Ann Arbor Art Fair continues through July 24th.

Do you know of a great event going in on Metro Detroit this weekend? Add it to the comments and share it with us!

7 Thoughts on Detroit & Love

I didn’t just wake up one morning and start blogging about Detroit. I researched and thought about it for a few years. One of my main sources of information on blogging has come from Darren Rowse of Problogger.

A few days ago Mr. Problogger issued a challenge to bloggers. I don’t usually participate in memes but I liked the 7 Link Challenge (#7links). He issued us with 7 links with specific guidelines.

So, here we go.

1. Your first post. My first post was Hello Detroit. I hope I’m keeping up my part of the bargain.

2. A post you enjoyed writing the most. I’ve enjoyed writing most of the posts here and some have pained me. Like, serious pain. The most recent post that I absolutely loved writing was And Then it Got Quiet.

3. A post which had a great discussion. The Heidelberg Project: Polka Dots Over Blight may not have the most comments but I think it provoked one of the best discussions.

4. A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written. This one was tough! There are probably 100 posts about Detroit I wish I had written and another 100 that I am SO happy that I had nothing to do with. The last thing Warren needs is another parking lot full of junk written by Brian Ambrozy over at Icrontic.com gets the nod here.

5. Your most helpful post. This one was pretty easy. 40 Things to Do in Detroit Before You’re Dead.

6. A post with a title that you are proud of. Harrumph. I’m the first to admit I suck at titles and headlines. If I could outsource them I would. Street Artist Banksy Tags Detroit.

7. A Post that you wish more people had read. The Guardian Building: Detroit’s Beauty probably would have been read by more people if I could actually write a headline. This building is amazing and it always surprises and saddens me when people say they have never ventured inside of this architectural masterpiece.

This little exercise was fun and enlightening. I try to look at Detroit Moxie once every week or two with the eyes of an outsider. Over the weekend, I changed a few small elements: the background color, the font, and the font color. Those are just surface changes to make it easier to read and a bit prettier.

The 7 Link Challenge, however, forced me to look at the content I provide. I scrounged through my archives and found posts I had forgoten about. I want to consistently offer good information about Detroit in an entertaining way.

How am I doing? Do you agree with the choices I made for the challenge?

Sim City Detroit

This is a guest post by Jerry Paffendorf.

What should you do if you dream of starting the next big thing on the internet that has real world impact? You should leave San Francisco and come to Detroit! Duh!

Wait.

What?

Yep. I think so.

I moved to Detroit a little over a year ago after founding a startup with friends in Brooklyn, raising money from investors in Silicon Valley, being forced to move to San Francisco and then getting fired along with everyone else because we were a bit outside the box on our approach. That was a lot of heartbreaking fun!

(For the record, we built a real-time social layer for your browser that let’s you follow friends around the web live, see their cursors move around pages, chat and leave comments and graffiti anywhere on any site – it was crazy and awesome and now it’s in a shoebox but will live again.)

I used my last California unemployment checks to get a studio at the Russell Industrial Center and set out conceiving of LOVELAND micro real estate, an evolving online-offline project that’s seen modest bootstrapped success and has a bright future as we organically respond to what works and what doesn’t, experimenting with a combination of micro-payments, maps, virtual goods, social ownership, narrative and other elements of online games tied to real land and things.

Hear me out a second.

There’s the commonplace story of artists moving to Detroit to make use of all the big, cheap space. Less commonplace is the story of digital creatives moving here for the same, but also to tackle a different set of problems with a very different set of real world influences that you have in places with traditional internet culture, where they pile programmers and design hipsters high like sticks in a bonfire and burn them up towards the status quo. In my view that’s a bit of a waste.

Detroit has real problems and in addition to all the necessary ground work it needs new online and mobile solutions for connecting and empowering people and communities, increasing transparency, fundraising, mapping, planning, globally showcasing the great local work of the less internet-savvy, making it fun to participate in reinvention, and so on down the line.

The slightly adventurous developers and designers amongst you will find a thousand things to do, as well as a lot of attention and support for your efforts, and just a thousand of you will make a big difference.

I can imagine massive new internet success grown from Detroit’s unique condition, infrastructure and creative influences, that the rest of the world would never think of, but will happily adopt to make their lives better, too. Am I crazy or can you? Could be both. But there's only one way to find out. :-)

Jerry is an internet-loving creative American mutt in Detroit. His current projects are LOVELAND micro real estate and the Imagination Station. Email him at jerry@makeloveland.com or call 908-343-1981 to get in touch.

More information on Jerry and his projects:

LOVELAND is throwing a block party Saturday, July 17th: The Big Inch Block Party

Monumental Kitty is LOVELAND's first grant project.

WDET Craig Fahle Show - Jerry Paffendorf on Imagination Station by LemonBattery

Detroit Moxie's Weekend Roundup

So, yeah, I went a little crazy this week. I’m giving you three extra events in the Weekend Roundup! Actually, I could have included a few more but you have to stop somewhere. ;-)

Have fun in Detroit this weekend!

Weekend Roundup

1. The Big Inch Block Party - A different kind of block party at Cafe D'Mongo's Speakeasy and the Downtown Synagogue. Live music, DJ, video projections, and more all benefiting the LOVELAND project. July 17. (Come back tomorrow for more on LOVELAND and the guy behind it.)

2. Concert of Colors - Metro Detroit's 18th annual diversity music festival brings together different cultures by presenting music from around the world. July 16-18.

3. Festa Italiana - Dig into sausage, breaded steaks, pizza, pasta and specialty foods. Entertainment, a best meatball contest, and a beautiful baby contest. July 16-18.

4. Grease Sing-A-Long - Grease is the word at the MJR Partridge Creek Cinema this weekend. Watch the popular teenie-bopper movie while singing your heart out. July 15-17.

5. Royal Oak Antique & Garage Sale - Over 200 vendors will be selling their wares at this community garage sale. Jewelry, antiques, vintage items, sports memorablia, clothing and more. July 17 &18.

6. Target Family Day at The Henry Ford - Admission to the Museum and parking are free this Friday! July 16.

7. Quake on the Lake - Enjoy inboard hydroplane races, a carnival, and live music including Night Ranger. July 15-18.

8. Red Oaks Waterpark Family Festival - A special evening event featuring games, swimming, a climbing tower, Kid Fun Zone, puppet show, and face painting. July 16th. (Rain date is July 17th.)

Do you know of a great event going in on Metro Detroit this weekend? Add it to the comments and share it with us!