Metro Times Best of Detroit 2016 042716 by Chava Communications

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Vol. 36 | Issue 29 | April 27-May 3, 2016

Group Publisher - Chris Keating Publisher - John Badanjek Associate Publisher - Jim Cohen Editor - Dustin Blitchok

Upfront

Metro times

Editorial

News Hits..................................... 22

Feature: Best of Detroit............ 40

Pampering.................................... 50 Vice............................................... 52 Medicine....................................... 56 Shops and Services...................... 62

Associate Publisher - Jim Cohen Regional Sales Directors - Vinny Fontana, Danielle Smith-Elliott Senior Multimedia Account Executive Paul Biondi, Jeff Nutter Multimedia Account Executives Drew Franklin, Cierra Wood Classified Multimedia Account Executive Bill Rigley Advertising Assistant - Meghan Martini

Marketing and Events

Arts and Entertainment............ 180

Business/Operations

Director of New Media - Adam O’Connor

Graphic Designers - Kristin Borden, Paul Martinez, Christine Hahn, Haimanti Basu

Drink

Sports and Recreation............... 188

Creative Services

Business Office Supervisor - Holly Rhodes

Best Bet...................................... 182

Eat

Bars and Clubs........................... 152

Food.............................................. 94

Advertising

What’s Going On

Drinks........................................... 45

Media............................................ 44

Big Story

What’s Going On........................ 36

Politics & Prejudices ................... 28

News

News & Views............................. 22

Framed............................................ 6

Project Editor - Michael Jackman Associate Editor - Alysa Offman Music Editor - Mike McGonigal Web Editor - Alexandra Fluegel Dining Editor - Serena Maria Daniels Investigative Reporter - Allie Gross Contributing Editors - Larry Gabriel, Jack Lessenberry Copy Editor - Esther Gim Editorial Interns - Colleen Kowalewski, Luanne Lim, Jack Roskopp Photography Interns - Kelley O’Neill Contributors- Judy Adams, Taylor Bembery, Stephanie Brothers, Brett Callwood, Kahn Santori Davison, Aaron Egan, Cornelius Fortune, Cal Garrison, Curt Guyette, Charles L. Latimer, Noelle Lothamer, Jim McFarlin, Jeff Milo, Marc Nader, Dan Savage, Miss Shela, Jane Slaughter, Doug Coombe, Tanya Moutzalias, Dontae Rockymore, Brian Rozman, Steve Sergent, Sean Bieri, Rob Widdis, Adam Woodhead, Shelley Salant

Circulation Circulation Manager - Annie O’Brien

Music.......................................... 192

Livewire...................................... 196

Savage Love............................... 208

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Culture

Cover photo and Best of Detroit photography by Vaughn Gurganian, a photographer in metro Detroit for 30 years. He can be reached at vaughnster@comcast.net.

Editorial - (313) 202-8022 Advertising - (313) 961-4060 Fax - (313) 964-4849

Arts

Cal Garrison............................... 222

Horoscopes with

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Watch

Higher Ground........................... 206

National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-888-278-9866, voicemediagroup.com

Arts & Culture........................... 206

Chief Executive Officer – Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers – Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Chief Financial Officer – William Mickey vHuman Resources Director – Lisa Beilstein Digital Operations Coordinator – Jaime Monzon www.euclidmediagroup.com

Music

The ILL Itches............................. 192

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framed

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Upfront

U p Front

Greek Night @ Exodos Rooftop (D. Rockymore)

Nora Jane Struthers and the Party Line @ the Ark (B. Brookes)

Bass Drop Fashion Show @ Populux (D. Rockymore)

Industry Wednesday @ Dooleys (D. Rockymore)

Spring Fever Beer Fest @ Royal Oak Farmers Market (D. Rockymore)

Motor City Nightmares @ the Sheraton Novi (M. Pfeiffer)

Bleached @ Loving Touch (M. Pfeiffer)

Bryce Vine & Skizz Marquee @ the Shelter (D. Rockymore)

Not Your Average Brunch @ Sindbads (D. Rockymore)

Classifieds

Culture

Arts

Watch

Music

Drink

Eat

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Going On

Big Story

Datsik @ Elektricity (M. Martini)

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N ews

news hits

The Cole building frozen out of Cass Park historic district n The Cole on Park Avenue. Photo by Andrew Erdmann.

by Michael Jackman

A lot of the preservation chatter in town concerns the hulking, huge architectural achievements of our city’s heyday: Art Deco skyscrapers, Beaux-Arts towers, Italian renaissance high-rises, and more. But some of the buildings we feel the most affection for are smaller structures that tell a story. One of those is the Cole, at 2753 Park Ave. We’ve written about this building before because it gracefully conceals its secret life when looked at from the front. When looked at from another angle, it tells a very interesting story, one that mirrors the life of the city during its boom. The news that this building falls outside the historic district approved for Cass Park makes it worth consideration again today, as this unusual piece of the past won’t receive the special protections the rest of the district will. At the risk of covering some old ground once again, here is how the story goes: The building has been there at least since the 1880s, when Park Avenue began to fill up early with modest frame houses. Back then, it was a twostory frame house, a series of stepped shotgun shacks, telescoping down to what was probably a kitchen in the rear. In 1898, William E. Cole moved in. A person of some means (he could afford a telephone in 1898), Cole lived at this address for 14 years, until Jan. 2, 1912, when he died at age 41, leaving his widow, Mae Cole, to live on at the address. Mae Cole did what many widowed wives did at the time: She took on boarders. By 1914, she had a number of boarders living with her in the house. And then a remarkable transforma-

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tion occurred around then. Somehow, Mrs. Cole converted her dwelling into a set of flats. A 1919 map shows that a three-story front section has been added onto the building. In 1921, “The Cole” is listed as having eight different residents, including a toolmaker, a salesman and a clerk. Indeed, Mrs. Cole was keeping up with the tenor of the neighborhood. The proud front that went up on the Cole must have blended in with the other imposing structures rising on Park Avenue. Of course, the building was still the simple frame home it always was just behind the three-story brick face it gave to the street, but with other buildings leaning in close, the necessary illusion made Mrs. Cole the proprietor of a bona fide apartment building. As the neighborhood’s buildings have fallen or been razed over time, the vagaries of fate have played a startling practical joke on the Cole. You can still see the pretentious frontage added by Mae Cole. But from any other angle on the street, the building is like a woman with her dress blown up by the wind. Without the two- and three-story buildings that used to flank it, one sees behind that grand false front the old widow Cole put up a century ago. We’ve noticed, over the years, that somebody has put money into this building, removing some of the more dilapidated rear sections and adding new siding. We hope these efforts pay off, if only because the Cole is a humble monument to one woman’s ingenuity.

N jackman@metrotimes.com L@MichaelJackman

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Apr. 27-May 3, 2016

N ews Three officials charged in connection to Flint water crisis by Allie Gross

District Judge Tracy Collier-Nix has approved criminal charges, filed by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, against three individuals in connection with the Flint water crisis. Those charged are Mike Glasgow, a utilities administrator with the Flint Water Treatment Plant; Mike Prysby, a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality official who was a Flint engineer; and Stephen Busch, a former supervisor of one of DEQ’s eight district offices within the department’s drinking water program. Schuette, who held a press conference to detail his investigation into the Flint water crisis, says that the charges are just the beginning. “This is just the start, we’re going to be aggressive,” Schuette says. “We will leave no stone unturned — we will go where the truth takes us.” So who was charged in this first round? Let’s start with Glasgow. The Flint city official was charged with two counts of

news hits tampering with evidence and willful neglect of office. It is believed that Glasgow signed off on a document that falsely said the homes used to test tap water in the summer of 2015 had lead service lines. This admission, according to Schuette, is why Flint showed artificially low lead levels. Prysby, of the MDEQ, faces six criminal charges (two charges of misconduct in the office, one charge of conspiracy to tamper with evidence, one for tampering with evidence, and one for engaging in a treatment process violation that breaches Michigan’s Safe Drinking Water Act, and one for monitoring such a treatment violation). Two days before the charges were approved, the Detroit Free Press reported that Prysby voluntarily transferred to a new position with the DEQ’s transportation and flood hazard unit. His name was one of the most prominent in recently released MDEQ emails relating to the Flint water crisis. In April 2014, for example, Prysby was one of the recipients of an email from Glasgow, who said the Flint Water Treatment Plant was not ready to begin treating Flint River water. “I have people above me making plans to distribute

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water ASAP, if water is distributed from this plant in the next couple weeks it will be against my direction,” Glasgow wrote. The email — and the lack of a response from recipients like Prysby — was important because it showed officials were warned about potential problems but ignored them. According to Glasgow, weeks after he sent the email, the plant was connected to the Flint River despite his objections. Busch, also of the DEQ, faces five charges (misconduct in the office, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, tampering with evidence, engaging in a treatment violation that breached the Safe Drinking Water Act, and engaging in monitoring violation that breach the Safe Drinking Water Act). Busch’s name has also cropped up often relating to the Flint water crisis. One particularly memorable incident came in February 2015, when Glasgow tested high levels of lead at the home of LeeAnne Walters. Following the revealing test, Busch was questioned by Jennifer Crooks, Michigan program officer for the EPA’s Region 5, about the corrosion controls Flint had in place. “Busch, district supervisor for the Flint region, replied with an email

assuring the EPA that the city of Flint did indeed have an optimized corrosion control program. But he offered no specifics. In reality, however, there was no such program in place at all,” Curt Guyette wrote of the correspondence for MT. Gov. Rick Snyder has yet to be interviewed in the investigation, according to Schuette; however, the attorney general was sure to be clear that while nobody was a target in his investigation, nobody was ruled out, either. When asked about the motives of those charged, Schuette says he’s not interested in motives, but rather the truth, and added that nobody is above the law. Schuette says he hopes the three men will be tried in Genesee County and that he’s unsure if U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade will also bring federal charges in connection with the water crisis. “You break the law, you spend time behind bars,” Schuette says, later adding: “The judge will make a decision in sentencing and I think that will be (time) behind bars.”

agross@metrotimes.com @allie_elisabeth

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N ews

politics&prejudices

All the governor’s men by Jack Lessenberry When I was waiting last week to see who would be criminally charged in what I think we should all call Flintwatergate, an irreverent thought f lew through my head: Maybe the indictments will stop at Howard Hunt, Gordon Liddy, and the Cubans. For those of you younger than some of us aging, self-indulgent baby boomers, those were the band of oddballs arrested in the initial break-in at the Watergate hotel, in the far-off world of June 17, 1972. Richard Nixon and all the president’s men labored mightily to get the case to stop there. But they failed, and as all the world knows, entire boatloads of high officials, including two U.S. attorneys general, were trundled off to prison. Tricky Dick, of course, became the only president to be forced out of of-

fice. Will Flintwatergate go the same way? Evidently not. Michigan Attorney General (and unannounced candidate for governor) Bill Schuette filed a raft of felony and lesser charges last week against two mid-level employees in the badly misnamed Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Those guys, Steve Busch and Mike Prysby, weren’t famous before, but have since been swiftly convicted in the press. Schuette also charged Mike Glasgow, the Flint utilities director, who had been supervisor of the water treatment plant at the time they failed to add corrosion control materials to the water. I have some suspicion that the utilities director may be a pawn of sorts; Republicans have been hot

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from the start to tie some Flint city officials (read: Democrats) to a scandal brought to you entirely by Republican appointees. That’s been hard to do, because Tricky Rick, oops, Gov. Rick Snyder, had taken all power away from Flint’s elected officials and vested it in a series of emergency managers. But they think they have a scapegoat in Glasgow — even though a week before the city made the fatal switch to Flint River water, he strongly recommended against doing so. However, Todd Flood, the special prosecutor Schuette named to get justice, claims Glasgow had “a corrupt mind to do that.” Well, we’ll see how all this plays out. But the indictments, Schuette and Co. say, won’t stop here. “There will be more to come,” the attorney

general says. One member of the investigative team, former FBI agent Andy Arena, says this will be the “biggest investigation in the history of Michigan,” and added: “Nobody is off limits.” O boy! Could Tricky Rick could go the way of Tricky Dick? So far, it seems almost certainly not. Watergate turned out to be a criminal conspiracy directed from

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the very top. Flintgate appears to be more like Ronald Reagan’s 1986 Iran-Contra scandal. In both cases, you had a passive leader who wasn’t very interested and didn’t pay attention to detail. True, when you read the nowreleased emails from Snyder’s closest staff members, it’s between hard and impossible to believe he didn’t know more earlier than he did. After all, we have his own attorney complaining that his mother was drinking water with fecal coliform bacteria, and a chief of staff who knew all about the problems many months before Snyder claimed he had any clue. Both men saw him whenever they wanted to, sometimes every day. But sympathy for humans isn’t clearly our accountant-in-chief ’s motivating impulse, let alone poor ones who don’t have rich or well-connected friends and who vote Democratic, if they bother to vote at all. However, Rick Snyder does have something to watch out for. Schuette now has a vested interest in making Snyder look bad — and in at least appearing to bring his water-poisoning administration to justice. Consider this. Schuette, who has never been a friend of Snyder, clearly wants to be governor more than an addict wants a fix. After Flint, and eight years of the Snyder administration and our hugely unpopular, people-destroying, GOP-controlled legislature, Democrats should be able to win the next statewide election pretty much by default, and everyone knows it. Schuette’s only chance is to show that he is a different kind of Republican, who rides in on a white horse to clean up corruption and restore faith in government. True, it took the Dow Chemical heir sometime to realize that; he dragged his feet on even starting an investigation. But now he gets that this could be his ticket to the big time in a way wasting the state’s money beating up on poor gays never could. Nixon did have one advantage over Snyder: He could, and did, fire attorneys general who didn’t do his bidding. He has no authority over Schuette — and right now, virtually no political support or allies anywhere. You can expect the attorney general to milk this case for all its worth, for as long as he can. Mark Dobias, a

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savvy and witty attorney in Sault Ste. Marie, told me he hoped for a public show trial, of the sort they used to have in the Soviet Union. He may well get one before this is over. If so, let’s hope On-Duty Schuette embarrasses himself less than he did when he spent millions to try to prevent two gay nurses from adopting some special needs kids whose lives they had essentially saved. How the GOP could have been saved Probably too late now, but there was an opportunity for the Republicans to save themselves from Donald Trump and electoral disaster. What’s more it would have involved Gov. Snyder, if he could have been persuaded to do the right thing. The GOP’s idea of trying to rid themselves of Trump was having the snooty loser Mitt Romney denounce him without saying who people should support instead. That likely got The Donald more votes. No, the only thing that would work would be for the party to spend millions for half an hour of prime television time on multiple networks, and put Snyder on, with these instructions: Endorse Trump! Carry on for half an hour in your high-pitched nasal whine about how you are sure President Trump would do for America just what you did for Michigan. Talk in great wonkish detail about the pension tax and emergency managers. Use the phrase “relentless positive action” a lot. Then tell all about how you kept an eye on Flint, and explain that it wasn’t your fault, and that you quickly reacted within, oh, two-and-a-half months of discovering the water was contaminated. Not only that, your lightning leadership enabled you to find out there was a Legionnaires’ disease mini-epidemic in Flint only a little over a year after it happened. Seriously. A Snyder endorsement may be the only thing that can save us now. Rick should be willing to be big about it; his political career is beyond repair. His policies have caused people to be poisoned or ruined; now, it’s his turn to give back, act like he was still at Gateway, and take one for the team.

letters@metrotimes.com @metrotimes

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what’sgoingon

Art | Dance | Comedy | Eat | Theater

Sunday, May 1 18th Blessing of the Lowriders @ Grace in Action

Celebrating its 18th year, the blessings of the Lowriders is a car show/parade that shows off the unique Lowrider cars that Detroit’s Southwest Latino community love so much. It takes place right after the Cinco de Mayo parade, and it has become a part of the community’s history now. This event is more than just a car show though — it is a rite of passage for the youth in the community as well.

Starts at 3 p.m.; 1725 Lawndale St., Detroit.

Wednesday, April 27

Friday, April 29

Friday April 29

Saturday, April 30

Woodward Line Poetry Series

Todd Barry

Eddie Logix’s Ohana Tape Release Party

The Naked Magic Show

@ The Crofoot

@ Scarab Club

Woodward Line Poetry Series, which is supported by the Michigan Council of the Arts, is a great organization that gives poets a forum for their work. The night will feature a series of different poets as they share their personal stories and poems.

Starts at 7 p.m.; 217 Farnsworth St., Detroit; 313-831-1250; scarabclub.org.

@ Royal Oak Music Theatre

@ Elizabeth Theater

Todd Barry is a stand-up comedian who has been on the circuit for years now. He has done stand-up all across America, and you may have seen him on late night shows like Conan Live, Late Show with David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel. He’s also a talented voice actor and has lent his voice to many Adult Swim TV shows. If you’re looking for a night of laughs and good times, check out this seasoned comic.

Starts at 8 p.m.; 1 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac; 248-858-9333; thecrofoot.com; tickets are $18.50 in advance and $20 at the door.

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Eddie Logix is a DJ and producer, who is holding a special release party at the Elizabeth Theater for his new tape, Ohana. While information about this event is particularly sparse, we gleaned that special guests will include Pig Pen and Peace to Mateo. There will be “vibes by” Blair French and DTCHPLNES too — whatever that means.

Starts at 9 p.m.; 2040 Park Ave., Detroit; 313-962-2933; parkbardetroit.com; tickets are $5; 21 and older only.

We’re not really sure why Australia is fascinated with live shows and nudity (i.e. Thunder Down Under and those dudes who did penis tricks), but we are definitely not mad about it. These two Australian babes not only entertain you with their fun magic tricks, but you also get to stare at their gorgeous naked bodies. It’s a true two-for-one deal. Why haven’t magic shows been naked all the time? We’re not sure, but we’re happy to see these guys doing it!

Doors open at 7 p.m.; 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; 248-3992980; romtlive.com; tickets are $35-$45; 18 and older only.

Art | Dance | Comedy | Eat | Theater

Sunday, May 1

UpFront

what’sgoingon

Sleeping Beauty News

@ Music Hall

We all know the classic story of Sleeping Beauty, but the Russian Ballet Theatre is returning to Detroit with a brand-new production of this classic fairytale. As great as the movie is, this production presents a special opportunity to see the world-renowned Russian Ballet Theatre present a favorite story live on stage. Starts at 2 p.m.; 350 Madison St., Detroit; 313-887-8500; musichall. org; tickets are $30, $40, and $50.

Feature | What’s Going On | Eat | Drink |

Saturday, April 30

Sunday, May 1

Opening Celebration Ride

Sun., May 1

Queen of Cups Burlesque Variety Show

Listen to Your Mother

@ Dequindre Cut

@ Springfield Oaks County Park

Culture

Starts at 2 p.m.; 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; 313-961-8961; saintandrewsdetroit.com; tickets are $15.

Doors open at 9:30 p.m.; 208 N. First St., Ann Arbor; 734-9968555 blindpigmusic.com; tickets are $10 in advance and $13 at the door; 18 and older only.

Listen to Your Mother gives motherhood a microphone. Their goal is to take the audience on a journey of motherhood, and hopefully give some advice to moms raising children right now, moms raising grandchildren, and moms-to-be. A portion of the proceeds from every performance is donated to a Detroit charity.

Arts | Classifieds

Event runs 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday; 12451 Andersonville Rd., Davisburg; miantiquefestival.com; admission is $6 for adults and free for children 11 and younger.

We are so excited to see that Queen of Cups Burlesque Variety Show is returning to the Blind Pig. Burlesque dancing is a true art form, plus it’s super fun and exciting to watch. This special performance will feature burlesque performers Bunny Valentine, Red Rum, Dahlia Fatale, Mylitta La Fae, Gala Delicious, and many others.

Held at the Springfield Oaks County Park in Davisburg, the Michigan Antique Festival is the best place to find those knickknacks and classic antiques. They have multiple locations that feature different kinds of antiques, and there will even be a beer tent that will feature a variety of Michigan craft beer. And there’s a classic car show. If you love antiques, this festival has your name written all over it.

@ Saint Andrew’s Hall

@ Blind Pig

Watch

If you haven’t checked out the newly remodeled Dequindre Cut, then you officially have plans on Saturday. Whether you want to ride your bike, walk your dog, or go for a nice run, the Dequindre Cut will be your new home to escape the city and get a little fresh air. Plus, if you go to the Opening Celebration Ride, you will be one of the first to try out the cut’s new extension to Mack Avenue. Event runs from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.; 2934 Russell St., Detroit.

Michigan Antique Festival

Sat., April 30 —

Music

Saturday, April 30

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Apr. 27-May 3, 2016

F EATURE

n Slow Roll Detroit President Jason Hall and fellow bicyclists on the Detroit RiverWalk. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian.

Detroit has never given up its secrets easily. In a region this sprawling, you’ve always needed a little inside information to know where to go. Unlike other cities that put all their show-stopping wonders on main drags, you’ll need a few addresses and some car fare to survey our superlatives. And that’s not a bad thing. For instance, take Detroit’s Slow Roll ride: For years, it’s grown by leaps and bounds, showing its participants some of the city’s off-the-beaten-path marvels. The ride has become so successful it can draw thousands on warm Monday nights, drawing cyclists of all skill levels. The ride’s organizers have become de facto ambassadors, helping bridge the city’s divides between urban and suburban, black and white, speed

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bikers and freewheelers. In the best sense, it’s sort of like Metro Times’ Best of Detroit. Just look at all the weird and far-flung places in this week’s issue: We appealed to the “hive mind” of metro Detroit and got some answers that surprised even us. So pedal along with us for a ride past a couple hundred places you collectively called best and see it all laid out, secret by secret. The Best of Detroit 2016 is written by Michael Jackman, Allie Gross, Alysa Offman, Mike McGonigal, Alex Fluegel, Serena Maria Daniels, Colleen Kowalewski, Jack Roskopp, Luanne Lim, and Dustin Blitchok. The design is by Kristin Borden and the photography is by Vaughn Gurganian.

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The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vari-Tipsâ&#x20AC;? bracelet in silver and 18k gold with interchangeable gemstones. Perfect for color coordinating your wardrobe and jewelry for a great fashion look.

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F EATURE

BEST OF DETROIT

n Journalist Charlie LeDuff holds a New Belgium Brewing 25th anniversary Fat Tire bicycle manufactured by Detroit Bikes. “Nothing Stops Detroit” was created by Ryan Doyle as part of Eastern Market’s Murals in the Market program. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian.

Best FM Radio Station 89X s89xradio.com This alternative rock station knows how to have fun! Just take a look at the lineup for their “birthday bash” at The Fillmore Detroit on May 8! Silversun Pickups, Foal, and Joywave. Talk about a good time. While the music is a draw, people also seem to gravitate to the station’s radio personalities like Cal Cagno and Sarah Jean, who host the uber-popular Cal & Co. show from 5:30 a.m. until 10 a.m., Monday through Friday. Best TV Journalist Charlie LeDuff, Fox 2 Detroit charlieleduff.com Detroit’s homegrown Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist is a national phenomenon and celebrity in his own right thanks to a best-selling book, a nationally broadcast show, The Americans with Charlie LeDuff, and his work for outlets such as VICE and Mother Jones. LeDuff’s flamboyant reporting style tele-

graphs his personality, humor, and passion for change, and he’s used it to reveal serious injustices such as hours-long police response times in Detroit and reprehensible conditions in the city’s fire stations. “Thank you. It’s nice to know you care, Detroit,” he says of our readers’ selection for Best TV Journalist.

Best TV News Team Best Local News Fox 2 Detroit myfoxdetroit.com The Fox 2 team gets props for asking tough questions, like the kind that once drove Detroit City Councilman George Cushingberry to declare a “No Elrick Zone.” It’s no surprise they were voted Best TV News Team and Best Local News by our readers — this is the station that readers trust and watch. Best Local Blog Hip in Detroit hipindetroit.com Hip in Detroit recently celebrated their

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fourth anniversary, and this is the third time they’ve been voted into the Best of Detroit issue by our readers. It’s no wonder, or surprise. After all, HID’s bloggers Christie Laabs and Sadie Q are exceptional at highlighting all the most positive things in every event, restaurant, person, and Detroit thing they write about.

Best Detroiter to Follow on Instagram Camera Jesus instagram.com/camera_jesus/ camerajesus.bigcartel.com Created by Joe Gall, Camera Jesus is truly a sight to behold. Boasting more than 40,000 followers, the account features atmospheric photos of everything from the Multnomah Falls in Portland to a commercial jet graveyard just outside Bangkok. But don’t get too much wanderlust looking at the pics. Camera Jesus touts its fair share of Detroit-based photographs that will make you feel perfectly content — in fact, lucky — to

be based in the Motor City. There are gorgeous pictures of the Ambassador Bridge lit up at night — who would have ever thought it could be so beautiful? — and rad shots of Tony Hawk kicking it in the D. It’s all pretty cool.

Best Modeling Agency 7 Stone Management 612 E. 4th St., Royal Oak; 734-845-9950; 7stonemanagement.com Whether it’s booking entertainment for festivals, venues, or events, 7 Stone is committed to elevating Detroit’s native talent. With a fleet of over 250 models and years of experience in everything from films to charity galas, the company is a top choice for major clients, including Quicken Loans, Greektown Casino, Bacardi, and hey, even us. For more winners, visit metrotimes.com.

n Rifino Valentine, founder and president of Valentine Distilling, takes his Old English Sheepdog, Sherbert, for a ride through Valentine’s new 15,000-squarefoot production facility on Wanda Street in Ferndale. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian.

Best Domestic Beer Miller Lite millerlite.com Craft beers may have the limelight, but sometimes you just need to crack open a good ol’ domestic brew (and then crack open like 10 more). And since the beer is “less filling,” after all, you can drink enough as it takes without feeling like you weigh an extra 50 pounds. Best Microbrewery or Brewpub in Wayne County Brew Detroit 1401 Abbott St., Detroit; 313-974-7366, ext. 6; brewdetroit.com Why shouldn’t Brew Detroit seal up this category? It’s brewing some of the best beer the Detroit area has to offer, as Brew’s 400-barrel tanks give a bit of extra capacity to other small brewers, such as Atwater and Motor City Brewing Works. The 68,000-square-foot facility is the first fully automated brewery in the city since Stroh’s closed 30 years ago, and it can produce a million barrels of beer annually. You can enjoy the fruits of their labor in their tasting room. Best Microbrewery or Brewpub in Macomb County Kuhnhenn Brewing Co. 5919 Chicago Rd., Warren; 586-979-8361; kbrewery.com When it comes to really intense flavor, no place has zoned in on extreme beer geeks like Kuhnhenn, having created such flavorful brews as Wild Blueberry Pancake Ale and

Raspberry Eisbock. The open and airy space has no kitchen (just a popcorn machine, in fact), so the beer has to be good. And it’s those kick-in-the-face flavors that keep people coming in the door.

Best Mead B. Nektar 1511 Jarvis St., Ferndale; 313-744-6323; bnektar. com With names like “Kill All the Golfers” and “Zombies Take Manhattan,” it’s easy to see why B. Nektar has crafted a reputation for modern-day magic when it comes to its meads. And it’s not just metro Detroiters who are putting the brewery on the map; it was the first meadery to join the ranks on the top 100 best breweries in the world by Ratebeer.com, and has remained there since 2013. Best Vodka Tito’s Handmade Vodka titosvodka.com Things may be bigger in Texas, but hangovers aren’t one of them when you’re sipping the Austin-based brand’s vodka. Tito’s sixtime distillation process yields vodka free of impurities. Translation: you probs won’t get a headache, and it’s actually made by a guy named Tito. Tito Beveridge, as a matter of fact. It doesn’t get any better than that. Best Irish Whiskey Jameson jamesonwhiskey.com Oh, Jameson, where do we begin? How

about at breakfast, when you’re the perfect sidecar to a Bloody Mary, or during lunch, when mixed with a bit of ginger ale, you become the much-needed midday pick-meup? Or perhaps dinner, sipped slowly to take the edge of the day, and of course, at 2:00 a.m., when we simply don’t care anymore. You’ve always been there for us, and we thank you.

Best Whiskey Jack Daniel’s Jackdaniels.com You can tell a lot about a person who drinks Jack Daniel’s, mainly that they’re probably capable of kicking your ass, yet will gladly loan you a lighter. Just give it back. Jack is the stuff of legends, and with everyone’s whiskey obsession at an all-time high, it gives you the chance to feel the burn sans pretension. Let’s call it the everyman’s whiskey, if you will, and let’s call it a damn good time, every time. Best Gin Tanqueray tanqueray.com Launched in London in 1830, this bold brand employs botanicals like juniper, coriander, angelica root, and liquorice. It’s mega-popular in the U.S. and has been mentioned in tunes by famous recording artists like Snoop Dogg, Marcy Playground, Notorious B.I.G., and 50 Cent. We’re ready for a gin and juice. Best Tequila Patron Patrontequila.com

Blame it on Patron, got you in the zone. Actually no, stop blaming alcohol for your actions and just accept that if you’re doing shots of Patron, you’re in for an adventure. Nothing says “I’m here to party” like buying a round for your friends, or better yet, strangers. Whether you like your training wheels on or off, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Best Bourbon Jim Beam jimbeam.com No surprise here: Jim Beam is one of the topselling brands in the world. But something about the bourbon makes it somehow a more adult choice. Unlike other, sweeter spirits, Beam is undisguised bourbon, showing off its charred finish, inviting you to let it linger on your tongue, rather than shoot it down with a whoop. This is a sipper, chaser optional. Best Scotch Johnnie Walker johnniewalker.com We’ve heard that Winston Churchill liked Red Label with a dash of soda, and Christopher Hitchens said: “the best blended Scotch in the history of the world is Johnnie Walker Black, the breakfast of champions!” What started as some backroom hooch made by a Scottish grocer has come so far. Best Imported Beer Labatt Labatt.com Great things comes out of Canada: Drake,

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F EATURE The Weeknd, Justin .... Trudeau — what did you think we were going to say? — and of course, Labatt. It’s one of the few imported brews you’ll see enjoyed with as much frequency as its American rivals, and hey, when it comes to beer, we say the more, the merrier, eh?

Best Flavored Beer Not Your Father’s Root Beer smalltownbrewery.com While this potent brew would actually have to belong to your father if you are under the legal drinking age, this highly tasty stuff has an ABV of 5.9 percent. It is spicy and sweet, an excellent craft specialty ale brewed with a lot of creativity and care. It might be a “gateway drug” for those who haven’t entered the world of craft beer. Best Rum Bacardi Bacardi.com Since 1862 Bacardi has been fueling good times. While the rum is good on its own, the brand features a number of delectable Bacardi-based cocktails that make you wish it was happy hour. Cuba Libre? Check! Or how about a classic Mojito? You feel like you’re at an after-hours bar in Havana dancing up a storm already. There are so many good drinks that start with a rum base — so why not make them with the best rum base? Best Flavored Vodka Skyy Infusions skyy.com When most people think of flavored vodka, they think of college kids sneaking shots in their dorms at night. Skyy Infusions is not this kind of flavored vodka. In a sleek blue bottle, this a damn fine, and classy flavored vodka. As their website explains, the brand was started in one man’s quest to find a better martini. Could that be anything further away from college? Best Craft Beer New Belgium newbelgium.com Going to a dinner party and want to bring a laid-back, but simultaneously thoughtful beverage? Go with New Belgium. Makers of popular craft beers like Fat Tire, this 25-year old company screams cool but sophisticated. The picturesque drawings on the bottles aren’t too bad, either. Best Light Beer Coors Light coorslight.com A Rocky Mountain cold beverage, Coors Light is the perfect drink if you want a nice refresher but don’t want a heavy, dark ale. The largest beer in the MillerCoors portfolio, this is a drink with a following. In recent years, Coors Light has been pushing its

BEST OF DETROIT advertising towards women — who make up one-quarter of beer consumers — which is pretty cool, too.

