Cleveland and Detroit - Places to eat / drink

[Bombers]

Hello ... I am looking for any tips / advice on visiting these two stadiums. I will be there in July. Curious if anyone has gone there and what is a must when going there. Doesn't necesarily have to be close to the stadium but certainly nice if it is ... (for example if you go to PNC - I hghly advise checking out the southside works in Pittsburgh - especially the haufbrau house ... On the flip side, if you go to Camden Yards, you should stop at Pickles Pub right accross the street from Camden.)

[Bombers]

Can also be advice on what to eat / drink once inside the stadium too. Like eating at Primanti Bros inside PNC

[CheezWizHed]

I've never been to the Detroit stadium, but I work in automotive and am in the Detroit area fairly often.

 

I tend to avoid Detroit proper and stay north of 6-mile road. But there are some areas around Dearborn (close to Ford) that are pretty nice and safe. Doubletree in Dearbornis nice and in a good neighborhood. I guess there is one downtown also, but I can't comment on that one. Ask for the Ford rate. Any other hotel in that area is good also.

 

Otherwise, I tend to stay up near Farmington Hills or Novi.

 

Restaurants I like (obviously not in the stadium):

- Big Fish (fancy, cloth napkins seafood) $25-35 per person

- Mitchell's Fish Market(less expensive, but still good $15-20)

- Gaucho Steakhouse(all you can eat steak buffet, $60+. Epic meal and experience)

- BD's Mongolian BBQ - chain store, build your own stir-fry ($10-15)

(Can you tell I eat on a corporate travel budget? )

[sveumrules]

It's about 3 miles from the stadium but I always recommend The Happy Dog to anyone that is going to be in Cleveland. $5 for a huge kosher dog with as many of their house made toppings as you want. They also have a ton of craft beers if that is your thing.

[Bombers]

Thanks for the replies! Looking forward to getting to two parks I have never been to before.

[RockCoCougars]

A trip to Detroit without a visit to a Coney Island is not complete. Coney Island is kind of the George Webb's of Detroit, but with chili dogs. There are competing chains, not sure which one is more highly regarded, but I have heard there is one in the ballpark.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

I usually get to the Detroit area a couple of times of year.

 

(1) A stop at one of the coney island places (American Coney Island) in Detroit would give some "local flavor". Definitely a "George Webb" sort of greasy-spoon cafe.

 

(2) Not too far from the stadium in Detroit (about 8 blocks south) is Greektown. There are some decent places there. Pegasus Taverna serves Greek food. Astoria Pastry Shop makes Greek pastries. Pizza Papalis makes good Chicago-style pizza: both deep dish and thin crust. There's also a casino with a hotel down there, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

(3) Another place to try out is Detroit Beer Company (microbrewery/brewpub) about 2-3 blocks from the stadium. Better than Hockeytown Cafe or Cheli's Chili Bar, which are sports bars close to the stadium with nothing really special about them.