Editor’s note: This is part of RB’s look at Detroit and its restaurants. Check out Market Watch: Detroit.
On the national stage, Detroit has long been overlooked as a restaurant town.
The Midwestern city across the river from Canada has long been known for cars and coney dogs and as the cradle for quick-service pizza chains. Little Caesars, Jet’s Pizza, and Hungry Howie’s were born there, and, of course, Domino’s was founded in nearby Ypsilanti.
Now, however, Detroit is getting noticed.
Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group recently opened the long-awaited Pine Hall, the New York-based group’s first concept in Detroit. The 300-seat venue sits atop a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development called Hudson’s Detroit at the heart of downtown, overlooking Comerica Park, with a new skyscraper still to come there.
In addition, earlier this year the Michelin Guide announced the launch of an American Great Lakes edition that will include Detroit for the first time (as well as Cleveland, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh).
These are milestones that mark the foundation of restaurant growth built over the past decade as the city reinvented itself. The moves will also help get Detroit to its next level, argues Jeremy Sasson, founder of Detroit-based multi-concept group Heirloom Hospitality, who has operated high-end concepts like Townhouse and Prime & Proper in the city for more than 15 years.
Players like Meyer will recruit new talent, for example, and will help raise the bar on hospitality, Sasson said. And the fact that Meyer was drawn to Detroit in the first place is a sign of the opportunity the city offers.
“A rising tide raises all ships,” said Sasson. “I want as many Michelin-minded players as possible in this town.”
It’s particularly significant given Detroit in 2013 became a symbol of city mismanagement with the filing of bankruptcy. It wasn’t until earlier this year that Detroit officially closed that court-supervised restructuring.
Now restaurant operators across Detroit describe a city that is vastly different from what it was when it went into bankruptcy. Many attributed the revitalization to investments by former Mayor Mike Duggan, who briefly flirted with a run for governor.
Though still recovering from the pandemic, greater Detroit’s richly diverse restaurant scene is becoming increasingly vibrant with innovation. Homegrown brands like the wrap concept Breadless, for example, recently launched franchising, as has the Yemeni coffeehouse Haraz Coffee, and the slider bar Sidecar.
“Detroit has a whole sense of rebirth,” said Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association. “People are optimistic about what Detroit can grow to be in its new sense, and all of that has transpired over the past 12, 15 years.”
Heirloom Hospitality's Prime & Proper Steakhouse is a fine-dining flagship downtown. | Photo courtesy of Heirloom Hospitality.
The Detroit restaurant landscape
Detroit, known as Motor City, was once the auto capital of the world.
The city is still the undisputed heart of the car industry in terms of engineering, innovation, and R&D. But the industry has diversified, with car manufacturing spreading to other regions. Still, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) maintain headquarters in Detroit.
The city, of course, is also the birthplace of Motown music, a sound fostered by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1959 that gave rise to artists like Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and more.
Detroit proper is the nation’s 26th largest city by population with more than 639,000 residents — bigger than Memphis, but smaller than Boston — and the population has increased for three years in a row. Add in the six-county area around the city and there are 4.4 million people, making it the 14th largest metropolitan area in the U.S.
With a central U.S. location, proximity to Canada, and relative affordability, the city is increasingly attracting conventions and other events as a destination. It’s also one of few American cities with four major sports venues in its downtown.
“One thing Detroit is really proud of is that it’s a unique culture,” said Winslow. “It’s a little grittier, a little tougher, a little less polished than some of these other cities. But it’s certainly authentic.”
There are roughly 8,871 restaurants and bars in the Detroit metro area, according to Technomic. Last year, consumers spent a total of $9.2 billion at restaurants and bars, which was a 1.5% increase over the prior year.
That lagged the 2.3% growth in sales seen nationally, but Winslow said Detroit-area operators face the same challenges as the industry sees nationally, with consumers cutting back on spending, and higher operating costs.
Last year, however, the association scored somewhat of a win. State lawmakers slowed an increase in the tipped minimum wage to 50% of the full minimum wage by 2031, fundamentally preventing a full elimination of the tip credit.
“That would have been a disaster,” said Winslow.
The birthplace of QSR pizza
Not surprisingly, Detroit is heavily saturated with pizza. The pizza category accounts for roughly 12% of all restaurants in Detroit, compared with 8% nationally, according to Technomic.
It began with the founding of Little Caesars in Detroit in 1959. What became Domino’s (originally DomiNick’s) followed in 1960 in nearby Ypsilanti (Domino’s is now based outside Ann Arbor). The Detroit metro area is also home to Jet’s Pizza (née 1978), and Hungry Howie’s (1973).
The birth of true Detroit-style rectangular pizza, however, is attributed to (now 19-unit) Buddy’s Pizza, founded in 1946. That’s a distinct square deep-dish pizza with a thick-but-airy crust topped with Wisconsin-brick cheese and the sauce on top. (Jet’s also offers deep-dish Detroit pizza, as well as the thinner New York style.)
The Ilitch family that founded (and still owns) Little Caesars is deeply rooted in Detroit. The family’s Ilitch Holdings owns the Detroit Tigers and the Red Wings, as well as real estate, casinos, and hotels. Earlier this month, Ilitch Companies launched Ilitch Gaming, a gaming, hospitality and entertainment platform set on national expansion.
Of the QSR pizza chains born there, Little Caesars has the largest presence in the Detroit area with about 140 units of about 4,400 across the U.S., according to Technomic.
But others are still growing there.