Best Michigan Made Liquor Valentine Distilling 161 Vester Ave., Ferndale; 248-629-9951; valentinedistilling.com Rifino Valentine continues to blaze the trail for craft distilleries in Michigan, and along the way he’s producing some of the finest vodka, gin, and whiskey we’ve tasted. This year, Valentine Vodka earned the honor of World’s Best Vodka at the 2016 World Vodka Awards. “I’ve always appreciated the American craftsman; working by hand, making one-of-a-kind items that stand the test of time,” Valentine says. “In distillation, this means selecting the best ingredients, distilling in small batches, and taking care in every single step of the process.” You can enjoy the fruits of his labor and take a tour at Valentine Distilling’s Vester Avenue cocktail lounge in downtown Ferndale, and find the spirits at numerous bars and liquor stores, too. Best Michigan Vodka Detroit Steam Hand Crafted Vodka by Rusted Crow Spirits 6056 N. Telegraph Rd., Dearborn Heights; 313-551-4164; rustedcrowspirits.com Inspired by the Motor City, it’s not surprising Detroiters love this vodka. And since the distillery produces and packages every bottle as if it were its very first, using only the optimum ingredients this fascinating mitten-shaped state has to offer, you can feel good about drinking it, too. But hey, don’t you always feel good about drinking vodka? Best Michigan Gin Two James Old Cockney Gin by Two James Spirits 2445 Michigan Ave., Detroit; twojames.com Two James’ Corktown tasting room and distillery is a must-visit Detroit destination. When the weather warms, the front of the tasting room opens to the sunshine and Michigan Avenue street scene. The craft distillery’s Old Cockney Gin is our readers’ choice for Best Michigan Gin, and it’s made from the same grains used in Two James’ 28 Island Vodka, such as soft winter wheat and rye. A old London-style gin, the spirit is distilled with heavy juniper and botanicals, resulting in a dry, smooth, balanced, 82-proof liquor that pairs beautifully with tonic water or as the base for a craft cocktail, such as the Corktown Mule that’s on the tasting room menu. Best Michigan Bourbon Beer Barrel Bourbon by New Holland Brewing newhollandbrew.com New Holland ages its bourbon in American oak barrels for years and then in beer for three months. Stop and think about that for

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a second. Now imagine how delicious it’s going to taste. According to New Holland’s website the end result is a mix of “biscuity notes” and “smooth malt character” with “whiskey tones of toffee and caramel.” That’s all the encouragement we need for a liquid diet. Drink responsibly.

Best Michigan Whiskey Woodward Ltd. Bourbon Whiskey by Valentine Distilling 161 Vester Ave., Ferndale; 248-629-9951; valentinedistilling.com This Ferndale-based distillery is all about Michigan, and more specifically Detroit love. The Woodward Ltd. Bourbon Whiskey is distilled from a mash of corn, barley, and rye and aged four years. It has sweet notes of caramel and brown sugar balanced against spicy notes of rye, cinnamon, and woody spices. Best Michigan Tequila Cabresto tequila-cabresto.com/index-verified.php Available in ultra silver and reposado varieties, Cabresto represents “the heart of Mexico, the soul of Detroit.” With the weather getting warmer, this is a great way to drink local and enjoy a splashy margarita. The silver tequila is smooth and clean, while the reposado has a slightly smoky finish and hints of honey and herbs. We’re thrilled that Detroit has its own tequila brand — and particularly because it’s a stellar, 100-percent blue agave spirit. Cabresto starts at an elevation of 2,500 feet in the highland Arandas region of Los Altos De Jalisco, and the finished product is a bottle on your table in Detroit. Best Michigan Winery Leelanau Cellars 5019 North West Bay Shore Drive, Omena; 231-386-5201; Leelanaucellars.com A four-and-a-half hour drive from Detroit, Leelanau — which is an Indian word meaning “Delight of Life” — isn’t just a place to get amazing wine, it’s a destination to get away from the city and take in the beautiful outdoors. Of course the wines, which you can purchase in the city as well, are a plus. Producing red, white, fortified, and fruit wines, Leelanau has it all. Best Beer Selection in a Store Red Wagon Shoppe 1613 Livernois Rd., Troy; 248-404-9999; 2940 S. Rochester Rd., Rochester Hills; 248-8529307; redwagonshoppe.com Don’t let the old-timey “Shoppe” title fool you, Red Wagon is a comprehensive beer, wine, and liquor store. Open since 1965, this fine wine, premium spirit, specialty market has it all at locations in Rochester Hills and Troy. Some of the featured beers that make this space so wonderful include Bells, Mikkeller, Founders, and Griffin Claw.

Best Wine Selection in a Store Vertical Detroit 1538 Centre St., Detroit; 313-732-WINE; verticaldetroit.com Part wine bar, part shop, Vertical features some of the most coveted wines in the world. Run by a father-and-daughter team, Jim and Remy Lutfy, Vertical offers more than 250 vintages by the bottle, and more than 40 by the glass. Why should you trust the Lufty fam to pick your wine? They’ve been doing it for ages. The owner of Fine Wine Source in Livonia, the elder Lutfy got his start selling wine in his family’s store, Cloverleaf Market, and Remy studied wine-making at University of California Davis, which boasts a strong program and is within close proximity to Napa Valley. Vertical is housed in a chic space in The Ashley, just steps from the Detroit Athletic Club and Ford Field. Best Michigan Brewer Dan Rogers at Griffin Claw Brewing Company 575 S. Eton St., Birmingham; 248-712-4050; griffinclawbrewingcompany.com This man was born to brew. From the minute he started — on a stove, by the way — to 20 years later, when his Griffin Claw concoctions continue to win numerous awards, Dan Rogers has been committed to creating the best possible brews. He’s been described as a “problem solver, scientist, chef, sage, and scholar” but ultimately, he’s just a dude that makes some damn good beer. Best Bloody Mary Vivio’s 2460 Market St., Detroit; 313-393-1711; 3601 E. Twelve Mile Rd., Warren; viviosdetroit.net. After a night of bad (or good, depending on your point of view) decisions, the relief from a Vivio’s Bloody Mary — several of which are available with bacon — is enough to make us misty-eyed. This reader favorite, with locations in Eastern Market and Warren, has a delightful food menu to accompany the Bloodys. The original has peppercorn, jalapeños, and new dill pickle-infused vodka, and is served with a pickle spear, lime, and beer chasers. Adios, hangover. Best Michigan Beer Founders Brewing Co. 235 Grandville Ave. SW, Grand Rapids; 616776-1195; foundersbrewing.com Featuring a cartel of unique and tasty beers, Founders says it doesn’t make beer for the masses but rather for “a small cadre of renegades and rebels who enjoy a beer that pushes the limits of what is commonly accepted as taste.” This means beers with tangy twists like Rubaeus, which has hints of raspberries, and Red’s Rye IPA, which has “serious hop bitterness.” Cheers. For more winners, visit metrotimes.com.

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F EATURE

n Blo Salon stylists Ashley Allport, left, with a Biria Easy 7, and Arlene Hale, with a Del Sol Lxi 6.1. Bicycles provided by Metro Bike of Shelby Township. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian.

Best Florist Gerych’s Flowers 713 W. Silver Lake Rd., Fenton; 810-629-5995; gerychsflowers.com April showers bring May flowers. Or you can get your floral fix any time of year at Gerych’s, where they create centerpieces and personalized bouquets for every event and occasion. Helping you stop and smell the flowers since 1975, Gerych’s arrangements can bring color into any household and banquet hall. Best Spa Best Salon in Oakland County Bianchi’s Salon and Spa See bianchis.com for locations Bianchi’s highly trained stylists provide quality hair care and form trusting relationships with their clients. Services include men and women’s haircuts, as well as styling, extensions, makeup, manicures, pedicures, waxing, color and highlights, and conditioning. Facial treatments, massages, and other body therapy services are another draw at Bianchi’s. A spa day at one of Bianchi’s four Michigan locations can be tailored to offer the best mix of treatments and experiences for any customer, pampering the body and relieving stress. Best Salon in Wayne County Ezelli 89 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-965-3710; ezelli.com Identifying as the salon for busy, working

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professionals, Ezelli salon strives to provide stylish ‘dos for those always on the move. Under the direction and supervision of international award-winning stylist Francis Bolis, Ezelli salon promises quick service to those with busy schedules as well as pampering for those just passing by.

Best Salon in Washtenaw County Douglas J See douglasj.com for locations Douglas J in Ann Arbor maintains its title as the Best Salon in Washtenaw County for the third year in a row. One of many Douglas J Institutes in Michigan, the company doubles as a great salon and a school for aspiring stylists. With an extensive and inexpensive service menu, Douglas J provides customers styling, makeup services, and more. Best Salon in Macomb County Blo Salon 45318 Market St., Shelby Twp.; 586-566-7700; theblosalon.com The elegantly designed, modern Blo Salon draws inspiration “from the love of hair and the desire to create something truly special for our clients.” Blo offers women’s and men’s cutting and styling, as well as color and texture, lashes and waxing, makeup, and hair products. This Shelby Township salon is known for cutting-edge, quality work and draws clients from far beyond its zip code for a reason.

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F EATURE Best Barbershop in Oakland County Floyd’s 99 Barbershop 31225 Orchard Lake Rd., Farmington Hills; 248-855-1415; floydsbarbershop.com Owning the title as the original rock ’n’ roll barbershop for men and women, Floyd’s 99 barbershops are decked out with posters of musical artists and bands. Get a haircut and shoulder massage, color or shave with great music playing in the background. Customers can book appointments with their favorite stylist or walk-in for a cut, shave or color. Best Barbershop in Wayne County Gentlemen First 949 S. Military St., Dearborn; 313-565-8300; gentlemenfirst.creativejones.com Sorry, ladies, but in this case, it’s Gentlemen First: a place where can get their beards trimmed or shaved and their hair cut and styled. There’s TV, awesome magazines and kitschy paraphernalia to keep customers entertained while expert hairdressers work their magic. Appointments are recommended, but walk-ins are welcome. Best Barbershop in Washtenaw County Paula’s Barbershop 40 E. Cross St., Ypsilanti; 734-483-6300 This small barbershop is a local gem: With only two stylists, Paula and SinDerElla, the barbershop only accepts walk-ins, but offers high quality cuts and styles at affordable prices. Both Paula and SinDerElla ensure

customers are satisfied with their new hairdos, which likely helped put them over the top in their category.

Best Stylist Jeph Wright, of Black the Salon 2127 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 314 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; 248-565-8786; blackthesalon.com The owner and master artist of Black the Salon, Jeph Wright has been working in the hair industry for almost a decade. He opened Black the Salon in 2009, promising customers complete dedication and great haircuts. As the owner and head artist, Wright considers the individuality and personal style of each of his clients, which keeps them coming back and bringing new customers in the door. Best Mani-Pedi LUV Manicures & Pedicures See luvpedicures.com for locations It’s almost flip-flop season, and you know what that means. Time to hit the salon and treat yourself to a mani-pedi. LUV Manicures and Pedicures offers customers the best, cleanest, and most personalized experience. The salon also gives back to the community, sponsoring various charities throughout metro Detroit. Treat your hands and feet with some TLC and help spread the LUV in your community. Schedule an appointment at LUV Manicures and Pedicures for the best mani-pedi, as voted by fellow readers, in Metro Detroit.

n Photo courtesy of Players.

Best Strip Club in Wayne County The Penthouse Club 20771 Eight Mile Rd., Detroit, 48219; 313541-7000; penthousetdetroit.com This Eight Mile gentlemen’s club is known for its exciting performances. According to Yelp reviews, “At certain times during the night, two dancers will get up on a pair of motorcycles that come down from the rafters.” The dancers tend to use a lot of props, and the club seems to care about production value, as they utilize a lot of fun costumes and lights for the performances. Best Food in a Strip Club Players 13710 Eight Mile Rd., Detroit; 313-371-3700; playersdetroit.net Players is known for its premium cuts of meat — literally, this club’s menu includes a number of carnivore delights, and even if meat is not your thing, you gotta respect that. Plus, it serves up a different dinner special each night of the week, so you’re in for a treat whenever you stop in. Sure beats dinner and a movie, eh?

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Best Strip Club in Washtenaw County Déjà Vu Ypsilanti 31 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti; 734-4872110; dejavuypsilanti.com Déjà Vu prides itself on being the area’s only fully nude strip club, although the tradeoff is that the club only serves pop. Yes, on some nights, you may see more than your fair share of late-teens desperate for their first look at a booby. But somehow, that makes it all seem quite sweet.

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F EATURE Best Adult Store Intimate Ideas See intimateideas.com for locations With multiple locations in metro Detroit, you’ve got a one-stop shop for your intimacy needs no matter where you are. No matter what your kink or who your partner, the staffs at Intimate Ideas will help you take your adult fun to the next level. Best Place to Purchase a Sex Toy Pleasure Zone 35806 Van Dyke Ave., Sterling Heights; 586-722-7913; thepleasurezonestore.com While it’s a shame that as a society we’ve not risen to the most basic level of ease with our own sexuality that we have to relegate sexual aids to the category of “toys,” which are purchased merely as “novelties,” it’s super nice that brick and mortar stores still exist where one can purchase them. After all, it’s great that you can get this stuff on Amazon, but sometimes your date has gone so well that you can’t wait for the time that super saver shipping takes for your package to come.

BEST OF DETROIT Best Place for Sexy Lingerie Lover’s Lane See loverslane.com for locations Lover’s Lane has plenty of intimate apparel for both women and men, from lingerie, garter belts, corsets, robes, costumes, and thongs. This Michigan-based chain provides a clean, sex-positive environment and a friendly staff eager to help you explore your inner kink, though you can shop discreetly on their website as well. Best Group Night Out Drag Queen Bingo at Five15 515 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; 248-5152551; five15.net We have to agree with our readers; this event is awesome. The host of the evening is a drag queen who spits vile, crude humor at the crowd all evening. It really is so much fun, and is especially fun if you grab a drink or two before it starts. In our own review, we wrote that the event “transcends bingo; it becomes an experience of its own.” We’re not sure what that means, but transcending bingo sounds like a lifetime goal, so we’ll see you there next week. For more winners, visit metrotimes.com.

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The Station. Photo by Kelley O’Neill.

Best Smoke Shop Tha Head Shop 737 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248-677-0178; thaheadshop.com There’s more options than ever for smokers with the advent of e-cigs etc., meaning it’s super important to find a smoke shop that’s up on the latest. Enter: Tha Head Shop in Ferndale. Ranging from a wide array of Juicy Jay’s E-Juice to vape pens, Glass Hand Pipes, water pipes, and beyond, the staff at the shop offers an unparalleled range of items that’s sure to match every smoker’s style.

Best Head Shop The Station 25940 Michigan Ave., Inkster; 313-561-7969 It’s hard not to drive past the Station and not have your interest piqued, with its exterior wood paneling, red-painted garage doors, and lingerie-wearing mannequins in the storefront window — like a country antique store with a twist. Inside you’ll find pipes, vaporizers, T-shirts, e-cigarettes, body jewelry, “and a bunch of other stuff you have to be 18 years or older to see,” according to the store’s Facebook page. The former Texaco gas

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F EATURE station got into the paraphernalia business in 1973 amid the gas crunch and never looked back. Taxidermy animal heads, vintage gas pump globes, and a pet cat and snake add to the store’s unique charm.

Best Overall Selection at a Dispensary House of Dank 3340 Eight Mile Rd., Detroit; 313-305-4040 Fantastic name aside, House of Dank is the people’s choice when it comes to offering more than just mids. The dispensary boasts an enormous selection of high quality strains, concentrates, and infused products, and it even has its own app. Seriously. Search for House of Dank on your preferred app retailer and see all that the shop has to offer. Best Pre-Roll at a Dispensary Depot Town 35 E. Cross St., Ypsilanti; 734-340-2941; depottown.com When you get a pre-rolled joint, you’re paying for convenience, so expect prices to be a bit steeper, but oh-so-definitely worth it. Depot Town offers two types of pre-rolled joints: a premium, which comes in the strains of Death Star, Couch Lock, OG Kush, and Durban Poison, and a regular joint, which is a house blend hybrid. Prices range from $8 to $10. The Ypsilanti dispensary offers a free pre-roll with every eight purchases. Most Knowledgeable Dispensary Staff Fuego 12632 Eight Mile Rd., Detroit; 313-821-4350 This Eight Mile dispensary is known for having not only a friendly staff, but a well-versed and knowledgeable one. As marijuana smoker “Blakewzrd” wrote on a forum about the Fuego staff, “Felt like a friend! Hilarious and friendly staff! Best looking buds in town. Good deals often.” Best Dispensary People’s Choice 2245 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; 734-369-8573; peopleschoiceofannarbor.com This Ann Arbor dispensary is something of a mainstay in the Michigan medical marijuana world. Located in a simple purple building, the People’s Choice is known for its wide selection of bud and friendly staff. Busy? Patients can sign up in person for future use of their online ordering system. Best Budtender Dillon at the Green Room 18495 Mack Ave., Grosse Pointe; 313-4236892 What winning ways earned Dillon this honor? A coworker says that Dillon is really friendly, outgoing with patients, always looking for ways to take care of them within their

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budget, and knows everything, from edibles to concentrates to the flower itself.

Best Strain King Bubba Available at Shake and Bake; 20477 Schaefer Hwy., Detroit; 313-340-2253 T-R-A-N-Q-U-I-L-IZ-E. With a reputation as a heavy sedative with a sweet flavor, King Bubba is known to relax people. That’s right, sit back and relax like a king as your muscles unclench and a heavy, dreamy euphoria washes over you. But watch out and don’t smoke too much, as is explained on BudList: “This smooth, tasty smoke will make you want to take another hit, but overindulgence can lead to couchlock and major munchies.” Best Edibles Captain Kirk Ann Arbor’s Kirk Reid first started baking with the stuff that gets you baked back when he was weaning himself off pain pills almost a decade ago. “Medibles” provided relief, but the taste of many of the confections was often overwhelming and unappealing. Reid has learned every trick in the book since then, creating sugar-free treats for diabetics, and winning prizes with his Key lime cheesecake and his Oklahoma sweet cake. Reid’s edibles are available at The Green Door, Depot Town Dispensary, and Ann Arbor Health Collective. Best Concentrate Uncle Morty’s Extracts Do you have a blowtorch in your bedroom? If you’re a loyal dabber, you’ll love Uncle Morty’s Extracts, which include tasty oil, wax, and rosin, as well as chocolate. You can find the concentrates at ArborSide, a dispensary at 1818 Packard St. in Ann Arbor. Best Dispensary Name CannaCure 50 Ecorse Rd., Ypsilanti; 734-484-1990 Gotta respect a dispensary that doesn’t mince words. It’s cannabis that cures, after all. CannaCure gets right to the point: This is medical marijuana biz that’s around to help relax, help, and cure its patients. Best Vape Store Inline Vape See inlinevape.com for locations With stores in Canton, Royal Oak, Saint Clair Shores, Utica, and Ypsilanti, Inline Vape is metro Detroit’s definitive source for eliquid, box mods, and all the supplies needed for vaping bliss. “I buy all my juice here, and I have introduced so many people to vaping through this place,” Yelp user Jessica K. writes about InLine Vape. “Whether you’re a new customer or a regular, they make sure to educate you on the products you are purchasing.”

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BEST OF DETROIT

n The 1963 Schwinn Cruiser at left is in cherry red sparkling powdercoat, with chrome fenders and lighted wheels. The bike is from the Hub of Detroit, a nonprofit that supports the youth education programming of Back Alley Bikes. The Schwinn will be raffled during the month of May. $3 raffle tickets are available at the Hub of Detroit, 3611 Cass Ave. in Detroit. Call 313-833-0813 or visit thehubofdetroit.org for more information.

Best Detroit Brand Shinola 441 W. Canfield St., Detroit; 313-2852390; www.shinola.com President Barack Obama has a Shinola watch. So does President Bill Clinton. Since coming on the scene in 2011, Shinola has become the most visible of Detroit brands. Fittingly for the Motor City, the brand is built on quality manufacturing done by Michigan workers — of watches, journals, bicycles, and leather goods. Midtown canines know Shinola, too, for the popular dog park they opened at Canfield Street and Cass Avenue. Best Tire Store Sucher Tire 3641 E. Davison St., Detroit; 313-8915640 Four generations of Suchers have manned this Detroit tire store. “Honestly, I never planned on doing this,” Jon Sucher, great-grandson of the store’s original founder, Jacob, tells MT. While he may have fell into the job, one thing is for sure: This store cares about its customers. The fact that it’s family-owned, and for year, we might add, is a real selling point. Best Hardware Store Detroit Hardware 6432 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-8750838; detroithardwareco.com How they pack everything you’d need for a home project into this cozy store is a mystery. How they find the right fittings so quickly is another. And if they don’t have it, they’ll tell you where you can get it; they’re that honest. It all began when Albert Green started working here in 1926, right out of high school. He was joined by Jack Hocking in the 1930s. In the 1950s, the two teamed up and bought the business. Green’s daughter, Emily Webster, still works here. And that family-run charm extends to the kind service. The small parking lot in the back doesn’t hurt, either.

n Attorney Geoffrey Fieger with a potential client outside his Southfield office. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian.

Best Downtown Shopping District Birmingham www.enjoybirmingham.com Walkable, charming, and clean, downtown Birmingham is a joy to meander around. But the real sell-

ing point is the shopping. With six antique and gallery spaces, nearly 50 clothing and accessory stores and 17 jewelers, this is a place to while away both an afternoon and a couple of bucks.

Best Local Shopping Experience Rust Belt Market 22801 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 810441-0956; www.rustbeltmarket.com Featuring 50 independent shops in a 4,000-square-foot event space, the Rust Belt Market in Ferndale has become something of a Metro Detroit institution, or at least a go-to spot when looking to find new artists and gifts for loved ones and yourself. While shopping is great, we’re so excited for the market to get a bar in this spring! Now that’s how to have a shopping experience. Best Appliance Store ABC Warehouse See abcwarehouse.com for locations It’s often said that there’s two things in life that are certain: death and taxes, and we think you could throw buying some sort of home appliance into that mix. Whether it’s a toaster or a state-of-the-art smart appliance (you know, the fridges that like link up to the cloud or whatever), ABC Warehouse will have you covered. The Michigan-based retailer has been outfitting people’s homes and businesses since 1963 and is unparalleled when it comes to selection and expertise. Plus, Gordy’s awesome. Best Michigan Made Product Faygo faygo.com Where does one even begin? Faygo, the brightly colored pop, is a Michigan classic. From black cherry to the original red pop, Faygo has been staining lips for decades. We totally get why the Juggalos have adopted Faygo as their official family drink. Best New Business Will Leather Goods 4120 2nd Ave., Detroit; 313-309-7892; willleathergoods.com Have you seen this space? The highend, Oregon-based retailer set up shop inside the old Tomboy Supermarket in Midtown and boy, is it gor-

geous. Peddling $500 handbags, $640 rugs, $160 wallets, and $55 shoe horns, among other things, this is a trendy new addition to Midtown’s burgeoning shopping district.

Best Men’s Clothing John Varvatos 1500 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-4378095; johnvarvatos.com John Varvatos, the luxury designer and Allen Park native, launched his 4,000-square-foot Detroit store last year with a private Alice Cooper concert. In addition to the chic, rock ‘n’ roll apparel — T-shirts, boots, leather jackets — you can head upstairs to find a record and vintage audio equipment store. Even if you’re only window-shopping, the store is worth a visit to see the dozens of prints of iconic rock photography that line the walls. Best Women’s Clothing Peacock Room 15 E. Kirby St., Detroit; 313-559-5500; shopparkshelton.com/The_Peacock_ Room.html Rachel Lutz’s boutique offers new and vintage consignment clothing and accessories, as well as antique furniture and eclectic artifacts. The Peacock Room occupies a gorgeous space in the historic Park Shelton. As we detailed in a 2014 profile of Lutz, she’s been around Midtown since a very young age. “People work here, people live here, people play here. Too many people underestimate Detroit,” she told us. Amen. Best Attorney, Female Joumana Kayrouz 1000 Town Center, Southfield; 248-5573645; yourrights.com After spending many years plastered across metro Detroit in the form of outdoor advertising, the glamorous face of Joumana Kayrouz needs no introduction. And yet, to many, she was a sphinx: something everybody knew but nobody knew the real story behind. At least until Drew Philp’s 2014 Metro Times story revealed a woman who struggled against the odds to become an attorney who ensures her clients’ access to justice. Our readers would seem to agree.

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BEST OF DETROIT

Best Attorney, Male Geoffrey Fieger 19390 W. 10 Mile Rd., Southfield; 248355-5555; fiegerlaw.com The attorney famous for defending “Dr. Death” Jack Kevorkian is back in the news after filing a $100 million lawsuit against the state and McLaren Flint Hospital earlier this year, representing people who contracted Legionnaire’s disease in connection with the Flint water crisis. With his unmistakable hair, unceasing TV ads, and vivacious manner, Fieger is as recognizable as a GM badge in Detroit. But we’d hazard a guess that it’s his track record of winning cases for clients at times in their lives when they need a strong advocate that makes him our readers’ choice for best male attorney. Best Sexy Clothes Lover’s Lane See loverslane.com for locations This popular chain store has some of the sexiest clothes a person could wear. Buy it to show off to another, or to just treat yourself, or a sexy significant other — Lover’s Lane has it all. And we’re not talking just lingerie; there are hot bathing suits, faux leather corsets and skin-tight tie-dye dresses to buy, as well. Best Local T-Shirt Detroit Manufacturing Available online at detroitmfg.com or at The Detroit Mercantile Co., 3434 Russell St., Detroit; 313-831-9000 Founded in 1991, Detroit Manufacturing is the brainchild of Robert Stanzler, who wanted to create a design company dedicated to “the exploration of Detroit’s identity through design.” In that time, he’s created some of the most iconic shirts inspired by the Motor City, and we look forward to the company’s booth every year at Dally in the Alley. We’re particularly partial to the one that says “DETROIT” three times in various funky rainbow colors and a 70’s-inspired font. Represent! Best Wedding Ring Tapper’s See tappers.com for locations This fine jewelry chain has rings that will dazzle. Go with custom designs or browse through Tapper’s “Rock Her World” collection — no matter which way you go, we’re sure it will delight and you’ll find something special for that perfect person in your life.

John Varvatos. Photo by Anastasia Cheatham.

Best Place to Buy a Piece of Detroit Pewabic Pottery 10125 E. Jefferson Ave, Detroit; 313-6262000 www.pewabic.org Founded in 1903, Pewabic is one of three historic Arts & Crafts-era potteries still around. While the nonprofit has garnered fans for its inclusive classes, design studio sessions, and studio tours, Pewabic is most memorable for its classic and nationally renowned handmade ceramic tiles and vases. All dipped in a unique glaze, Pewabic’s ceramic pieces are a great asset to any home — not to a mention a wonderful gift to pass along to others.

Best Thrift Store in Oakland County Regeneration 127 E. 14 Mile Rd., Clawson; 248-589-0500 Owned by longtime friends Melanie Williams and Nicole Duffey, Regeneration offers a unique buying and selling experience for thrift store enthusiasts. Williams says this uniqueness stems from their n ability to cultivate lasting relationships with their customers, treating each of them like family from the first time they walk inside.

Best Consignment Shop Gentlemen’s Consignment 623 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; 248-591-4554; gentlemensconsignment. com Kelly Pepper opened his consignment shop after losing so much weight that his otherwise perfectly fine designer threads no longer fit his new svelte frame. Now, his Royal Oak shop deals in clothing, shoes, accessories, neckties, and more. They even have a tailor who works in-store to make sure you go home fitting perfectly into your fashionable finds.

Best Thrift Store in Wayne County Salvation Army See salarmythrift.com for locations With an internationally recognized charity and deep roots in faith, the Salvation Army is more than just a thrift store gold mine. Their positive impact is felt the world over with numerous initiatives for the betterment of human life with everything from addiction rehab to emergency response in natural disasters.

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Gentlemen’s Consignment. Photo by Anastasia Cheatham.

Best Thrift Store in Washtenaw County Value World See valueworld.net for locations With 12 locations in Michigan, Value World is a gently used treasure trove for thrift store aficionados with everything from designer label clothing, to home décor, and even vinyl. Best Thrift Store in Macomb County Trouve Upscale Resale Boutique 51774 Van Dyke Ave., Shelby Twp.; 586884-6559 This upscale thrift store is a hidden gem in Macomb County. Every

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F EATURE visit promises the discovery of much needed basics, as well as splurge-worthy items at a fraction of their original costs. We — and our readers — are fans.

Best Wedding Dress Roma Sposa 708 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham; 248-723-4300 Romasposa.com Located in the always fashionable Birmingham shopping district, Roma Sposa is the premier spot for finding the perfect gown for your special day. Marketing themselves as the best atelier this side of Rome, Roma Sposa has tons of dresses for women who describe their taste as sophisticated and discerning. Designers featured in this posh spot include Amelia Casablanca, Galia Lahav, Inbal Dror, Ines Di Santo, Monique Lhuillier, Bliss, Naeem Khan, Rivini by Rita Vinieris, Romona Keveza Collection, Romona Keveza Legends, Vera Wang, Vera Wang Luxe, Zuhair Murad, and many more. Best Gift Boutique Hugh 4240 Cass Ave. Ste. 107, Detroit; 313831-4844; lovehughlongtime.com If you’re wondering where to shop to pimp your bachelor pad or help a friend out, we’ve got news for you — it isn’t Ikea. Check out Cass Corridor’s Hugh, a store that stocks everything a man needs to impress both his friends and the ladies. From great bar equipment to a fancy French press to shaving gear to chic furniture to fashionable accessories and plenty more, Hugh lives up to its name. Best Place to Furnish Your Home Art Van See artvan.com for locations This popular chain was established in 1959, and since then it has satisfied customers so much that it is now crowned the Midwest’s No. 1 furniture and mattress brand. Featuring tons of chic designs, Art Van also touts low prices — meaning you can live comfortably and well without breaking the bank. Best Body Piercing Ironclad 3871 Rochester Rd., Troy; 248-5280810; ironcladtattoo.com Ironclad is the place to go if you want a perfect tattoo, or a piercing on your ears, nose, navel, nipples, or naughty bits! The shop is known for having a higher-end clientele, which means

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their jewelry is of a higher caliber, as well. Choose a stud or hoop made from implant-grade titanium, niobium, and 14-karat gold.

Best Tattoo Shop in Wayne County Eternal Tattoos See eternaltattoos.com for locations Since 1980, Eternal has been turning people’s dreams into ink-on-skin reality. And as the tattoo craze has expanded, so has the shop, now with four locations in Livonia, Clawson, Taylor, and Howell. Nine artists work out of the Livonia store, where awards and honors hang on the walls for their work. See the Livonia store’s Facebook page for portfolios and more. Best Tattoo Shop in Oakland County Signature Tattoo 230 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248439-0021; signaturetattoo.com Ferndale’s highly popular Signature Tattoo has been churning out brightly colored happy customers for seven years now. Popular science informs us that the human body generates an entirely new set of cells every seven years, so why not adorn your own body with a new tattoo from Signature? Their highly accomplished and artistic work rises to the high standards set by internationally renowned co-owner Mark Heggie. Best Tattoo Shop in Washtenaw County Brite Idea Tattoo 30 N. Huron St., Ypsilanti; 734-4858288; briteideatattoo.wordpress.com One look at the tattoos that recently came out of this clean, smart tattoo shop, and you’ll want to make an appointment right away. From traditional to tribal, cartoon to hyper-realistic, you’ll get exactly what you want at this readers’ favorite. Brite Idea’s logo — of a woman holding a baseball bat, rendered in a stylized, old school American style — is beautiful enough to warrant placement on any body part with pride. Speaking of beautiful, the tin-roofed space itself looks more like a ballroom or Viennese coffee shop than a tattoo parlor. Best Tattoo Shop in Macomb County Elite Ink See 247tattoos.com for locations Elite Ink really and truly lives up to its name. These state-of-the-art facilities have been in existence for years, and

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F EATURE their work is highly detailed, crisp, clean, and excellent. Be sure to peruse the work of the many artists that work at both locations before you choose who to have do your work; they really offer a wide variety of styles, from the most modern to the avant garde.

