When one thinks of Detroit, many images come to mind - some good and some bad. Buildings burning to the ground on Devil’s Night, The Purple Gang pumping their enemies full of lead, the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the recent demise of The Big Three automobile companies, the birth of Motown music, and the in-your-face music of Kid Rock and Eminem…The list could go on and on. As to be expected, Detroit has always been known as a tough, gritty, mysterious, rockin, blue-collar town, which is why Anthony Bourdain needs to visit Detroit and expose this city and its incredible food to the rest of the world.

For starters there is Greek Town, which is located on Monroe Street in Detroit. Most of the Greek taverns have excellent food and one of the best restaurants is Pegasus. Across the street from Pegasus is Astoria Bakery, which is a must for pastry lovers. The baklava is to die for! Another unique area in Detroit is Mexican Village. The restaurants in Mexican Village serve only authentic Mexican food – you will not find any chain restaurants in this enclave.

Located a few miles outside of Detroit is Hamtramic, a city settled by Polish immigrants years ago. It is a must to eat at one of the many polish restaurants and to visit the Polish bakeries, which are known for their paczkis, a deep-fried, artery-clogging, jelly-filled donut. Also, a plethora of great Middle-Eastern restaurants can be found in Metro-Detroit. The Beirut Palace and Steve’s Back Room are local Middle-Eastern restaurants that are a must to check out.

When one wants a change of pace from the ethnic restaurants, a great diner to eat at is the Lafayette Coney Island in downtown Detroit. This restaurant is famous for its coney dogs. It is open 24 hours, and the most interesting time to go there is after closing time when the place is packed with bar, club, and concert goers.

But before experiencing the coney dog at 3 a.m., it is imperative to experience the Detroit night life. Detroit is known just as much for its music scene as it is known for its high crime statistics. For years, music has been a main staple in this city. From Motown to rock, Detroit is the place to find great musical talent. Bog Segar, Iggy Pop, The White Stripes, Alice Cooper, The Supremes, Eminem, and Kid Rock are a few of the music acts that have Detroit roots. Because Detroit thrives on music, it is easy to catch local and national bands performing in the city. The Magic Stick and Majestic Theater are venues that showcase a variety of bands every week. Blues, rock, reggae, jazz, and world beat groups play at these venues.

The Magic Stick and Majestic Theater are located in the same building complex, along with a bar, restaurant, bowling alley, and pizza parlor. Having these entertainment options in one complex makes for an entertaining evening of good food, bowling, and music. The Majestic Café serves Mediterranean and American cuisine. After eating at the restaurant, it is necessary to bowl a game or two at the oldest bowling center in America, the Garden Bowl, before experiencing a concert.

There are also many great restaurants, concert venues, and bars outside of the city. Also, in the summer, another interesting area north of Detroit is the Traverse City area. Located about 250 miles north of Detroit, Traverse City is known for its beautiful scenery, lakes, and wineries. There are over a dozen wineries to visit in the area.

Many people might be put off by Detroit or scared of the city because of its nitty-gritty image and would probably wonder why the hell Anthony Bourdain would feature Detroit on No Reservations. However, I think Bourdain would love the Motor City, and I believe he is the perfect person to expose Detroit and its cuisine to the world.

If No Reservations is interested in learning more about this blue-collar, tough-as-nails town, let me know. I will be happy to give out more information about Detroit. I have lived in the area for most of my life.

Yes, I totally agree. I love Detroit Rock City! There is always a good time to be had and if I can say personally I usually have way too much of a good time...There is such a diverse cultural variety in the cuisine and the music scene. And the people are very friendly unlike what some outsiders may think. I would highly recommend this trip!

I've got to agree as well. The Cleveland episode turned out so well and I think Detroit could be one of those unexpected surprises as well. Even though I'm only 21 I know downtown like the back of my hand, and its not as scary as some people tend to think Polonus has some of the best Polish food I've ever put in my mouth (and there's been a lot) and Greektown is always a good time. I'd love to see Detroit featured, I think people would be blown away at how beautiful it is up north and how much more there is to the city!

