The Hamtramck-based bar brews its own beers, specializing in – you guessed it – ales and lagers. Beers such as All the Pudding, a Polish pilsner, and Soft and Kind, a British golden ale. Beers that not only have adorable names, but are delicious as well! Florian East’s beers go down easy.
Speaking of easy: the tap house is quite easy on the eyes. It’s an amalgamation of humble and pretty: exposed brick walls and concrete floors mix with rose-studded wallpaper and flower-sprigged vases. On the day of my visit, it was still decorated for Halloween, with ghosts painted on the windows and pumpkins peeking out of them.
Besides making beer, Florian East also crafts its own hard selzers – which are quite good!
I throw alllll the shade on mass-manufactured flavored selzers; they’re so chemically and flavor-anemic to me. But Florian East’s are wonderful. The Little Leaguer, its berry seltzer, actually taste like berries. It’s light and refreshing but not short on flavor.
Florian East regularly hosts community-fostering events – events such as movie screenings, restaurant pop-ups, and dog-friendly dos (Pups Night Out is November 15!). It’s the kind of place you don’t need the excuse to visit – but you’ll gladly take one to.
Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night snacking (it closes at 1 a.m.), this Hamtramck restaurant is one you’ll want to visit regardless of time of day. Because its food is AMAZING.
The service is good, too. At Yemen Café, you’ll be greeted with a hot cup of tea, and your food will be out in a flash.
This is Middle Eastern food at its finest! The hummus is creamy, the meat is tender, the flatbread are pillowy piles of deliciousness. Yemen Café’s menu is stacked with decadent favorites, from saltah to fahsa, shawarma to gallaba: plenty of options to explore should you decide to undertake various visits.
And I think you should. If you love Middle Eastern food, you should definitely become acquainted with Yemen Café. In a sea of options here in Metro-Detroit, it’s a great one.
Pick a treat (or three) at Doc Sweets’ Candy Company!
Goodies abound at this Clawson-based shop featuring bulk and packaged candy ranging from Tootsie rolls to chocolate-covered coffee beans, gummy bears to Jordan almonds – plus specialty soda pops.
Bulk candy is pre-packaged in quarter-pound and half-pound bags, making it easy to grab and go. Pop is offered in flavors that range from beguiling to bizarre – flavors such as cookie dough, ranch dressing, enchilada, and sweet corn (!), according to Doc Sweets’ website.
If you’re anything like me, you won’t want to rush out of Doc Sweets’. You’ll want to linger, staring longingly at the candies of your youth: the sugar-covered fruit jellies your grandma kept in cut-glass candy jars; the wax pop bottles, of your trick-or-treating youth, filled with sugary neon liquid. The M&Ms, in every shade of the rainbow, sorted by color, as you loved to sort them. The marble-swirled jawbreakers you attempted to work your little jaw around. The Snottermelon Sour Boogers.
“Snottermelon Sour Boogers?!?” you may be exclaiming in disgust. “I didn’t eat Snottermelon Sour Boogers!” OK, I didn’t either – but if I was a kid in 2025, I would, because Doc Sweets’ carries Flix Candy Sour Boogers, in the enticing flavor varieties of Sour Green Boogy, Slimeapple, and said Snottermelon. (Don’t ask me what they taste like; they were a Halloween gift for a seven-year-old kiddo.)
Doc Sweets’ also carries Albert’s Scary Skeletons: Sweet Tarts-esque candies shaped as bones that fit together to form a skeleton. And gummies in the shape of a portion of jawbone: swaths of teeth and gums (gummy gums – how meta). And a three-foot-long, multicolored gummy snake!
This place is a cornucopia of delights. This place, Doc Sweets’, is an absolute treat to have in Metro Detroit!
Exquisite food and drink at this Shelby Township restaurant make you want to take a robust bite out of life. Think thick cuts of meat; pastas redolent with rich sauces; pizzas loaded with lavish toppings (truffle oil, Parmesan cream, caramelized onions); and seafood infused with more seafood (the Seafood Stuffed Salmon, whose filling consists of crab, shrimp, and scallops. Talk about a mighty trifecta!).
And barrel-cured old fashioneds. And risotto spiked with saffron, lobster, and shaved asparagus. And burrata dressed with prosciutto, arugula, heirloom tomatoes, fig jam, crostini, and balsamic vinaigrette. Luxe on luxe on luxe! Just as Italian cuisine should be.
Whilst belatedly celebrating my birthday with my aunt at Verona, I was spoiled rotten by its staff. And I loved it.
Our server gifted me a drink of my choosing – and I chose that barrel-aged old fashioned (aptly named Jay’s Barrel Aged Old Fashioned). It was wonderfully well-balanced and deliciously flavorful, a perfect iteration of the drink.