Best Record Store in Oakland County Found Sound 234 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248565-8775; foundsoundvinyl.tumblr. com Ahhh, how nice it is to enter this large store and check out their eight full bins of newly arrived used records! They also do some of the best ordering of new stock, including cassettes. While some stores cannibalize their own stock by selling the more fancy stuff online, Found Sound makes a point to keep it all local. It’s always tough to spend less than 45 minutes inside this place, and it’s in Ferndale, so remember to feed your meters properly before heading inside. Best Record Store in Wayne County Dearborn Music 22501 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; 313561-1000; dearbornmusic.com Dearborn Music is the size of five other record stores, and the shop is about half and half when it comes to its mix of new and used vinyl and new and used CDs. That means you’re really likely to find what you’re looking for. This store has actually been around since 1923, while the current family that owns the place, the LeAnnaises, have had it for about 60 years. Best Record Store in Washtenaw County Underground Sounds 255 E Liberty St., Ste 249, Ann Arbor; 734-327-9239; store.ugsounds.com This venerated store has been in A2 for 15 years now, after two separate Ypsi locations. Owner Matt Bradish and his staff always stock their bins as tightly as possible with all the latest cool records and hot reissues. It’ll always be a superb shop for the beginning vinyl fiend, or anyone wishing to fill out their collection. Best Record Store in Macomb County Melodies & Memories 23013 Gratiot Ave., Eastpointe; 586774-8480; melodiesandmemories.com

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Don’t be overwhelmed when you enter this store and realize it has six separate rooms under one roof. Two of those rooms are crammed with bargain-priced records, by the way. This is a very crowded store, with deals all over the place, as well as fancy collector items. Dan and Denise Zieja’s superb store specializes in rock-based sounds from the 1960s and ’70s, but there is a whole lot of funk, novelty, folk and jazz vinyl here as well, plus a back room with a killer selection of dance records and the best place in town for finding Jett Plastic records. Be sure to check out the Leni Sinclair prints, too. A must-visit for vinyl lovers.

Best Farmers Market in Macomb County Mount Clemens Farmers Market 141 N. River Rd., Mount Clemens; 586-493-7600; mountclemensfarmersmarket.com If you really want to make a connection with local farmers, dairy hands, and butchers, you can do all that and more at this airy, charming farmers market. Tucked away in a historic district, here you’ll find fresh, locally grown produce, as well as a variety of local crafts and tasty beverages. Bedding flowers and the like are a staple of the market when in season. Best Farmers Market in Oakland County Royal Oak Farmers Market 316 E. 11 Mile Rd., Royal Oak; 248-2463276; romi.gov/farmersmarket This historic market is as known as a tourist destination and a lovely place to have a wedding as it is for its wares, but don’t discount the awesomeness of the market itself. Fresh fruits and vegetables don’t get any fresher unless you’re down on your hands and knees picking them yourself. Best Farmers Market in Wayne County Eastern Market 2934 Russell St., Detroit; 313-833-9300; easternmarket.com We’re so in love with Eastern Market, and grateful that we can go to this storied Detroit institution (around for 150 years!) every Saturday of the year. The seasonal crafts are nice, but we go for fresh produce: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, duck eggs, spinach, garlic, and walnuts. Contrary to popular opinion, we find that we

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F EATURE actually pay less money when we do as much of our shopping there as possible, than when we shop at a supermarket. There are also a surprising number of vendors of locally made packaged goods, from fresh salsa and honey to wild-caught salmon and this really cool pasta substitute made from chickpeas.

Best Farmers Market in Washtenaw County Ann Arbor Farmers Market 315 Detroit St., Ann Arbor; 734-7946255; a2gov.org This place can be almost overwhelming when it’s up and humming. After all, they have more than 100 producers of fine foods set up here. This market has a nearly even mix of people selling fresh produce as it does those selling baked and prepared items, so it’s just as easy to get ears of fresh corn and cauliflower as it is to get home-baked brownies and pies. Best Pet Supply Pet Supplies Plus See petsuppliesplus.com for locations That classic combination of knowledgeable and friendly staff and discounted pricing with a wide selection is really on display at area Pet Supplies Plus locations. You can even adopt a pet from here. It’s obvious the employees love a wide variety of animals. No wonder our readers picked Pet Supplies Plus. Best Bookstore in Detroit John K. King Used & Rare Books 901 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit; 313961-0622; rarebooklink.com Have you ever been to John King with a friend and not become at least momentarily afraid you’ve lost that person? Have you ever gone and found one of the most interesting titles that you’d never heard of — that you can’t believe even exists? Have you ever been to John King and actually stayed just for a short while? This isn’t hyperbole; this is every single visit to this vast and magical bookstore, which regularly tops international lists of bookstores. Best Bookstore in the Suburbs Literati 124 E Washington St., Ann Arbor; 734585-5567 The best bookstore in Ann Arbor got a lot better in the last year, with its massive upgrade to its upstairs coffee shop (now one of the best in the

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area), which also hosts a far improved space to host readings and events. And they have books too, with a solid emphasis on smaller trade and indie publishers. Their magazine section boasts more literary journals and intriguing magazines from all over the world too. It’s hard to think of a better gift certificate idea for any well-heeled and curious person, no matter their age.

Best Limousine Lavdas Limousines 3671 E. 12 Mile Rd., Warren; 586-7518275; Lavdas.com Known for their jewelry and limousines, Lavadas screams luxury. The Warren-based limo service has been around for more than 30 years, and has more than 80 different vehicles that customers can choose from. Clients include business executives, travelers, concert-goers, and anniversary, prom, and wedding revelers. Best Specialty Market in Oakland County Westborn Market See westbornmarket.com for locations Initially known for its fruit and flowers, Westborn has grown to where so much more is offered today. First off is their “giant cookie,” which is both excellent and yes, huuuuge! There are delicious soups made daily from scratch, more hot sauces on offer than you had any idea existed, and a large section of special gluten-free and non-GMO goods. Best Specialty Market in Macomb County Nino Salvaggio See ninosalvaggio.com for locations Did you know that there are close to 2,000 Michigan-made products at this wonderful specialty market? It’s true. Their wares are staggering, and they stock a large amount of organic and gluten-free items. That’s not to mention their large wine selection, their loads of craft beers, and the fresh lobster, plus hundreds of gourmet meals prepped in-store daily. All this and multiple locations to boot. Best Specialty Market in Washtenaw County Whole Foods See wholefoodsmarket.com for locations Clearly not all chain stores are bad. After all, when you want a large variety of organic produce and prepared

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Thank you Metro Times Readers for Voting Us... BEST INDEPENDENT HARDWARE STORE IN DETROIT

DETROIT HARDWARE CO.

Bob’s Classic Kicks. Photo by Dustin Cytacki.

ety of organic produce and prepared items, from more than eight brands of yogurt to more flavors of kale chips than you can shake a didgeridoo at, where else can you possibly go? The Ann Arbor location also has an absolutely amazing cheesemonger, and extra-friendly staff.

Best Specialty Market in Wayne County City Market Detroit 575 Brush St, Detroit; 313-222-0000; citymarketdetroit.com With how crammed this place is from ceiling to the floor with fresh produce and delicious vittles, it’s reminiscent of the best urban market in Brooklyn or London or some fancy place like that — all without the inflated prices. The wine selection is ace, as are their beer offerings. Plus, they’ll make you a great sandwich or salad as you shop. We love knowing that we can shop there until midnight every day they’re open.

“EVERY THING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK” 6432 WOODWARD (at Milwaukee), Midtown (313) 875-0838 • M-F 8-5, SAT 9-3 76 Apr. Apr. 27-May 27-May 3, 3, 2016 2016 || metrotimes.com metrotimes.com

Best Comic/Collectibles Shop Comic City See comiccity.com for locations Comic City has been serving the greater Detroit area since 1993 and they seem in no shape to stop anytime

soon. With stores in Pontiac, Trenton, Canton, and West Bloomfield, there are many opportunities to find the collectables or latest release that you’re looking for. Not only do they have your classic comic books, but they offer a large amount of graphic novels — a genre that’s increasing in popularity. They also have weekly events with new releases and magic nights.

Best Grow Shop in Oakland County Northern Lights Hydroponics 29090 Campbell Rd., Madison Heights; 248-439-6269; northernlights.com You know you’re getting great advice from this specialty retailer. Not only were they formerly Jim’s Flowers in Royal Oak, but Northern Lights Hydroponics has now spent years as leaders in the growing industry of medicinal marijuana cultivation. They even continue the tradition of expanding into the parking lot, where you can buy all sorts of potted plants every spring and summer. Best Grow Shop in Macomb County Third Coast Garden Supply 2327 Auburn Rd., Shelby Twp.; 586-

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F EATURE 997-2700; thirdcoastgardensupply.com Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to not rely on Johnnycome-latelies when one needs expert advice in this field. Third Coast Garden Supply has been around for seven years now, and have gained a trusting and loyal clientele for a good reason. Their prices are reasonable, and the staff provides expert advice on all aspects of the growing process. This is one of the leaders in the hydroponic community; we wish them many more years of success.

BEST OF DETROIT n

Will Leather Goods. Photo courtesy of Public City PR.

Best Grow Shop in Wayne County All Gro Hydro 3535 Fort St, Lincoln Park; 313-3824200 This hydroponic garden center keeps long hours, regularly has excellent sales and specials, and aims to be the area source for all of your needs, whether you are a novice or an old hat at cultivating your favorite sticky green stuff. They truly are experts, and do offer discount packages.

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F EATURE Best Grow Shop in Washtenaw County Grow Show 4095 Stone School Rd., Ann Arbor; 734-677-0009; thegrowshow.org This large store combines reasonable prices with friendly and expert staff and a huge range of premium products. Whether you need lights, growing media, tools, nutrients, books, or just some basic advice, the Grow Show is likely to have everything you need.

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Hugh. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Best Bicycle Shop in Washtenaw County Transition Rack 217 S. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor; 734-2149700; transitionrack.com If you’re ready to get serious about bicycling, you have probably already at least dropped by the professionals at Transition Rack. This is no hipster fixie spot; the fullservice operation stocks a high concentration of specialty gear, bikes, apparel, and parts. From mountain and road bikes to cyclocross, triathlon, and yes, fixies — they’ve got you covered. No one working here is a salesperson; all are licensed bike mechanics, so you’ll always get personalized, accurate, and up-to-date assistance.

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SHOP WHERE YOUR BUSINESS MATTERS

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thank you metro times readers

best jewelry repair

Mount n Repair metro detroitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest selection of sterling silver jewelry 205 pierce st | birmingham | 248.647.8670 m o u n t n r e pa i r . c o m

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F EATURE Best Bicycle Shop in Macomb County Macomb Bike & Fitness 28411 Schoenherr Rd., Warren; 586756-5400; macombbike.com It’s no wonder this friendly, helpful, and affordable shop has won this category for multiple years, now. There is much on offer here, no matter your budget. Unlike a lot of bicycle stores, they offer a variety of stationary exercise bicycles, as well as the regular transportation kind. They place a premium on education and fun, with classes that show you how to take apart and maintain your bike yourself, and regular rides as well. Best Bicycle Shop in Oakland County Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop 163 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248439-1892; downtownferndalebikeshop. com This store is super well-known, respected, and beloved for good reason. Owner Jon Hughes’ grandfather is a member of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame for his coaching, and for opening the Continental bicycle store in Detroit back in 1939. Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop feels like a community center in the best sense; they have regular group rides and are a font of information for anything happening locally that’s bicycle-related. The store is well stocked affordable, the staff is knowledgeable, and it won’t break your bank! Best Bicycle Shop in Wayne County Detroit Bikes 1216 Griswold St., Detroit; 313-5025883; detroitbikes.com If you’re looking for affordable quality, but still want to pay homage to Detroit craftsmanship, Detroit Bikes is the way to go. The homegrown bike shop manufactures just two bikes, the A Type and B Type, both priced at $699. You’ll also find a selection of apparel and accessories to help you along with your transition to bike commuting through the Motor City. Best Gym in Oakland County LA Fitness See lafitness.com for locations With so many locations not just in the Detroit suburbs but around the country, it’s easy to see why LA Fitness is a top choice for business executives and anyone else who travels frequently and needs to stay in top form. You don’t have to be a traveler to enjoy their top quality gyms, of course —

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with the latest machines, exceptional class offerings, personalized instruction, and affordable plans, it’s no wonder this was our readers’ choice.

Best Gym in Wayne County Boll Family YMCA 1401 Broadway St., Detroit; 313-3099622; ymcadetroit.org Let’s briefly wax poetic about how awesome this gym is. One: It’s in an excellent location downtown. Two: Membership is not going to break the bank. Three: Its facilities are sleek and clean. Four: There is a pool. Want to get in shape, but struggling to pay for the membership? YMCA will work with you. Best Gym in Washtenaw County Life Time Fitness See lifetimefitness.com for locations Life Time Fitness touts an unparalleled workout experience. With state-of the-art equipment, pristine facilities, and a club-like atmosphere, this is not just a gym, but a lifestyle. Enjoy a pilates class or swim laps in the pool — whatever you choose to do, you’re sure to feel good. Best Gym in Macomb County Planet Fitness See planetfitness.com for locations Planet Fitness prides itself on being a judgment-free zone. The Macomb County locations are gyms where you can go at your own pace, feel comfortable asking for help, and not worry about being judged. Members have access to lots of nice, new equipment and unlimited fitness training programs. Oh, yeah and did we mention the best part? It’s open 24/7. That’s right : You can make your workout work for you and your schedule. Best Car Dealership Suburban Collection See suburbancollection.com for locations The Suburban Collection sells and services 33 automobile brands in more 30 retail locations throughout Michigan. They sell both new and used cars, and light trucks. It’s also a great place for maintenance, warranty repairs, paint, and collision repair. This is car shopping made easy, without the stress and pressure of the hard sell. Best Import Car Dealer Hodges Subaru 21205 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248547-8800; hodgessubaru.com With their sled dog-like snow driving ability and reputation for lasting

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American Jewelry and Loan. Photo courtesy of the company.

for hundreds of thousands of miles, Subarus are in many ways a perfect fit for Michigan drivers. Hodges is known for having an excellent inventory of used and new cars and affordable prices that won’t break the bank.

Best Place to Get Sneakers Bob’s Classic Kicks 4717 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-8327513; bobsclassickicks.com The wares at Bob’s range from sturdy, athletic footwear to the the bold fashion statement, with classic designs from Nike, ASICS, Puma, Adidas, Reebok, and other brands, as well as more bombastic, colorful, and trendy styles. In Detroit, kicks are serious business, an expression of personal style and identity, so if the shop keeps its shoe game extra-tight, it’s because it has to. Open noon-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Best Jewelry Store Astrein’s 120 W. Maple Rd., Birmingham; 248644-1651; Astreinjewelers.com In 2014, the public chose Astrein’s as the best jewelry store to purchase an engagement ring from. This year, readers expanded their understanding of what is so great about this fine jewelry store to include, well, all jewelry. Brothers Richard and Gary Astrein have been at this for a long time — more than 35 years — so it’s no wonder their taste in quality, name brand jewelry and custom jewelry is viewed as not only unparalleled, but

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befitting for an engagement or any occasion.

Best Jewelry Repair Mount-N-Repair 205 Pierce St., Birmingham; 248-6478670; mount-n-repair.com When that most prized piece of jewelry or beloved family heirloom needs replacement of missing links, general repair, or restringing or resizing, it isn’t always an easy decision. You don’t want to trust those treasures to just anyone, but our readers have vetted Mount-N-Repair for us. They’ll do the simple maintenance like replacing watch batteries, but they’ll also take as much care with your favorite costume pieces that need tuning up as they will with your finer jewels. Best Local Etsy Shop The Detroit Card Co. etsy.com/shop/TheDetroitCardCo Run by Genna Cowsert, the Detroit Card Co. is one-stop shopping for charming and sweet cards that are perfect for any occasion. From funny Mother’s Day cards to hand-lettered congratulation notes, this is onestop, original shopping. Don’t just get someone a card, get them art! Best Place to Buy Art 1xRUN 1410 Service St., Detroit; 313-744-6505; 1xrun.com It would be impressive enough if 1xRUN just ran its artist-in-residency program, which has welcomed more

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F EATURE than 150 artists from across the globe. Still more impressive is its Murals in the Market festival, which has resulted in more than 100 murals going up in Detroit. But the core business is as an international publisher of fine art editions, with collectors in 100 countries. The real treasures are on sale inside Inner State Gallery, which stocks 1xRUN’s rare editions and books published over the last five years.

Best Eyewear SEE Visit seeeyewear.com for locations SEE has been around since 1998 and is the go-to source for fashionistas and trendsetters who know how to rock glasses. It’s funky and trendy, and there’s even an exclusive SEE line. Best of all, SEE has reasonable prices, so you can look great, feel great, and SEE great without breaking the bank. Best Flea Market Dixieland 2045 Dixie Hwy., Waterford; 248-3383220; dixielandfleamkt.com This place is almost too clean, well-lit, and staffed with friendly vendors to be a “real” flea market. Even the food is good at Dixieland, where you can find such a variety of bargains, from knock-downs and forgotten items to knockoffs and the fanciest in authentic vintage. Clothes, watches, stereo gear, furniture, candy — you might just wonder why you ever went to a superstore in the first place. Best Sporting Goods Dunham’s See dunhamssports.com for locations With roots in Waterford, Dunham’s has been in the sporting goods game since 1937. Sierra Mehok, manager at one of their locations, says the biggest things that keep customers coming back are the lower prices compared to other big name sporting goods stores, as well as their welcoming staff. Best Place to Buy a Motorcycle Biker Bob’s 14100 Telegraph Rd., Taylor; 734-9474647; bikerbobshd.com This Harley-Davidson dealership, located in Taylor, is known for having one of the most knowledgeable and approachable motorcycle staff in the region. Biker Bob opened in 1998 to create a special place “where friends, family … all motorcycle enthusiasts can celebrate life and freedom,” according to their website.

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Best Plastic Surgeon Dr. Michael Gray — Michigan Cosmetic Surgery Center 6635 Daly Rd., West Bloomfield Twp.; 248-538-3333; anewyou.com Need a little nip-and-tuck? Go just anywhere for plastic surgery and you could face dire consequences. Of course, Dr. Michael Gray is a leader in his field with plenty of prowess and skills when it comes to lipo, face-lifts, neck-lifts, eye-lifts, tummy tucks, laser resurfacing, and other procedures. Best Pawn Shop American Jewelry and Loan 20450 Greenfield Rd., Detroit; 313-3454000; pawndetroit.com The family behind truTV’s hit show Hardcore Pawn is known for being a tough bunch, but Detroiters know the Golds have been deeply rooted in the community since the 1920s. The store sells all the usual pawn shop goods — TVs, jewelry, and other items that fetch a good price. The shop also features their Affordable Luxury, which gives frugal fashionistas the opportunity to obtain authentic high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and more for reasonable prices. Best Tattoo Artist Matt Hoakaday of Tribute Tattoo 4718 W. Walton Blvd., Waterford; 248742-1521; creativestains.com Documenting his art on the website Creative Stains, Matt Hoakaday proves he’s a real force to be reckoned with. While his ink subjects run the gamut, the pictures show Matt has a real knack for portraits and faces (he’s also pretty good with animals, sexy ladies, and roses). He’ll only do custom work so customers get truly unique pieces, according to his website. Want to book Matt? Head over to his website or go see him at Tribute Tattoo in Waterford. Best Grocery Store Kroger See kroger.com for locations A classic supermarket, Kroger is a place you could while away hours as you meander through its expansive aisles stocked full with fresh produce, delicious deli meats, and delectable treats. In a rush and don’t have time to wander? No worries: Kroger is easy to navigate no matter which location you visit. Best Wedding Planner Emerald City Designs 24590 N. Industrial Dr., Farmington Hills; 248-474-7077;

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F EATURE emeraldcitydesigns.com From floral design to event planning, Emerald City does it all — which is why they are one of the sought-after wedding planners in the metro area. As one pleased customer wrote on the company’s website: “I literally started crying when I saw the room. Sobbing.” Now that’s a job well-done.

Even if you’re not sure what an endodontist is, it’s nice to know you won’t have to go elsewhere if you do need special care, right? These guys don’t upsell, will work within your budget, and are experts at dealing with those who have low pain thresholds or really don’t want to be at the dentist in the first place.

Best Movie Theatre Emagine www.emagine-entertainment.com This Michigan chain features some of the best blockbusters, but that’s not the only thrill of visiting an Emagine theater! This megaplex comes with fancy snacks, a full bar, and comfy lounge chairs. Talk about a great place to unwind and escape.

Best Insurance Agent Mark Swieczkowski 68364 Main St., Richmond; 586-7276525; Verlindeinsurance.com For over a decade Mark Swieczkowski has been with Verlinde Insurance, which has been in business as an independent local insurer since 1923. Swieczkowski’s committed family man, Rotary Club member, and executive board member for the Michigan Professional Insurance Agents Association. He even volunteers at his church and for Special Olympics, so it’s easy to see why so many members of his community look to him for coverage relating to life, health, property and casualty with an emphasis on local businesses of all sizes.

Best Local Bank or Credit Union TCF Bank See tcfbank.com for locations Getting (and keeping) control of your finances can be tough, not to mention confusing, which is why having a bank that prizes education makes a huge difference. TCF Bank recently received an Innovation in Education Award at NASDAQ for its free financial education programs, which have reached 100,000 people in the past three years. The bank regularly highlights ways you can learn how to manage your money through its website and social media, and prioritizes helping its customers meet their financial goals. Best Moving Company Men on the Move Seemichiganmovers.com for locations Serving the area since 1991, Men on the Move can help with both in-state and long-distance moves — from initial packing to delivery and unloading. No one ever wants to move their stuff, so why not choose a highly rated and trusted service when you have to? None other than the producers of Extreme Makeover chose these movers to help when they filmed on location, so it’s easy to see why they won this category. Best Dentist Plymouth Dental 42801 Schoolcraft Rd., Plymouth; 734420-2326; plymouthdental.com Whether you need a full set of veneers after a few root canals, or you’re just about due for a cleaning, you might consider this highly regarded practice. Under one roof, they have four dentists, an endodontist, a periodontist, an oral surgeon, and an orthodontist.

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Best Auto Repair Wetmore’s 23459 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248544-2100; wetmorestireandautorepair. com You’ve driven past them for years and marveled at the vintage vehicle with wobbly wheels poking out of the second floor of their building. Wetmore’s has been in business since 1928. That means that many local families have trusted them to work on their vehicles for generations. From tire, brake and alignment work to all manner of repair, if those generations can depend on Wetmore’s, then you know you can, too. Best Optical Boutique Optik 245 West Maple Rd., Birmingham; 248646-6699; optikbirmingham.com No mere optical boutique, Dr. Joe Ales’ Optik Birmingham boasts unique collections of never-worn vintage eyewear from the 1890s to the 1980s, as well as exclusive contemporary eyewear. You won’t find this stuff at the mall. The store’s hip accessories and funky art objects only add to Optik Birmingham’s appeal. No wonder such celebrities as David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz, and Bette Midler have sought out Dr. Joe’s glasses when passing through town.

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BEST OF DETROIT

n Selden Standard chef Andy Hollyday on a Will Leather black bicycle at his Midtown restaurant. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian. Best Restaurant in Oakland County Bistro 82 401 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak; 248542-0082; bistro82.com Bistro 82 is no stranger to our Best of Detroit honors: Last year, the restaurant earned a staff pick for Best Appetizer Menu. For our readers, that appeal was clearly broader, as it was named the best in its region. Under the guidance of chef Derik Watson, the kitchen churns out excellent mains as well, from a prime 14-ounce rib-eye dry-aged for 28 days to a delightful vegetable risotto accented with cashew cream. Add attentive service and an interior of sleek, clean lines and you have this year’s best. Best Restaurant in Wayne County Selden Standard 3921 Second Ave., Detroit; 313-438-5055; seldenstandard.com The much-lauded Selden Standard scored big time this year, winning Hour Detroit’s 2016 restaurant of the year, and chef-owner Andy Hollyday landed a James Beard nomination for best chef in the Great Lakes region. With all that, it’s no surprise our readers agreed and have named the Midtown eatery the best Wayne County has to offer. Ingredients are locally sourced, the small plates menu changes with the seasons, and the beverage program is just as respected as the food. Come summer, the outdoor patio ties the experience all together for an unforgettable affair. Best Restaurant in Washtenaw County Sava’s 216 S. State St., Ann Arbor; 734-623-2233; savasrestaurant.com Our readers picked Sava’s last year for its breakfast offerings. But the restaurant is great all-around because it does it all: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The dinner menu offers plenty of choices: straight-ahead fine dining (seared Arctic char or braised lamb shank, for instance), as well as burgers and sandwiches; diners can just as easily assemble meals by choosing among the salads, sides, and creative small plates.

and Southern Italian cuisine made with fresh, natural ingredients, and in generous portions at prices a little friendlier than many fine-dining restaurants. Best New Restaurant Oakland County Jim Brady’s Detroit 1214 S. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-3061954; jimbradysdetroit.com Proprietor Tom Brady (no, not that Tom Brady) has seen to the rebirth of a legendary Detroit institution in suburban Royal Oak. Inside the former Oxford Inn, the space has a midcentury “Don Draper” quality, with upholstered barstools, sunburst light fixtures, and a pink payphone in the ladies room. As for the food, it’s also a throwback to a time when going out to eat called for a steak, juicy burger, or a sandwich named after a regular. Drinks are equally nostalgic, as is the Motown playlist. With a generous happy hour and a kitchen that stays open late, it’s quickly become a favorite neighborhood spot in Oakland County.

Best New Restaurant in Wayne County Republic Restaurant 1942 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 313-4468360; republictaverndetroit.com With its historic setting in the castlelike GAR Building, a kitchen attuned to nose-to-tail meatiness, and a run-up to opening that kept us in anticipation for months, Republic was a runaway smash hit when it opened last year. Sure, you can have satisfying dishes of countrystyle ham, seafood cassoulet, or grilled lamb, but you may be surprised how much flavor they’re able to pack into their shareable Ploughman’s plate.

Best New Restaurant in Washtenaw County Mezzevino 120 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; 888-4563463; mezzevino.com When is an Italian restaurant not an Italian restaurant? When it embraces all the flavors that enliven the Mediterranean coast, from mussels to meatballs, from calamari to couscous. Now there’s the sort of restaurant concept where large groups can go to dine and leave nobody unhappy: Even if a diner doesn’t like at least one Mediterranean dish, the menu offers steak, lamb chops, and grilled chicken. Best New Restaurant in Macomb County Vast Kitchen and Bar 52969 Van Dyke Ave., Shelby Township, 586-580-9382; vastkitchenandbar.com Open since last year, the Vast crew wanted to provide a restaurant that was high-end but approachable, sophisticated but not intimidating. That translates into a menu of burgers and sandwiches for lunch, but some pretty high-toned entrees for dinner, including filet mignon, Parmesan-crusted chicken, lamb chops with polenta, and crab cakes. At the corner of Van Dyke and 24 Mile, the business is closed Sundays. Best Breakfast in Oakland County Toast 203 Pierce St., Birmingham; 248-2586278 23144 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248398-0444; eatattoast.com Often the best isn’t anything new at all, but a classic that endures ever-changing trends in the dining scene. That’s the case for our readers, who’ve once again

Bistro 82. Photo provided by Near Perfect Media.

Best Restaurant in Macomb County Luciano’s 39091 Garfield Rd., Clinton Township; 586-263-6540; lucianositaliancuisine. com Luciano’s wrapped up this category last year, and it’s easy to see why it’s back on top again. Family-owned and -operated, with white linens, soft table lighting, and a menu of old-fashioned Northern

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named Toast Best Breakfast in Oakland County. As crowded as it gets during the weekend brunch rush, diners are rewarded with scrumptious breakfast platters like the Bananas Foster buttermilk pancakes, with candied banana, caramel sauce, cinnamon, and Chantilly cream. Then there’s also the array of coffees, fresh squeezed juices, Bloodys, and mimosas.

Best Breakfast in Wayne County Parks & Rec 1942 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 313-4468370 On the flip side of Republic in the funky, reimagined GAR Building, we have the Wayne County winner for best breakfast. Parks & Rec gives us a chef-inspired breakfast and lunch vibe. Bacon is in a unique lamb form, hash browns are “high end,” and sweets like the Dutch Baby popover are freshly baked in-house. Best Breakfast in Washtenaw County Beezy’s Café 20 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti; 734485-9625; beezyscafe.com

This friendly, playfully decorated brunch spot is often crowded with customers seeking the simple, honest food Beezy’s promises. It’s breakfast, yes, but done with a thoughtfulness that goes far beyond your corner diner: The French toast is sourdough, the hash is made with tempeh, the scramble is spiced up with chorizo, and the bacon is applewood-smoked. There are choices for vegetarian and vegan diners, and service so friendly that these people must be doing something they love.

Best Breakfast in Macomb County The Pantry See thepantryrestaurant.com for locations When you’re a Macomb County minichain as successful as the Pantry, winning Best Breakfast in your region is a shoo-in. And this is much more than straight diner fare: fresh fruit crepes, a Caesar salad with prime rib, baked apple pancakes, and more. And, of course, you still get those gut-busting lumberjack breakfasts, such as the “Paul Bunyan” — three eggs, a piece of ham, two pieces of bacon, two sausage links, potatoes, and choice of toast or flapjacks.

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Best Pizza in Oakland County Loui’s 23141 Dequindre Rd., Hazel Park; 248547-1711; louispizza.net The old-school family atmosphere of this Hazel Park mainstay — the Chianti bottles, the dark red decor, and the many photos in the lobby — underline the fact that you really are stepping back in time to the 1970s or even the ’50s when you cross the threshold here. This delightful variation on Detroit pizza is particularly delicious, with a sweetness and crispness that many find the best tasting pie in all of Detroit. Best Pizza in Wayne County PizzaPapalis See pizzapapalis.com for locations If you really want to go old school with your pizza dining, you find a spot that specializes in take-out, and only has lobby seats for people who must nosh immediately. There are a few dozen seats here, but no table service. You order your pie here, and maybe eat a slice before going home. The word “pie” is especially applicable, as what they have on offer is Chicago-style pizza. Each goopy slice is deep and delicious,

Republic. Photo by Scott Spellman.

whether you have the sauce on the top or cheese.

Best Pizza in Washtenaw County Neopapalis 500 E. Williams St., Ann Arbor; 734-9292227; neopapalis.com Ann Arbor isn’t really known as a pizzaeating destination. It’s easy to understand why: It’s a college town, and you can make a fast buck pumping out a pie with inexpensive pizza if you’re either a chain or a place in the style of a chain. Thank goodness for Neopapalis, which hand-crafts thin crust pizzas and fires them up for you in their giant stone oven. Just thinking about their crispy pizza makes our stomachs growl. Their large dining area is somehow suitable for both a fancy date and a family night out, and their wine selection is far better than you’d expect. Best Pizza in Macomb County Buddy’s See buddyspizza.com for locations How could Buddy’s not have won this category in our readers’ poll? The original gooey, yummy, square Detroit pizza with the (intentionally) slightly burnt

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F EATURE cheese on the edge of the crust has set the standard for Detroit-style pizza. Ask anyone who’s moved away what the one thing they most crave from home is? Odds are they’ll immediately mention Buddy’s, which has been this darn good since 1946.

Best Specialty Pizza in Oakland County Bigalora See bigalora.com for locations There’s more than pizza at Bigalora: small plates, soups, salads, pastas, wood-fired entrees and more. But the pies they churn out would seem to be the very definition of “specialty pizza” — made with pizza dough that undergoes a natural 72-hour fermentation period before being covered with fresh, sustainably produced ingredients, then charred to perfection in 90 seconds at 900 degrees in a custom-built woodburning oven. Best Specialty Pizza in Wayne County Motor City Brewing Works 470 W. Canfield St.. Detroit; 313-8322700; motorcitybeer.com

BEST OF DETROIT One of the original fixtures of Detroit’s small brewing scene, the taproom added brick-oven pizzas in the ’00s, and they’ve been a hit ever since. The menu offers 10 different kinds of pie, as well as a build-your-own option with more than three dozen potential toppings. The ingredients are sourced as locally as possible, with proteins from Eastern Market, cheeses from R. Hirt, and locally grown produce from urban farms.

Best Specialty Pizza in Washtenaw County Mani Osteria 341 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; 734-7696700; maniosteria.com Mani Osteria is known for the pizzas it makes in its wood-fired oven, and with good reason: Owner Adam Baru clearly learned a thing or two in his years on the East Coast. The kitchen staff was still experimenting with their pizza dough recipes just days before opening in 2011. The pies have a satisfying crunch on the bottom and a chewiness to the crust, and the toppings show equal attention. It’s earned them visits from Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, and our readers’ choice for Best Specialty Pizza in their region.

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Jim Brady’s. Photo by Scott Spellman.

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F EATURE Best Specialty Pizza in Macomb County Tivoli’s Wood Brick Oven Pizzeria 45257 Van Dyke Ave., Utica; 586-7315566; tivolispizzeria.com Tivoli was founded 40 years ago by Natale Evola. Today, Lorenzo Evola carries on the family’s mission, and Tivoli Pizza does it all: Pie-lovers can choose among two dozen toppings, on classic round pizza, square-crust pizza, deep-dish Chicago-style pies, or thin crust creations. The menu also offers breadsticks, calzones, oven-baked subs, and even flatbread pitas.

that it’s been repeated across metro Detroit for a decade now. But Slows was there first, and remains on top.

