Moving to Michigan in Summer 2008 (Detroit, Pontiac: relocation, homes, condos)

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by cardwellave

I'll add a few:

New Peking (Chinese) - Ford Rd and Middlebelt, Garden City
Garden City Cafe (Diner/Coney) - Middlebelt and Beechwood Ave, Garden City
Golden Feather (BBQ/Other) - Ford Rd and Middlebelt, Garden City
Leon's (Family Dining) - Ford Rd and Henry Ruff, Garden City, and a few other locations
Plato's Place (Coney) - Ford Rd and Brandt Ave, Garden City
Amantea (Italian) - W. Warren and Venoy, Garden City
Riopelle's Pizza - Ford Rd and Brandt Ave, Garden City
Antonio's Cucina Italiania (Italian) - Ford Rd and John Daly, Dearborn Heights, also Canton and Farmington Hills
Roman Village (Italian) - Dix Ave, Dearborn. Same owners as Antonio's
The Bone Yard (BBQ) - Telegraph and Warren Ave, Dearborn Heights, also Plymouth Rd and Merriman, Livonia
Eastside Mario's (Italian) - A few locations incl. Plymouth Rd and Merriman, Livonia
Daly Drive In (Drive In/Diner) - Plymouth Rd and Merriman, Livonia
The Family Buggy (Family Dining) - Orchard Lake Rd and 13 Mile, Farmington Hills
Gregorio's (Italian) - Biddle Ave and Walnut St, Wyandotte
Polonus (Polish) - Biddle Ave and Ford Ave, Wyandotte
TV's Diner (Diner) - Fort St and King Rd, Trenton
Big Boy (Family Dining) - Many locations in midwest, specifically Michigan
Junction Buoy (Somewhat upscale) - River Rd and Michigan Blvd, Marysville

I thought we were discussing truly good restaurants ones that you would make an effort to drive to. Big Boy certainly does not fit that description. Nor does Gregorios. Both mediocre. I would eat at either one if I was nearby, but I would not go out of my way to go there. I certainly would not drive to Birmingham (or any distance) for Pizza. Is that where you would bring someone from out of state to show them our dining opportunities?

TV Diner is good, not great. Service is hit or miss, depends on who you get. We eat there a lot, not because it is great, but because it is one of the best options within a reasonable distance.

Maybe we are spoiled by the Orange County choices and service. Because there are so many (thousands) resturunts there, they are very competitive and the service is usually outstanding.

Slows in Detroit certainly offers outstanding food, but the service is terrible. I found Andiamos to be reasonably good, but a little pricey for the quality. service is decent. Seldom Blues is a terrible value of price/quality and the service is awful, but the music is great.

The supposedly "good" places were very disappointing. Sibleys garden for example and the 1892 smokehouse (now the Blue Nile have no tried that yet) as well as about a dozen other places. Maybe it is just down river?

In OC by comparison, there were so many phenomenal places to eat that visitors would run out of time before we ran out of great places to take them. Right now, my list of "gotta try it" places for guests runs to Slows, that is all.

However in Oakland county we have found little but chain restaurants which are consistently average.

Perhaps we will run through your lists. Can someone pick out what they consider the good options? We care most about food quality, second about service, third about atmosphere which is about equal with price. I prefer not to dress up for dinner, wifey prefers to dress up some.

[Michigansnowflake]

Come on up to Northern Michigan to eat well. Google the Rowe, Tapawingo, the Weathervane, just to name a few. Get out of SE Michigan, its a pit. There is some great dinning up here. Oh, I bet we dont compare to the mighty OC, we are to busy doing things outside that a Cali person would never dream of.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Michigansnowflake

Come on up to Northern Michigan to eat well. Google the Rowe, Tapawingo, the Weathervane, just to name a few. Get out of SE Michigan, its a pit. There is some great dinning up here. Oh, I bet we dont compare to the mighty OC, we are to busy doing things outside that a Cali person would never dream of.

Perhaps this is mostly true except the pit part. SE Michigan has its merits. Maybe not so many trees and waterfalls as the UP, but we have a lot of neat things to see and do. I forgot that there was a restaurant in the city just across the bridge that we loved. (Not knowing the name of that City shows my UP ignorance. Everyone knows the name - I have forgotten). It was a family owned place build on top of a hill. the food was fantastic and the people were terrific. I cannot remember the name of the place.

