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Old 03-19-2019, 11:16 AM   #1
albionmoonlight
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
Visiting Detroit/Windsor

It isn't set in stone, but it looks like I'm going on a work conference trip to downtown Detroit at the end of May.

When I get these opportunities, I like to get up early the day before and see the city.

What should I see in Detroit? Where are good places to eat? I'm a beer nerd; are there good local beers to try? What is there to do in Windsor?

Detroit pizza worth it for the experience? Seems like a pan pizza fried in butter, which I am very on board with. If so, where's the best place to get it?


Also, I see that there's a casino in Windsor and a few in downtown Detroit. I'd be interested in gambling a couple hundred dollars at craps or blackjack. My very quick internet research would seem to indicate that the casino in Windsor is significantly better (cleaner, no smoking, etc), but any insight of which casino is better from the perspective of the guy who wants to just spend an hour or so at the table games is appreciated.

Thanks.

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Old 03-19-2019, 12:14 PM   #2
Honolulu_Blue
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Welcome to Detroit!

The end of May should be a great time to visit. The weather should finally have rounded the corner and Detroit (parts of it) are really, really nice when the weather is good.

If you're talking Detroit proper (the city, which, for these purposes, will include Downtown, Mid-Town, and Cork Town) then here are some of your best bets:

Restaurants:

There are quite a few really solid restaurants around here now.

Selden Standard - Small plates (one of my favorites).

Dime Store - Great for breakfast/brunch

Lover's Only - Solid burger place. It's the type of place where you place your order at the register, get a number, and they bring it out to you. Also has beer.

Slow's BBQ - This was the restaurant in Detroit for a long time. A pioneer. Still very solid with a great beer menu.

Jolly Pumpkin - A solid brewery with pretty decent food.

Hopcat - Another local brewery with good food.

National/American Coney Island - I'm not a huge coney dog guy, but these are two iconic Detroit diners. It's cheap, fast food. Worth a quick visit.

Cannelle - A french bakery. I went there for the first time about a month ago and thought it was great.

There are a ton of other good restaurants that I could recommend. If you have a sense of what you're looking for steak house, higher end, sliders, something nice, but not high end, etc, just let me know and I'd be happy to steer you in the right direction.

As for Detroit style pizza, I really like it, but I can't think of a restaurant in Detroit that actually serves it. There's Jet's Pizza (which is strictly a delivery/carry-out place) and Buddy's Pizza (which is the iconic Detroit-style pizza place). Buddy's has a few restaurants, but none actually in Detroit.

Things to see:
Detroit Institute of Art
The Renaissance Center (stop by and say hello to me, H_B, since that's where I work)
Motown Museum
Belle Isles
Comerica Park (if the Tigers are playing)
Shinola Store
Third Man Records
The Guardian Building

Casinos:

I am not much of a Casino guy. Detroit has three Casinos: Greektown, Motor City, and MGM Grand. I have not been to any of them. Greektown is probably the most accessible, if you're staying downtown, but my sense is that it may be the scuzziest.

The Windsor Casino (which I can see from my office) is right across the river. It may, in fact, be nicer. Getting to Canada is really easy. The tunnel is right next to the RenCen. Just need your passport and you're all set. I haven't really spent any time in Windsor.

Let me know if you'd like any more specific information or where you'll be staying.

I grew up around here and have been working in Detroit since I moved back in 2006. It's still not a real city in any meaningful way, but there are some really nice pockets and you can have a great weekend here.
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Old 03-19-2019, 12:37 PM   #3
digamma
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: On Lake Harriet
Was there in December for a really terrible bowl game. MGM casino is way better than Greektown, but it's a little bit of a walk from downtown.

We had breakfast at Dime Store, which was great.

We also had a really good dinner at a trendier spot called Standby. Tapas style with a great cocktail list.
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Old 03-19-2019, 02:05 PM   #4
thesloppy
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PDX
I always really enjoy the Henry Ford museum.
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Old 03-20-2019, 07:58 AM   #5
Bobble
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: High and outside
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue View Post
Welcome to Detroit!



It's still not a real city in any meaningful way, but there are some really nice pockets and you can have a great weekend here.

This guy Detroits.

HB hit the high points. Agree with all of it.

For beers, Atwater Brewery, Jolly Pumpkin, and Detroit Beer Co. are all good.
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Old 03-20-2019, 08:02 AM   #6
Bobble
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: High and outside
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Originally Posted by thesloppy View Post
I always really enjoy the Henry Ford museum.

The Henry Ford is an indoor and outdoor museum complex in Dearborn. Pretty cool if you're into history.

If you're into car manufacture, the Ford Rouge Factory Tour is supposed to be cool. You can do it through The Henry Ford.
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Old 03-20-2019, 08:15 AM   #7
thesloppy
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PDX
The Henry Ford museum's two parts are pretty distinctive. The indoor museum seems mostly focused on automotive history, but there's lots of interesting stuff in there, and then the outside part has a bunch of re-enacters in different period villages, as well as several famous buildings homes from American history that Henry Ford either commissioned exact replicas of or literally unearthed and moved to the outdoor museum, including Thomas Edison's laboratory, Lincoln's home and courthouse, Ford's family home and first garage, the Wright Brother's bicycle shop and workshop. Folks wear period outfits and do demos of period crafts, I enjoy it lots. Edison's lab in particular has always fascinated me since I was a little dude:



The Henry Ford - Wikipedia
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Old 03-20-2019, 09:54 AM   #8
Honolulu_Blue
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Wright & Company is another great place for cocktails, in addition to The Standby, digamma mentioned above.

The Henry Ford museum is fantastic. It's a bit of a drive - about 20-30 minutes or so - but great. My wife and I had our first date there, so there's that, too!
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Old 03-20-2019, 09:59 AM   #9
thesloppy
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PDX
I haven't been back to the city proper in probably 4-5 years (I did go 'up north' for a wedding a couple years ago), but I have a cousin getting married this fall and I hope to be back in the D for a week or so. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the realized changes that have seemingly been on-deck for the last 40-50 years.
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