Best Round Pizza The Green Lantern Pizzeria See greenlanternlounge.com for locations The Vettraino family has been making great pizza in Madison Heights for more than a half-century now, and they’ve added four other locations over time, too: Another full-service restaurant in Clinton Township, and carry-out locations in Royal Oak, Macomb, and Clinton Township. Come to 12 Mile and John R and taste the recipe that’s made the “King of Pepperoni” an Oakland County legend.

Best Barbecue Restaurant in Macomb County Bad Brad’s BBQ See badbradsbbq.net for locations This local mini-chain is up to three locations, and it’s all built on the motto that sums up their practice: “From our smoker to your plate.” They smoke most meats in fruit and hickory wood smoke, and do everything the old-fashioned way. Get a taste of the meat in one of their many cleverly named sandwiches, or choose among sliced or chopped brisket, pulled pork or chicken, or pork sausage.

Best Deep Dish Pizza Papa Romano’s See paparomanos.com for locations In the past, winners of the deep dish category were usually aping our neighbor to the west, those lasagna-style creations they call Chicago-style deep dish. But this year, a homegrown example of Detroit-style square deep dish pizza wins out.

Best Steakhouse in Oakland County Big Rock Chophouse 245 S. Eton St., Birmingham; 248-6477774; bigrockchophouse.com From the ivy-covered entrance to the surprisingly colorful interior, there’s much to enjoy about Big Rock. But those steaks and chops are no joke: They serve filet mignon, rib-eye, New York strip, Wagyu, and a full line of surf to complement your turf.

Best Barbecue Restaurant in Oakland County Zeke’s Rock and Roll BBQ 240 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248206-7130; zekesrnrbbq.com Talk about popular appeal: Not just barbecue, but a lively bar scene, as well as the draw of a “rock ‘n’ roll” restaurant. It’s a combination that does everything but demand you let down your hair and lick your fingers. And, yes the barbecue is quite good too. Best Barbecue Restaurant in Wayne County Slows Bar-B-Q 2138 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-9629828; slowsbarbq.com We all know the story by now: In 2005, Phil Cooley put three things together: a historic, repurposed space, low-andslow barbecue, and a cicerone’s beer list. That combination was such a hit

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Best Barbecue Restaurant in Washtenaw County Old Carolina Barbecue Co. 980 W. Eisenhower Pkwy., Ann Arbor; 734-389-7100; oldcarolina.com Last year’s winner is back: Old Carolina won our readers over again with its rendition of Carolina barbecue, slowsmoked with real hickory wood, and offering such down-home rarities as Alabama white sauce.

Best Steakhouse in Wayne County London Chop House 155 W. Congress St., Detroit; 313-9620277; thelondonchophouse.com A Detroit tradition that began in the late 1930s, the London Chop House oozes class and style. While its clientele is no longer restricted to auto barons, celebrities, and high-ranking officials, the place still has an air of sophistication and exclusivity. Perhaps it’s the premium cuts on their menu, including 35-day dry-aged rib-eye, Australian Wagyu New York strip, and a USDA prime porterhouse.

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F EATURE Best Steakhouse in Washtenaw County The Chop House 322 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; 734-669-9977 Serving only prime quality steaks aged for at least four weeks, the Chop House is one of those places where you’ll pay dearly, but the proteins you get are among the top 2 percent of all steaks inspected by the USDA. You get finely marbled beef every time, which is enough to make the Chop House a perennial winner. Best Steakhouse in Macomb County Nick’s 22nd Street Steak House 48900 Van Dyke Ave., Shelby Township; 586-731-3900; 22ndstreetsteakhouse. com Established in 1992, Nick’s is a steakhouse specializing in prime cuts, from petite filet mignon up to the chateaubriand for two. Seafood choices include ahi tuna, salmon, lake perch, Alaskan king crab legs, and even frog legs. The interior is clean and approachable, and they offer a full banquet hall for chichi shindigs. Best Desserts at a Restaurant Top of the Pontch 2 Washington Blvd., Detroit; 313-7824313; topofthepontch.com You might go to Top of the Pontch for its breathtaking views of the cityscape, but you’re missing out on all the restaurant — located on the 25th floor of the Crowne Plaza — has to offer on the dessert menu. Since it’s a best pick for dates and celebrations, there’s really no excuse for not have your cake and eat it too. Best Tacos in Oakland County Iron Horse 316 W. Fourth St. Royal Oak; 248-2916313 This stylish Royal Oak tavern’s tacos are part classic, part creative. They come with white onions and cilantro, and the American-friendly cheese is hidden between the doubled-up corn tortillas. We once had a mahi mahi taco there that was excellent without the usual adornments (think jicama slaw, habanero guac, garlic aioli) you sometimes find elsewhere. For a challenge, try the massive nacho plate. Best Tacos in Wayne County Camino Real 1100 Central Ave., Detroit; 313-297-8804; 3851 Fort St., Wyandotte; 734-258-8790; restaurantcaminoreal.com

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Two locations might have put this Wayne County Mexican spot over the top this year, as Camino Real recently opened a new location in a former Ponderosa in Wyandotte. It’s an Americanfriendly take on tacos, as they’ll happily add cheese, and there’s no cabeza to be seen.

Best Tacos in Washtenaw County Isalita 341 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; 734-2137400; isalita.com Everything has to be a little bit tonier in Ann Arbor, and so it is with the gastropub-inspired taco choices offered at Isalita: the “Baja Fish” stuffs tacos with mahi mahi, chipotle remoulade, avocado, and pickled red cabbage, whereas the “Bahn Mi” is made with Vietnamese sausage, pickled carrot, and red chili mayonnaise. Even the Al Pastor is tweaked a bit, with guajillo-glazed pork belly and pickled pineapple. Best Tacos in Macomb County El Charro See elcharrousa.com for locations Serving Mexican in Macomb since 1971, El Charro offers Mexican classics, and unusual creations, including puffy soft-shelled tacos and fried ice cream. This spring, keep your eyes peeled for El Charro’s new food truck in Eastern Market. Best Food Truck Mac Shack macshackmichigan.com; facebook.com/ macshackmichigan What happens when you take mac and cheese on the road? It’s not a cheesy punchline, it’s the Mac Shack. The food truck features different takes on America’s favorite instant meal. From jalapenos, hot dogs, bacon, and even vegan mac and cheese, the Mac Shack has everything for cheese connoisseurs on the road and on the go. The food truck does not have a stationary location, so if you’re craving some ooey gooey mac and cheese, check out the Mac Shack website and Facebook page to see where it’s parked for the day. Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in Oakland County Anita’s Kitchen 22651 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248548-0680; anitaskitchenonline.com Anita’s really hits that sweet spot between deliciousness and healthy eating that we’re all striving for. If we could afford it, we might consider eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at this family-friendly Middle Eastern spot.

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Mon Jin Lau. Photo by Scott Spellman.

Their lentil soup borders on the divine, and the shawarma is lovingly prepared. A little-known fact is that their desserts are really worth saving room for — give the oat bars a try!

Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in Wayne County Al-Ameer 12710 W. Warren Ave., Dearborn; 313582-8185; alameerrestaurant.com It might seem strange to say it’s worth checking out the newly James Beard Award-winning Dearborn restaurant for the complimentary fresh bread alone. But it will only sound strange If you’ve never been there before. The service is always exceptional, and the food is some of the best Lebanese food one can possibly find outside of Lebanon. Be sure to try their specialty juice if you haven’t yet (you might want to eat it with a spoon). Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in Washtenaw County Ali Baba’s 601 Packard St., Ann Arbor; 734-9980131; alibabaannarbor.com From the delightful Arabesque wall murals to the super competent staff and the ability to order take-out online, it’s no wonder that Ali Baba’s is a customer favorite. From the highly regarded meat combos to the freshly made falafel and 10 varieties of salad, there’s something for everyone at Ali Baba’s. Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in Macomb County Sahara 22114 Harper Ave., St. Clair Shores; 586777-9600 A real family-friendly mainstay on the east side, Sahara’s St. Clair Shores loca-

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tion is a reader favorite, and with good reason. You can expect to enjoy the usual fare — from shawarma to falafel and juices to tea — with the specialized, spice-filled care that’s made this restaurant a Middle Eastern dining staple for years.

Best Italian Restaurant in Oakland County Trattoria da Luigi 415 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; 248542-4444; trattoriapizzeriadaluigi.com This Italian restaurant is so good it manages to be both subtle and hearty — exactly what you want from the finest Italian cuisine. The braciola di maiale Valdostana dish consists of three pork cutlets pounded thin and rolled with prosciutto and fontina — you might dream of it weeks after eating. Try to leave room for dessert, so you can share the thin crust Nutella and strawberry pizza — it’s just as good as it sounds. Best Italian Restaurant in Wayne County Giovanni’s 330 Oakwood Blvd., Detroit; 313-8410122; giovannisristorante.com Everything you eat here is handmade, and it’s extra tasty, so show up hungry. The Alfredo, for instance, is a step above — there are subtle spices in their preparation that truly elevate the normally pedestrian dish. Their veal Marsala is the real customers’ favorite, and just one bite and you’ll know why. The wine list is strong, Italian, and excellent — just like the food.

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F EATURE Best Italian Restaurant in Washtenaw County Gratzi 326 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; 734-663-6387; gratzirestaurant.com There is always an extra reason to return regularly to this favored spot, as the chef’s specials highlight a different region of Italy each month. Myriad appetizers are always extra good here, and we recommend you load up on them. There’s a reason so many regulars go for the antipasti misti, but if you have enough folks at your table, the capicola and prosciutto are also a must. And on top of all of that, they have a killer wine list. Best Italian Restaurant in Macomb County Da Francesco’s 49624 Van Dyke Ave., Shelby Township; 586-731-7544; dafrancescos.com Cozy, cute, and with a smart and wide selection of Italian favorites, it’s easy to see why our readers chose this Italian restaurant as their favorite in this category for three years running. It’s hard to think of another restaurant in the area that has as much charm, and oh goodness you just have to try their handmade gnocchi. Best Greek Restaurant Pegasus Taverna 558 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-964-6800; pegasustavernas.com Pegasus is a Detroit staple and has been serving up top-notch Greek cuisine since long before Greektown earned its now-famous moniker. The restaurant’s huge open kitchen and generous portions make it an easy choice for diners, and its late night game (it’s open until 3 a.m. during the week and 4 a.m. on weekends) make it a popular choice for those needing a break from the roulette wheel. Best Indian Restaurant Moti Mahal 411 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; 248298-3198; motimahalroyaloak.com If you are looking for something a bit different within your Indian food needs, look no further than Ullah Abdul’s exceptional Moti Mahal, which pairs exceptional taste with generous portions. Where else are you going to find British preparations such as balti within a 500-mile radius? Best Chinese in Oakland County Peking House 215 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; 248545-2700; pekinghousemi.com There are many ways to judge a Chinese food restaurant — we think we read that in a fortune cookie once — and

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one of the most important measures of success is a spot’s takeout game. Well, we’ve gotta say Peking House in Royal Oak is killing it when it comes to that. In addition to its casual and fun dining room, people wanting to get their food home hot and delicious will be impressed with the staff’s kindness and efficiency.

Best Chinese in Wayne County Shangri-La Midtown 4710-12 Cass Ave., Detroit; 313-974-7669; midtownshangri-la.com We Detroiters are at somewhat of a disadvantage in terms of Chinese food options, which is why Shangri-La is so prized. Get your pick of Cantonesestyle cuisine, dim sum, sushi, and a smattering of fare from other Asian nations at this spot, which includes a second-floor balcony dining area, bar, and TVs. A favorite of ours? The walnut shrimp. Best Soul Food Beans & Cornbread 29508 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield; 248-208-1680; beansandcornbread.com Detroit’s soul truly shines at Beans & Cornbread. Though the Southfield staple specializes in Southern cuisine, the Motown flair you get on every plate is what’s been bringing awards home (and customers back) since 1997. Best Polish Restaurant Polish Village Café 2990 Yemans St., Hamtramck; 313-8745726; polishvillagecafe.us It’s easy to see why our readers chose Polish Village; the food and the atmosphere are so exceptional, we’re all willing to wait a spell just to sit down at this eternally popular family spot. During the holidays, they even wrap their paintings on the wall up as if they’re Christmas presents. Polish Village remains a great date spot, so long as your date has a genial attitude and the serious ability to pack back an order of pierogi. City Chicken is so delicious here, but we often opt for the Polish combo plate because it can be so hard to choose. Best Irish Tavern O’Mara’s 2555 W. 12 Mile Rd., Berkley; 248-3996750; omaras.net Whether you were born underneath a Blarney stone and are covered head to toe in freckles, or not, we all can tell the difference between a true Irish tavern and a silly imitation. Thankfully, this friendly, large spot offers up great traditional dishes, including a spectacular Dublin broil. Their selection of spirits

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F EATURE and brews is equally substantial — and you can enjoy them on their patio this summer.

(as in the vegetable muffuletta), or just made accessible (as in the catfish strips with house remoulade).

Best Tapas La Dulce 115 S. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-268-1719; ladulce.com This new addition to Royal Oak is a departure from the many bro-ish spots that saturate the suburban downtown landscape, which is precisely what our readers wanted when they named it Best Tapas in metro Detroit. With its meticulously designed, whimsical interior, authentic Spanish-style tapas, and a vast drink menu, you’ll want nothing more than to while away your afternoons siesta-style.

Best Cajun in Macomb County Gator Jake’s 36863 Van Dyke Ave., Sterling Heights; 586-983-3700 Colorfully decorated, New Orleansthemed, Gator Jakes is a sports bar with Big Easy flourishes. The menu aims to please a bar crowd, with Louisiana-inspired burgers, sandwiches, and pastas that include the “Hurricane Burger,” the “Crocodile Club,” and “Chicken Creole Pasta.” Or go for the “Bayou Baby Back Ribs” smothered in Jake’s barbecue sauce.

Best Cajun in Oakland County Howe’s Bayou 22848 Woodward Ave.; 248-691-7145; howesbayouferndale.net This category would seem to be made for Howe’s Bayou, which is chock-full of not just Louisiana-themed decor, but offers a menu packed with Cajun and Creole fare, including Gulf shrimp, Creole-style mussels, popcorn crawdads, Cajun-friend shrimp, crawfish cakes, alligator sausage, catfish, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, Andouille-encrusted pan-fried oysters, and even a crawfish boil, It’s authentic down to such desserts as peach cobbler, bread pudding, and Key lime pie. Best Cajun in Wayne County Louisiana Creole Gumbo 2051 Gratiot Ave., Detroit; 313-446-9639; detroitgumbo.com This black-owned family business was founded by Louisiana native Joseph Stafford in 1970. In 1982, it was purchased by Joe Spencer, who has kept this little gumbo shop going at the corner of Gratiot and St. Aubin. It’s a spare, cozy place with a few tables, and most of the business is carryout. But don’t let the small size fool you: Dishes are packed with flavor, and include not just gumbo and jambalaya, but soul sides and a Southern meatloaf dinner. The daily specials get more involved, such as Creole pepper steak, a fried catfish dinners, and Louisiana crab cakes. Best Cajun in Washtenaw County Quarter Bistro 300 S. Maple Rd., Ann Arbor; 734-9299200; thequarterbistro.com Inspired by the cuisine of Louisiana, but attuned to the appetites of Ann Arbor, with New Orleans classics given a bistro finish (as in “bistro-style tilapia fillet”), or a vegetarian-friendly twist

Best Hibachi BD’s Mongolian Grill See gomongo.com for locations Because the kids are starving, you don’t feel like cooking, and you get an eyecatching show when the chef customprepares your stir-fry. Portions are huge, so you’ll be sure to have plenty of leftovers and feed the whole brood on not too much dough. Keep it healthy, with a variety of veggies to choose from, then load on the proteins, oils, spices, and sauces, for the complete Mongolian barbecue experience. Best Cuban in Wayne County Vicente’s Cuban Cuisine 1250 Library St., Detroit; 313-962-8800; vicente.us Among the earlier introductions of Caribbean food in metro Detroit, it’s no surprise that our readers still favor this downtown spot for its plantains, yuca, papas rellenas, thinly pounded Bistec de palomilla beefsteak, breaded pork, and black beans and rice. Plus, twice-aweek salsa sessions make for the ideal date night. Best Cuban in Washtenaw County Frita Batidos 117 W. Washington, Ann Arbor; 734-7612882; fritabatidos.com When Eve Aronoff Fernandez opened Frita Batidos in December 2010, it was a familiar culinary maneuver: a celebrated chef opening a casual, frills-free spot. But her menu of Cuban-inspired cuisine really connected with diners, who embraced the spin the chef put on fritas: spicy burgers made with chorizo, and batidos, tropical milkshakes. Best Sushi in Oakland County Mon Jin Lau 1515 E. Maple Rd., Troy; 248-689-2332; monjinlau.com Our esteemed readers voted for Mon

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F EATURE Jin Lau as Best Sushi because their rolls are as generous as they are tasty. But they serve far more than that at this pan Asian crowd favorite, where you can always get delicious meals across the spectrum of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese cuisine. The dishes remain authentic, and it’s a great choice for any group, as the variety cannot be beat.

Best Sushi in Wayne County Fishbone’s See fishbonesusa.com for locations Fishbone’s is famous for excess: Just look at their endless brunches for a prime example. And that more-is-more attitude extends to the sushi, which they’ve offered for years now. Between rolls, nigiri, and sashimi, they offer more than 70 variations. Best Sushi in Washtenaw County Pacific Rim by Kana 114 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; 734-6629303; pacificrimbykana.com French techniques are employed in this exceptional Ann Arbor restaurant’s approach to pan-Asian. This is not your average pan-Asian joint: There are new and magical mixtures of flavors here.

Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese all comingle in heavenly ways.

Best Sushi in Macomb County Ichiban Japanese Bistro 44955 Hayes Rd., Sterling Heights; 586580-2546; ichibanjapanesebistro.com Hey, what’s going on? Ichiban won last year for having the best Hibachi, and this year our readers voted it for Best Sushi in Macomb County? Well, that’s just a testament to the level of quality and the variety of this superb restaurant. Their hibachi remains super, and yes, their rolls and nigiri are just as super, as well. Best Eastern European Restaurant Amadeus 122 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor; 734665-8767; amadeusrestaurant.com Running restaurants is a family tradition for Pawel Strozynski, the owner of Amadeus. His grandfather owned multiple eateries in Europe and even supplied ships on their way out to sea with food, and the time-honored practice of filling bellies with delicious meals has

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Rock City Eatery. Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

clearly been passed down through the generations. Diners rave about the oldworld cafe, which specializes in Polish, Hungarian, and Austrian fare, bringing a bit of Europe right into the heart of Ann Arbor.

Best African Blue Nile 545 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248-5476699; bluenilemi.com Both the lentil-based dishes and the tibs stews are exceptional. Plus they

always give you enough injera — the unleavened flatbread one uses to eat the meal — that’s really important! Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisines might be the best third date food there is. You already know you like this person, so why not share some delicious food with them that you both eat with your hands together? Of course, you do not have to be on any dates to enjoy this healthy, delicious food.

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F EATURE

Kuzzo’s. Photo by Scott Spellman.

Best Thai Restaurant in Oakland County Sy Thai Cafe 315 Hamilton Row, Birmingham; 248-258-9830; sythairestaurant.com/ birmingham At this point, Thai food is at the same place in the U.S. as Chinese food was in the 1980s or ’90s. It’s so ubiquitous that middle Americans have learned not just to distinguish between noodle dishes or to really get down with the spicy stuff, but many of us consider ourselves experts on the cuisine. So when our readers declare Sy Thai the best Thai place in Oakland Country, it’s hard to disagree — this stuff is very tasty. Best Thai Restaurant in Wayne County Bangkok 96 2450 S. Telegraph Rd., Dearborn; 313730-8161; bangkok96.com The origin of Bangkok 96 is wellknown: Owner and operator Genevieve Vang is of Vietnamese descent; after her family moved to Thailand, Vang fell in love with the cuisine. Today, she serves up delicious Thai food that has people coming from miles around. The sweetand-sour soup is ridiculously good. Best Thai Restaurant in Washtenaw County Marnee Thai 414 S. Main St. Ste. 130, Ann Arbor; 734929-9933 Ann Arbor has not experienced anything like a shortage of Thai restaurants since the 1980s. So when our savvy readers choose Marnee, you know it’s because their expertly spiced offerings go well beyond the usual Pad Thai fare. Marnee is in fact renowned for its casual and contemporary decor matched

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with its delicious noodle soups, skewers, and curries.

Best Thai Restaurant in Macomb County Pi’s Thai 24940 John R Rd., Hazel Park; 248-5454070; pisthai.net While the Pi’s Thai location in Sterling Heights may have closed, the John R Road location is just minutes from the line between 586 and 248. And there’s a reason a reason the wait for take-out is always out the door at this wonderful family-run, cash-only business. Entrees tend to be soupy, delicious, and devilishly spicy. Pi’s Thai has been dishing up their authentic, excellent food for 30 years now. It’s primarily a take-out spot, but there are a handful of two-tops, which usually are filled up by the local lunch crowd on weekdays. Here’s to 30 more years of Pi’s Thai! Best Gyro in Oakland County KouZina 121 N. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-6296500, gokouzina.com KouZina owner Bobby Laskaris and his chef father Panagiotis brought streetstyle Greek cuisine indoors. Their kitchen relies on the Mediterranean love of all things simple, fresh, and authentic, and yet happily tweaks the classics for dietary restrictions, down to gluten-free soups and three varieties of house-made pitas. No wonder the gyros garnered our readers’ endorsement. Best Saganaki Best Gyro in Wayne County Golden Fleece Restaurant 525 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-962-7093 A cozy bit of Old Greektown lives on Monroe Street in the form of the

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F EATURE Golden Fleece, a throwback to the days when every restaurant on Monroe had a blue-and-white checked tablecloth and served saganaki with a shout. A terrific choice for a fast, flavorful downtown lunch at a nice price.

Best Gyro in Washtenaw County Ahmo’s Gyros and Deli 4001 Stone School Rd., Ann Arbor; 734971-5552; ahmosdeli.com What makes the gyros so wonderful at Ahmo’s? Perhaps it’s the simplicity of vegetables, bread, meat, and sauce all working together. Perhaps it’s the quality of the meat, provided by Atlas in Detroit. In any event, you don’t last 14 years by cutting corners. Congratulations, Ahmo’s. Best Gyro in Macomb County Olga’s See olgas.com for locations When Olga Loizon first opened her small restaurant in Birmingham in 1970, what we today call “Mediterranean food” hadn’t gained acceptance beyond gyro stands, and it was places like Olga’s that took the first steps of introducing Americans to the freshness, flavor, and

BEST OF DETROIT flatbreads of that region. Since then, Mediterranean food has taken off, and dozens of national competitors have entered the market. But Olga was there first.

Best Family Restaurant Big Boy See bigboy.com for locations Remember how your parents used to take you out for that huge brownie dessert every time you got a good report card? OK, maybe that wasn’t everyone, but nevertheless, Big Boy has been bringing families together for a long time. With crayons for the kiddos, bottomless coffee for your pops, and pies for Granny, there’s a little something for everyone. Metro Detroit boasts more than 30 Big Boy locations, so no matter where you are, there’s probably one close by. Best Bakery Crust 104 W. Caroline St., Fenton; 810-6298882; crustandbeyond.com If you haven’t treated yourself to the goodness coming out of Fenton-based bakery Crust, now is the time. From

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Rubbed. Photo by Scott Spellman.

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Voted Best Polish Restaurant

Finest Food West of Warsaw 2990 Yemans • Hamtramck • MI • 48212 313.874.5726 • polishvillagecafe.us

F EATURE beignets to onion rolls, the bakery — which is a full-scale wholesale producer on top of its own retail storefront — is owned by the same families who own and operate the Laundry, a popular dining destination in downtown Fenton since 1997. You can find their products all over southeast Michigan, including Westborn Market locations in metro Detroit.

Best Pie Sister Pie 8066 Kercheval Ave, Detroit; 313-4475550; sisterpie.com Lisa Ludwinski’s pie-making business began quite humbly — inside her parents’ kitchen. But the faster her pies started selling, the bigger a facility she needed. She moved the operation to Hannan House and was working toward the ultimate goal of owning her own bakery when Hatch Detroit awarded her $50,000 to make that dream a reality. Now Ludwinski is selling her sweet and savory creations in an adorable little bakery in West Village. If you can’t make it to the shop, Ludwinski’s goods are sold at a number of places around town like Ashe Supply Co., Parker Street Market, Germack Coffee Roasting Company, and Socra Tea. We suggest the buckwheat chocolate chip cookies, salted maple pie, or a savory hand pie. Best Cakes Cake Ambition 511 W. Canfield St., Detroit; 248-931-1485; cakeambition.com When Jessica Bouren started Cake Ambition at age 25 in 2010, many Detroiters felt they had to leave the city limits to get a specialty cake. Thanks to her, many of them can pick up custom confections right in town. In fact, Bouren says her business seems to be doubling every year. And Bouren has a reputation for tackling tough assignments with ease: She has made cakes in unusual shapes — such as an Air Jordan shoe, a pirate ship, a violin, and even Lionel Richie’s head — and pulled it off with style. Best Burger in Oakland County B-Spot 176 N. Adams Rd, Rochester Hills; 248218-6001; 310 S. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-268-1621; bspotburgers.com Celebrity chef Michael Symon is known as a burger maven, which helps explain his casual restaurant devoted to the twohander. B-Spot has all sorts of creative choices with amusing names, such as the “Porky,” the “Fat Doug,” the “Plain Jane,” and the “Fun Guy,” adorned with griddled mushrooms.

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Best Burger in Wayne County Old Shillelagh 349 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-964-0007; oldshillelagh.com When owner Shellie Lewis took over this Greektown staple last year, a Michigan-made menu of dishes made with organic, natural products was a conscious push. That means using bread from Detroit-based Avalon Bakery, pasture-raised, grass-fed Michigan beef from C. Roy & Sons, and RBGH-free, all-natural cheese from Farm Country. That means eating a cheeseburger at the Old Shillelagh is a vote of support for Michigan’s local food systems (all while helping you recover from one too many shots of whiskey, we bet). Best Burger in Washtenaw County Bagger Dave’s See baggerdaves.com for locations There are Bagger Dave’s locations all over metro Detroit, of course, but something helped put them over the top in the Ann Arbor-Ypsi area. Maybe it’s the variety of the sandwiches, which come filled with beef, chicken, mahimahi, black bean patties, and more. Best Burger in Macomb County Irish Craft 36759 Mound Rd., Sterling Heights; 586264-9500; theirishcraft.com The creations are manly at Irish Craft. The patties are half-pounders, but the treatments they get can be impressive: the “Pub Burger” gets topped with pickle chips and “pub sauce,” the “Breakfast Burger” with cheese, bacon, and a fried egg, and the “Jack Daniels Burger” with cheddar, Monterey Jack, jalapenos, and a house-made Jack Daniels sauce. Best Poutine Rock City Eatery 1411 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; 248-633-3072; rockcityeatery.com We’re partial to this poutine because it happens to be named after one of our favorite writers, Nicole Rupersburg. Nicole’s Poutine has duck confit gravy and cheese curds for an extra buck they’ll crack an egg over the dish. The fries are crisp, which is a perfect compliment to the delicious mush of gravy, curds, and egg. We suggest sharing, because it’s a bit heavy, but it’s easy enough to finish the whole plate by yourself. Best Mac and Cheese Sweet Lorraine’s Fabulous Mac n’ Cheez/ Mac n’ Brewz See macncheez.com for locations. When it comes to red-hot trends

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F EATURE like local sourcing, humanely raised proteins, and fast-casual offshoots, all these trends were quietly adopted by Lorraine Platman years before they were hip. The same goes with comfort food: Six years ago, she opened her first Mac n’ Cheez eatery. A bowl of Platman’s mac can be a fully loaded feast, with multiple cheeses, smoked bacon, roasted chicken, and much more.

Best Seafood in Oakland County Kruse and Muer See kruseandmuerrestaurants.com for locations The stellar Kruse and Muer restaurants in Oakland County began as a partnership between Bill Kruse and his great friend, the late Chuck Muer of Charley’s Crab fame. The first restaurant opened at what’s now the Village of Rochester Hills outdoor mall. With a business model that values customer service and quality, fresh fish above all, Kruse now has six restaurants, all with their own distinct appeal, and the family business now includes his sons, Casey and Alex. Most recently, Kruse’s Deer Lake Inn opened on Dixie Highway in Clarkston. Many metro Detroit dining institutions have grown stale with age, but Kruse’s restaurant concepts have instead grown more diverse and innovative. We can’t wait to see what the Kruse family does next. Best Seafood in Wayne County Joe Muer 400 Renaissance Center Ste. 1404, Detroit; 313-567-6837; joemuerseafood. com The revival of the historic Muer name on a restaurant within Detroit city limits came in a partnership between Joe Muer and Andiamo’s Joe Vicari, and it came just as Detroit’s dining scene was becoming dynamic enough again to support it. The restaurant, with a beautiful waterfront view from its Renaissance Center perch, offers a sushi bar and superb brunch service alongside classic dinner menu offerings such as crab stuffed Atlantic Flounder. The cocktails and wine list are as on point as you’d expect. With food that exceeds the expectations set by its waterfront view and legendary name, Joe Muer is the best seafood restaurant in Wayne County. Best Seafood in Washtenaw County Real Seafood Company 341 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; 734-7695960; realseafoodcoannarbor.com

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Opened by Dennis Seras in downtown Ann Arbor in 1975, Real Seafood offers reasonably priced fresh East Coast fish and seafood entrees, a raw oyster bar, and a comfortable, open atmosphere. If you’re looking for fresh oysters, lobster, shrimp and more from New England, the Great Lakes, and Gulf of Mexico, enjoy it at Real Seafood in a laid-back Main Street setting.

Best Seafood in Macomb County Sterling’s Bistro 13905 Lakeside Circle, Sterling Heights; 586-566-0627; sterlingsbistro.com Enjoy sushi and entrees such as flatbread pizzas, salmon, seabass, mahi mahi tacos, and steaks at Sterling’s, where fresh, seasonal ingredients are incorporated into the menu. You can pair the food with one of more than 70 wines or one of the signature martinis at Sterling’s. Best Chicken and Waffles Kuzzo’s 19345 Livernois Ave., Detroit; 313-8610229; kuzzoschickenandwaffles.com Most foodies agree that chicken and waffles is a soul food tradition that originated on the West Coast and spread from Roscoe’s in LA up to Lois the Pie Queen in the East Bay before moving inland thousands of miles to arrive in our fair city. And oh my, are we glad it’s here, especially because Kuzzo’s would be just as successful a restaurant no matter where on Earth it’s located. The red velvet waffles put a truly delicious spin on the dish. Best Diner Best Diner in Oakland County Fly Trap 22950 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248399-5150; theflytrapferndale.com This Ferndale staple continues to impress our readers, with its mashup of traditional diner fare with a twist. Ordering plain eggs is “a la Boring” here. Instead, fans are more likely to spring for the Green Eggs and Ham (with roasted Poblano pesto), or the Boot (with fresh Mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, and green onions). Even the standard BLT is turned on its head, with the addition of avocado, on sourdough with garlic aioli. Best Diner in Wayne County Dime Store 719 Griswold St., Ste. 180, Detroit; 313962-9106; eatdimestore.com A bright, colorful interior, central location, and fun, varied menu have our readers committed to Dime Store. It sits

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F EATURE

American Coney Island. Photo by Dontae Rockymore.

in the Dime Building on Griswold, giving busy office workers access to a quick coffee break to go (make sure to grab a muffin with that), a power lunch with a client, or even a semi-private conference meeting, thanks to a large table cordoned off by sweeping drapes.

Best Diner in Washtenaw County Golden Egg 2660 Washtenaw Ave., Ypsilanti; 734434-0100; facebook.com/goldeneggypsi You can tell you’re in a classic breakfast eatery when some of the customers have been coming there since childhood. Such is the case with the Golden Egg, and with good reason: From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, the kitchen churns out breakfast classics while the servers keep things humming. Best Diner in Macomb County Orange Peel 13522 22 Mile Rd., Shelby Township; 586726-7335 From 6 a.m. until 3 p.m., the Orange Peel is where hungry diners wander in, find a table, and get treated to some of the grandest breakfast dishes available. But the real thrill is watching those egg dishes arrive, especially the fluffy “three-egg” omelets that take up the better part of a plate. Best Sandwich in Oakland County Café Muse 418 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; 248544-4749; cafemuseroyaloak.com We’re not sure which menu item (or items) successfully wooed our readers, but the bill of fare is full of doozies: grilled hanger steak with provolone and ammoglio sauce, salmon with Gruyere, short rib with three cheeses, and more, all on a choice of organic Zingerman’s sourdough, whole wheat, or rye.