[suydam]

Originally Posted by Michigansnowflake

Come on up to Northern Michigan to eat well. Google the Rowe, Tapawingo, the Weathervane, just to name a few. Get out of SE Michigan, its a pit. There is some great dinning up here. Oh, I bet we dont compare to the mighty OC, we are to busy doing things outside that a Cali person would never dream of.

Tapawingo is fantastic.
We like Amical in downtown Traverse City too...
For the size of the population (small) the dining options up there are phenomenal.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I thought we were discussing truly good restaurants ones that you would make an effort to drive to. I certainly would not drive to Birmingham (or any distance) for Pizza. Is that where you would bring someone from out of state to show them our dining opportunities?

Maybe it is just down river?

However in Oakland county we have found little but chain restaurants which are consistently average.

You have to expand your horizons beyond your Grosse Isle/South Lyon world that you grew up in. You have an obvious bias AGAINST Oakland County and FOR the west side and downriver that continually comes up here. Not only is there life east of I-275, but that's where most of metro Detroit "happens," not in Grosse Ile, Northville, and Plymouth.

The fact is, you live on the fringe of metro Detroit. You chose to do this, but to think that most people who live in the area are in your situation is severely limiting. This consistently comes out in your views and advice to people.

I understand it's not convenient for you, but people from most of the metro do drive to places like Somerset, Birmingham, the Zoo, Cranbrook, Great Lakes Crossing, Macomb Center for the Performing Arts, the Palace, etc. To discount them in favor of your local haunts is a disservice to people, when the reality is that almost no one drives to places like Wyndotte and Ann Arbor on a consistent basis. I understand if your choices skew to local establishments, as they do in my list, but c'mon, Grosse Isle has one of the best school districts in MI? I'm sure it's a good district, but it's NOT objectively one of the best any more than Berkley is.

The places I listed are all excellent places. I didn't blindly list convenient places in my neighborhood b/c I'm a homer or shill. It's great that people are proud of their neighborhoods, but as you noted, c'mon, have some objectivity people.

I lived in San Francisco which easily has as good if not better quality and variety of cuisine as SoCal. For my day-to-day eating, I have not experienced a dropoff at all in my enjoyment. Yes, I miss Chinatown, the Mission, Berkeley, fresh oysters at Tomales Bay, Napa, Carmel and other places with great food, but how often did these places factor into my day-to-day life? 5%? Usually, I just want a good burger, sandwich, soup, pasta, etc. - there are plenty of fantastic places that serve these things on my list.

If you haven't had good New York pizza, you wouldn't understand the allure of Brooklyn Pizza, any more than what a good bagel or sushi might mean to someone. I'm sure California Pizza Kitchen meets your needs. For those who enjoy good pizza not out of a cardboard box, Brooklyn Pizza, Georgio's, and Amici's are fantastic options.

Overall, I've listed dozens of non-chains from Oakland County and a smattering from places as far as Dearborn and Windsor. It gets old reading your uninformed statements like, "However in Oakland county we have found little but chain restaurants which are consistently average." This couldn't be further from the truth as I've shown. It might be your experience, but by your own admission, you hardly come to this part of the metro. Play up downriver, Northville, Plymouth, and A2 all you want, but please stop with your skewed statements about Oakland County.

[cardwellave]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I thought we were discussing truly good restaurants ones that you would make an effort to drive to. Big Boy certainly does not fit that description. Nor does Gregorios. Both mediocre. I would eat at either one if I was nearby, but I would not go out of my way to go there. I certainly would not drive to Birmingham (or any distance) for Pizza. Is that where you would bring someone from out of state to show them our dining opportunities?

TV Diner is good, not great. Service is hit or miss, depends on who you get. We eat there a lot, not because it is great, but because it is one of the best options within a reasonable distance.

Maybe we are spoiled by the Orange County choices and service. Because there are so many (thousands) resturunts there, they are very competitive and the service is usually outstanding.

Slows in Detroit certainly offers outstanding food, but the service is terrible. I found Andiamos to be reasonably good, but a little pricey for the quality. service is decent. Seldom Blues is a terrible value of price/quality and the service is awful, but the music is great.