You guys have hit most of the points I was going to bring up for a show featuring Detroit. There are also great soul food and Bar-B-Q places like Slows Bar-B-Q on Michigan Ave. I also have to recommend Georges Coney Island in Pontiac (Just north of Detroit) for Tony's hot dog fix. It is the best and the owner, George has had every celebrity and sports star that ever came to the Silverdome as a customer. He is a great character with great stories. Detroit has so much to offer a show like No Reservations. An opening shot of Tony driving into Detroit on I-94 passing the Giant Uniroyal Tire or driving over Zugg Island on I-75 with smoke pouring from the smoke stacks would just fit with the style of the show. It is just a perfect fit.

I agree with ya'll on principal, being a Detroiter myself, now living in Chicago.

However, I would think a Detroit show would be too similar to Clevland, Detroit's illustrious musical history notwithstanding.
If the Travel Channel was to do another Midwestern city, Chicago would make the most sense, I think. How could Tony pass up a city once known as the "Hog Butcher to the World?"
Chicago's Polish immigrant population is probably the largest in the US, I would imagine, the hot dog is an artform here (plus we have Italian Beef, and the pizza (give me Detroit square pies any day though)), along with a huge Latino population (second to only LA), a Greektown, Chinatown and a Little Saigon. I can go on and on.

Like all most Detroiters, I have a love / hate relationship with my hometown, and will fiercely defend it when someone puts it down. As much as I would love a Detroit show, I think Chicago would be a better fit.

Oh, BTW, its Hamtramck.

I COMPLETELY AGREE ABOUT DETROIT!!!! Its the best city there is and I really think its Anthony's kinda place!


Are you kidding me about doing a Chicago show? Like thats never been done before by any other show. Heck, Top Chef is doing their new season there!

And may I remind us all that 100yrs ago Detroit was actually LARGER than Chicago, but thanks to sociocultural and industrial problems of which other towns would have crumbled from years ago, we havent had the growth in size as much as we have had the growth in heart and passion and soul. This is why we have the music and food we do!

Detroit is one of the greatest places in the world for music, food, people and life! I totally agree with all the stuff that has been said, but I think too that Detroit has a lot of food history that would work. Lafayette Coney is the first ever coney restaurant, Eastern Market is the best place to spend a nice saturday afternoon and the largest open air market of its kind in the US...incredible restaurants all around there...fresh as you can get. Greektown is incredible and you can't go wrong w/any of the restaurants....my fave is Hellas, which is 103yrs old. Plus its talked about in the Pulizer Prize book, Middlesex.

Any music genre you like, something great is here. For a cool jazz place, go to Cliff Bell's. Rock- check out Magic Stick, St. Andrews, etc....

Plus, if you want, you can even go to Windsor and do a dual country kinda thing.

I had a posting about this a few months ago on here, check it out.

PLEASE COME TO DETROIT TONY......ITS YOUR KINDA TOWN!!!!

Tony has just filmed a Chicago show, so hopefully Detroit will be an option in the near future. I agree that Cleveland and Detroit are a bit similar, but they are so different. Just because they are both in the rust belt doesn't mean that Detroit and Cleveland are twin cities. Detroit is turning into somewhat of a ghost town these days, but it would still make for a great episode of No Reservations.

I have to say candiapple, I was turned-off to the fact of a show in Detroit. All the stereotypes that one has about Detroit flooded my head, the image of walking down a street full of empty abandon buildings on a freezing January day, or standing on the banks of the Detroit River staring into Canada, again on a freezing day. But in thinking, and reading what you wrote about your city, I realized that that would be quite an adventure, a challenge really. I mean if you can make a show out of Cleveland (not that Cleveland is a bad city) that Detroit could be good.

My work has recently taken me to Detroit. Is it true that the coney dog and deep dish pizza is Detroit's signature food. I visited American Coney and Lafayette haven't tried the pizza.