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Best Sandwich in Wayne County Rubbed 2015 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-2653684; rubbedindetroit.com Detroiters agree that the heartily stacked sandwiches like the Little Italy (stuffed with Mortadella, soppressata, capicola, pepperoni, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, banana pepper, and mayo) and Purple Kid (with smoked turkey, goat cream cheese, swiss slaw, and beet slaw) are reason enough to name the Corktown spot best of Wayne County. Best Sandwich in Macomb County Northside New York Deli 51096 Filomena Dr., Shelby Township; 586-247-6300; nsidenydeli.com At this New York-style delicatessen, you get more than pastrami on rye: The sandwich arts are explored more completely, beyond grinders, subs, and gyros: There are inventive lettuce wraps, pitas, and even panini. Best Late Night/24-Hour Restaurant Plaka 535 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-962-4687 Contrary to popular belief, coney islands (and Taco Bell) aren’t the only late night food options around. Plaka in Greektown is enough of a greasy spoon to satisfy your night-owl cravings, and it’s a solid option for those who just need a meal when most places are closed (shout out to all the third-shifters taking that lunch break at 4 a.m.). Breakfast champions rejoice in knowing you can score it any time of day (brinner FTW), and its Greek offerings give you an alternative to its fancy-schmancy neighbors.

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F EATURE Best Happy Hour for Food in Oakland County CK Diggs 2010 W. Auburn Rd., Rochester Hills; 248-853-6600; ckdiggs.com Between the mid-day rush of business lunchers and the evening dinners drawing families, CK Diggs’ weekday happy hours (3-7 p.m.) offer discounts on beer and the full range of the family-owned business’ eclectic menu, which includes such unusual dishes as ahi tuna and Thai pizza. Every weekday comes with a special, such as Monday’s half-off deal on appetizers, Tuesday’s salad specials, or Wednesday’s special, a half-dozen varieties of slider, including sriracha chicken, corned beef with coleslaw and Thousand Island, or Philly cheesesteak with house cheese sauce. And with 41 beers on tap and another 80 or so in the bottle, you’re guaranteed to get happy. Best Happy Hour for Food in Wayne County Craft Work 8047 Agnes St., Detroit, 313-469-0976;craftworkdetroit.com It’s no secret that happy hour cuisine can be underwhelming in most scenarios. Not that case at this West Village destination, and fans swear by it. Swap out the sad bowl of peanuts for duck liver pate, a variety of tacos, and of course, crafty cocktails, domestics, and wines, for $3-$6. Best Happy Hour for Food in Washtenaw County Arbor Brewing 114 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor; 734213-1393; 720 Norris St., Ypsilanti; 734480-2739; arborbrewing.com At Arbor’s ABC Brewpub in Ann Arbor, happy hour is 8 p.m. to closing Sunday, 4-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and all day long Monday. At ABC Microbrewery in Ypsilanti, 8-10 p.m. Sunday, 4-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and all day Monday. The menus at both locations run the gamut of creative bar food. Best Happy Hour for Food in Macomb County Bar Louie See barlouie.com for locations Sure, you can find a Bar Louie from Alabama to Wisconsin. But in the wilds of Macomb County, Bar Louie is that comfort station where, 4-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, you can wash down the gut-pleasing selections on the menu with discount drafts, wine, and even martinis.

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Best Deli in Oakland County Best Sandwich in Washtenaw County Bread Basket Deli See breadbasketdelis.com for locations. The Bread Basket Deli mini-chain is a regular winner of some deli-related category almost every year going back 20 years. This year, it’s the sandwiches, such as the single-decker, doubledecker, and three- and four-decker sandwiches. Not fantastic enough? There’s the Bread Basket offer to “pound it”: Any sandwich can be made with 1 pound of meat for $17.99. Best Deli in Wayne County Mudgie’s 1300 Porter St., Detroit; 313-961-2000; mudgiesdeli.com Seems like no two years are the same at Mudgie’s, and that’s precisely why our readers have once again declared the Corktown spot the best deli in Wayne County. The sandwiches are bountifully stuffed with local meats, the soups will make your mouth explode, and the newly minted bar makes for a cozy date night nook. Best Deli in Washtenaw County Zingerman’s Delicatessen 422 Detroit St., Ann Arbor; 734-6633354; zingermansdeli.com It’s a favorite of presidents (Obama, Clinton, to name a couple) because of its generous deli sandwiches, huge selection of cold cuts, artisan cheeses, olive oil, sausages, fresh bread, and more. And it also unsurprisingly makes the cut yet again among our readers as best in Washtenaw County. Best Deli in Macomb County Ventimiglia’s Italian Foods 35197 Dodge Park Rd., Sterling Heights; 810-979-0828 This Italian-style deli churns out a variety of subs, made with hard-crust bread delivered from Ontario, and also features an array of fresh prepared foods – all reasons our readers picked Ventimiglia’s as Best Deli in Macomb County. Best Wings in Oakland County Hooters 2950 Rochester Rd., Troy; 248-740-1574; see hooters.com for locations Hey, it’s a chain, but what matters to our readers isn’t the size of the restaurant group, but rather the size of the wings. And these ones are pretty giant and they come in a variety of heat levels. With a party-like vibe and choice of other affordable bar fare, it hits the spot for fans.

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F EATURE Best Wings in Wayne County Sweetwater 400 E. Congress St., Detroit; 313-9622210; sweetwatertavern.net There’s a reason why this Bricktown spot is open ‘til 2 a.m. everyday. It’s the iconic chicken wings, which come from a simple recipe. They’re brought in fresh every morning from Eastern Market and are marinated for 24 hours for a robust flavor. Best Wings in Washtenaw County Buffalo Wild Wings See buffalowildwings.com for locations Proving once again that our readers go to a name they can trust in the wings category, we have Buffalo Wild Wings crowned winners in Washtenaw County. Choose from the spicy, sweet, mild, and rubbed treatments, grab a frosty beer to go with it, and catch the big game at any of the many big screens that line the walls of B-Dubs. Best Wings in Macomb County Tilted Kilt 44935 Hayes Road, Sterling Heights; 586-799-4135 Maybe it’s the unique sauces on this

BEST OF DETROIT chain’s “world famous” wings, like the TK Signature, the Kilt Burner, or the Tilted. Maybe it’s the scantily-clad waitresses who riff on traditional Scottish plaid with tiny halter tops. Maybe it’s a little from column A and a little from column B that keeps the readers of Macomb County loyal to the Tilted Kilt.

Best Restaurant with Live Music 526 Main Dueling Piano Bar 526 S. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-5919000; 526main.com It’s “dinner and a show” at 526 Main, where world-touring professional pianists play, sing, and entertain audiences from the elevated stage. It’s a classy joint, and the menu is sophisticated too, with such choices as lobster mac, New York strip steak, and cedar plank salmon. Best Bagels Detroit Institute of Bagels 1236 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-4449342; detroitinstituteofbagels.com It’s all about that crunch! Whether you’re talking classic New York-style or their heartier Montreal cousins, if a bagel doesn’t crack a bit when you first

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bite, that means it wasn’t first boiled and then baked properly (which means it’s not even a bagel, but rather a breadsponge). DIB has perfected the art of bagel-making. You’d have to drive 11 hours east to get anything remotely as good. They also serve up decent coffee, and sandwiches, and make all kinds of fancy cream cheese varieties. Day-olds are one dozen for $5, but they run out quickly.

Best Sub Shop Potbelly Sandwich Shop See potbelly.com for locations Hot subs, shakes, soups and salads, oh my! Potbelly may not have originated in the Motor City, but it’s made an impression on the bellies of metro Detroiters. With 26 locations across Michigan, the sub shop is a must-stop for sub lovers. Potbelly’s signature creation, A Wreck, is a meat-lover’s dream. Go big or go skinny, whatever your heart desires; this shop will satisfy your empty belly. Best Coney in Oakland County Leo’s Coney Island See leosconeyisland.com for locations With so few late-night dining options

available in metro Detroit, our readers tend to stick the tried and true. The 24-hour downtown Royal Oak location is reliably packed on late weekend evenings, and there are several 24/7 locations that fill the dining void after a midnight movie. With nearly 60 locations scattered across Michigan, you’re sure to find one in your neck of the woods.

Best Coney in Wayne County American Coney Island 114 W. Lafayette Blvd, Detroit; 313-9617758; americanconeyisland.com The decades-long, intense rivalry between American and Lafayette Coney Islands is the kind of stuff that can tear families apart. OK, no, not really. But Detroiters certainly have a strong opinion over which they prefer. This year, American Coney Island, established in 1917, takes the crown as best in Wayne County. Made with Dearborn hot dogs in natural casing, classic Detroit-style sauce, mustard, and onions, American is considered the shinier of the two.

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7 YEARS RUNNING

2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 HOURS: MON-WED 11AM-9PM | THURS-SAT 11AM-11PM | SUN (BRUNCH) 10AM-3PM

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F EATURE Best Coney in Washtenaw County Uptown Coney Island 3917 Jackson Rd., Ann Arbor; 734-6655909; 1555 S Main St, Chelsea; 734-4331012 This Washtenaw County favorite regularly gets accolades from The Ann Arbor News and routinely appears on our Best of Detroit list. This year is no different. Homemade soups, prime locations, and a full breakfast menu help keep Uptown on our readers’ minds.

8859; thelunchrooma2.com Back in 2011, the Lunch Room was just a food cart behind Downtown Home & Garden. Since then, it has become a vegan success story. Phillis Engelbert and Joel Panozzo have built their love of vegan fare into a mini-empire, with a brick-and-mortar restaurant and bar in Kerrytown and a bakery and café on Ann Arbor’s north side. And now our readers offer kudos to this duo for their high-quality, nutritious vegan food.

Best Coney in Macomb County National Coney Island See nationalconeyisland.com for locations Depending on where in metro Detroit you live, you’re bound to have a soft spot for one Coney Island over another. And if you’re in Macomb County, inevitably your loyalties rest with National Coney Island. It serves as the late night gathering place after closing time at the bar, satisfying your fourth meal cravings. Whether it’s breakfast, a Hani special with fries, or a simple coney, you’ll find it at National.

Best Vegan or Vegetarian Restaurant The Clean Plate 45629 Hayes Rd., Shelby Twp.; 586-5803293; cleanplate4u.com This fast-casual spot opened by the vegan chef of Royal Oak’s Cacao Tree has helped ensure that no longer do diners out past M-59 have to resort to weak vegetarian menu items. The fare at Clean Plate may even be flavorful enough to appeal to meat-eating pals along for the ride. This is the second year Clean Plate prevailed in this category.

Best Vegan or Vegetarian Restaurant in Oakland County Om Café 23136 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248548-1941; omcafe.com Ferndale’s Om Café, open since 1985, was catering to vegans back when Detroit was wholly a meat-and-potatoes town. It has been under new ownership since October 2014 by Jessica Norwood, who reinvigorated the space, introducing weekend brunches, a few daily specials, and the same nutrient-dense food Norwood says she’s been eating at Om since she was 10 years old. Best Vegan or Vegetarian Restaurant Detroit Vegan Soul 8029 Agnes St., Detroit; 313-649-2759; detroitvegansoul.com Erika Boyd and her life and business partner, Kirsten Ussery, have hit upon something new: reinterpreting an often unhealthful cuisine — soul food — as a life-giving, healing vegan menu. The fare from Boyd’s kitchen is plant-based, organic, and sourced as locally as possible. While it’s a novelty, it’s also a busy eatery that gets repeat customers, especially when people find out that tofu can taste just like catfish. Best Vegan or Vegetarian Restaurant in Washtenaw County The Lunch Room 407 N. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor; 734-224-

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Best Champ of Local Farm-toTable James Rigato at Mabel Gray 23825 John R Rd., Hazel Park; 248-3984300; mabelgraykitchen.com This category seems almost to have been invented for the culinary overachiever behind Mabel Gray and the Root. As we detailed in a 4,800-word cover story last year, Rigato establishes relationships with old-fashioned family farms, urban greenhouse gardeners, small beekeepers, cutting-edge aquaculture operations, local milk suppliers, and specialty meat packers to produce food that’s intimately connected to the land and the people who love it. Best Chef Brandon Schatko at Top of the Pontch 2 Washington Blvd., Detroit; 313-7824313; topofthepontch.com Since the Crowne Plaza Pontchartrain Hotel reopened in 2014, it has seen its share of changes in its two restaurants: Top of the Pontch and Jefferson House. First, with the departure of chef Justin Vaiciunas (last year’s Best Chef), then with the closure of the Jefferson House. If there has been one constant, it’s the hard work of chef Brandon Schatko. He was appointed executive chef at the Pontch last fall when the Jefferson House shuttered. With that, he’s designed a menu that offers a fun mix of Americana, Italian, and Asian cuisine – all aspiring to compete with that stellar view on the 25th floor.

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F EATURE Best Indie Coffeehouse in Oakland County Commonwealth 300 Hamilton Row, Birmingham; 248792-9766; gocommonwealth.com A combination breakfast spot and coffee shop, the instantly successful Commonwealth offers high-end fare in the familiar format of the Pacific Northwest-inspired artisanal/fourthwave coffee shop. They match their fancy homespun minimalist design sensibility with solid product; those cool-looking bottles of cold brew they recently introduced, for instance, are as tasty as they are powerful. Birmingham is lucky to have such a strong shop. Best Indie Coffeehouse in Wayne County Red Hook 8025 W. Agnes St., Detroit; theredhookdetroit.com And the winner once again of this category is none other than this stalwart of the coffee revolution, Red Hook. The tables may regularly be packed with both the laptopped and the megastrollered crowds, but there’s never a long wait for expertly prepared brew. Stumptown’s “Hair Bender” is still on offer for all espresso drinks, but they can also make you an exciting pour-over drink using a single origin bean, which just might make you return daily. Best Indie Coffeehouse in Washtenaw County Ugly Mug 317 W. Cross St., Ypsilanti; 734-4844684; uglymugypsi.com For a dozen years now, Ypsi’s Ugly Mug has been roasting seriously tasty beans sourced directly from micro-lot farmers throughout South America. All the baristas here know exactly how to pull a decent shot with the right amount of cream, as well as do that fancy latte art stuff that everyone loves so much. Their location, a favorite of Eastern Michigan University students, is a great lunch and hangout spot, with its couches inside and ample patio space out back. Best Indie Coffeehouse in Macomb County DoveTail 29200 Hoover Rd., Warren; 586-5760317; facebook.com/dovetaildetroit Do you miss the way coffee shops were back when the craze first took hold in the 1990s, before the chain shops made every coffee drink into a 1,000-calorie frappe milkshake and all the crazy fancy coffee snobs made everything so

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freaking confusing? DoveTail has great first-wave style coffee: espresso-based drinks, plus baked goods that last more than three bites. They also host regular open mics; the dream of the ’90s is alive, at DoveTail.

Best Tea Room Detroit Bubble Tea 22821 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248239-1131; detroitbubbletea.com In 2014, Ferndale natives Arun Prasad and Alycia Courneya opened Detroit Bubble Tea and fans of the Boba tea, which kinda tastes like a smoothie, but is lower in calories and sugar, have made it a popular destination in the trendy neighborhood. No clue what Boba is? The staff at Detroit Bubble Tea is super friendly and eager to explain what the little black balls are in the bottom of the drinks (tapioca balls) and how you can customize your beverage to your own personal tastes. Best Juice Bar Drought See droughtjuice.com for locations This raw, cold-pressed juice business took off in 2011, run by five sisters with the last name James. Their juices gained popularity quickly due to their organic, fresh ingredients and sleek packaging. The business has grown to six locations stretching from Bloomfield Hills to Detroit. Best Bar Food Town Pump Tavern 100 W. Montcalm St., Detroit; 313-9611929; thetownpumptavern.com This Sean Harrington-owned bar in Foxtown serves up the kind of food that makes it easy to drink all day and night. Filling burgers, hand-tossed pizzas, traditional sandwiches, plates of loaded fries, and cheesy breadsticks fill up the menu. We recommend the Greek pizza, monster burger, and loaded Mexican fries. Oh — and don’t forget to order dessert! Best Pop-Up Restaurant Revolver 9737 Joseph Campau St., Hamtramck; 313-757-3093; revolverhamtramck.com Multicourse meals from visiting chefs are the driving force of this mainstay of the new foodie scene. In October 2013, Peter Dalinowski and Tunde Wey found a home for their concept in a former Thai restaurant in Hamtramck, and quickly began drawing diners from all over metro Detroit. Wey is no longer a part of the pop-up, and Revolver con-

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F EATURE tinues to be based in Hamtramck and puts on events in other locales, including Eastern Market.

Best Corned Beef Pat O’Briens 22385 E. 10 Mile Road., St. Clair Shores; 586-771-5715; pobtavern.com Corned beef isn’t on the regular menu at Pat O’Brien’s (unless you count the Reuben), so if you’re hankering for a taste of their award-winning sandwich, you’ll have to wait until it gets close to St. Patrick’s Day. Of course, you can stop in for their stellar whiskey selection all-year round. Best Romantic Restaurant in Oakland County Café Cortina 30715 W. 10 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills; 248-474-3033; cafecortina.com How does a sophisticated ristorante survive 40 years in a market glutted with Italian food? By consistently pursuing excellence: Not only has it been named one of America’s top restaurants by Zagat, earned restaurant of the year by Hour Detroit magazine, and received five stars from local critic Molly Abraham, but our readers singled it out for that romantic quality that only the best Italian restaurants provide. Best Romantic Restaurant in Wayne County Coach Insignia GM Renaissance Center, 71st and 72nd Floor, Detroit; 313-567-2622; coachinsigniadetroit.com Show that special someone how you feel in the largest rooftop restaurant. The menu has its share of eye-popping entrées (prosciutto-wrapped sturgeon with caramelized kumquats, pistachio pesto-crusted wild salmon, saffrondusted, pan-roasted snapper, etc.), but even a simple shared charcuterie board can help create that intimacy diners want, given the view on offer: That’s 700 feet up, where visibility can extend for 30 miles. Best Romantic Restaurant in Washtenaw County Logan 115 W. Washington St.; 734-327-2312; logan-restaurant.com Most of the dishes are approachably American, but prepared with exotic ingredients and preparations or French inflections that can put diners in a sensual mood. For instance, the New York strip doesn’t just come with a baked potato: It comes basted with butter and thyme, with sauteed spinach and dau-

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phine potatoes, braised cipollini onions and a wine, port, and veal reduction. Even the Texan wild boar gets braised in red wine and paired with handmade pappardelle pasta.

Best Romantic Restaurant in Macomb County Sapori Italian 6067 26 Mile Rd., Washington Township; 586-786-4674; saporirestaurant.com Sapori is based on an idea whose time has come: that authentic Italian food is simple and flavorful. That fare is one of the big draws for the restaurant, where everything is made from scratch and never frozen. In addition to the many pastas, steaks, chicken and veal dishes, and other classics, they offer a mix-andmatch option where you can choose among seven pastas topped with nine sauces. If that doesn’t spell romance, consider the martini lounge, the fireplace in the rear dining room, the candlelight, and, of course, the sensual desserts on offer. Best Shawarma Bucharest Grill See bucharestgrill.com for locations Bucharest started as an inexpensive Romanian eatery in the back of the Park Bar, serving loaded pitas to boozy patrons. Now, it’s a successful minichain, with locations in Corktown, Rivertown, and Milwaukee Junction. That growth can be credited in part to the subtle flavors of Bucharest’s handmade shawarma. It comes in beef, chicken, vegetarian (long distinguished by its quirky inclusion of mayo and fries), and, grandest of all, the Bucharest, with grilled marinated chicken. Best Saganaki Golden Fleece 525 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-962-7093 The Golden Fleece isn’t fancy, but it’s been a staple in Greektown for as long as we can remember. They carve meat off the spit before your eyes, the servers as sweet as pie, and there’s more Old World charm than you can shake a stick at. And that flaming cheese is exactly the traditional dish you come to love from an real-deal Greek diner. Best Cake Pops Serendipity 1752 Eureka Rd., Wyandotte; 734-9256238; cakedropsgalore.com What’s a cake pop? It’s a little cake on a stick, as if it were a lollipop. Or you can have them without the stick as “cake drops.” Owner Tammy Bachran tells

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F EATURE us they’re popular at weddings. They add a bit of butter cream to sheet cake batter, roll it into balls “almost like a truffle or a brownie,” and then dip them into white or milk chocolate, then add color-coordinated toppings. And Bachran sells more of them than you can shake a stick at.

a spicy fried chicken topped with pickles and buttermilk-dill dressing, a cauliflower-mushroom with au jus, a steak chimichurri, and a lobster salad on brioche with lettuce. Add to that a funky interior and a host of shareable small plates, and you’ve got a winning combination.

Best Raw Bar Tom’s Oyster Bar 318 S. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-541-1186; tomsoysterbar.com The “raw bar” in this case is the entire establishment, which has excelled at providing seafood for more than 20 years. During any given day of the week, Tom’s will have seven or eight different kinds of raw oysters, from Virginia, Massachusetts, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, even British Columbia. They’re sold by the oyster, each freshly shucked, by a staff that knows its seafood.

Best Sliders in Wayne County Joe’s Hamburgers 3041 Biddle Ave., Wyandotte; 734-2850420; joeshamburgers.net Owner Jeremy Sladovnik was inspired by the burger joints of his youth to create a shrine to the slider. That drove him to open Joe’s in 2009, where you can get a classic slider heaped with grilled onions for $1.49. The little guys get grander from there, topped with cheese, double-loaded, mushroomand-Swiss, a “super slider,” a jalapenoCajun, bacon-cheese, a “sticky slider” with bacon, cheese, and melted peanut butter, even a “cowboy slider” with barbecue sauce, cheese, and onion rings. Never did so much top something so little to please so many.

Best Fish & Chips Terry’s Terrace 36470 Jefferson Ave, Harrison Charter Township; 586-463-2671; terrytime.com The Macomb County restaurant has been racking up awards for its fish and chips for years, and it’s no surprise considering its chefs have worked in seafood houses since the days of Milroy’s. Terry’s takes handcut Atlantic cod and breads it with your choice of regular or beer batter and fries it up till it’s golden and delicious. Terry’s is also home to an impressive craft beer selection, which is perfect, since beer is the ultimate companion for a plate of fish and chips. Best Fries Republica 1999 Coolidge Hwy., Berkley; 248-2683175; republicaberkley.com Petro Drakopolous, the owner of Republica and the mastermind behind most of its dishes, plays up his Greek heritage in this dish he’s coined “Plato’s Potatoes.” Crisp, golden fries are tossed with fresh lemon juice, oregano, and feta cheese for a plate of fries that simply doesn’t need ketchup. Best Sliders in Oakland County Public House 241 W. Nine Mile Road., Ferndale; 248850-7420 Really, sliders are just a small part of the menu at Public House, but they are creative, sandwich-style riffs on the classic small burger: A burger made of brisket and ground round,

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Best Sliders in Washtenaw County Hunter House 609 E. William St., Ann Arbor; 734-3689592; hunterhousehamburgers.com This location of the venerable Birmingham burger stop opened just a few years ago, offering the same sort of enamel-steel diner fare that’s just a cut above. In addition to the grilled-onionladen sliders, there are shakes and malts from Calder’s Dairy. Best Sliders in Macomb County Seeburger Cheeseburgers 26756 Gratiot Ave., Roseville; 586-3628585; 71 N. Main St., Mount Clemens; 586-468-4200; seeburgerscheeseburgers. com Variety is clearly the path to slider supremacy. Seeburger offers sliders made with beef, turkey, chicken, Buffalo chicken, even Cajun salmon, sold by the dozen or half-dozen. Some of the more out-there varieties are made with larger, 5-ounce patties, such as the “Big Clem Burger,” a “super slider” made with two patties, American cheese, lettuce, Thousand Island dressing, and an onion ring. There’s another large patty selection called the “Fat Gratiot” that heaps on bacon, barbecue sauce, pepper jack cheese, and breaded, deepfried onions.

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F EATURE Best Reason to Bring Back Best Facebook Artist Charles Alexander You might know him from his weekly “Parting Glances” column in Between the Lines and his LGBT advocacy; from exhibitions at the Detroit Institute of Arts and The Scarab Club; for cover stories he’s written for Metro Times; or for his frequent position at the bar at Cass Cafe, perusing the tea chest. In recent years, lifelong artist and Cass Corridor resident Charles Alexander has created an average of one piece of his exquisite abstract art everyday and posted it on Facebook. “I work intuitively and rather quickly,” Alexander told Artwear Detroit of his line drawings and mixed media pieces. “I start with a geometric shape, a humorous or serious doodle, a fluid symbol fished from my subconscious, a newly minted hieroglyph or alphabet, sometimes a line expressive of energy and movement, and I proceed from there.” Alexander’s work brings color and culture to our Facebook feed everyday, and a smile to our face.

n “Arabesque with Haiku Voiceover,” a 9-by-12 mixed media piece posted on Facebook by Charles Alexander on April 20. Best Reason to Bring Back Streetcars What happened in the 60 years without them April marks the 60th anniversary of the final DSR streetcar to run down a Detroit thoroughfare. There were many reasons the streetcar largely disappeared from U.S. cities: inflation, labor costs, the automobile, popular attitudes, with an able assist from automaker propaganda. But streetcar systems weren’t scrapped everywhere.

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Many European cities did not get rid of their “tram” systems, and U.S. cities that didn’t pave over their rails never fell quite as far as Detroit did in the 1970s and 1980s. Our urban rail system was the circulatory system for the city. To remove it and to expect private cars to do the same quality of work seems to have contributed to our city’s decline. Perhaps our starter system downtown, scheduled to open in 2017, will be built into a real rapid transit system. We could use it again.

Best Detroit History Blog Detroit Urbanism detroiturbanism.blogspot.com Blogger Paul Sewick wrote the fascinating Corktown History blog while he lived in Corktown from 2005 to 2015, showing off his knack for turning questions about Corktown’s history into satisfying and readable accounts of what happened when. When Sewick moved to Farmington Hills last year, he wanted to expand the scope of his writing, hence Detroit Urbanism, a blog he says is “just a broader view of the same things that happened in Corktown, how Detroit set its shape, basically: anything that had to do with shaping the map of the region.” His scholarship has already produced blogs about lost Native American trails, burial mounds, and Judge Woodward’s fanciful plan for Detroit. Best Goodwill Ambassadors for Hamtramck The Hamtramck Power Rangers We tracked down Hamtramck’s power rangers earlier this year and met William Berry and Joseph Brooks, both 25, of Hamtramck. They’re huge fans of science fiction, martial arts, comics, and dressing up. And almost as soon as they go out in public in their getups, they’re scoring high-fives and selfies with anybody within eyeshot. “We’ve met so many people that have had the same love and affection for the Power Rangers,” Brooks says. “We’ve made so many friends along the way. We’ve run into so many people who love Power Rangers just as much as we do.” Is there any better place for this sort of fun than “The City of Friendship”? Best Local Artwork to Save Hamtramck Disneyland When Dmytro Szylak retired from General Motors in 1992, he began installing whirligigs and fanciful sculptures in his backyard. Over the years, they grew and became a massive, colorful attraction he

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BEST OF DETROIT were at the forefront of inquiry. But if you only had to hear one voice, that of Lindsey Smith at Michigan Radio would be the most important. The story highlighted Smith’s talent for taking a big story and cooking it down into something the average listener could understand. She also showed a great deal of skill dealing with the flacks for state government who disputed her coverage along the way. It just goes to show why we need plenty of inquiring, courageous journalists uncovering local issues for our public radio station.

Southwest Detroit, a new pile began to appear. But the people responsible had a soothing argument: It’s not pet coke — it’s “coke breeze.” Why should that make you feel better? Because a lawyer for the company storing it says coke breeze is entirely different than pet coke. Sure, there are a few passing similarities to what happened a few years ago, such as the way the dust blows off the piles into people’s homes. But it’s really, totally different. Why? Because it has a different name. Don’t you feel better already?

Best Donut Shop in the City Family Donut 11300 Conant St., Hamtramck; 313-3689214 This family doughnut shop has been on the corner of Caniff and Conant for 32 years, the last five of them owned by a Yemeni family. The owner says he still keeps the old classic recipes on the menu, such as the Romanian burek, another example of Hamtramck’s powerful polyculturalism. But you don’t need a degree in anthropology to appreciate what they box up for you. Plus the price is right: a dozen doughnuts for less than $8, all of them wonderful.

Best Journalist Who Worked at Metro Times Curt Guyette Since his departure from Metro Times, Curt Guyette has been on a roll at the ACLU of Michigan: uncovering what’s happening in Michigan thanks to the state’s emergency manager law. He has alerted us to how the Education Achievement Authority became a testing ground for software companies, how emergency managers have driven DPS ever deeper into debt, and more. But his work over the last year exposing why Flint switched to the Flint River as its water source, and what happened afterward, have catapulted him into the national spotlight and convinced the Michigan Press Association to name him Journalist of the Year. We couldn’t agree more.

Best One-Man Neighborhood Watch Jonathan Pommerville As we reported in a cover story last year, Brightmoor resident Jonathan Pommerville launched a one-man crusade to expose the people dumping on his hard-hit west side neighborhood. Armed with only a video camera, he has used his YouTube channel to try to shame the johns, prostitutes, dumpers, scrappers, and drug users who treat Brightmoor as a playground, and he wound up garnering the attention of local TV news. That has put Pommerville in a position to organize with his neighbors like never before, allowing him to take his activism to a new level. Best Comeuppance Charles Pugh It has been a long road down for disgraced former Detroit City Councilman Charles Pugh. We initially liked Pugh when he ran for council. We took him at his word when he promised to usher in a new era of civility and professionalism on the council. But power seemed to bring out a petty and confrontational streak in him. Critics charged that, as council president, Pugh was responsible for violating open meetings laws, and he seemed eager to declare war over tiny slights any seasoned public official would brush off. In the end, he was undone by charges he offered to pay a Detroit Public Schools student intern for a sex tape. Pugh was hit with a $250,000 judgment, which will take some time to work off in his capacity as a restaurant manager in New York City. Finally, last year, his pre-recorded deposition over the teen sex scandal, Pugh offered a mealy mouthed apology: “I am embarrassed, and I am regretful for what happened.” With good reason: Pugh has given homophobes a potent example of somebody who let his sexuality get in the way of professional conduct in dealing with children.

Best Radio Journalist of the Year Lindsey Smith, Michigan Radio If you relied on public radio for all your news about the Flint water crisis, you’d be well-informed: In the media dogpile touched off late last year, radio journalists

Best Environmental Marketing Gimmick Coke breeze Just a few years after community anger had prompted the removal of a massive pile of “pet coke” from the riverfront near

eral Motors in 1992, he began installing whirligigs and fanciful sculptures in his backyard. Over the years, they grew and became a massive, colorful attraction he called “Hamtramck Disneyland.” But since Szylak died at 92 in May 2015, the future of the artwork has been in a sort of limbo. A group of Hamtramck residents, including Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski, writer Walter Wasacz, Chris Schneider, and others, had been working with the new property owner to try to work out a plan whereby the mammoth artwork can be preserved. Those efforts haven’t paid off yet, but they continue, and may even involved heavy-hitting nonprofits dedicated to preserving folk art. Anybody interested in helping should see the SAVE Hamtramck Disneyland page on Facebook.

Best Muslim-Majority City Council Hamtramck City Council This year, we took a warts-and-all look at Hamtramck’s Muslim-majority city council. With right-wing bloggers and news media in high dudgeon over the election results, we talked to the locals, the mayor, and council members who’d been bombarded by phone calls from around the world. What did we find? A small-town city council much like other city councils, full of bickering, dissent, and not-readyfor-prime-time politics. But everybody involved seemed to be serious about leaving religion out of government, and hopeful about the little city’s future. In a category built for one, they’re still good enough to merit mention.

