Grand Trunk Pub and the Reuben That Justifies the Drive

The ceiling is the first thing. Vaulted arches, joined at the center, running the length of a narrow hall lined with dark wood paneling and small wooden tables. Brass chandeliers hang from the plaster, and mirrors along the walls stretch the room wider than it actually is. You walk in and you look up. Everyone does. The building was constructed in 1879 for Traub Bros & Co., a jeweler, and the Grand Trunk Railway purchased it in the early 1900s to use as a ticket station.^{1The building was constructed in 1879 for Traub Bros & Co. jewelers. The Grand Trunk Railway purchased it in the early 1900s. Per the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Atlas Obscura.} In 1911, the railway tore out the original second floor and installed the vaulted ceiling you see now, a style fashionable in train stations of the era. The ticket counter became the bar in 1935 when the Metropole Hotel bought the space, and it has been a drinking establishment ever since.^{2The Grand Trunk Railway installed the vaulted ceiling in 1911 and operated the ticket station until 1935, when the Metropole Hotel purchased the building and converted the ticket counter to a bar. Per the restaurant's own history and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.}

The architecture is the draw that gets you through the door. The food is what makes you stay. I ate the Reuben the first time I came here, and I have not ordered anything else since.

The Reuben

The Grand Trunk Pub Reuben ($19) is piled high with Wigley's corned beef, sauerkraut made with Poet stout, Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing on toasted rye.^{3Menu items and prices per the Grand Trunk Pub food menu as of March 2026.} The corned beef is tender and thick-cut, not the paper-thin deli slices you get at places that treat a Reuben as an afterthought. The kraut has body from the stout, tangy without being sharp. The rye holds together under the weight, which is the most underrated quality a Reuben bread can have.

It is a very good sandwich. The kind where you eat the last bite and immediately think about when you are coming back. The Reuben Eggrolls ($16) take the same filling, wrap it in an eggroll skin, and deep-fry it. Served with Thousand Island or duck sauce. They are exactly as good as that sounds.

Beyond the Reuben

The Trunk Burger ($17) is a double smash patty with caramelized onions and bacon. The Foran Burger ($21) adds corned beef and kraut to the double patty, which is the Reuben reincarnated as a burger and works better than it should. Fish and chips ($19) uses beer-battered cod. The Mandatory Spicy Crispy Chicken ($17) is pickle-brined and fried with buffalo sauce, and whoever named it "mandatory" was not entirely wrong.

The Iron Horse Chili ($11), topped with house-made cornbread croutons and sour cream, is the cold-weather order. Mac and cheese ($16) is a four-cheese cavatappi with panko crust. Most entrees land between $16 and $21, which is fair for downtown Detroit and reasonable for the portion sizes.

The Room

The tables are small and wooden. The lighting is warm without being dim. The mirrors and the vaulted ceiling create a space that feels grander than its footprint, which is the trick the original architects intended for a railway station and which works just as well for a pub. On a busy night, the noise fills the vault and bounces back down, and the room has the kind of energy that pubs are supposed to have: people talking, glasses moving, nobody whispering.

The bar runs the length of one wall. Michigan craft beer dominates the taps, and the happy hour (Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 p.m.) drops all drafts to $5 and appetizers to $8.^{4Happy hour details per the restaurant's current promotions. Draft beers $5, appetizer specials $8, Monday through Friday 3 to 6 p.m., dine-in only.} That is a good deal in any city and a great one on Woodward Avenue.

Woodward and the Block

Grand Trunk sits at 612 Woodward, between the theater district and Greektown, a few blocks from Comerica Park and Ford Field. On game days and concert nights, the pub fills with the pre-event crowd, and the kitchen handles the surge without the food suffering for it. That is a harder thing to do than people realize.

Wright & Company is up the street at 1500 Woodward, doing small plates and cocktails on the second floor of another historic building. Sunda New Asian opened recently near Comerica Park. The Woodward corridor has been getting more attention from the dining press, and Grand Trunk is the anchor that was here before the attention arrived.

The building is 147 years old. The vaulted ceiling has been there since 1911. The ticket counter has been a bar since 1935. The pub has been serving Reubens and Michigan beer for years, and the only thing that changes is the crowd. The architecture outlasts everything.

Grand Trunk Pub is at 612 Woodward Ave, Detroit. Open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to midnight, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to midnight. Happy hour Monday through Friday 3 to 6 p.m. No reservations needed.