And after a dinner spent savoring the Veal Strip Steak – a 12-ounce, bone-in, thick-and-juicy, melt-in-your-mouth tender cut of beef resplendent in its sherry reduction and accompaniments of creamy mashed potatoes and garlic-kissed asparagus – they served me a complimentary dessert of Birthday Cake Bombolonis. Doughnut holes made with birthday cake batter, filled with vanilla cream, deep-fried to a crisp-exteriored perfection, then dusted with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with chocolate sauce equal celebration perfection. They are SO good.
Way to make a girl feel special, Verona! And eat voraciously. And leave feeling satisfied with the (many) bites she just took out of life.
The Woodbridge shop is the kind of place you want to cozy up and stay awhile. Part coffee shop, part grocer, it’s wholly charming, with a warm, homey vibe.
The Roost’s shelves offer a thoughtfully curated selection of grocery goods: fruit and jam and pasta, kombucha and condiments and cooking oil. Bottles of wine and beer, too.
Its barista counter crafts tasty coffee and tea drinks; it serves bagels, pastries, and other baked goods. Hot food, also: thick-piled bagel sandwiches, hearty soups, fruit-and-flower-bedecked brioche French toast. It’s a place in which roosting awhile is most enjoyable, indeed!
In the form of molten glass: 2,000-degrees-Fahrenheit hot glass. Glowing and churning in the house-built furnace at this family-owned business inside Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center.
Michigan Hot Glass, according to its website, started as S & Y Hot Glass in 1982. It is an O.G. in the Detroit art world: the “first independent glassblowing studio dedicated to teaching community based non-degree classes,” according to its website. Cofounder Albert Young ran the studio until his death earlier his year; his family and staff are continuing his legacy of offering both public and private glassblowing classes.
I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Michigan Hot Glass via a class they facilitated during a Saturday blitz of one-time, one-hour classes called A Glass Experience. Held in conjunction with Michigan Glass Project, a nonprofit that organizes glasswork classes and festivals, A Glass Experience offered classes on glass-casting (pouring molten glass into a sand mold to form a piece), flame work (using a torch to form small items such as glass beads), soft glass (working molten glass into a desired shape), glass-fusing (joining layers of glass together), and cold work (faceting and other finishing processes). Intrigued by the prospect of playing with molten glass, I opted for the soft glass class – or Hot Shop, as it’s also referred to on Michigan Glass Project’s website.
My teacher, Spencer, shared that he’d starting taking classes at Michigan Hot Glass when he was a teen. Now, about 20 years later, he worked for a glasswork company, ran his own glasswork business, and taught classes on the craft.
Spencer demonstrated the process of forming the molten glass into a flower: dipping the tip of a metal rod into a glass furnace and gathering molten glass like honey; coating it in powdered dye; rolling it against a metal tabletop to shape and cool it; working it with pliers to form the stem and petals; making cuts in the stem to form a break; then tapping it gently upon a table to make a clean break of the stem away from the metal rod.
Then I got to try. Spencer still handled the molten glass collection and dyeing, but I got to coax petals out of the flower with pliers (and his aid) and cut the stem. Then Spencer put my flower in a temperature-controlled box to cure it: to gradually bring it down to room temperature so it wouldn’t crack or explode (what happens when molten glass goes from roiling-hot to room-temperature too quickly).
The process was exhilarating! I felt the rush of taking this wild thing – however briefly – into my hands and coaxing it into something beautiful.
Want to experience the rush for yourself? A Glass Experience classes will be offered next on December 13, 2025; click here to learn more about these and future sessions. And to check out Michigan Hot Glass’ class offerings, click here.
Two of my favorite things are championed at this Core City establishment: cookbooks and natural wine. New to natural wine? Vesper’s kindly bar staff will help you pick your ideal glass, offering guidance around – and samples of – the various varietals. Those currently include a Chilean orange wine, Viña Echeverria’s ¡No es Pituko! Orange: a crisp, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc made orange by the grape skins included in the fermentation process. It’s delicious! Other wines currently available by the glass at Vesper include offerings from France, Spain, and Slovenia.
Sip a glass alongside a plate of Vesper’s Bread and Butter: delectably soft, chewy bread (from nearby bakery The Mother Loaf Breads) paired with rich, salty butter. It’s SO good! The bar menu also includes tinned fish and mussels; a cheese plate; and a ham-and-toast with cornichons, sweet peppers, and grain mustard. Patrons can also purchase bottles of wine to take home; a $20 corkage fee enables you to enjoy them in-house.
Vesper’s shelves include a carefully curated selection of cookbooks and other food-centric tomes: volumes on Cambodian cooking, cocktail creation, crafting gluten-free bread, and much more. It’s a cornucopia of cookbook goodness!
