A touch of England

Drawing its inspiration from the great public houses of London, the Lone Goat is downtown Detroit’s first authentic English pub. The Lone Goat is the latest addition to the growing collection of establishments by the Detroit-based Roxbury Group, through its Treefort Hospitality arm, and occupies a ground-floor and mezzanine space in the historic Metropolitan Building. The pub serves a wide selection of British and domestic draught beers, cocktails and spirits, and an extensive offering of classic English pub food. “We really wanted to develop an experience that drew from the historic attributes of the space and complimented the physical character of the Metropolitan Building,” said Roxbury President James Van Dyke, who led the development effort at the Lone Goat. “A genuine English pub was a great fit in a building that already looks like a medieval castle, and in our view was an offering that was lacking in the marketplace.” The main floor features a central main floor copper bar, while the second floor space offers darts as well as room for private events. The pub is open seven days a week and offers lunch and dinner options including such English favorites as bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie, fish and chips and Welsh rarebit. The pub has also developed an extensive beer menu with ten draught selections of Britain’s finest ales and stouts in addition to a broad list of bottles and cans. Every aspect of the Lone Goat’s planning was based on thorough research of English pub design and operation, including the furniture selections, artwork, signage and its playlist of hand-picked music tracks spanning the last six decades. Asked about where the name “the Lone Goat” derives, Van Dyke added – “The name comes from an old joke that is a favorite around the Roxbury Group. If you catch us at the bar, we’d be happy to tell it.” 33 John R St, Detroit thelonegoat.com