The supposedly "good" places were very disappointing. Sibleys garden for example and the 1892 smokehouse (now the Blue Nile have no tried that yet) as well as about a dozen other places. Maybe it is just down river?

In OC by comparison, there were so many phenomenal places to eat that visitors would run out of time before we ran out of great places to take them. Right now, my list of "gotta try it" places for guests runs to Slows, that is all.

However in Oakland county we have found little but chain restaurants which are consistently average.

Perhaps we will run through your lists. Can someone pick out what they consider the good options? We care most about food quality, second about service, third about atmosphere which is about equal with price. I prefer not to dress up for dinner, wifey prefers to dress up some.

They are not necessarily HAVE TO go to places. In my opinion you can't get much more Michigan than Big Boy. It's not a fancy place, but fairly affordable and decent food. Maybe you and I have a different image of what is a good place to eat.

And to the person that mentioned striking up conversations at random with people in stores, I totalllllly know what you mean. My mom and grandma do this with people all the time.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Cato the Elder

You have to expand your horizons beyond your Grosse Isle/South Lyon world that you grew up in. You have an obvious bias AGAINST Oakland County and FOR the west side and downriver that continually comes up here. Not only is there life east of I-275, but that's where most of metro Detroit "happens," not in Grosse Ile, Northville, and Plymouth.

The fact is, you live on the fringe of metro Detroit. You chose to do this, but to think that most people who live in the area are in your situation is severely limiting. This consistently comes out in your views and advice to people.

I understand it's not convenient for you, but people from most of the metro do drive to places like Somerset, Birmingham, the Zoo, Cranbrook, Great Lakes Crossing, Macomb Center for the Performing Arts, the Palace, etc. To discount them in favor of your local haunts is a disservice to people, when the reality is that almost no one drives to places like Wyndotte and Ann Arbor on a consistent basis. I understand if your choices skew to local establishments, as they do in my list, but c'mon, Grosse Isle has one of the best school districts in MI? I'm sure it's a good district, but it's NOT objectively one of the best any more than Berkley is.

The places I listed are all excellent places. I didn't blindly list convenient places in my neighborhood b/c I'm a homer or shill. It's great that people are proud of their neighborhoods, but as you noted, c'mon, have some objectivity people.

I lived in San Francisco which easily has as good if not better quality and variety of cuisine as SoCal. For my day-to-day eating, I have not experienced a dropoff at all in my enjoyment. Yes, I miss Chinatown, the Mission, Berkeley, fresh oysters at Tomales Bay, Napa, Carmel and other places with great food, but how often did these places factor into my day-to-day life? 5%? Usually, I just want a good burger, sandwich, soup, pasta, etc. - there are plenty of fantastic places that serve these things on my list.

If you haven't had good New York pizza, you wouldn't understand the allure of Brooklyn Pizza, any more than what a good bagel or sushi might mean to someone. I'm sure California Pizza Kitchen meets your needs. For those who enjoy good pizza not out of a cardboard box, Brooklyn Pizza, Georgio's, and Amici's are fantastic options.

Overall, I've listed dozens of non-chains from Oakland County and a smattering from places as far as Dearborn and Windsor. It gets old reading your uninformed statements like, "However in Oakland county we have found little but chain restaurants which are consistently average." This couldn't be further from the truth as I've shown. It might be your experience, but by your own admission, you hardly come to this part of the metro. Play up downriver, Northville, Plymouth, and A2 all you want, but please stop with your skewed statements about Oakland County.

Wow! Forgot your happy pills today?

I am glad to learn that you can speak for "most of the metro" Now I can learn from you what "most" people do, becuase an awful lot of the people that i know do nto do those things. I must really be on the fringe. Good thing I have an all knowing metro area expert to explain to me what "most" people here do

Umm South Lyon and Northville are in Oakland County. But like most places we have been in OC both have mostly chains resturuants. There are some excpetions, but not thousands and nothing to bring a frined from out of town to (maybe Leos coney island in New Hudson, but still probably woudl nto drive there unless i was nearby). Actully I do spend a lot of time in North Oakland County since most of our friends and one of my brothers lives there. AS I have often said, the best shopping and dining is in that area so we go up there with some frequency. Plus I am often in Troy, Pontiac, Lake Orion, and Sterling Heights for work. I discuss what I see and what I encounter. If your experiences are different, voice them, but do not get insulting and childish about it.

