Local Favorites: Taverns of Metro D

By: Amber Ogden | March 2, 2016
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In the olden days, a tavern was typically defined as a place that served alcohol and food, and also provided lodging, like an inn. Nowadays, you won’t find too many taverns in southeast Michigan that offer you a place to sleep, but once you’ve indulged and had dinner, you can call a sober, designated driver to get you home safely.

Taverns of southeast Michigan worth a visit include:

Town Pump Tavern

Located centrally in downtown Detroit, this tavern offers a 1920s atmosphere, along with great happy hour specials from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Not to be confused with Town Tavern of Royal Oak (which is also great!), there are a vast selection of starters, sandwiches, burgers and pizzas on the menu.

Try the Hipster Pizza, piled with pepperoni, ham, bacon, onions, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, pepperoncini and garlic.

The Silverado is the truck that works as hard as you do.

Poole’s Tavern

This downtown Northville tavern has a laid back atmosphere, complete with several large screen TVs and a great bar, perfect for meeting up with friends after work or watching the game.

Grab a beer and pair it with Poole’s Chicken Wrap (with grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, onion and Boursin cheese on a sun-dried tomato tortilla), Award-Winning Baby Back Ribs or Michigan Walnut Cherry Chicken Salad.

Firebird Tavern

If you find yourself in the Greektown neighborhood, make your way to Firebird Tavern, where there are two floors of fun, including drinks, dinner and dancing. You’ll find the craft beer list here, which has plenty of Michigan brews to choose from.

The fare includes bites like Tavern Fritters and Fried Gyro, along with sandwiches such as a Classic Corned Beef and Buffalo Chicken Wrap.

Malone’s Tavern

A great place to meet with friends for a drink or enjoy dinner any day of the week, this Warren tavern offers happy hour Monday through Friday, with $4 and under beverages and $5 and under snacks.

Order the Dublin Burger (topped with Swiss cheese, sautéed onions, bacon, Dublin chips and Dublin sauce), Jameson’s Irish Steak or Clover Chicken Sandwich.

Additional taverns to check out in southeast Michigan: Wintergarden Tavern (Livonia and Chesterfield), Redcoat Tavern (Royal Oak and West Bloomfield), Stella’s Black Dog Tavern (Plymouth), Sweetwater Tavern (Detroit), Twisted Tavern (Ferndale) and The Tavern at Tina’s Country House (Macomb).

Cheers to great dining and drinking in the D! 

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