353. 5th Tavern – August 12, 2018 – Bloomfield Township, MI

5th Tavern is POPULAR among the brunch crowd.

I learned this when I attended a baby shower at the Bloomfield Township-based restaurant on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. The place was KICKING when I walked in at noon, to the point where I found myself having flashbacks of pure-chaos Sunday afternoon shifts (the shift that’s most likely to end with someone breakdown-crying, in my experience) from my restaurant-server past.

The crowd was enjoying 5th Tavern’s weekend brunch buffet and live music by a gentleman playing what appeared to be an electric clarinet (I had no idea woodwind instruments came in electric form!). The restaurant’s classy ambiance and outdoor patio seating most likely enhanced the appeal of the place for the clientele, as well.

The baby shower I attended at the 5th Tavern was tucked away in a room separate from the main dining area, so we were somewhat insulated from the hubbub. The celebration offered a set lunch menu with three items to choose from: the Salmon Salad, Chicken Marsala, and American Kobe Burger.

I’m not one to put stock in Kobe beef being superior, but let me tell you, this American Kobe Burger was AWESOME. It was a thick-patty burger that came cooked at a standard temperature of medium that was incredibly tender and juicy and delicious. MAN, was it perfect topped with melted cheese and nestled within a brioche bun! The accompanying fries were excellent, too: thicker cut and crispy-fried on the outside while soft on the inside . . . YUM. It’s 9:15 in the morning as I’m writing these words, and I am hardcore craving that 5th Tavern American Kobe Burger.

So despite the lively crowd giving me server-nightmare-esque flashbacks, I enjoyed the fact that I got to spend time at 5th Tavern on that Sunday afternoon. I’d love to go back and try more of its menu, which is loaded with various salads, sandwiches, burgers, flatbreads, and meat- and seafood-centric entrées (such as Lamb Chops and Michigan Cherry BBQ Salmon).

I’m also intrigued by the various promotions that 5th Tavern offers throughout the week, including happy-hour food and drink deals Mondays through Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to closing and half-off bottles of wine on Wednesdays. No wonder the place is such a popular hangout!

2262 S. Telegraph Rd.

Bloomfield Twp., MI 48302

www.5thtavern.com

212. Roadside B&G – December 3, 2016 – Bloomfield Township, MI

Roadside B&G’s Kale & Farro Salad with added grilled chicken breast

Bloomfield Township represented on the blog! Or Bloomfield, as most of us locals know it. That’s the city where today’s featured locale, Roadside B&G, resides.

A classy bar and grille such as this one is a beautiful thing – you know, the kind of place where you can sip a glass of wine and enjoy well-made food and scintillating conversation. It makes being grown-up feel glamorous. Of course, I also love the aspect of being a grown-up that allows me the freedom to drink wine on the couch in my sweatpants and yell at the characters in my favorite TV dramas – but it’s good to experience the elegant side of the spectrum from time to time, right? Just as sometimes it’s good to order the dish you don’t expect yourself to get.

Case in point: I am generally not one to order an entrée salad in a restaurant, because I feel that dining out is an excuse to consume as much decadence and saturated fat as my body allows. I operate under the old-school perspective that eating in a restaurant is a treat. And while main-course salads are a staple in my day-to-day, home-cooked life, I don’t consider them a treat per say. But while perusing Roadside B&G’s menu, I couldn’t shake a craving for greens, so I went with the Kale & Farro salad topped with diced apples, shaved fennel, toasted pumpkin seeds, and a cider vinaigrette and added grilled chicken to it.

I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to be especially enthralled with the salad, but it was excellent! The flavors of the fennel and the apple and the kale and the cider vinaigrette complemented each other well. Well played, Roadside B&G! I would recommend my move of adding the chicken breast to the salad if you are a meat-eater; I believe it was only about a $4 add-on, and it was a sizable portion. Without it, the salad would not, in my opinion, have been dinner entrée-sized.

Roadhouse B&G had some other intriguing items on the menu that I would love to go back and try: the Short Rib Tacos appetizer; the vegetarian enchilada (with the option to add short rib to it if you are an omnivore!); the beef filet flanked by truffle tater tots (the classy spin on those potato nuggets!).

1727 S. Telegraph Rd.

Bloomfield Twp., MI 48302

www.roadsidebandg.com