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Best Self-Destruction of a Hypocrite Politician Todd Courser The story was so bizarre that it wouldn’t have been believed without an audio recording confirming it: Knowing that his heterosexual affair with fellow Tea Party legislator Cindy Gamrat was bound to be revealed, homophobic, holy-rolling state Rep. Todd Courser hatched a wild scheme to circulate an email alleging that he was a bisexual cruiser who was spotted having gay sex behind a Lansing bar. He tried to convince an aide to help move the ruse forward, believing that his God-fearing followers would surely be pleased to learn that it was all a lie, and that all Courser was doing was diddling fellow Cindy Gamrat. (Makes sense, huh?) It became a glorious farce that ended with two antigay politicians’ careers going down in gorgeous, rainbow-colored flames. Best Bid on the Packard Banksy $137,500 The image has by now become iconic: a 1,500-pound section of cinderblock and concrete from the Packard Plant depicting a child with a paintbrush next to the words: “I remember when all this was trees.” When the 555 Gallery crew hauled it out of the hulking building in 2010, they initially claimed they hoped to preserve it. Turns out the street art world frowns on people taking possession of street art, especially if they want to sell it. Some

experts said the piece could sell for as much as $1 million. The tony Los Angeles auction house putting it on the block said $400,000. In the end, after all the controversy, the section of wall sold for less than $140,000, and the gallery pocketed even less.

Best Example of a Community Coming Together to Solve a Problem Hamtramck Guerrilla Road Crew Residents of Hamtramck have faced some unusually bumpy roads last year. Reports said a contracting snafu meant the city had to discontinue the filling of potholes. That left Hamtramck in a lurch, until the Hamtramck Guerrilla Road Crew came onto the scene. With seed money of $120, and a willing group of a half-dozen volunteers, the group started filling the holes in July, working with the city government so no toes were stepped on. The unusual turn of events lit up news media across the region (and libertarian bloggers across the country). Best Business Expansion to Oppose US Ecology’s plan to expand its toxic waste facility in Detroit US Ecology, a hazardous waste facility on Detroit’s east side, wants to enlarge its operation tenfold. The facility’s new license would “allow it to increase hazardous waste storage there in tanks and containers from 64,000 gallons to nearly 666,000 gallons.” The facility is a half-mile from the densest urban area in Michigan: Hamtramck. It’s also located less than a mile from several churches and mosques, about a quarter-mile from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, and less than 1,500 feet from Crockett High School. All around, we’ve got a bad feeling about this. Best Place for Kids to Learn About Life Through Boxing Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program 6445 E. Vernor Hwy., Detroit; 313-209-3029; downtownyouthboxing.org In a converted book bindery on the east side of Detroit, any given weekday you’ll find dozens of young people gathered around two boxing rings, where fighters are being coached in the sweet science. But the facility, which opened last year, is no ordinary boxing gym. It’s the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, a nonprofit after-school activity where the rigors of boxing go hand in hand with training young minds. Thanks to fundraising whiz Jessica Hauser and “Coach Khali,” young people have someplace to go after school, provided they hit the books as hard as the bags.

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n Andy Ludwig, Bell’s Brewery field sales representative for Southeast Michigan, left, with a Tribe Celtic, and Christian Jurado, right, brand manager and beer buyer for Ashley’s, with a Linus Roadster. Both bikes from the Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop. Photo by Dustin Blitchok. Best Bar in Oakland County Fifth Avenue 215 Fifth St., Royal Oak; 248-629-9423; fifthavenueroyaloak.com This Royal Oak bar is not a newcomer to our Best Of Detroit list. Our readers designated it the “Best Place to Celebrate Your 21st Birthday” last year, and this year, they told us, “wait, that’s not all.” Turns out, Fifth Avenue is virtually a one-stop shop when it comes to Oakland County nightlife — there’s more than 40

HDTVs for watching your sports team of choice, a huge dance floor, and a great menu to boot. Plus, it’s one of the few spots that offers two floors to see and be seen. Fans of Fifth Avenue love that they don’t have to travel to a big city to get a taste of its nightlife.

Best Bar in Macomb County Art & Jakes See artjakes.com for locations With three locations, it’s clear Macomb

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County loves this family-friendly sports bar. The Trpcevski family has owned Art & Jake’s, with its flagship location at Shelby and Mound in Utica, since 2001, and its fanbase has grown ever since. Whether you just want to watch the game or catch up with an old friend — this place has the Cheers vibe down pat — you’ll be happy. Plus, the menu goes way beyond burgers and beer. Pro tip: check out their cevapi. You won’t be sorry.

Best Bar in Wayne County Old Shillelagh 349 Monroe Ave, Detroit; 313-964-0007; oldshillelagh.com This Motor City staple was opened in the 1970s by a retired Detroit police officer who was raised in Dublin, and it’s since become cemented in the city’s drinking tradition. Seemingly everyone has a tale about a night at the three-story Celtic funhouse, which is often described as a “can of Pringles … you can’t have just

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ROAK. Photo provided by the brewery.

Best Bar in Washtenaw County The Wurst Bar 705 W. Cross St., Ypsilanti; 734-485-6720; wurstbarypsi.com Yes, it’s a total sausagefest. Since 2012, what first sounded like a clever conceit — beer and sausage — has become a habitual MT Best Bar winner. The Wurst’s beer list is crowded with the best brews from Europe, the United States, and Michigan, all paired with outstanding sausage: spicy rattlesnake chorizo, bison-and-lamb merguez, and alligatorand-crawfish boudin. Best New Bar in Oakland County Strada 376 N. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-607-3127; stradaroyaloak.com What does it take to be the best in glitzy Oakland County? This year’s formula seems to be a sophisticated small plates spin on Italian fare, a no-expense-spared décor that includes an original 1920s chandelier from the Book Cadillac Hotel, an Italian wine selection, and a balanced seasonal cocktail menu and special menus for apéritifs and digestifs. Best New Bar in Wayne County Standby 225 Gratiot Ave., Detroit; 313-736-5533; standbydetroit.com Situated on the edge of the street artfestooned Belt Alley is downtown’s newest and most exciting bar and restaurant. When you’ve had one of the many exquisitely crafted cocktails here designed by the showman bartenders, or one of chef Brendon Edwards’ stellar small plates or entrees, you’ll quickly realize why the spot gets jam packed each and every night. Top it off with a super sexy interior, and it’s really no surprise that Standby has fast become a favorite. Best New Bar in Washtenaw County Ypsi Alehouse 124 Pearl St., Ypsilanti; 734-487-1555; ypsialehouse.com The interior is modern, the food includes brisket and ribs, and the location is a stone’s throw from hip eateries and breakfast spots. The beer is especially interesting: Mishigama is the Japanesesounding brew created by Michigan craft beer pioneer Ted Bagerow. All put together, it earned the Alehouse the nod

for Washtenaw County’s best new bar this year.

Best New Bar in Macomb County Tilted Kilt See tiltedkilt.com for locations Since first opening in 2003, the Tilted Kilt has grown into a national Celticthemed sports bar chain with three locations in Michigan, opening its Sterling Heights location in the beginning of 2015. The waitresses are buxom babes, and that’s reflected in the cheeky name of some menu items, such as “Sadie’s Stuffed Breasts,” “the Big Rack,” and the “Double D Burger.” Best Dance Club in the Suburbs Luna 1815 N. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-298-6875; lunaroyaloak.com Heads-up: Last year, Luna was voted Best Bar for Hook-Ups in Oakland County by our readers. It remains a popular spot, and people do get dressed up nice to go out here, plus the drink specials are great deals. So it might still be the place to meet your next fling. But it’s also a terrific spot to lose yourself on the dance floor. Whether you also find yourself in the arms of a new friend is all up to you, honey. Best New Dance Club Populux 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700 populuxdetroit.com The spot once known as the Magic Stick

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is bright, shiny, loud, and exhilarating, with a first-class sound system and dance floor lighting. It’s hard to think of a better place to catch a national act or celebrate a major occasion with a group of friends, whether it’s a 21st birthday or a bachelor or bachelorette party. The outdoor deck is great on a summer evening too. This impeccably designed club is your own personal pleasure palace — all you have to do is show up.

Best Electronic Music Club in Detroit TV Lounge 2548 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 313-965-4789 Unpretentious, large, and always fun, it’s no surprise that many of the most indemand after-parties during each year’s Movement festival take place here. TV Lounge is always pretty packed because it’s a place you always know you’re going to get a terrific sound system, excellent talent, and a terrific and friendly environment to dance and unwind in. It’s not in any way douchebaggy or filled with the bridge and tunnel crowd. TV Lounge is the real deal and has earned the loyalty of Detroiters serious about the music. We wish it decades of success. Best Electronic Music Club in the Suburbs Elektricity 15 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac; 248-599-2212; elektricitymusic.com You can always catch great dance music

played through a state-of-the-art system at Pontiac’s favorite place to have a tremendous night out on the town. This club, in the space formerly occupied by the legendary Industry, brings the special effects-laden noise of EDM into a well-designed and classy environment, and some of the world’s hottest acts come through the heart of the dance floor here — the DJ booth.

Best Sports Bar in Oakland County CJ Mahoney’s Sports Bar & Grille 2511 Livernois Rd., Troy; 248-273-4600; cjmahoneystroy.com Imagine TVs: TVs everywhere. A dozen more more TVs in the dining area, as well as two 80-inch plasma screens, and individual TVs in each booth. The games don’t stop on the screen: There are pool tables, Golden Tee, electronic basketball, Big Buck Shooter, Keno, and a dance floor. There’s an extensive menu of grand bar fare, including a gluten-free section, and drink specials to wash them down with, perhaps on the outdoor patio. Best Sports Bar in Wayne County Pappy’s Sports Bar & Grill 517 Monroe St., Detroit; 313-983-4000; pappysdetroit.com Tucked away on Monroe in Greektown, Pappy’s is a cozy sports bar that still manages to cram in seven televisions. Within a few blocks of both Comerica Park and Ford Field, it’s a good place to watch games or enjoy drinks before

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Best Sports Bar in Washtenaw County Arena Sports 203 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor; 734-2229999; thearena-a2.com This place has it all. Arena has 22 TV screens, four of them high-def, even two in the restrooms. There are more screens, too: Internet-ready jukebox, Golden Tee, Megatouch, and even physical games like billiards and darts. Add 24 taps of draft beer and you have the making of a champ. Best Sports Bar in Macomb County Hamlin Pub See hamlinpubs.com for locations The fact that Hamlin Pub is a is a successful mini-chain of local sports pubs should tell you something. They credit their combination of ice-cold beer, topnotch entertainment, and food so good they cater, all in a comfortable setting. Best Wine Bar Cork 23810 Woodward Ave., Pleasant Ridge; corkwinepub.org Sure, Cork has a great wine selection, but that’s not even the best part about this pub. The atmosphere and decor are warm and inviting, the staff is friendly, the brunch is delicious, and we’re in love with their Bloody Mary bar. They also host regular events, such as the Tuesday wine tastings and Happy Hour. Best Rooftop Bar Exodos 529 Monroe Ave., Detroit; exodosrooftop.com Featuring dark wood floors and clay brick wall, Exodos is cozy, no doubt. But the real attraction for this Greektown establishment is its al fresco lounge. Outfitted in whitewashed wood, the patio features bench seating and a bar and is generally filled with good-looking people with great hair drinking beer. Before you head there, remember there’s a dress code. As co-owner Yanni Dionisopoulos once told us, “If it was on the Jersey Shore, it’s not coming through the door!” Best Bar on the Water Brownie’s on the Lake 24214 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores; 586445-8080; browniesonthelake.com It’s only natural a restaurant in St. Clair Shores would win honors for its patio, given the way establishments on the Nautical Mile are right on the water.

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Brownies has water access in spades too. You can boat right up to the finger piers and walk onto the patio, which is a nice one. It has a bar, seats 120, and has some tables where you could fish from your seat if you wanted. Amenities include umbrellas and heat lamps, and often a band or a DJ.

Best Irish Pub O’Connor’s Public House 324 S. Main St., Rochester; 248-608-2537 An authentic Irish pub based in Rochester’s adorable downtown, O’Connors is a great place to go if you want a craft beer, cocktails, or some traditional Irish food. Irish poutine, anyone? Keep this bar in mind for next year’s St. Paddy’s Day — it’s known for throwing the biggest party in all of Oakland County! Best Old-School Bar Jukebox Gusoline Alley 309 S. Center St., Royal Oak; 248-545-2235 Royal Oak changes, but Gus’s stays the same. Except for the lack of cigarette smoke and the wealth of Michigan brews on tap, it could still be 1984, the year the place opened. The bar’s staying power is largely due to the hard work of many, including co-owner Barbara Stone and manager Sue Burrows, who calls it “the only place that has any true character in Royal Oak — and characters!” As for that old-school juke, the songs are mostly selected by barkeep Patrick Tierney, who has worked at Gus’s for an amazing 26 years. Best Happy Hour for Drinks in Oakland County Blackfinn 530 S. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-582-9460; blackfinnameripub.com/royaloak Our readers rated it the Best Pick-Up Bar in 2009 and the Best Bar to Meet Someone in 2011. Apparently, all those people are officially hooked up, because it’s the happy hour that put Blackfinn up on the board this year. The high-energy bar and restaurant offers affordable American food and plenty of choices of drink to wash it down. Happy hours are 3-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, with $3 domestic beers, $4 Michigan drafts and well drinks, $5 house wines, and more. Best Happy Hour for Drinks in Wayne County Roast 1128 Washington Blvd, Detroit; 313-9612500; roastdetroit.com Michael Symon’s Roast has been an understated elegant dining and drinking destination since 2008. It’s the kind of place where harried jetsetters and

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locals alike can unwind in style during one of the most celebrated happy hours in town. From 4 p.m.-6:30 p.m., there’s plenty to nosh on at the bar, and what better to pair with chef-inspired bar food than drinks. With half off the bar menu, wines and beers for $4, and well cocktails for $5, it’s the winning combo after work.

Best Happy Hour for Drinks in Washtenaw County The Ravens Club 207 S. Main St. Ann Arbor; 734-214-0400; theravensclub.com The smart, speakeasy-style spot marries choice craft cocktails with a farm-totable lineup on the menu. The best part: Ravens Club places five of its top-selling cocktails on its happy hour menu, along with draft beers and five small plate selections – all for $4. All of this makes The Ravens Club a solid choice for our readers for Best Happy Hour for Drinks in Washtenaw County. Best Happy Hour for Drinks in Macomb County Dooley’s See dooleysirish.com for locations

Standby. Photo by Scott Spellman.

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It’s a bar-and-grill empire! With locations in three Macomb County cities, every Dooley’s does things a bit differently. Happy hour is 4-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday in Sterling Heights and Mount Clemens, but in Roseville, happy hour is 11 a.m.-8 a.m. every day. That’s nine hours of happiness, including dollar Budweisers until 4 p.m.

ant family-run vibe, the small but welcome parking lot, the commodious room in back for large gatherings. They always add a little something special, such as the tray of pickles and other trimmings you get with your burger. Another draw, at least for the time being, is its proximity to the puck, which helps pack the Wing-nuts in. A Motor City classic.

Highly capable bartenders? Stellar memorabilia? Shuttles to and from the game? A bar filled with other insane people ready to get super rowdy and cheer at the top of their lungs throughout the entire game, if not beyond (especially if it’s the beloved Pistons, of course)? You have discovered an authentic sports person’s paradise on earth, right here.

Best Bar Before a Tigers Game Bookies 2208 Cass Ave., Detroit; 313-962-0319; bookiesbar.com Want to drink and dine al fresco style before hitting Comerica Park? Bookies is the best place to get a rooftop seat, a filling sandwich, and a cold beer before strolling a few short blocks to catch a game. The now 12-year-old bar also has plenty of seating indoors, including their main floor dining room and a VIP lounge.

Best Bar Before a Lions Game Hockeytown Cafe 2301 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-471-3400 hockeytowncafe.com If Hockeytown Cafe isn’t a Detroit staple, we don’t know what is. While the bar may seem like a Red Wings hangout (and yes, it is) it’s also the place to go when you’re heading to a football game. There’s an awesome beer selection — everything from Budweiser and Miller Lite to Griffin Claw and Bell’s Oberon — and generally chill vibes at this familyfriendly joint. Don’t forget to check out the deck during the summer months.

Best Comedy Club Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle 310 S. Troy St., Royal Oak; 248-542-9900; comedycastle.com Sometimes you need more than an expertly used GIF to get you laughing out loud, and when you need something IRL to get you ROFL, we’re lucky to have Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle. For the past 20 years, the joint’s been providing the best stand-up comedy the Detroit area has to offer. Plus, it’s featured the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jon Stewart, making it a destination for funny people on the rise.

Best Bar Before a Pistons Game Ciccarelli’s Sports Bar 3880 Lapeer Rd., Auburn Hills; 248-3708909; ciccarellis-22-sports-bar.com

Best Karaoke Bar Inn Place 917 N. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-547-6051 This cozy Royal Oak joint is a local

Best Bar Before a Red Wings Game Anchor Bar 450 W. Fort St., Detroit; 313-964-9127 This bar has a lot going for it: the memorabilia on the walls, the history of being a bar for Detroit’s journalists, the pleas-

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hangout for sure, but the major draw is the raucous and fun karaoke. The song selection is expansive and the people who attend are generally supportive. It’s the kind of place you’ll want to while away the hours — and you can. “They don’t do last call early,” patron Ashley Marie writes on the bar’s Facebook page. “They have a great jukebox. The staff is also very friendly!” Sounds good to us.

Best Lesbian Bar GiGi’s 16920 W. Warren Ave., Detroit; 313-5846525; facebook.com/gigisgaybar Whether you feel like being a karaoke rock star or a dancing queen, GiGi’s has what you need. The no-fuss spot is popular across the LGBT community and has been a staple in the city since 1973. Best Bar for Classic Cocktails Firebird Tavern 419 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-782-4189; firebirdtavern.com Slightly off the beaten path of Greektown, the Firebird rightly takes its symbolism from Detroit’s rise-fromthe-ashes heritage. The stylish old dark wood fixtures and natural brick walls

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Three Blind Mice. Photo by John Tavernier.

give it a historic feel, making it just about the perfect place for a cocktail, so what you throw back will be a glorious throwback too.

pinball machines, brass elephants on the bar, and live music weren’t enough, check out the paradise that is the back yard on a sunny day.

Best Bar to Celebrate Your 21st O’Tooles 205 W. Fifth Ave., Royal Oak; 248-591-9226 otoolespubs.com Let’s start with the obvious. O’Tooles is in Royal Oak, which is pretty much the best city to turn 21 in — bar central, amirite? But O’Tooles stands out as a solid place to get wasted legally for the first time. A casual public house with an Irish-American bar menu, O’Tooles is part shitshow (we mean this in the best way) with its party vibes and part sophisticated gathering spot with its stone fireplaces. In other words, this is the perfect place to make your official transition into adulthood.

Best Dive Bar in Macomb County Jamboozies Sports Bar & Grill 42066 Van Dyke Ave., Sterling Heights; 586-731-2000 Dive bars don’t usually have as much going for them as Jamboozies, but in Macomb County’s competitive drinking scene, it’s best to offer it all: bartenders who’ll happily pour you one of the Michigan brews flowing on tap or mix you up a martini. There are 15 TVs tuned in to sports, making it a great place to keep one eye on the game, and there’s a whole game room full of $1 pool tables and more TVs. Weekends offer live bands and DJs, there’s karaoke Sunday nights, prime rib Fridays for lunch and dinner, Mexican fare on Taco Tuesdays, and more.

Best Dive Bar in Oakland County Danny’s Irish Pub 22824 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-5468331 A Ferndale mainstay for 30 years, Danny’s is a refreshingly straightforward “beer and shot” neighborhood hangout. The food is straight-ahead too, with a menu of classic American bar fare. It draws a good mix of folks, especially after work. Is that “divey”? If that means a bar without pretensions, then “divey” it is. Best Dive Bar in Wayne County Old Miami 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; 313-831-3830 Dive bars provide a link to the past you just can’t get from a squeaky-clean white box. But few bars have the history lacquered on as thickly as the Old Miami. Adorned with memorabilia from the Vietnam War from its days as a vets bar (“Miami” = Missing in Action Michigan), it’s also loaded with more Detroit memorabilia than you can shake a coney dog at. And if the comfy couches,

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Best Dive Bar in Washtenaw County Tap Room Ypsi 201 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti; 734-4825320; taproomypsi.com In the sea of enjoyable bars in Ypsilanti, the Tap Room is a perennial reader favorite. The downtown bar maintains a down-and-dirty atmosphere, with affordable drinks served by a friendly staff. The menu goes beyond typical bar fare, with many burger, sandwich and Mexican choices to go with the Tap Room’s daily drink specials. Best Open Mic Night Dino’s Lounge 22740 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-5913466; dinoslounge.com What makes for a great open mic night? Is it the quality of the performers? The ambience of the hosting venue? None of that hurts. But a supportive and savvy audience is just as crucial, and this is why our readers voted DAMN Tuesday

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Acoustic Open Mic at Dino’s Lounge in Ferndale the best in town.

Best Cigar Bar Churchill’s Cigar Bar 116 S. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham; 248-647-4555; churchillscigarbar.com A classy joint with a fantastic cigar selection, Churchill’s is where you go when you want to try cigars for the first time or the 100th time. They’re accommodating for newbies and aficionados alike. Where else can you sample Maker’s Mark bourbon and a Maker’s Mark cigar? What?! According to the bar, this smokey treat is “handmade just like the bourbon.” Best Draft Selection in Oakland County Clubhouse BFD 2265 Crooks Rd., Rochester Hills; 248-2896093; chbfd.com Seriously, this place really is kind of a Big Freakin’ Deal. BFD’s parking lot is usually jammed up by 7 p.m. on a weeknight, and the interior is filled to capac-

Punch Bowl Social. Courtesy photo.

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ity with couples, families, and just plain people enjoying beer. On a warm night, the action spills out onto the patio, where exurbanites wash down a menu of comfort food with whatever ambrosia is flowing from the impressive taps.

Best Draft Selection in Wayne County HopCat 4265 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-7698828; hopcat.com/detroit We sometimes tease people from the west side of the state for their politics, but we forgive them for their beer. As if to return the favor, the good people of Grand Rapidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; HopCat plunked down a two-story, 130-tap, 12,000-square-foot temple to beer right on our main drag. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll surely be packing in worshippers of the wort in their tasting room, the Huma Room, and on the outdoor second-story patio all summer long. Best Draft Selection in Macomb County Brown Iron Brewhouse 57695 Van Dyke Ave., Washington;

Sabrage. Photo courtesy of Near Perfect Media.

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F EATURE 586-697-3300; browniron.com This place has a whopping 66 taps that feature solely American-made craft beer, with a huge focus on brews made right here in Michigan. Their current draft list includes a largeselection of Right Brain beers, plus Bell’s, Founder’s, Griffin Claw, Short’s, New Holland, Perrin, Rochester Mills, Railtown, Dragonmead, Atwater, and more. Their national offerings include New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island, Evil Twin, and Green Flash. The brewhouse is fashioned after a turn-of-the-century factory and outfitted with authentic German beer garden tables that give this place rustic feel.

Best Draft Selection in Washtenaw County Ashley’s 338 S. State St, Ann Arbor; 734-996-9191; ashleys.com The draft list at Ashley’s in Ann Arbor seems to be never-ending. The place has more than 60 taps filled with both Michigan-made craft drafts and those from around the world. They’ve got Bell’s Consecrator Dopplebock, Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree, Dragonmead Final Absolution, Founder’s Dirty Bastard, Griffin Claw Flying Buffalo, New Holland Full Circle Kolsh, Jolly Pumpkin Innovator Man, Great Lakes Eliot Ness, St. Bernardus ABT 12, Chimay Triple — you get the picture. A legendary Ann Arbor and University of Michigan bar. Best Selection of Bottled Beer in Oakland County One-Eyed Betty’s 175 W. Troy St., Ferndale; 248-808-6633; oneeyedbettys.com Betty’s has been a hit since it first opened, with its meaty menu (which includes “bacon with a side of bacon”), dozens of taps, and stylish interior. But the selection of bottled beer shines in its own right: from Arcadia Cocoa Loco to Wolverine Grand Cruz, from a 4 percent ABV Perrin Gilda’s Cherry Ale to a 14.6 percent ABV Boulevard Rye-on-Rye, this is a must-visit for the serious beer lover. Best Selection of Bottled Beer in Wayne County Ye Olde Tap Room 14915 Charlevoix St., Detroit; 313-824-1030; yeoldetaproom.com Sure, Ye Olde Tap Room has a great selection of single-malt Scotch, and it’s loaded with history, having been a blind pig, a barbershop, and the home of the Union Homing Club, a pigeon racing organization. But most people come for the beer. Decorated with tap handles and beer labels, the bar serves hundreds

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of beers, about 300 to be specific, from almost two dozen countries on four continents. Stop in for a cool, relaxed happy hour in the city’s far eastern corner.

Best Selection of Bottled Beer in Washtenaw County The Beer Grotto 303 S. Ashley St., Ann Arbor; 734-3694212; 8059 Main St., Dexter; 734-253-2356; beergrotto.com The Ann Arbor location looks more like a coffeehouse than a pub, with natural wood and brick, and scattered tables among a few barrels. But a steady clientele of young adults comes into the space seeking a good beer or wine buzz. And there’s extra appeal behind the Grotto’s motto, “Taste it, love it, tote it,” as you can take growlers to go. Best Selection of Bottled Beer in Macomb County Three Blind Mice 101 N. Main St., Mount Clemens; 586-9616371; threeblindmiceirishpub.com It’s an Irish pub with a wood-paneled bar and a plethora of TVs to watch the game. TBM features more than 250 bottles of beer ranging from the typical to dependable imports to the unusual, such as Belgian witbiers like Wittekerke, malty double bocks like Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, and even unusual Michigan brews like Cranker’s Bulldog Red. If you tried a different bottle every half-hour and never went to sleep, it would take you more than five days to get through all the beers at Three Blind Mice. Best Patio for Drinking in Oakland County Imperial 22828 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-8508060; imperialferndale.com Like bugs to a mosquito zapper, we’re drawn to Imperial’s fresh, simple take on tacos, chips and salsa, hot dogs, and margaritas, all behind a clean, modern design with a mix of bar seating, booths, and communal tables. In the summer months, the restaurant’s back patio provides an opportunity to drink tequila cocktails such as the habanero-infused Ring of Fire or one of dozens of bottled beers al fresco. Best Patio for Drinking in Wayne County Northern Lights Lounge 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; 313-873-1739; northernlightslounge.com About a decade before it became a thing to turn a nondescript city building into a stylish tavern, Northern Lights was here.

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F EATURE This moody, atmospheric bar has it all: a vintage ambience, live entertainment, cozy booths, and a bustling bar with a good mix of drinkers. Additions over the last few years include an open kitchen on weekends and an appealing outdoor lounge. This is only the second year that the patio, formerly a parking lot, has beckoned al fresco diners. The brickpaved outdoor space seats 150, with trees and umbrellas for shade, and will be open when the weather breaks.

You’re surrounded by your squad of nerdy friends, there is lots of beer to go around, and a giant pizza to share. Geeks Who Drink is revolutionizing the way we all play team trivia at bars. There are themed nights if you want more specific competition, and just normal geeky trivia. There are trivia nights at several Detroit bars, including Punch Bowl Social on Monday nights, HopCat on Wednesday nights, and B. Nektar Meadery on Thursdays.

Best Patio for Drinking in Macomb County Madison’s Pub 15 N. Walnut St., Mt Clemens; 586-4687777; madisonspubmtclemens.com Double your patio pleasure at this Mount Clemens bar and club. The twostory outdoor area features a full bar, an outdoor fire pit with built-in seating, live music, and an unfettered view of the city’s downtown. Sip cocktails at an umbrella-topped table during a warm summer afternoon and party it up on a Friday or Saturday night, when the place’s atmosphere becomes decidedly more clubby.

Best Cocktail Lounge The Keep 140 Cadillac Square; 313-223-2626 Our readers may be familiar with the Keep. For months, it was the project of mustachioed bartender Evan Dawber, who cultivated his love of the cocktail in a Harmonie Park basement until he found a wonderful, eclectic spot with a patio and a basement in Cadillac Square. Dawber has moved on, but the bar still beckons downtown drinkers who want everything from a craft creation chosen from the chalkboard to tequila shots to a classic beverage like the Aviation.

Best Patio for Drinking in Washtenaw County Cafe Felix 204 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; 734-662-8650; cafefelix.com This Ann Arbor cafe has a decidedly European feel that spans from the food to the ambiance to the gorgeous patio that sits outfront. Dine al fresco on glass tables and rattan chairs while noshing on the French-inspired menu. Since the bistro is situated on Main Street, right in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor, you can believe that this a great place to do some serious people watching. Best Day Drinking Hideout 1110 W. 14 Mile Rd., Clawson; 248-435-2494; hideoutclawson.com For years, the Hideout was a dark bar where you could drink in the shadows. No longer. After a series of renovations, Hideout is now a bright wonderland for any party reveler no matter the time of day. Owner Reef Palaj gutted the interior and installed brand-new flooring, seating, and a back bar with the hopes of making the space brighter and more spacious. This is a place to not only visit at night but to really enjoy in the afternoon as well. Best Trivia Night Geeks Who Drink Everyone loves a good trivia night.

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Best Whiskey Selection Butter Run Saloon 27626 Harper Ave., St. Clair Shores; 586675-2115; butterrun.com Thrillist named this place one of the 21 best whiskey bars in the country, so we’re not surprised our readers understand the value of this St. Clair Shores saloon. The whiskey list is enormous, and they carry the much-coveted Pappy Van Winkle 15-, 20-, and 23-year, plus they have their own blend of Angel’s Envy. Best Country Bar Coyote Joe’s 49440 Ryan Rd, Shelby Township; 586-2544666 Open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Coyote Joe’s has a multitude of specials, like $2 drafts. Because it’s both a country hangout and a nightclub, Coyote Joe’s plays a mix of country tunes and top 40 hits. Best Arcade Dave & Buster’s See daveandbusters.com for locations There are two Dave & Buster’s in Michigan, and both are conveniently close to Detroit (Utica and Livonia). To say the arcade is a blast would be an understatement. From classics like Pop-A-Shot, Pac-Man, and Skeeball to newer games like Million Dollar Midway, D&B has offerings for all ages and will keep you entertained for hours.

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F EATURE Best Place for People-Watching Punch Bowl Social 1331 Broadway St., Detroit; 313-749-9738 punchbowlsocial.com The upscale, healthier version of bar food may be the selling point of Punch Bowl Social, but we’re all about the peoplewatching in this hip downtown establishment. From athletes and sports fans to Quicken interns and just your average Joe and Joettes, this place has an eclectic and wide following. Best Female Bartender Frankie at Delux 350 Monroe Ave., Detroit; 313-962-4200; deluxlounge.com If you don’t recognize Frankie’s name, or even her face, chances are you’ll know her by her boobs. The busty bartender isn’t afraid to show off the goods, which we’re sure brings in quite a bit of dough inside the Greektown bar where she’s worked for more than six years. She even instituted “Tittie Tuesdays,” when she serves up cheap beer and shots. We’re still not sure what cheap beer and whiskey has to do with titties — except that they’re loved by all! Best Male Bartender Joe Rob at Standby 225 Gratiot Ave., Detroit; 313-736-5533;

BEST OF DETROIT standbydetroit.com Before he joined forces with chef Brendon Edwards to found downtown’s Standby, we knew magical things could happen when Joe Rob was behind the bar. We helped judge a cocktail contest a few years ago and Rob won handily. Sure, Rob can make your classic cocktails, but he loves the freedom to be creative. And at Standby, drinkers can sample dozens of his creations, made with whiskey, rum, agave, gin, and more.

Best Night Out Fowling Warehouse 3901 Christopher St., Detroit; 313-264-1288; whatsfowling.com Want a good time? Try fowling (FOALing). What is it? It’s one man’s mad dream to combine the sports of football and bowling. That man’s name is Chris Hutt, and he’s been packing them in for more than a year now at his massive, 34,000-squarefoot space on the border of Hamtramck. Equipped with a bar, a lounge, a stage, and a 40,000-watt sound system, it’s the perfect place to hurl pigskins at tenpins with your friends. Best Bar Décor Wright & Company 1500 Woodward Ave., Floor Two, Detroit; 313-962-7711; wrightdetroit.com

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From the moment diners step off the elevator into Wright & Co.’s second-floor space, the ambiance screams “Chicago!” Opened in the historic Wright-Kay Building in 2014, the gastropub has a long, narrow, dining area with a spectacular tin ceiling and tall window views of the Woodward and John R intersection, with a vibe unique among Detroit restaurants. In addition to the shareable plates and craft cocktails, Wright & Co. began offering brunch service this year.

