Category: New Restaurants
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Smoked Lotus BBQ rebrands as Big Tex BBQ with plans to open in Ira Township
Photo Credit: Big Tex BBQ Facebook Ira Township, MI — A beloved barbecue crew that used to operate in Hazel Park has rebranded and plans to begin a new chapter in Ira Township later this spring. The pitmasters behind Smoked Lotus BBQ announced on social media at the beginning of March that “big things” were…
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Michigan’s 2026 James Beard Award semifinalists bring a national spotlight to our booming food scene and diverse agriculture
Lansing, MI — Michigan’s food scene continues to catapult itself into the national culinary spotlight. Six chefs and restaurateurs from across the state were nominated as semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards. Spanning across three different categories, our state is vying for awards in Best New Restaurant, Best New Bar, and Best Chef for…
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A stellar family dinner adventure to The Ledger in downtown Plymouth
Plymouth, MI — A couple of weeks ago, I met some of the leadership team and the sous chef from The Ledger during a foodie segment at my work. The Ledger is a fine-dining establishment smack dab in downtown Plymouth at the corner of S. Main Street and Penniman Avenue. Admittedly, I don’t make it…
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New Hazel Park restaurant Bar Gabi raises the bar with authentic, homemade Romanian cuisine
Hazel Park, MI — Near the tail-end of October, the new occupants of the former FRAME Bar in Hazel Park debuted a chef-driven restaurant featuring cuisine from their homeland, with an embrace of old and new world culinary traditions. For months, I’d been looking forward to this foodie adventure to check out Hazel Park’s newest…
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Joe Louis Southern Kitchen’s new location in Southfield scores a winning round for lunch
Southfield, MI — I was finally able to cross a longstanding restaurant off my foodie adventure list recently, following an epic lunch that left me KO’ed (via food coma) afterward! I had been wanting to visit Joe Louis Southern Kitchen in Detroit’s New Center district for over a year now, so when I heard the…
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Michelin-starred restaurateur to open Lola’s Taco Bar in Grosse Pointe Woods on Monday
Food images by Gerard + Belevender Grosse Pointe Woods, MI — Hot off the grill! Foodie news for 2026 continues to excite with more new restaurant announcements and openings, with the latter featuring a Metro Detroit native launching a new neighborhood taco joint in his hometown. Lola’s Taco Bar opens this Monday in Grosse Pointe…
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Viral social media pop-up Amelia Street Pizza Co. lands permanent home in Hazel Park
Photo Credit: Mark Kurlyandchik / Booth One Creative Hazel Park, MI — A Metro Detroit pizza enthusiast who launched a social media-driven grassroots operation out of his home has found a permanent location for his business in Hazel Park! I still remember the day several months ago when one of my best friends mentioned to…
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La Pecora Nera has sensational Italian deli sandwiches and plans to open a new location in Plymouth
Farmington, MI — Cheers to 2026! We have a lot of foodie adventures to look forward to this year, but perhaps even more exciting is that soon we’ll be celebrating my 100th foodie adventure, as well as this food blog’s three-year anniversary. So what better way to kick off the new year than with a…
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Smoked Lotus BBQ was a remarkable hidden gem in Hazel Park — it will be missed
Hazel Park, MI — On Friday, I was finally able to stop by an exemplary establishment serving up some top-tier barbecue right down the street from where I live in Hazel Park. Smoked Lotus BBQ had been on my foodie radar for nearly two years, and like many places on my never-ending restaurant list, it…
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Dearborn’s new Ariana Restaurant is the city’s first Afghan eatery — and it’s amazing
Dearborn, MI — I visited Dearborn earlier this week for another foodie adventure with a work associate for lunch. This time around, we checked out the city’s newest and first-ever Afghan eatery: Ariana Afghan Restaurant. My colleague and I originally planned to visit Everest MoMo, a Nepalese establishment specializing in dumplings, but pivoted the day…
MI Foodie Adventures 