Hungry Howie’s franchisees recently opened three restaurants in metro Detroit, including one on the campus of Wayne State University that’s doing “phenomenal business,” said Steve Jackson, the chain’s president and CEO.
Hungry Howie’s has about 500 units nationally, with about 200 of those in Michigan.
In the past, crime has been an issue in some parts of Detroit, Jackson said. Security remains an issue.
But Hamzah Nasser, CEO and founder of the 56-unit Haraz Coffee House, said Detroit is now much safer than it once was.
“If someone told me 15 years ago they were opening a restaurant in Detroit, I would have said they’re crazy,” he said.
The 56-unit Haraz Coffee has about 250 units in development. | Photo courtesy of Haraz Coffee House.
Now he lists all the ways Detroit has been transformed, from the growth of the tech industry to the sports teams, the riverfront and the bridge to Canada.
Nasser’s family immigrated to Detroit from Yemen when he was 6-years old, escaping war to build a new life. His father and grandfather worked in the auto industry.
Nasser in 2019 intended to launch a coffee import company, bringing in raw arabica beans from Yemen. But there wasn’t enough of a market for raw beans, so he opened a coffeeshop instead, with the first unit in the suburb of Dearborn in 2021. It took off.
Haraz Coffee serves traditional Yemeni-style coffee (boiled in small pots with sugar and spices), but also espresso-based coffee drinks and other beverages, like refreshers, matchas, and frappes. The locations are designed to be community gathering places, with lots of outlets for devices and private rooms for meetings.
Three locations are company owned, but Haraz is mostly franchised across the country. Nasser said the brand has about 250 units in development.
Recently, Nasser bought the building (in Dearborn) that housed GM’s human resources department in his grandfather’s day. It will become the headquarters for Haraz Coffee.
“I can say I’m living the American dream,” he said.
The healthful sandwich concept Breadless recently launched franchising. | Photo courtesy of Breadless
So is Marc Howland, co-founder of the Detroit-based concept Breadless, which has four units and recently launched franchising.
Howland grew up in Ohio and later worked on Wall Street in New York and in private equity. A former college athlete, Howland said he struggled to find something to eat for lunch that didn’t leave him sluggish by mid-afternoon.
After moving to Detroit, where his wife is from, Howland decided to create the healthful concept he had searched for.
He decided to reimagine the sandwich, replacing the bread with leafy greens, like romaine or Swiss chard. The menu later evolved to include power bowls, smoothies, and more.
The brand launched in 2022, and Howland has two fast-casual locations, plus a couple grab-and-go outlets. Breadless is also in the stadium where the Detroit Tigers play.
Howland sees Detroit as the perfect testing ground to build the concept for franchise growth. The city’s proximity to farms and fresh produce gives him confidence the brand can build a world-class supply chain, he said.
The brand’s performance has been strong, he said, and Howland sees a bright future for Detroit. He lives downtown on the riverfront with his young family and said, “The energy is real.”
A traditional Coney dog at American Coney Island in Detroit. | Photo courtesy of American Coney Island.
Grace Keros agrees about the energy in downtown, though she tempers her outlook with concern about the many office buildings that remain half full (or half empty).
Keros is the co-owner of American Coney Island, a restaurant her grandfather opened in 1917 after he emigrated from Greece in 1903.
Constantine Keros is the acclaimed creator of the Coney dog — a Detroit-specific hot dog topped with meat chili (no beans), onions, and mustard.
His brother later opened Lafayette Coney Island, with a similar menu, right next door to American Coney Island. To this day, the two restaurants sit side-by-side and a rivalry persists, though Grace said Lafayette is no longer family owned. Detroiters reportedly pledge allegiance to one or the other. (Or other local Coney dog concepts. There are 270 restaurants in the Detroit market with “Coney” in the name, according to Technomic.)
Grace Keros said her family’s restaurant has survived through it all — the Great Depression, the city bankruptcy, COVID.
“My dad always said we’d be the last ones to turn out the lights in this city,” she said.
Now she said Detroit hasn’t looked this good in years.
She’s optimistic about tourism becoming a real traffic booster. Travelers tend to come looking for a true Coney dog, which brings them to her restaurant.
Keros, who’s on the board of the MRLA, said she’s lobbying for the city to streamline business licensing and permitting to foster more restaurant development.
Tons of restaurants are opening, she said, but she does worry whether there are enough people to support that growth.
Sasson of Heirloom Hospitality shares that concern.
When he was a kid, Sasson said his family might have driven into Detroit from the suburbs to see a hockey game and grab a Coney dog.
Now Detroit and its suburbs are rich with dining options, he said.
Sasson first opened his group’s modern American Townhouse concept in the suburb of Birmingham, but later added a second (bigger) location in downtown Detroit, along with the group’s high-end steakhouse Prime & Proper.
His downtown restaurants recently had a “monster week” — a big conference was in town, the weather was terrific, the Tigers were playing. But it’s a challenge to manage for such constantly changing variables.
Sasson welcomes the "institutional landlords" who are breaking up the local landlord monopoly to bring in more national tenants. That will draw in more regional traffic, he said.
Heirloom, meanwhile, has been growing in Troy, Michigan, a Detroit suburb targeted by high-end luxury retailers. Sasson is planning an Italian concept there called Heiress, which he expects to open next year.
But this is the challenge for any restaurant operator: making the math work. And sometimes that means “taking the puck where there’s people and energy and the highest density possible,” he said.
Still, added Sasson, “If you can make it make sense in Detroit, you can probably make it make sense anywhere.”
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