Best Place to Drink That Is Haunted The Whitney 4421 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-832-5700; thewhitney.com In the ever-changing Midtown landscape, The Whitney — a 22,000-square-foot Romanesque Revival standout rendered in pink granite — is a staple. On the top floor of the 1890s mansion is The Ghost Bar, an elegant cocktail spot that offers a more casual entry into this fine dining destination. The lounge’s name and tagline (“We Serve Spirits) refer to talk of apparitions, paranormal activity, and the presence of David Whitney Jr.’s ghost in the building. We’re usually too anesthetized by the perfectly composed martinis to notice anything floating here but bleu cheese olives.

Best Handcrafted Cocktails Oakland Art Novelty Co. 201 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; 248-2915295; theoaklandferndale.com Before he was the toast of the town for his Detroit restaurant Chartreuse, Sandy Levine was better known as the guy who opened the first classic cocktail bar in town. This moody, atmospheric spot harks back to the 1920s, a decade Sandy calls “the most stylish period of time in history. It’s timeless.” And as soon as you enter, downtown Ferndale in the year 2016 drifts far, far away, and you find yourself in a more gracious era. Best Martini Bar Centaur 2233 Park Ave, Detroit, MI 48201; 313-963-4040; centaurbar.com This upscale and dynamic bar right in the center of downtown is a great place to kick back, unwind, and mingle with some of the hippest people in Detroit. While you can get a host of drinks at Centaur, it’s probably best known for its martinis. There are a total of 28 varieties, which include everything from a Gingerbread to Toasted Almond.

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F EATURE Best Gay Bar Menjo’s 928 W. McNichols Rd, Detroit; 313-863-3934; newmenjoscomplex.com While Menjo’s has long been known as a cool, hip gay bar in Detroit, new owners Mike Shannon and Tim McKee are currently upping the ante and redefining what that means. “We’re trying to preserve our history so that we can help the younger generation,” Shannon tells MT, referring to the fact that he and McKee are working to add a museum of Detroit’s gay history to Menjo’s. Drinks are cool. History? Even better. Hands down the best best gay bar in the city. Best Brewery Taproom ROAK 330 E. Lincoln Ave., Royal Oak; 248-2688780; roakbrewing.com Just a few blocks outside Royal Oak’s bustling downtown, ROAK Brewing Co.’s taproom opened to almost instant fanfare in June of last year. Its 70 seats make it an intimate gathering space that doesn’t skimp on aesthetics. A 30-foot glass sculpture designed by local artist Mark Bommarito soars above the tap handles behind the bar, and a crystal chandelier hangs in the middle of the room, meaning you can drink in style.

BEST OF DETROIT Best VIP V Nightclub 1777 Third St., Detroit; 877-888-2121; mgmgranddetroit.com/v-nightclub Do you want to know what it feels like to be an oil baron or a basketball superstar? All you have to do is book some time in the VIP area at the beyond luxurious V Nightclub, in the heart of the MGM Grand. They have some of the best bottle service provided by some of the country’s bestlooking professionals. Even the DJs look like they could be models! It’s seriously hard to think of any spot in all of Detroit that caters to the best dressed when it comes to a seriously debauched night out on the town. And hey, it’s located right in a casino in case you want to keep the party going well after closing time!.

spot on the weekends, and it’s really no surprise. When you pair quality spirits with a charmingly vintage vibe, people will inevitably wind up there.

Best Distillery Tasting Room Rusted Crow 6056 N. Telegraph Road, Dearborn Heights; 313 551-4164; rustedcrowspirits. com Rusted Crow owner Joe Schebel told us he didn’t expect the taproom to be so popular, especially since it’s located in Dearborn Heights, largely considered outside the typical zone for foodies and craft cocktail seekers. However, the taproom has become a destination and a nightlife hot

Best Bottle Service Sabrage 401 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak; 248-5420082 sabrageroyaloak.com/bottle-service/ To sabrage means to open a champagne bottle with a saber. Let that sink in for a minute and then consider what that says about the Royal Oak establishment rocking the moniker. This nightclub’s bottle service features everything from a vintage collection with a 2004 Veuve Clicquot La

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Populux. Photo by Eaton Blumenstein.

Grande Dame and a 2003 Dom Perignon, to a non-vintage selection with such treats as the Ruinart Blanc de Blanc.

Best Rock Club Small’s 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; 313-873-1117 smallsbardetroit.com This feisty bar is one-part neighborhood dive and one-part sexy lounge. In other words, it is the ideal place to meet up and get the night rolling. While the candlelight vibe is excellent, what really sets Small’s apart is the stellar rock shows throughout the week, which include a local and national selection.

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Best Art Gallery Inner State Gallery 1410 Gratiot Ave., Detroit; 313-744-6505; innerstategallery.com If you want some wacky, cool, limitededition artwork, Inner State is where it’s at. Bringing in world-class artists from around the globe, Inner State Gallery shows are some of the best in the city. The eclectic crowd the gallery draws is pretty sweet, as well. The show that’s just opened, for instance, Luke Chueh’s “Damaged Goods,” is filled with wry and crafty postmodern pop art. Best Art Museum Detroit Institute of Arts 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-7900; dia.org A true gem, the DIA is a marvel to behold — once, twice, 100 times. Every visit to this beautiful marble masterpiece is sure to be filled with surprises. May it be a sweet new exhibit or the acknowledgement of a Matisse you never knew was there, the DIA is full of wonders. Tired of walking around? Need a break? Check out the delicious and architecturally impressive Kresge Court. That ceiling will knock your socks off. Best Photographer Dontae Rockymore mrheatcam.com

BEST OF DETROIT

It’s no wonder our readers recognize this local photographer as the best of the best — he’s constantly shooting Metro Times events at the Royal Oak Farmers Market and has residencies at V Nightclub inside MGM Grand Casino Hotel and at Dooleys Roseville every Wednesday. Don’t know him by name? You’ll surely recognized his signature longtongued selfie that’s he’s known to take with his subjects.

Best Local Film Festival Cinetopia cinetopiafestival.org This yearly film festival is one of the most respected and well-regarded. Local filmmakers and world-renowned big shots share space in this inclusive festival dedicated to good storytelling and art. Over the course of 10 days, filmgoers can catch up on 50 flicks on more than 100 screens between Detroit and Ann Arbor. While the whole festival is great, we really enjoy the Detroit Voices competition, where local filmmakers compete and show off their magnificent films set in the city we love. Best Rapper DeJ Loaf dejloafmusic.com What can we say? This woman is a powerhouse. When “Try Me” first started hitting

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the local airwaves in the summer of 2014, we knew this was an act that would reach distances much greater than the D. And we were right. While DeJ is in demand across the nation, we love that she maintains a connection to the city where she was born and raised.

Best Singer Kate Hinote (The Blueflowers) theblueflowers.com The noir-ish, genre-bending alt-pop band the Blueflowers have been together since 2008, self-releasing their first album the following year. Kate Hinote and her husband, guitarist/producer Tony Hamera, lead the band. MT has called their debut a “genuinely beautiful and touching piece of work,” praising Hinote’s versatile and lovely voice for how it “remains note-perfect and goose bump-inducing throughout.” Best Haunted House Erebus Haunted Attraction 18 S. Perry St., Pontiac; 248-332-7884 hauntedpontiac.com There’s an awful lot of competition in this category; we Michiganders take Halloween very seriously. Ed and Jim Terebus’ haunted house, opened in 2000, held the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest walk-through haunted house for a number

of years. The horned mascot at Erebus is a fixture in downtown Pontiac now. The haunted house spans four full floors inside a 100,000-square-foot building constructed in 1928. The Terebus brothers publish the Fear Finder guide, so you know they’re experts on how to scare the bejeesus out of folks. This attraction is really one of a kind; Their attention to detail is as awesome as it is frightening.

Best Place for Live Local Theater Stagecrafters Baldwin Theatre, 415 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak; 248-541-6430; stagecrafters.org Headquartered in the historic Baldwin Theatre, this member-run community organization has plenty to celebrate during its 60th anniversary this year. Stagecrafters has a main stage, a black box, and a youth theater program, putting on a total of 10 shows annually. There are plenty of sure-fire, can’tmiss shows in their schedule, such as The Little Mermaid and Jesus Christ Superstar, but there’s some more unusual stuff in the mix: Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina, a play set in the 1960s about cross-dressing men in the Poconos, opens May 6, and next season offers Trevor, a play about a retired trained chimpanzee with a star-studded past.

n Movement. Photo by Douglas Wojciechowski, courtesy of Paxahau.

models, put on events, and generally handle entertainment needs for venue owners, film producers, and visual artists in and around Detroit. Kudos.

Best Public Work of Art Murals in the Market muralsinthemarket.com Put on by 1xRun, the fellows behind Inner State Gallery, Murals in the Market is an intense and awesome public works project where artists from around the globe come to the D to put up beautiful murals around Eastern Market. It’s cool having all of these artistic and smart people coming to the city for a week, but more amazing is the colorful art they leave behind. Want to get involved, but not an artist? Murals in the Market has an Adopt-a-Mural program where you can sponsor a mural done by your favorite artist.

Best Record Label Psychopathic Records psychopathicrecords.com MT has never shied from the juggalo community, from our former “Ask a Juggalo” column to our continued coverage of the antics and music of the label’s founders, Insane Clown Posse. One of the most successful independent labels in recent history has grown surprisingly diverse, and they employ close to 30 full-time people in Farmington Hills and nearby communities, so all we have to say is long live the hatchet!

Best Artist Jerry Vile Artists generally play to the ivory tower. Their work is generally directed at critics, dealers, and buyers, even if it leaves the public cold. Not so with this year’s Best of Detroit choice for Best Artist: Jerry Vile has a knack for using art to capture the imagination of the average person, whether it’s running the annual Dirty Show or installing a giant tub of Crisco in front of the Monument to Joe Louis.

Best Electronic Artist Kevin Reynolds soundcloud.com/kevinreynoldsdetroit If you’ve ever seen Kevin Reynolds, you know how he really gets into it — hopping up and down and dancing to his inventive techno right as he’s putting it together for you. The in-demand DJ/producer also runs his own label, Todhchai Records — something he picked up while first apprenticing at Hasmat with Derrick May in the 1990s. There’s a lot of variety to Reynolds’ work, so it’s a testament to how tasteful our readership is that he won this coveted category.

Best Place to See an Indie Film The Maple 4135 W. Maple Rd., Bloomfield Twp.; themapletheater.com The Maple isn’t just a movie theater, it’s an experience. It’s connected to a coffee shop (Great Lakes Coffee!) and a bar that hosts fun trivia nights. You’ll want to go to the Maple for more than just its world-class movies. It’s a place to spend hours, and it’s well worth the drive. Best DJ Captn20 skamartist.com/captn20 We can’t tell you enough how truly great Captn20 is, and lo and behold, our esteemed readers absolutely agree. A highly soughtafter artist and part of the prestigious Skam collective of touring DJs, when Captn20 (aka Nick Haddad) is not running his off-thehook show at MGM Grand’s V Nightclub, you can find him playing in Vegas, Paris, or Chicago. His uptempo style is the ideal soundtrack to an opulent night out. Best Promoter Embarco embarcoentertainment.com We don’t know how Embarco does it, but we do know why our intelligent readers vote Embarco as the top local promoters for years running. Embarco’s roster has included acts like Trick Trick, Kaleido, Alien Ant Farm, and many more. Currently they’re working with My Pal Val, so they’re obviously very forward thinking. Plus, they rep dozens of

Best Cover Band Mega 80s mega80s.com In multiple polls (including this very one right here), this specialty 1980s act has been voted the best cover band in Detroit. And for good reason. This rad troupe resuscitates 1980s popular culture like nothing else, not even a binge-watch of John Hughes films while you wash your Pop Rocks down with Capri Suns. If you yearn for that special time in pop culture when the jeans were torn, the hair was big, and the synths were all over the radio, then you really owe it to yourself to check out this mega-talented act. Best Singer-Songwriter Carrie Shepard thewhiskeycharmers.com As one half of Detroit’s exceptional altcountry duo the Whiskey Charmers — along with Lawrence Daversa — Shepard really is among the most talented singers and songwriters in metro Detroit. Whiskey Charmers’ songs are poignant, smart, and supremely well-crafted. Shepard is sure to be a mainstay on the music scene for years to come. Best Jazz Club Jazz Café 350 Madison St., Detroit; 313-887-8532; jazzcafedetroit.com This place really is hard to beat when it comes to the Best Jazz Club category — they’ve got superior talent coming through from out of town, as well as some of the hot-

n Dontae Rockymore test and most diverse local talent regularly pushing the music’s boundaries and plying lovely standards. The food is decent, the drinks are nicely priced, and you hardly even need to check and see who’s playing before heading out. Jazz Café at Music Hall has its own trademark of quality.

Best Metal Club Token Lounge 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; 734-513-5030; thetokenlounge.com How could anyone else even consider winning this category at this point? Bands from across the word now know that the undisputed king of Detroit’s metal scene is the Token Lounge. If a band has an indecipherable logo, cookie monster vocals, and is any good, they better play the Token Lounge. Best Indie Club Marble Bar 1501 Holden St., Detroit; 313-338-3674 Step inside this unassuming corner spot, and you’ll find quite a different world inside. It’s not as dramatic as stepping inside a Tardis, but they’ve got a state-of-the-art sound system that is the envy of venues twice its size. A lot of expense went into refurbishing the upstairs wooden balcony, and that marble floor the spot gets its name from is very nice. Drinks are reasonable, and the booking (mostly within the realm of underground rock music) has been very strong in its first year of existence. Here’s to many more years of success. Check Marble’s Facebook page to keep track of their shows. Best Folk Venue The Ark 316 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; 734-761-1451; theark.org The Ark’s world-class performers are always pushing the definitions of folk music: whether it’s strumming a plaintive folk song that almost makes you weep, or fusing modalities from different cultures to create a sound so hypnotic the audience just has to get up and groove. Now in its 51st year as a crucial part of the area’s cultural landscape, the Ark shows no sign of slowing down. This year’s Ann Arbor Folk Fest — a fundraising vehicle for the storied venue — featured absolutely killer sets by Richard Thompson and Yo La Tengo. Huzzah!

Best Music Festival Movement Memorial Day weekend in Hart Plaza, Detroit; movement.us Movement is a Detroit institution in the best sense; readers voted last year’s event the Best Festival in the area (and the year before that, and the year before that). More than 111,000 people from around the world attended Movement in 2015, according to festival producer Paxahau. The festival will run from May 28-30, and this year’s remarkable lineup of more than 120 acts includes Kraftwerk, Big Freedia, Caribou, Matthew Dear, and RZA. Best Art Fair Wyandotte Street Art Fair wyandottestreetartfair.org This is such a charming fair, which brings together visual art, food, and live performance of many stripes all in lovely Wyandotte. It happens mid-July every year, and is about to enter its 55th year. There are dozens of booths filled with fantastic creations, and the variety of food vendors will make your head spin. The promoters of the festival are such good citizens, they even posted a photo of a child’s lost shoe on their Facebook page last year, once the fair was over. We don’t know if the child and shoe were in fact reunited, but that attention to kind detail is surely why our readers chose this out of all the area fairs. Best Fest for People Watching Youmacon Youmacon.com Admit it. You love people watching just as much as that guy sitting alone on a park bench with a pair of binoculars. There’s no better place to see interesting people than at Youmacon. The Detroit-only anime festival features plenty of colorful and creative attendees. Fans paying homage to their favorite Japanese characters get dolled up for the weekend-long event that typically takes place at the Ren Cen and Cobo Center. Find a bench, take a seat, and get awestruck at the creativity and dedication that fans have for their favorite anime cartoons, comics, and games. For more winners, visit metrotimes.com.

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F EATURE Best Casino Sports Bar TAP 1777 Third Ave., Detroit; 313-4651234; mgmgranddetroit.com/tap TAP opened inside MGM Grand in 2012, and since then it’s been drawing in way more than gamblers and hotel guests. The self-described “newest oldest pub” draws in tons of sports fans with its 40-plus flat-screen TVs. The extensive beer menu — 50-plus rotating selections is nothing to scoff at — means those in search of a well-crafted brew will find a bevy of options. Insider tip: Head there on a Sunday for $3 mimosas.

n Awsem Zbair, left, MGM Grand Detroit’s nightlife and entertainment manager, with Nick Haddad, aka DJ Captn 20, at TAP at MGM Grand Detroit. Bicycles provided by the Hub of Detroit. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian.

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Best High Limit Area Greektown Casino 555 E. Lafayette St., Detroit; greektowncasino.com Living the VIP life while gambling at Greektown is the only way to go if you want to win really big. The $100 slot machines and dozens of table games will raise the stakes and your blood pressure. The area is secluded so you truly enjoy the VIP experience.

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VOTED BEST ROCK CLUB FRIDAY, APRIL 29

INDUSTRIAL IS NOT DEAD CRUNCHY, COLD INDUSTRIAL, COLD WAVE EBM, AGGROTECH AND HARSH ELECTRO

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SATURDAY, APRIL 30

BEAST IN THE FIELD LAST DETROIT SHOW EVER! WSG BISON MACHINE AND NUKE

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MONDAY, MAY 2

NIGHT DEMON

WSG AGAINST THE GRAIN AND VISIGOTH -----------------------------------------------------------------------

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4

STAR WARS PIN-UP CONTEST LIVE BANDS - BURLESQUE - 9 P.M. -----------------------------------------------------------------------

THURSDAY, MAY 5

RAY & LAURA’S

COMEDY SHOWCASE

FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH - 8 P.M. DOORS - 9 P.M. SHOW -----------------------------------------------------------------------

FRIDAY, MAY 6

KOFFIN KATS

WSG AMINO ACIDS AND THE DEWTONS -----------------------------------------------------------------------

SATURDAY, MAY 7

MUSETRACKS.COM LAUNCH PARTY -----------------------------------------------------------------------

MAY 18

WEEDEATER

WSG AUTHOR & PUNISHER, TODAY IS THE DAY AND LORD DYING

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MAY 20

TSOL

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JUNE 1

MODERN ENGLISH

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JUNE 3

HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN -----------------------------------------------------------------------

JUNE 9

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WSG OFF WITH THEIR HEADS AND DIRTY NIL

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F EATURE Best Casino Hotel MGM Grand Detroit 1777 Third Ave., Detroit; 877- 888-2121; mgmgranddetroit.com Even if gambling isn’t your thing, MGM is a popular choice for those looking for a quality place to crash in the D. From its luxurious spa to its live music venues — and of course, 24-hour concierge staff — MGM offers guests top-of-the-line amenities as well as rooms that boast some of the best views of the city.

Sitting at slot machines for hours on end can be exhausting even when you’re just sitting there staring at the screen. That’s why we love table games, and Greektown Casino has the best. The tables are normally never overcrowded — giving you ample arm and breathing room when things get tough. They offer all of the favorites like blackjack, craps, and roulette; but make sure you try out some new ones, like the poker game Let It Ride.

Best Casino Promotion Caesars Windsor 377 Riverside Dr. E., Windsor; 800-9917777; caesars.com/caesars-windsor We all love a good casino, but what happens when that casino offers awesome promotions? Even better! Caesars Windsor is a great casino with great promotions to help you save even more money. On their website, they are offering $16 off hotel rooms, and special promotions that involve beer and wine, our favorite. There are beer-and-bike offers, as well as wine trail rides. Make sure you wear a helmet!

Best Casino to See a Show MotorCity Sound Board 1777 Third Ave., Detroit; 877- 888-2121; motorcitycasino.com There are tons of things to do at MotorCity Casino, but catching a show at the Sound Board is one of our favorite things to do at the vibrant casino. The 1,500seat theater has a unique way of feeling intimate, yet big and theatrical all at the same time. They’ve hosted such acts as Aretha Franklin, Gregg Allman, Melissa Etheridge, Patti LaBelle, and comedian Margaret Cho.

Best Casino Restaurant Iridescence 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 313-2376732; motorcitycasino.com/iridescence We’re so glad to see that Iridescence won this poll, because it really is the place where you’d suggest that your parents go for their diamond wedding anniversary, or where you’d ask your boss to take you on your last day working for the firm. Michael Russell, one of only two practicing Certified Master Chefs in Michigan, has promised that the absolutely deluxe restaurant is “where his vision will come to fruition,” and that appears to undeniably be the case here. Best Players Club Caesars Windsor 377 Riverside Dr. E., Windsor; 800-9917777; caesars.com/caesars-windsor For those who gamble regularly, joining the players club is the next step to enjoying all the benefits that casinos have to offer. Caesars Windsor offers some of the best deals and specials when you join their players club. You get insane discounts on rooms, free food from their fabulous restaurants, and receive rewards when you spend money. Best Casino Table Games Greektown Casino 555 E. Lafayette St., Detroit; greektowncasino.com

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Best Casino Buffet Assembly Line at MotorCity Casino 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 866-7829622; motorcitycasino.com This award-winning buffet features both American and international cuisine. Stuff your face with everything from warm breads to delectable sushi. Have a hankering for something sweet? Go wild at the create-your-own-dessert station. Want to plan your visit based off the food? Check out some of the evening themes. Monday is the seafood buffet, Tuesday is heavy on the German food, Wednesday is Hawaiian-inspired food, Thursday, you’ve got the grill, Friday is all about French food, Saturday is a taste of the “D,” and Sunday is good old-fashioned soul food. Best Slots MotorCity Casino 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 866-7829622; motorcitycasino.com If Assembly Line, the flashy lights, or the luxury hotel isn’t enough to draw you in, we’re going to talk about the most basic winning factor of MotorCity Casino: slots! Play hooky from the outside world and have some fun with some of their popular games like Cleopatra, Zeus, Double Diamond, and Queen of Atlantis. For more winners, visit metrotimes.com.

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F EATURE

BEST OF DETROIT n Danielle Zuccaro, of Detroit Dog Rescue, left, with Detroit Cycle Pub cofounders Jody McKenzie and Nick Blaszczyk, and, at right, Detroit Dog Rescue’s Kristen Kuchenmeister and David Rudolph. Their canine friends, from left: Bruno, Wilbur, Piper, Myrtle, and Pebbles. Photo by Vaughn Gurganian. Best Feather Bowling Cadieux Café 4300 Cadieux Rd., Detroit; 313-882-8560; cadieuxcafe.com This category may as well have been invented for the Cadieux Café, the former homing-pigeon club and current Belgianthemed bar where you can order mussels and fries, wash it down with an Affligem Triple, and then head into the side room, equipped with 72-foot dirt trenches, to see what kind of feather bowler you are. The game itself is something like bocce or shuffleboard, but the bragging rights that come with having done something as unusual as “feather bowled” are what make it so much fun. Best Public Golf Course Shepherd’s Hollow Golf Club 9085 Big Lake Rd., Clarkston; 248-922-0300; shepherdshollow.com Rated Golf Digest’s 42nd-best public course in the entire country, Shepherd’s Hollow offers 27 holes of championship-level golf. They also have a terrific dining experience on offer, and are a popular location for weddings and other special events. The course design is stunning.

Best Chiropractor Levine Clinic of Chiropractic 31390 Northwestern Hwy, Farmington Hills; 248-855-2666; levineclinic.com Back out of whack? The Levine Clinic of Chiropractic can put your spine back in line and help you on your way to a healthier lifestyle. Dr. Robert Levine and Dr. Daniel Cohen have both been practicing in metro Detroit for more than 20 years. Unlike other doctors who treat disease after it occurs, Dr. Levine and Dr. Cohen focus on improving health ahead of time in an effort to reduce pain and disease before they happen. Services include chiropractic and corrective care and exercises, lifestyle advice, nutritional counseling, massage therapy, and spinal and postural screenings. Patients receive treatment that is specifically designed for their wellness needs and are treated with the least invasive, but effective, services.

Best Rehabilitation Center Pinnacle Treatment Centers See pinnacletreatment.com for locations With locations throughout the Northeast and the Midwest, Pinnacle Treatment Centers just opened a new methadone treatment center in Ann Arbor last fall, and has plans to open two more in Sterling Heights and St. Clair Shores in the near future. The services that Pinnacle offers are predominantly low-cost outpatient treatments. They hope to expand and eventually offer other services, but to start these will all be methadone treatment centers. “We set a rate at $14 a day, which makes the cost very low,” Chris Byers, the regional director for Pinnacle Treatment in Michigan, tells MT. Best Bocce Courts Palazzo di Bocce 4291 Lapeer Rd., Orion Twp.; 248-371-9987; palazzodibocce.com This combined Italian restaurant and bocce ball court is such a great idea, and ideal

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for larger groups (parties over a dozen are encouraged to make reservations). Whether your grandparents played this centuries-old sport in the old country, or you just picked it up yourself after seeing it in a movie last month, Palazzo offers the ideal spot to play.

Best Yoga Citizen Yoga 500 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; 248268-2160; 1224 Library St., Detroit; 313-5025450; citizenyogastudio.com With two locations, Citizen Yoga has become the go-to spot for zenned-out yogis in the city. Classes include everything from vinyasa to slow burn, and there are a variety of levels, so you never need to feel embarrassed or insecure about your skill level. This is a judgment-free zone, where individuals can take time to stretch, breathe, and get in tune with themselves. The first class is free — so go check it out.

Best Bowling Alley Garden Bowl 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700; majesticdetroit.com Around for more than a century, Garden Bowl is the No. 1 spot for people wanting to kick back and bowl. As reviews of Garden Bowl note on Yelp, this is a “fun, laid-back bar and bowling alley.” Kind of perfect for a first date or a gathering with friends. Had enough of the lanes? No worries — the bar, and the bands it normally books, is a great way to move forward with the night. Best Skatepark Modern Skate & Surf 1500 N. Stephenson Hwy, Royal Oak; 248545-5700; modernskate.com Skating is no longer a strictly outdoor activity. Thanks to Modern Skate and Surf, skaters can now surf the halfpipes indoors. Modern isn’t just a skatepark, it’s also a skate shop. Strap on your helmets and protective gear, grab a board or skates — whatever tickles your fancy — and achieve Tony Hawk status, rain or shine.

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F EATURE Best Local Sports Personality Mike Valenti/Valenti and Foster, 97.1 The Ticket detroit.cbslocal.com/station/97-1-the-ticket Valenti, 36, is brash, bold, quick-witted, and bright. It’s easy to see why our readers chose him; if you’re not following him on Facebook, it’s hard to call yourself a true Detroit sports fan. He’s of course half of the highly entertaining Valenti and Foster Show (formerly the Sports Inferno). The self-described “Don Draper fanboy” can be heard weekday afternoons from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on WXYT-FM 97.1. Best Neighborhood Corktown The historic district of Detroit isn’t just relevant around St. Patrick’s Day. While it does have an Irish heritage, Corktown is an example of the revitalization of Detroit. Primarily residential, the district also houses historical landmarks like the Michigan Central Station and the site of the former Tigers Stadium. Corktown is also home to plenty of bars, nightlife, and some of the city’s hottest restaurants. Best Building to Rehab Michigan Central Station 2405 W. Vernor Hwy, Detroit It’s been a wild ride for old Michigan Central Station, or “the depot,” as Detroiters insist upon incorrectly calling it. (The Fort Street Union Depot was torn down in 1974.) In previous Best of Detroit issues, readers have demanded it be razed and demanded it be rehabbed, sometimes in the same issue! Thankfully, it’s getting a spit shine these days, though a few critics decried the new windows being put in, as the thicker mullions of the old windows enhanced the building’s feeling of verticality. That said, the new windows will at least keep the elements out of this historic 1914 structure. Best Business to Work At Quicken Loans 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 888-9009962; quickenloans.com Our esteemed readers weren’t alone in naming Quicken Loans the best place to work. Fortune named Quicken No. 5 on its list of 100 Best Companies to Work For this year, up seven spots from its 2015 designation. The financial publication cited the mortgage lender’s 2010 move into downtown from the suburbs as a move that “helped spark one of the largest urban renewal projects in the nation’s history” and prized its corporate sponsorship of the M-1 rail and Live Detroit program. Civic do-goodery ranked high among employees surveyed by Fortune and is only the tip of the iceberg. Satisfied employees also listed Quicken’s Bullet Time program, which allows them time to work on any passion

BEST OF DETROIT project — even unrelated to Quicken — during work hours, and the chance to earn free trips to destinations like Greece, Cancun, and Hawaii. Talk about taking vacation time.

Best Nonprofit Detroit Dog Rescue Address available upon request; St. Clair Shores; 313-458-8014; detroitdogrescue.com Compassionate, professional, and clean, DDR is surprisingly Detroit’s first-ever nokill dog shelter. As such, it’s hard to imagine visiting any other shelter. Be still your heart, when you take a gander at the available rescue dogs up for adoption on Detroit Dog Rescue’s website. We fell head over heels for a goofball pup named Glory, for whom a “relaxed home where she can be an important part of the family would also be best for her.” Maybe that’s your own home? Best Hotel in the Suburbs The Townsend Hotel 100 Townsend St., Birmingham; 248-6427900; townsendhotel.com This luxurious hotel, nestled in the heart of downtown Birmingham, is the perfect spot to catch up on some R&R. The cozy Englishstyle rooms are opulent without being garish, and the friendly staff are known to treat their guests like royalty. Enjoy time soaking up in the hotel’s beautiful marble bath tubs or working up a sweat at its onsite gym. No matter what, you’re sure to have a wonderful time. The Townsend is also known as one of the places in metro Detroit where you’re most likely to spot a celebrity. Best Hotel in Detroit Aloft One Park Ave., Detroit; 313-237-1700; aloftdetroit.com Located in the ornate and decadent David Whitney Building, this new hotel is the talk of the town right now. Touting two bars, a cafe, and a gym, Aloft has all the amenities needed for someone to work and play in the city. A real standout is how the Aloft renovated the magnificent marble lobby — it’s truly a sight to behold. Best B&B The Inn on Ferry Street 84 E. Ferry St., Detroit; 313-871-6000; innonferrystreet.com A cluster of beautifully preserved historic homes on charming, tree-lined Ferry Street comprise this adorable B&B. Settle into one of the Inn on Ferry Street’s four restored Victorian mansions or two carriage houses. While the homes are gorgeous and warm, we can’t help but also adore the location. Ferry is one of the most majestic and lush streets in Detroit and best of all, it’s a mere five-minute walk from the Detroit Institute of Arts and other Midtown gems.

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Best Visitor Experience Slow Roll slowroll.bike In a few short years, this procession of bicyclists of all skill levels has become a weekly parade drawing thousands on warm Monday nights. What helps is the way the ride welcomes everybody: from inner-city cyclists to suburban riders who show up for the ride with their bikes on roof racks. The ride’s routes don’t just focus on hip restaurants and bars, but neighborhood projects and community gardens. It’s one of the most enjoyable ways to bridge the city’s divides, and it has even inspired a host of Slow Roll rides in other cities in both North America and Europe. Best Family Outing CJ Barrymore’s 21750 Hall Rd., Clinton Township; 586-4692800; cjbarrymores.com The perfect place to take the kids for a day of fun, CJ Barrymore’s will have the young ones entertained for hours while also offering a respite for the adults in the crew. Featuring an indoor and outdoor amusement — replete with water rides — a selfserve eatery and a bowling alley, this venue is a joy for all.

Best Indoor Wedding Venue Gem Theatre 333 Madison St., Detroit; 313-963-9800; gemcolonyevent.com You may know this quaint and deluxe, circa 1903 relocated building with elaborate decor as a groovy spot to check out the latest off-Broadway shows or live comedy. It also doubles as one of the nicest possible wedding venues, with attractive packages for a variety of budgets. They have multiple spaces within their complex, and can comfortably accommodate from 80 to as many as 275 guests. Best Wedding Banquet Hall Penna’s of Sterling 38400 Van Dyke Ave., Sterling Heights; 586978-3880; pennasbanquets.com This highly rated family-run venue with a full-service staff has been at it for close to 50 years. Penna’s regularly hosts events of all kinds, from fundraisers to weddings. The attached Italian restaurant is a favorite of many regulars, and the dishes are superb. The bocce ball courts and TV areas provide ample recreation opportunities for all children in attendance during longer events, while hundreds of satisfied brides and grooms can attest to the quality of the location.

Best-Kept Secret Duty-Free 24-Hour Liquor Store 100 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit; 586-819-0467; ambassadorbridge.com We can’t believe we’ve been going on this long in life without knowing this ridiculously awesome best-kept Detroit secret. We’ve all been there. You’re out on the town with your old college friends and you’re reminiscing on the good ole’ days. It’s 2 a.m. and the bars have closed but you want to keep the party going. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the liquor store is closed. Think again! You need to hit up the 24-hour liquor store located at the duty-free shop at our lovely border with Canada. Plus, the booze isn’t taxed. Sticking it to the man!

