In this area, when someone mentions businesses along Michigan Avenue two distinct areas come to mind. You’re probably talking about Corktown and it’s bustling few blocks of restaurants, bars, and all manner of businesses to serve it’s revitalized neighborhood and droves of suburbanites that flock there daily. You MIGHT be referring to the many businesses that make up neighboring Dearborns major commerce thoroughfare that spans several miles through the city, covering everything from Middle Eastern bakeries and Museums, to bars, BBQ, and fine dining as you make your way west. What you almost never referring to is the nearly 4 miles between the the eastern border of Dearborn and the Jeffries freeway, where many people identify as the beginning of the Corktown neighborhood. It’s a stretch of often forgotten road that some outsiders and Detroit novices have referred to as a business and commercial “desert”, but as you can probably guess in many ways those people couldn’t be more wrong. Now you might ask why I might have any unique insight or credibility in making this claim, but for someone born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan Avenue has been my gateway to Detroit for literally decades. In addition it has become my commute to work downtown every single day of the week including the weekends when I sometimes make the trip downtown multiple times per day on my Detroit “adventures”. Some time ago I decided to make it a point to not treat this span of Michigan Avenue as a “drive past” portion of the city on my way downtown but to start patronizing the businesses and finding out more about what it had to offer. What I found were some of the friendliest business owners I’ve met and some of the best food in the entire city. From amazing tacos to the best corned beef sandwich in Detroit this corridor offers everything your pallet can handle. There’s so much more than one blog post can cover, but when it comes to food and drink here are some of my favorite spots along Michigan Ave, the challenge to you is go forth and explore:
Food:
Senor Lopez- 7146 Michigan Ave
Telway Burgers- 6820 Michigan Ave
Las Cazuelas-4000 Livernois Ave
El Barzon- 3710 Junction St
Rincon Tropical- 6538 Michigan Ave
Hygrade Deli- 3640 Michigan Ave
Prince Valley Market- 5931 Michigan Ave
Drink:
Brent’s Place- 8900 Michigan Ave
Cas Bar- 7800 Michigan Ave
Freer Bar- 7355 Michigan Ave
Hazels Place- 5516 Michigan Ave
The Alaskan- 7627 Michigan Ave