Where to Eat in Corktown
Detroit's oldest neighborhood has one of its deepest dining corridors. Ten restaurants that make Corktown a destination.
Corktown is a few square blocks west of downtown Detroit, the city's oldest surviving neighborhood, and the place where the current dining scene arguably started. Slows Bar BQ opened in 2005 and the rest followed. Twenty years later, the corridor running from Michigan Avenue to Bagley Street has more good restaurants per block than anywhere else in the metro area.
I have profiled several Corktown restaurants individually for Plate & Press. This guide pulls them together and adds the spots I haven't covered yet. If you're driving from Ann Arbor, budget 45 minutes and make a night of it.
Takoi
2520 Michigan Ave. Northern Thai food from chef Brad Greenhill, whose cooking draws on Thai traditions. The larb is the table setter: ground pork, toasted rice powder, fish sauce, lime, a heat that builds without announcing itself. The khao soi curry is rich and coconut-heavy, served over egg noodles with crispy shallots. This is one of the few restaurants in Michigan doing Northern Thai with this level of specificity. Read our full profile.
Alpino
1426 Bagley St. An Alpine-inspired restaurant that occupies the brick building where Lady of the House used to be. (Kate Williams' original closed its Corktown location in 2021 and which closed amid a co-owner lawsuit.) Alpino fills the space with cheese, charcuterie, wood-fired dishes, and a wine list that leans European. The raclette is the move: melted over potatoes and cornichons, eaten at the table while it's still bubbling. A Detroit Free Press Restaurant of the Year honoree.
Slows Bar BQ
2138 Michigan Ave. The restaurant that started the Corktown dining revival. Since 2005, Slows has been smoking brisket, pulling pork, and running a sauce lineup that goes from vinegar-tangy to sweet and thick. The brisket platter with two sides is the standard order. The mac and cheese is better than it needs to be. On a Friday night the wait can stretch past an hour, but the bar is good and the space is loud enough that waiting doesn't feel like waiting. Reservations recommended for larger parties.
Selden Standard
3921 Second Ave. Technically in the Midtown-Corktown border zone, but close enough to claim. Andy Hollyday's farm-sourced small plates, cooked in a wood-fired oven, in a room with high ceilings and natural light. A multiple-time James Beard semifinalist. The vegetable dishes are as strong as the proteins, which is rare. The beet hummus, the roasted carrots, the wood-fired bread with cultured butter. Go with someone who shares, because the menu is built for splitting.
Folk
1701 Trumbull Ave. Rohani Foulkes' cafe and restaurant serves brunch, lunch, and an all-day menu that draws from West African, Caribbean, and Southern traditions. The space is small and bright, with natural light and plants. The jollof rice is excellent. The pastries are house-made. Folk is the kind of place where the kitchen's perspective shows up in every dish without needing to explain itself.
Ima Izakaya
2015 Michigan Ave. Modern Japanese noodle shop from chef Mike Ransom. The udon is made in-house and served in broths that range from simple dashi to a rich, pork-based tonkotsu. A James Beard-recognized restaurant. The cold udon with sesame is the summer order. The hot pork udon is the winter order. Small plates are worth exploring: the Brussels sprouts with miso glaze and the gyoza are consistent. Cash and card accepted, no reservations.
Brooklyn Street Local
1266 Michigan Ave. All-day brunch with a Canadian accent. The poutine is the signature, and it's the real thing: cheese curds, gravy, fries that hold up under the weight. Breakfast runs all day, and the pancakes are thick enough to fill a plate. It is not a fancy restaurant and does not pretend to be. It is a neighborhood joint that happens to be in a neighborhood with a lot of fancy restaurants, and that contrast is part of the appeal.
Ottava Via
1400 Michigan Ave. Italian small plates and an extensive wine list in a room with exposed brick and a long bar. The pastas are house-made. The burrata is served with seasonal accompaniments that change monthly. The cocktail program is serious without being self-important. Ottava Via is the Corktown restaurant most likely to surprise you if you walked in expecting a casual neighborhood spot and got a kitchen that's paying real attention.
Batch Brewing
1400 Porter St. Corktown's brewery with a tap list that rotates frequently and food that goes beyond bar snacks. The brewery is small and the space is casual. It is the kind of place you go after eating somewhere else on this list, for a beer and the atmosphere. The patio is good in summer.
Street Beet
A plant-based comfort food spot that moved from pop-up to brick-and-mortar in Corktown in late 2025. Burgers, loaded fries, and sandwiches, all vegan, all made to taste like the thing you actually want to eat rather than a substitute for it. The vegan Corktown smash burger has a following. If you're skeptical about vegan comfort food, this is the place to test that skepticism.
How to Do Corktown
Park once. Walk. Michigan Avenue runs east-west and most of these restaurants are within a ten-minute walk of each other. Start with dinner at Takoi or Alpino, move to Slows or Ottava Via for a drink, and end at Batch Brewing. Or do brunch at Brooklyn Street Local and lunch at Ima. The density is the point. You don't need to plan a Corktown trip. You just need to show up and walk in whatever direction smells best.
From Ann Arbor, take I-94 east. Forty-five minutes in light traffic. The drive is worth it for Takoi alone. With ten restaurants on a single corridor, it's worth it for the afternoon.
Corktown is bounded roughly by the Lodge Freeway, Michigan Avenue, and the train tracks. Most restaurants are on or near Michigan Avenue between 14th Street and Trumbull. Street parking is free in most areas.