Best Outdoor Wedding Venue Pine Knob Mansion 580 Waldon Rd., Clarkston; 248-625-0700; pineknobmansion.com It really is hard to think who else might possibly win this category — the Pine Knob Mansion is such a classic choice. It really is such an extravagantly stunning space. Nature and architecture co-exist perfectly here, so where else to start a life together and celebrate than in 19-room English Manor opulence? Beyond that, the management knows exactly how to handle your event. A typical review starts off saying that the food is divine and the staff wonderful, and goes up from there.

Best Aquarium Sea Life Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, 4316 Baldwin Rd., Auburn Hills; 866-622-0605; visitsealife. com Did you know that cownose stingrays breathe through special holes behind their eyes? It’s true, and you can visit the cute buggers right here at this very clean and responsible facility. Hours of fun await you and your kids at Sea Life. In addition to providing habitats for so many living creatures, Sea Life regularly sponsors clean-up events and offers discounted admission on Earth Day. Especially during peak visiting hours, the aquarium urges visitors to plan ahead and purchase tickets online.

Best Cider Mill Blake’s Orchard and Cider Mill 17985 Armada Center Rd., Armada; 586-7845343; blakefarms.com Once upon a time, metro Detroit families would pile into the station wagon, drive 10 miles into the country, and pick apples, heading home with a bushel of them, as well as a greasy paper bag filled with doughnuts. Since then, it’s become a longer drive and a daylong outing, thanks to all that’s expected of a cider mill these days. Blake’s lives up to it all. Family-owned and -operated since 1946, Blake’s has events, a bakery, cider, apples, a garden center, hard cider and wine, a barnyard funland … oh, and Upick orchards, just like the old days.

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feature

Eat

What’s Going On

Big Story

News

Upfront

M usic

The ILL Itches carry Detroit garage rock into a new era by Adam Woodhead

Classifieds

Culture

Arts

Watch

Hot ’n‘ ready

Music

Drink

n Photo by Sarah Rahal.

What exactly is the Detroit sound? It encompasses a spectrum that spans minimalist blues to post-punk disco. It is rhythmic and raw, and like the Red Wings circa 1997 — or perhaps the $5 round pie — it has become a dominant, near-ubiquitous presence in the American cultural lexicon. Besides having what is objectively the best band name of all time, the ILL Itches embody all of the qualities we think of when we talk about Detroit rock ’n’ roll. They are firmly rooted in the city’s musical past, but in a manner that explores all facets, including fuzz-saturated proto-punk (on “Hallelujah” and “Lucille,” from their new album), and danceable soul (“I Feel Good”). This Saturday, April 30,, they headline the Marble Bar alongside the Hentchmen, Moonwalks, and Idiot Kids in order to mark the release of their first full-length self-titled LP. Metro Times caught up with lead vocalist and guitar player Stephen n Derrick Thompson

Schmidt, bassist Matt Mruzek, guitarist Joshua Woodcock, and drummer Matt Livengood via email, to reflect on how they are taking this quintessentially Detroit phenomenon forward. Metro Times: Where was the new album recorded? Matt Livengood: “Michigan Ave Meltdown,” “Lucille,” and “My Sister’s Possessed” came via the Tempermill with Dave Feeny, back in summer 2013. We laid down the rest of the tracks with Zach Shipps at his studio, Rancho Verde Audio Lab, spread out over several sessions in 2014 (“Hallelujah,” “Revolving Door,” “Bubbletape,” “Give It Up,” “No Way”) and right before Josh left for Japan in January 2015 (“I Feel Good,” “Al Serpico,” “Heather”). Josh Woodcock: I had worked with Dave before, and he’s a great producer. Zach has a totally different style, and it was interesting to experience both for this one. Zach

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brought in a lot of ideas for how the final mix should sound, and I felt it captured our live performance well. MT: What label are you guys working with for this one? Livengood: Jett Plastic Recordings, the brainchild of Jarrett Koral. We released our second 7-inch single with him, and he helped us concoct some sweet ideas for creative things we could do with some of the vinyl pressings. He was really excited to hear what the rest of the songs we’d recorded sounded like, so we figured it’d be a great match for the fulllength. Woodcock: [Jarrett] is a good friend of mine, and he’s got some brilliant ideas on how he sees record releases happening. If he keeps it up, he’s going to have a huge impact on the future of the music industry. MT: Have you ever been acknowledged by a certain metro Detroit

entrepreneur for your band’s name? Matt Mruzek: No. But whenever young women hit on me, I assume it’s because they think we are related in some way. Woodcock: Notice me, Senpai. Notice me. Livengood: What’s an entrepreneur? MT: How did you link up with Chelsea Schultz for the album cover? Livengood: She designed the art for our first two 7-inch singles. Since those songs also appear on this full-length, we thought it’d lend continuity. Woodcock: I originally worked with Chelsea on the Pathetic Sounds of Detroit album artwork. She’s done all of our art since then, and is fantastic. She’s really easy to work with, and brings a lot of ideas to the table. It’s great to work with someone who has a good understanding of the band, and what we’re looking for.

THURSDAY, MAY 5 THE GRAVITY WORLD TOUR

JAVIER COLON ERNIE HALTER WITH

THIS WEEK • FRIDAY, APRIL 29 A SPECIAL EVENING WITH

LOCAL H AS GOOD AS DEAD TOUR

SATURDAY, APRIL 30

SMITHS UNITED

FEATURES

FRIDAY, MAY 6 THURSDAY, JUNE 2 DRAGON BLUES ROOTS SENSATION

WAGON WITH MEGAN DOOLEY

SATURDAY, MAY 7 • 21+

ACCLAIMED SINGER/SONGWRITER

GOOD OLD WAR WITH

FRIDAY, MAY 13 THE ELP LEGACY TOUR

EILEN JEWELL TRUMP

HALFJESSEMOON RUN MAC CORMACK WITH

JUST ANNOUNCED FRIDAY, JUNE 24

JEREMY& THE HARLEQUINS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

DAVE ALVIN & PHIL ALVIN

EMPTY HOUSES

SUNDAY, JUNE 12

CARL PALMER AXIS: HENDRIX TRIBUTE WITH TALES OF CREAM

SUNDAY, MAY 15

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 SUN LEADS ME ON TOUR

C.W. STONEKING FRIDAY, JUNE 10 AN ACOUSTIC EVENING

THE MEGA 80' S SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO PRINCE

WITH RE-CURE & CLAMPDOWN

SUNDAY, MAY 1

• UPCOMING

VS BERNIE

TUESDAY, JUNE 14

THE JOY FORMIDABLE

THURSDAY, JUNE 16

WITH JAMES ADOMIAN

MARK TUESDAY, MAY 24 BRIT-POP PIONEERS LANEGAN

& ANTHONY ATAMANUIK

TRASHCAN SINATRAS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25

FELLY

SATURDAY, JUNE 18 THE PRINCE TRIBUTE

PURPLE XPERIENCE FEATURING

DR, FINK

COMING SOON

WITH GYYPS & PETER SUN

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 ELECTRONICA PIONEERS

THE ORB

6/19...........................ANDY MCKEE 6/25...........................LEZ ZEPPELIN 7/23...........SONNY & THE SUNSETS 7/24...........RICH ROBINSON BAND 7/30...........................RIK EMMETT 8/18...............................DICK DALE 9/21......THROWING SHADE: LIVE PODCAST 9/23..................THE SMITHEREENS 10/9..............................MIDGE URE

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M usic MT: The ILL Itches are definitely carrying the torch for Detroit garage rock. The Stooges and MC5 are huge, of course, but was anything more recent — maybe early 2000s — a big influence on you guys as well? Mruzek: I really enjoyed Creed’s Human Clay album from 2000; I was rockin’ that through my Discman on the school bus every day. That album totally changed my life. Livengood: No one specific, not really. Plus, most of our songs are a kind of sonic collage. For sure, much of our sound is built on a foundation of garage/punk/etc., but we’ve always been cognizant that staying rooted in that kind of vibe risks narrowing what all we can explore, musically. In any given track, you could hear Stephen or Josh playing a punk guitar riff, while Matt’s plucking a walking bass line and I’m hitting a swing beat. Woodcock: I think we’re interesting in the fact that we don’t have a true influence we go for. I think each of us has our own style and own influences, and the blend of those is what really creates our sound. My biggest influences would be the Beatles, Buzzcocks, and older bands like that, but I have a lot of recent influences as well. I love the quiet/loud dynamics of bands like the Vines, the dual singer dynamics of the Libertines, and the energy of acts like Ty Segall and the Cribs. Obviously, all the bands in Detroit influence us in some way, both past and present. We’re playing with the Hentchmen, and they’re a band that has influenced a number of other groups (including us). There have been so many great bands here, and it’s really inspiring to be able to go out any night of the week and see something new. MT: What did you guys think of the recent Iggy show and album? Livengood: Incredible, both. Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys are two of my favorite presentday bands. So Homme, Helders, and Fertida making a record with Iggy Pop was an unexpected treasure. But seeing them all play onstage with Iggy Pop was sublime. Plus, it reinforced that even one of the godfathers of punk can sing mellower, more reflective odes to sex, love, and romance and still sound completely authentic and within character. No wonder the guy’s got such longevity. Woodcock: I had a smile on my face from the time he came onstage until we left to go home. Matt, Stephen, and I were all at the show, and it was really cool to see other people we rec-

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feature ognize from shows there too. Someone came up to me and asked if I was in the ILL Itches at the show, and it made me realize that our local music scene is farther reaching than I thought. And that even if we don’t see it firsthand, we all have the chance to entertain people outside of our immediate circles. MT: Joshua, can you tell us what you were doing in Japan? Woodcock: I had lived there previously for more than five years, but most recently went there to work for an entertainment company called Empire in Tokyo. I was a producer and worked on different projects for companies like BMW and Adidas. Tokyo’s really great; I consider it my second home. MT: Stephen, I hope you don’t mind me saying that your guitar solo on “Halleluja” sounds a lot like Wayne Kramer. Did you get a lot of your chops from him, or who were some other guitarists who influenced your playing style? Stephen Schmidt: Wayne Kramer was a huge influence. He was sporadic and fierce, and you really didn’t have any idea where he was going to go. I’ve tried to replicate an era that was strictly fueled off of passion and soul. I may not be the best technical guitarist when it comes to some of my work. But I can play with more soul and energy. One guitarist who’s always been a huge inspiration of mine is Ron Asheton from the Stooges. He made the “sour note” one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard. MT: Anything else to add? Livengood: We’ve got some videos in the works, so keep out an eye for those. And be sure to check out WhateverFest the weekend after our release show. Woodcock: We’re just really appreciative of the chance we’ve had to play in this city, and do what we love. Detroit’s a great music city because there’s so much to learn from each other. The talent here is immense. I hope one day someone says that the ILL Itches influenced their band in some way, and I hope I continue to see new bands such as the Idiot Kids and Moonwalks that we can learn something from, as well. The ILL Itches perform at the Marble Bar Saturday, April 30; Doors at 8 p.m.; 1501 Holden St., Detroit; $5.

letters@metrotimes.com @metrotimes

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Livewire

This week’s suggested musical events by MT Staff

Wednesday, 4/27 Myrkur @ Saint Andrew’s Hall

If you haven’t heard of Myrkur, don’t worry — you’re not alone. This Danish composer and black metal phenomenon has never stopped in Detroit, let alone North America, before. She has a cool Björk vibe going on, along with her lush and brutal melodies that thrash against heaviest-of-heavy sounds. Her debut album M has been heralded as a metal masterpiece by NPR; she recorded most of it in Oslo with the help of some of the greats in her field. There are haunting choirs, classical instrumental music, and a mix of Nordic folk that really sets Myrkur apart from other artists. Behemoth will be at the show, as well. n Myrkur. Photo by Trine and Kim.

Doors at 7:30 p.m.; 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; Tickets $22.

Friday, 4/29

Saturday, 4/30

Local H

TV Girl

Detroit Music Awards

Omar S

@ The Magic Bag

@ The Majestic Theater

@ The Fillmore Detroit

@ TV Lounge

Celebrating an album’s birthday has been a common theme among musicians lately, and the trend has passed along to post-grunge rockers Local H. The band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their second, and most popular album, As Good As Dead. The album spawned airplay-receiving songs like “Bound for the Floor” and “HighFiving MF.” As well as a tour celebrating the album, they are re-releasing it on vinyl and will have copies for sale at the gig. The two-man band will perform a regular set filled with songs from all of their albums, and then after a brief intermission they will play As Good As Dead from front to back.

All the way from the West Coast comes the musical ensemble TV Girl. With a hypnotizingly mellow sound, the dudes in TV Girl aim to transport listeners to a different era with their surprisingly eclectic indie-pop songs. The Los Angeles band released their newest album, Who Really Cares, in February. If you like Beck’s 1990s output a lot, this is your new favorite band. Local favorites Moonwalks open the show, so arrive early.

Detroit’s very own music awards are coming to the Fillmore and the night’s lineup looks very promising, including all-star tributes to Glenn Frey and Marcus Belgrave. Distinguished achievement awards will be given to some of Detroit’s greatest greats, including Kid Rock, Al Abrams, and Dan Yessian. This is the DMA’s 25th anniversary, so expect some surprises and tremendous live performances. Pro tip: an award will be presented by MT staff during the ceremony.

Local DJ and producer Omar S is planning a huge record release party that will be held at one of our favorite venues for dance music, the TV Lounge. The record is called The Best, so it’s up to you to show up and let him know if you agree with that title, or not. Omar S has been busy touring and traveling the world and his hometown stop in Detroit will be one for the books. The record will of course be available for purchase at the show.

Doors at 8 p.m.; 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit; tvgirl.bandcamp. com; Tickets start at $10.

Doors at 8 p.m.; 22920 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Tickets $15.

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Doors at 6 p.m.; 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Tickets start at $22.50.

Doors at 9 p.m.; 2548 Grand River Ave., Detroit; tickets are $15.

Friday, 4/30 Jonathan Toubin’s Soul Clap @ UFO Factory

These are seriously the most fun events, so if you’re a stick-in-the-mud sourpuss, you might consider staying home this evening (or just getting over yourself already). People will seriously be cutting the rug and doing the shrug — as well as the watusi, the shimmy, and the boomerang — at New York Night Train’s deservedly world-famous expert soul 45 DJ Jonathan Toubin and his Soul Clap party. Tonight features a dance-off competition with a $100 cash prize. Guest selector this evening will be Marianna Vermiglio, while among the superstar judges for the dance competition we have Joe Casey, David Buick, and Sara Aldridge. Dress sharp and show up early, this might very well sell out.

Doors at 9 p.m.; 2110 Trumbull St., Detroit; ufofactory.com; $10.

n Jonathan Toubin. Photo by Alexander Thompson.

Saturday, 4/30

Sunday, 5/1

Wednesday, 5/4

Jayme Orr

Primal Fear

Animal Collective

Brass Bed

@ D.I.M.E.

@ Token Lounge

@ Royal Oak Music Theatre

@ Kelly’s Bar

Detroit native Jayme Orr has made her mark as an emerging artist this year. Her single “Love Is a War” quickly gained media attention after premiering on WDET. Orr’s single has since been featured on Today and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In celebration of the release of her debut EP Healed, Orr is playing this awesome release party at the Underground in the D.I.M.E. complex. Orr will also be meeting fans and signing CDs in front of the Verizon store in Twelve Oaks Mall from noon to 2 p.m. Healed will be instantly available for digital purchase, as well as a physical CD EP at the release party.

Big-time heavy metal artists Ralf Scheepers and Mat Sinner formed metal band Primal Fear in 1997. Since then, the band has ended contracts with their original labels, beginning a new deal with Frontier Records in 2007. Under Frontier, Primal Fear has released 10 studio albums. Their most recent album, Rule Breaker, was released in January. The band shows no sign of slowing down — this is actually their biggest world tour yet.

The experimental pop band crosses over in so many genres that every music fan can find something they like in Animal Collective. They write catchy hooks with fun melodies, but their sound borders on the lines of psychedelic and alternative. The band just released their 11th studio album called Painting With. Often compared to the Beach Boys, the band even recorded some of the album in the same studio that the Beach Boys recorded Pet Sounds. They deepened their sound too by adding a brass section to strengthen the record as a whole.

Fresh off the release of their latest album In the Yellow Leaf, Louisiana-based Brass Bed is playing a few shows around the U.S. Few meaning only three stops — one of them right here in Hamtramck. In the Yellow Leaf (an idiomatic term for aging) has been called “invigorating” by the folks at NPR and “muscular” and “Krautrock” by The Guardian. With a sound that’s a mix of psychedelic rock and more than a hint of country, Brass Bed is an indie act that’s on the rise.

Show starts at 8 p.m.; 1265 Griswold St., Detroit; Tickets $10.

Doors at 6 p.m.; 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; Tickets start at $25.

Doors at 8 p.m.; 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; Tickets $25-$40.

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Doors at 8 p.m.; 2403 Holbrook St., Hamtramck; brassbedisbrassbed.com; Tickets are $5.

| Apr. 27-May 3, 2016

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C ULTURE

HIGHERground

In 2016, a friendlier climate for 420 by Larry Gabriel We’re in the midst of the cannabis holiday season. The Ann Arbor Hash Bash and Monroe Street Fair were a few weeks ago, and the Global Marijuana March is May 7 (Grand Circus Park in Detroit). Smack dab in the middle was 4/20. The first place I hit was the B.D.T. Smoke Shops in Hazel Park, which proudly notes that it has been there since 1973. The folks there held a pig roast in the parking lot, and visitors played on fowling lanes from the Fowling Warehouse — throwing a football at bowling pins — and were medicating with cannabis as they munched their pork sandwiches. 89X FM had a booth, and retired Red Wing Darren McCarty was there hanging out and signing autographs. McCarty tells me B.D.T. has been integral to the community and that’s why he showed up. People with medical issues should get educated about

cannabis, McCarty says: “There are alternatives and people who can help you.” I looked across the street and noticed the MMM Garden Center, which sells used growing equipment, and a certification center next to it. Could this be the most happening cannabis corner in Oakland County? In 2015, Hazel Park Mayor Jan Parisi gave Tommy Chong the key to the city, which he immediately pretended to smoke. So maybe Hazel Park is a little more cannabis friendly than other parts of the county. Also, I picked up a card announcing that the History of Cannabis Museum is coming soon to Hazel Park. The museum is seeking objects for display. Contact contact@historyofcannabismuseum.org if you’d like to donate. The stretch of John R where B.D.T. is located shows how a business can help shape the surrounding commu-

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nity and business climate over time. I left B.D.T. right as the 4:20 p.m. raffle was taking place and headed to Bert’s Warehouse in Eastern Market. That’s where the Cannabis Cup was held a few years ago, and where the THC Expo will be held this coming weekend. Sadly, the promoter canceled the 420 event that was planned there. Then I headed to Club Reign a few blocks away, where the Buds, Corks, and Forks Detroit 420 party was on. It started at 11 a.m. with a brunch of omelets, chicken and waffles, and mimosas. There was infused butter available for those who wanted it. There were many infused things there for those who wanted it. Vendors offered cake, pops, suckers, buttered popcorn, brownies, syrups, and even Kool-Aid with that extra ingredient. There were also edibles without cannabis available. Buds, Corks, and Forks organizes

“events for professionals — people who enjoy marijuana but are in the closet,” says Mitzi, one of the event’s promoters. I guess those folks probably paid the $50 for a VIP ticket that got them upstairs into a less public area. At the budscorksforks.com site, it’s put this way: “Shrinking the cannabis taboo 1 event at a time!”

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C ULTURE Later on 4/20, I visited the MI Legalize fundraiser at the Russell Industrial Center. I thought this event was to go into the night, but when I got there at 10 p.m. it was all over. They’d ended very promptly as scheduled at 9 p.m., as I had failed to notice. So I headed back over to Club Reign, where the One Love reggae band had started a slammin’ set. I cruised around taking a closer look at the buds and waxes and whatnot. I got my quote of the day from a guy at the Dream Dispensary table who opined, “It’s a cookie craze now,” regarding the popularity of various strains such as Cookie Dough, Girl Scout Cookies, Purple Oatmeal Cookie, and other cookie-moniker strains these days. These “cookie” strains are a sativa-indica hybrid with a THC level ranging from the high teens to the mid-20s. Pretty much the most interesting product I saw was something called a Moon Rock. It was a marble-size ball of wax rolled in kief with a dab of wax on the outside. The vendor was also selling kief, a product I haven’t seen

HIGHERground in a while, but I haven’t been looking for it. My big experience with kief was in the 1980s in Morocco, where the old men were known to mix kief with tobacco in their pipes. Kief is made from shaking the resin glands from a bud through a screen. The powdery substance is the kief. When kief is pressed into bricks, the product is called hash. Just as I was ready to go, I ran into a few friends coming in, so I hung out a little longer. We ended up discussing the Extreme Cannaquest & Expo that’s taking place this weekend (April 29-May 1) in Lansing. In addition to the speakers, vendors, and an awards program, there will be auditions for The Marijuana Show, something of a Shark Tank for marijuana businesses. One of my friends, a cannabis cook named Oak who was formerly at the 420 United Fusion Café, is pitching what he calls an “educational cannabis café” where booths will feature video clips with information about medical cannabis. Go for it, Oak! Nobody is quite sure how the 420 holiday really got started. The prevail-

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ing legend is that some guys in Seattle used to get together after school to fire one up at 4:20 p.m. Somehow, 420 became a codeword for them, and it caught on and grew so that now it’s observed around the word. Except maybe in England, where they still drink their tea in the afternoon. Happy 420! See ya next year. That’s my stuff The line of celebrity stoners whose names are attached to cannabis products just got longer. The family of Peter Tosh has entered into a venture to bring Peter Tosh 420 (that number again) to the marketplace. Tosh wrote and performed “Legalize It,” one of the most enduring marijuana anthems, during his post-Wailers career. The song’s lyric, “and I will advertise it” will no doubt prove prophetic as these products are marketed in the postprohibition world. This development was announced just as Marley Natural products, from the Bob Marley estate, hit the San Francisco market. Other celebrities with cannabis products lined up

include Whoopi Goldberg, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Melissa Etheridge, Tommy Chong, Ghostface Killah, and Wiz Kalifah. Purple Rain Here’s a quick note to mark the death of Prince. He wasn’t a stoner, but there is a strain named after his hit song “Purple Rain.” My wife and I went to see him play at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor on the Purple Rain tour early in our relationship. We parked illegally and I left a bag of marijuana on the dashboard. The car got towed. I was ready to poop my pants when we went to the police station to pay the fine, but it wasn’t brought up. When we picked up the car from the tow yard, my bag was still there on the dashboard where I had left it. Sometimes you get lucky.

letters@metrotimes.com @gumbogabe

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savagelove by Dan Savage

The one-night stand Q

I am a trans man and I have no love life. But I did just hook up with a friend two nights ago. It was the first time I’ve had sex in more than a year. My problem is that it was a “one-time thing.” I was hoping to be FWB at least. I’m furious with myself for giving that away for what amounted to a hookup, and thoroughly sorry for myself for it being a “one-time thing,” because it nearly always is. I feel thoroughly unlovable and dejected right now. I was raised a Boston Irish Catholic, and I have PTSD from my parents being difficult. In a backward way, I hope the issue for others is tied to the fallout from my upbringing — because that’s something everyone has problems with, and those things, while not entirely fixable, are manageable and not so visible. I worry it’s not that, though. I worry my being trans is the first problem a potential partner sees. I am a man with a twat — a forlorn, underused twat at that. — Not Often Picked, Everyone Not Interested Sexually

Buck Angel is a public speaker, a filmmaker, an activist, and a trans man, NOPENIS, who famously and fearlessly bills himself as “the man with a pussy.” I passed your letter on to him because who better to answer a question from a man with a twat than the man with a pussy? “Anyone who hasn’t had sex in more than a year is going to find it scary to get back out there and start again,” Buck says. “And starting again with a body that you might not be 100 percent comfortable with yet? That’s even scarier. The first thing that NOPENIS needs to hear — and really believe — is that he is lovable. And he is, even if he doesn’t know it yet.” The second order of business: You gotta stop beating yourself up over that one-night stand. Take it from Buck, your fellow trans man, and take it from me, your fellow Irish Catholic queer: You didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t give anything away — hell, you were doing something right. “Hookups can be important for understanding your body sexually,” Buck says. “So NOPENIS shouldn’t be mad at himself. We learn and grow from our experiences, even if they’re bad ones. And here’s what I learned from my first experiences in the gay men’s world of sex: Hookups are the way it’s done. I was not prepared for that because I’d had sex only with women before my transition. That was hard for me too at first. But what I learned was that I wasn’t being rejected, even if it was only a one-night thing. I was being accepted in a way I wasn’t used to.” Finally, NOPENIS, you’ve got to stop seeing your body and your twat as problems. It’s the only body you’ll ever have, and it’s a body some will find attractive and some won’t.

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Some guys will be attracted to your body (and you, ideally) for its differences —not attracted to your body (ditto) despite its differences. “NOPENIS absolutely shouldn’t count himself out just because he’s trans,” Buck says. “The world is different now, and many people are attracted to trans men sexually. He just needs to learn to love himself and to have sexual confidence, because people find that attractive. And he should continue to experiment and continue to embrace new experiences!” For more Buck, go to buckangel.com. And you can — and should — follow Buck on Twitter @BuckAngel.

I have a friend who is getting married. She’s cheated on every guy she’s been with, including her last three husbands. This will be her fourth marriage. I’m sure she’s fed the new guy a million reasons why her first three marriages didn’t work out. She’s obviously a sex fiend, but she’s not kinky. And here’s the punch line: I found her fiancé’s profile on Fetlife, and he has some hardcore fetishes — even by my standards! I’m sure his kinks are going unexplored within their relationship/engagement and that they will go unexplored once they’re married, as my friend has been horrified during discussions of my attendance at BDSM events. I know your rule is generally to “stay the fuck out of it,” but I have a rule that goes like this: “I would like to know that the person I’m dating is a serial cheater who’s probably after me for my money.” So do I warn the guy? — Fucked Regarding Imperiling Ensuing Nuptials, Dan

Mind your own business, FRIEND, and do so with a clear conscience — because these two sound perfect for each other. He’s on Fetlife looking for someone to diaper him, and she’s probably cheating on him already. If your friend is still a dishonest, lying, heartbreaking cheat — if she’s still making monogamous commitments she cannot keep — why stop her from marrying a man who is already cheating on her or is likely to cheat on her shortly after the wedding? To gently paraphrase William Shakespeare: “Let thee not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.” Watching these two walk down the aisle will be like watching two drunk drivers speed around a closed racetrack. Maybe they’ll crash, maybe they won’t; maybe they’ll die in a fire, maybe they’ll get out alive. But so long as no one else is gonna get hurt, why risk your own neck trying to pull these fuckers over?

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C ulture ARIES (March 21- April 20):

You have landed on your feet after what looks like a long stretch of pressure and uncertainty. The next leg of the journey is as much in the hands of fate as everything that led you to this place. As life sets itself up for your next lesson, all you have to do is show up and maintain enough cool to pass whatever the test involves. If you could see the way the planets are aligned, you would know that no matter how simple or complex your life has gotten, you are being given a chance to reclaim it. You know what’s at stake. Stay clear. The next few months are pivotal.

horoscopes by Cal Garrison LEO (July 21-Aug. 20):

You are so ready for something else. It’s quite clear that your time has come. If it’s about work, it’s probably time for a raise. If it’s about other things, to put it in a nutshell, you’ve paid your dues. Those close to you have been benefiting from your greatness of Spirit for far too long; don’t expect them to suddenly wake up and take YOUR needs into account. This is one of those times when you’ve got to stand up and say, “Enough already — it’s my turn!” There are irons in the fire. Heat them up and get moving. The rest of your life is waiting for you to go out and get it.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 21-Dec. 20):

You don’t have time to get into it with people. It’s not your style to get too psychoanalytical; you’d rather go to the movies. For the next few weeks your life is going to be about keeping things light enough to get the job done. Your entire being wants to give itself to whatever the task requires. Other people need to know this. You may need to keep reminding them to get off your back, because your ability to multi-task should not require you to take on them and their stuff. Keep up the good work. You can resurrect your truer passions when things settle down.

TAURUS (April 21 -May 20):

You could back off and still bring enough pressure to bear on this situation to make your point. Driving a tack with a sledgehammer rarely works and you could use your energy for things that have more to do with your future than they do with the past. The need to put someone in their place has worn out. Side issues that have to do with the fact that all of the above has shot you in the foot are making you wonder if it would be wiser to befriend your enemies. Your errors in judgment have called up the need to forgive and forget. Lighten up. It’s totally OK to let go.

VIRGo (Aug. 21-Sept. 20):

You are so good at keeping on, keeping up, and showing up with your dime ready, no matter what is going on. At the moment what is second nature to you has you feeling like you’re sleepwalking through life. At the same time, the inside story is totally turbulent, and full of more emotion than you’ve had to deal with in a long time. Spinning in opposite directions has put many of you in an altered state. As you navigate the schedule and stay on track, something else is there; keep your eye on it. These inner rumblings are clues, there to guide you. Be open to them.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 21-Jan. 20):

Things are looking ambiguous. Life is either coming together in a big way, or you’re wishing you were anywhere but here. (If you’re OK with things, you can skip your prediction and go out for recess.) If you’re having a tough time, it comes down to being in one of those scenarios that looks totally perfect, but for some reason it doesn’t FEEL right. Those close to you are euphoric over it, but you see things differently and can’t bring yourself to bust their bubble. You can let things slide — or you can speak up and say that their pipe dreams could turn into a nightmare.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

You have had it up to here with more than a few things. Surrounded by people who aren’t in the mood to look at themselves, the level of dysfunction is straight out of daytime TV. Why is it that hardly anyone is willing to go to the mat when it comes time to own up to the truth? You’re so done with pretending to go along with the program you don’t even care what happens. Creative separations and a little solo activity are in order. Some time out will give everyone a chance to see who they are and what they want. Don’t exempt yourself from the rigors of self examination.

LIBRA (Sept. 21-Oct. 20):

You’re coming out from under the weight of what looks like an emotional 10-car pile up. In the wake of stuff that has overturned you internally, the externals are either an ideal distraction, or they’re too much to deal with. As the week unfolds, more than one thing will come along to nudge you closer to your center. There is no other place to go. From what I can see, what lies up on the road ahead is going to require all of you to be there for it. The emotional weight? As the work at hand progresses you will begin to come to terms with the forces that have stirred up your heart.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21-Feb. 20):

The people and situations that have needed you most are taking good care of themselves for the time being. You would be wise to follow suit because in a few months all of your energy will be taken up with more demands to prove yourself on every front. You face decisions that will see you questioning the benefits of expansion versus contraction. They will be easier to make if you approach them from the standpoint of making the most of what you have and capitalizing on what is already in place. It’s time to recalibrate your perspective. If you can do that you will flourish.

CANCER (June 21-July 20):

Be patient with the part of you that needs to stay on top of everything. There’s a fine line between patience and control. Right now, you can’t fool yourself into thinking that your “magic touch” is going to make everything turn out alright. Faced with bottom line issues and nuts and bolts stuff, you need to get real before you can begin to connect the dots. Your ability to be totally honest is what’s being tested. It comes down to regrouping and dispensing with all of the people, places, and things that suck up your time and stand between you and having a life.

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SCORPIO (Oct. 21-Nov. 20):

You aren’t in a position to rush into things. It’s fine to see the writing on the wall, but between the logistics and your emotions, you can’t be pressured or pushed. The way things have changed, it’s hard for you to know if you’re reading the signs correctly or if you’ve lost your mind. Others may not know what to make of you and that is part of the problem because what you think they need or expect complicates your ability to be truthful with yourself. God knows who made it so hard to be honest in this dimension but before you can go forward you need to tell it like it is.

PISCES (Feb. 21-March 20):

Life has put you in the hot seat and you are either rising to the occasion or you’re imagining the worst and praying for a miracle. Others are oblivious. Don’t waste a minute expecting people to turn into something they are not. What’s up to you would be less of a deal if anyone had bothered to give you a template, or some instructions for it. As you get accustomed to the fact that what’s on top of the stack is entirely up to you, you will begin to see who’s who. Lots of heavy-duty liars and posers have shown up to test your will and offer you an advanced course in discernment.

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