Aaron Belen, owner of AFB Hospitality, is hoping to bring something new to Birmingham with the opening of The Morrie, which has plans to be up and running by early next year. “There just isn’t a place right now out here for people that want a neighborhood restaurant with a very approachable price point,” he said. The Birmingham restaurant, much like the Royal Oak one of the same name – located at 511 S. Main St. – will be family-friendly and have lots of entertainment, including local talent. Other than a few changes to the menu geared more towards the new Birmingham location, like pizza and build your own salads, the menu will look very similar to the Royal Oak location, Belen said, includi

It was short, but for those who had the opportunity to dine there, it was sweet. For those looking to visit Chapman House, 311 Walnut Boulevard in Rochester, for brunch or dinner this summer, they’ll have to look elsewhere. In May, the Rochester restaurant announced on their Facebook page they would be undergoing “improvements and changes” and “putting our regular dinner and brunch services on hold, at least through the end of summer.” For now, they will be focusing only on private events, curated dining, and imbibing experiences.

Early next year Jim Brady’s Detroit will return to their roots with the opening of a Detroit location, where the original restaurant opened in 1954 and was in business for over 30 years. “For me, its kind of like a poetic, completing the circle kind of thing, bringing my grandfather’s concept back to the city,” said Tom Brady, the third-generation owner. The future restaurant – which Brady said is 8,100-square-feet and has a basement of equal size – will be located in a vacant Cass Corridor (or Midtown) building formerly occupied by Chung’s Chinese restaurant. They hope to do three things at the new location – the restaurant, a rooftop bar, and a catering division. While the menu is ever evo

Located at 3148 Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, on the ground floor of the The Scott at Brush Park, residents will now find Empire Kitchen & Cocktails, a new American bistro that opened in May. “We wanted to serve the community that was living there and moving there as a place where you could go…A friendly, neighborhood place,” said Brian Adelman, who is co-owner along with Mike Abrams and Dave Pittaway. The food at Empire is described as contemporary American cuisine with craft cocktails in a sleek, chic environment. This isn’t the first time in the restaurant business for the three, either. The partners, called BAC Holdings, also own 30 Michigan locations of Five Guys burger chain, alo

Tersion Yatooma really loves sandwiches, which played a role in why he and co-owner Patrick Maizy decided to open Spread Deli & Coffee House in Detroit. Located at 4215 Cass Avenue in Detroit, the duo hope to have the storefront open by the beginning of July. Spread Deli & Coffee House will serve a variety of sandwiches – Yatooma said the menu will probably have four to six, along with the ability to build your own – and offer simple coffee drinks. Just about every product used will be locally sourced from places like Eastern Market and Cadillac Coffee. “If our neighbors have such great products, why not use what they have?” Yatooma pointed out. Spread Deli & Coffee House also plans to give

On May 18, customers of Parks & Rec Diner, 1942 W. Grand River Avenue, in downtown Detroit, found out that Executive Chef Allie Lyttle would no longer be at the restaurant via a statement on their Facebook page. “The Diner had been doing very well, in terms of covers and total sales and media coverage. So I was completely taken aback,” said Lyttle, who had been there for almost three years. She found out right before leaving for her honeymoon she had lost her job – via text message. When she called the general manager, she was told her position had been eliminated and they were restructuring the culinary management team. Lyttle is the third executive chef to leave the Grand Army of Republic

This summer, Mr. B’s Gastropub, 215 S. Main Street in Royal Oak, will debut three new projects: a speakeasy, vintage arcade, and exterior mural. The first, an underground and hidden speakeasy named Johnny’s, is targeted to open in June, and like all good speakeasies will have a not-so-typical entrance. In the current design, guests will enter the 1,500-square-foot speakeasy through a back staircase accessible from an exterior kitchen door, with an entrance inside disguised as a cooler door. “There is a certain sense of mystery, an allure, that you feel as you enter a speakeasy. Johnny’s is going to be a special place,” said Johnny Prepolec, owner and executive chef of Mr. B’s Gastropub. John

Lost River, a new tiki bar at 15421 Mack Avenue, Detroit, had their public opening in early June. Matt Mergener, the bar’s co-owner along with Karen Green, said both days went really well, with people dying to check out the tropical atmosphere – which includes a floral mural by local artist Ouizi – and interesting cocktails. “Tiki is a little bit more rum-based and there’s a lot of cool things you can do with it,” Mergener said. Needless to say, their full drink menu has a lot of rum on it, including seven classic tiki drinks, like Mai Tais and their already popular Painkiller, along with seven more with a Lost River spin on them, like a Moscow Mule made with passion fruit. There will also b

Kate Williams, chef at Detroit’s Lady of The House, was recently honored in Food & Wine magazine. Williams was named one of their top 10 best new chefs for 2018. Cantoro Italian Market and Trattoria has opened their Troy location, at 1695 E. Big Beaver Road, for dinner. Lunch services are expected to begin later this summer. Como’s in Ferndale will live to see another day thanks to Peas & Carrots Hospitality group, which announced they will be reviving the restaurant with the same name and a “pizza-centric menu.” Plans are to reopen next year. The group, which includes Zach Sklar, also owns Social Kitchen & Bar in Birmingham, and Beau’s Grillery and Mex in Bloomfield Township. Gogi Seoul Kit