Is there something at Great Lakes Crossing that is not a chain? Is there somenthing at Somerset that is not a chain? In both places what I saw is the same chain resturuants that I see in malls all over the US. It is certianly possible that I/we missed some place. Somerset is a very nice mall. Probably the nicest anywhere. However there are no unusual resturaunts worth getting excited about that I know of.

I am not playing up my favorite haunts. I am saying that there are not any. I am not sure where we would bring an out of town guest to show them great Detroit food. Certainly not hamburger or a pizza which are avialable everyhwere. Also not a chain that is in every major town. Mexico Town would be ok for people not from the Southwest. Slows is a good option.

By the way, yes Grosse Ile Schools are, or were as of 2004-2005, in the top 10 or top 20 in Michigan. That is why we moved there. We compared every school district in any city that even remotely interested us from as far away as Marshall and China, but mostly in the Detroit area. I need access ot an airport. We especially looked at north Oakland County because that is where a lot of the better schools are and where most of our friend live. That area is too much like Irvine with snow. Not for us. After two years of reseach and visits, we decided that for us Grosse Ile was the vary best place in the netro area to raise a family and we still think so. (Although sometime I think that Grosse Pointe may have been a better choice due to its location). Actully very few people know anyhting at all about Grosse ILe. If people ask where the best places to live are, I will give them my opinions and hope that they can benefit from our years of research and travel. If you do not like it, skip over my posts.

I have no Bias against North eastern Oakland County. Just becuase I disagree with you does nto make me biased. It is not my kind of place, but a lot of my friends live there and love it. I found most of the area somewhat bland, trendy (which I do nto care for) and in many areas a bit snobby and pretentious (not as bad as Orange County, but certainly an element of one of the things that we wanted to get away from). Your perception that Metro Detroit "happens" only in that area is an example of the egocentric attitude that I prefer to avoid. I do not dislike nor disrepect people who have that attitude, it is very very common in many areas that are the wealthier parts of any given place, but I do not care for it, so I stay away from it.

Metro Detroit "happens" all over metro Detroit. There are a lot of very nice places around this area. Brimingham is not the center of the state. Nor is it the center of the metro area. It is just a nice place for some people and not very pleasant for others. Why you get so offended that someone has different viewpoints than you do is unclear. If you had actually spent much time an any of the areas that you decry so vehemently, prehaps you would not shave such an egocentric attitude.

I have no bias For downriver. There are some nice cities there that are often overlooked by people in and considering metro detroit. Grosse Ile and Wyandotte are terrific. Trenton is decent. There are also some places that I find pretty awful (Taylor and Ecorse for example).

I have never said that Grosse Ile is the most happening place in the area. IN fact, I make it quite clear that it is a sleepy peaceful place with not much going on and we like it that way. You can keep your traffic, high speed roads and highways, concrete, towering buildings, and fancy cars. I like my trees and water and wildlife.

I would drive to North OC for the Zoo, to visit Royal Oak, or maybe even to go shopping, but not for pizza or a hamburger. There is good pizza everywhere.

Darn, I thought that i lived beyond the fringe of Metro Detroit. I will have to see about getting the island moved a little further south.

[nycjefftrain]

Could we kiss and makeup now?? Both Cato and cold are excellent contributors to this forum on everything metro Detroit. For anybody that questions diversity in this area, just look at the above posts and you can see the passion levels people have for their various interests.

There is a thread about great metro detroit restaurants. I think both of you should take a look at the list. I'm coming home next week to visit and I'm hitting up "only in metro Detroit" establishments such as Buddy's(pizza), Bone Yard(Ribs), and Miller's(hamburgers). Call me bland but that is some damn good american fare that is NOT duplicated elsewhere......btw, those 3 places mentioned above are GREAT places to bring out of town visitors as my family has done for decades. Our visitors then begin to crave these places and love to visit them when they are back in town.

[Coldjensens]

I will try them thank you.

I mentioned elewhere that someone from California asked me to fed ex them a millers hamburger. That is where I first heard of the place.

I forgot about our famous White Castle too. They seel them frozen in grocery stores in Ca.

[cardwellave]

Miller's! How could I forget. And the Bone Yard is great too.