The shop hosts multiple events monthly, ranging from book talks to chef pop-ups; wine tastings to a wine-and-cookbook subscription club. There’s even a cookbook book club, in which each participant is tasked with bringing a dish that’s made from a recipe included in the work being discussed.
SO.MUCH.GOING.ON – and all in a good way! A totally toast-worthy way. It’s so much fun and flavor to enjoy, in such a pretty, homey space, that one visit to Vesper just isn’t enough.
The Core City coffee house is an apt antidote for a bad day. What a sweet little safe-space of a café: a blend of soothing neutrals, leafy greenery, and vibrant artwork. Fold in kind baristas and delicious food and drink, and you’ve got all the ingredients for an exceptional indie café: the kind of place to which you want to escape for an hour or two (or four).
This is a great space to work or journal or simply savor Café Prince’s avocado toast, which is EVERYTHING. This is decidedly not your basic-bitch ‘cado-covered bread, oh, no. This is pleasingly-crisped-on-the-outside, decadently-soft-on-the-inside sourdough topped with creamy slabs of avocado, crunchy-fresh sprouts, savory dukkah seasoning, and luxurious spicy fermented chili oil. It’s SO good!
Cafe Princé’s drinks are oh-SO-good, too. Earning its name from its blend of organic maple syrup, milk, and shaken espresso, the Maple Shakerato goes down very easy – as does Cafe Princé’s matcha latte. Bonus points must be awarded for beverage names such as Brain Energy (a fitting moniker for a chai latte) and Holy Water, Cafe Princé’s blend of sparkling water and citrus juice garnished with a mint sprig and an entire peeled carrot. May the power of beta carotene compel you – to visit Cafe Princé!
Terra takes its name from the earth, and it’s as vibrant as Mother Nature herself. Spectacular food, drink, service, and ambiance make the Birmingham restaurant a natural choice.
Terra was packed and buzzing on the Friday night I visited. Dance music vibrated throughout the cavernous space filled with patrons dressed in their nightlife best, and a smiled beamed on our bartender-server’s face. Globe lights sparkled overhead like constellations, and one greenery-packed wall glowed with the phrase “Wish you were here.” It was, indeed, a place I wished to be.
Natural elements shined, too, on Terra’s menu. Luscious – and hefty – cuts of meat held court: an 18-ounce tomahawk pork chop, a 24-ounce bone-in ribeye; as did entrée salads comprised of flavorful ingredients (arugula, grilled peach, and pomegranate, for example); and elevated appetizers such as Beef Wellington Bites and Ahi Tuna Nachos.
There was Chilean sea bass and lobster tacos; pasta infused with wild mushrooms and shaved, in-season truffles. And there was my selection: the Wagyu Med Bowl, a wonderfully tasty melding of tender steak; crisp romaine; crunchy cucumber; juicy grape tomatoes; briny kalamata olives; nutty orzo and wild rice; and salty, creamy feta. Drizzle it all with a rich harissa aioli and damn! do you have an avalanche of flavor.
Terra’s drink offerings were illuminated, too. The Brown Sugar Old Fashioned packed a delightfully boozy-yet-flavorful punch, while the Espresso Terra martini went down oh-so-easy. Spirit-free options included thoughtfully-crafted mocktails and non-alcoholic Napa Valley wine.
This profusion of flavors and sensory delights served up by Terra is oh-SO-good. Just like Mama Earth, Terra is sharing her abundance with us humans – and I, for one, am giving thanks for it.
The Rochester Hills restaurant and bar boasts a robust beer menu, with 41 draft and over 100 bottled varieties on offering, according to its website. Its interior showcases a statue of a woman covered in bottle caps: a bust for beer. A Madonna for mugs!
What else is on offering at CK Diggs? A lot! It regularly hosts live music performances (on Fridays) and showcases specials throughout the week, including half-off appetizers on Mondays and $5.50 happy-hour draft beers on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s got a pretty patio for alfresco dining during warm-weather months. And its multitude of flat-screen TVs broadcast big games, allowing Metro-Detroiters to cheer on our teams while enjoying flavorful, hearty fare: burgers and pizza, mac-n-cheese and ahi tuna.
There are luxurious appetizers – blackened salmon strips with cucumber wasabi sauce; candied Brussels sprouts coated in crushed nuts, fried, then tossed with bacon, Parmesan, and brown sugar-balsamic glaze – and down-home favorites: pan-fried perch, Maurice salad. Baby-back ribs and beef filet are offered alongside cheese-stuffed tortellini and a Cuban sandwich. It’s a cornucopia of cuisine!
If you’re into entrée salads, try CK Diggs’ Blackened Steak and Feta. The melding of tender, spicy steak; mixed greens; tomato; onion; banana pepper; and feta is wonderful.
Cheers to delicious food and drink served in a fun setting. Cheers to CK Diggs!
100 Places in the D 