Allow the Eater Detroit Heatmap to provide you with insights on the new restaurants and old favorites that have opened or re-opened in the last six months or so or that have otherwise sparked renewed intrigue. Whereas the Eater 38 is a collection of can’t-miss stalwarts and bucket-list entries, the Heatmap is about what’s going on now in the Detroit food scene that diners are buzzing about.
The Best New Restaurants in Detroit, May 2025
Several heavy hitters from fall exit the list, while stealthy Italian subs have made their way to Birmingham, and more new restaurants in metro Detroit to know now
Serena Maria Daniels is a former editor for Eater, Midwest region, responsible for coverage in Chicago, Detroit, and the Twin Cities. She’s a longtime Detroiter, by way of the West Coast and has been a journalist since 2006.
In this latest update, a slew of highly anticipated restaurants that launched in fall 2024 are exiting the heatmap — including Lady of the House in Core City, the city’s first Filipino bakery JP Makes and Bakes in New Center, Corktown’s Rosette Market + Cafe, Norm’s Diner in West Village, and Japanese restaurant Soraya downtown. Entering the heatmap, Witch Topokki, the first Michigan location for this all-you-can-eat Korean-style restaurant.
The Best New Restaurants in Detroit, May 2025
Several heavy hitters from fall exit the list, while stealthy Italian subs have made their way to Birmingham, and more new restaurants in metro Detroit to know now
Serena Maria Daniels is a former editor for Eater, Midwest region, responsible for coverage in Chicago, Detroit, and the Twin Cities. She’s a longtime Detroiter, by way of the West Coast and has been a journalist since 2006.
Allow the Eater Detroit Heatmap to provide you with insights on the new restaurants and old favorites that have opened or re-opened in the last six months or so or that have otherwise sparked renewed intrigue. Whereas the Eater 38 is a collection of can’t-miss stalwarts and bucket-list entries, the Heatmap is about what’s going on now in the Detroit food scene that diners are buzzing about.
In this latest update, a slew of highly anticipated restaurants that launched in fall 2024 are exiting the heatmap — including Lady of the House in Core City, the city’s first Filipino bakery JP Makes and Bakes in New Center, Corktown’s Rosette Market + Cafe, Norm’s Diner in West Village, and Japanese restaurant Soraya downtown. Entering the heatmap, Witch Topokki, the first Michigan location for this all-you-can-eat Korean-style restaurant.
Marrow Eatery and Provisions
The Eater Award-winning Marrow in Detroit’s West Village expanded its footprint with a casual neighborhood butcher shop and cafe in Birmingham. The 1,400-square-foot space includes a retail butcher counter featuring aged steaks, deli meats, a selection of wines and gourmet sundries, and Marrow’s line of packaged sausages. The property also includes limited cafe seating with a breakfast and lunch menu of meatball subs and banh mi veggie sandwiches, as well as salads, soups, and other savory snacks designed by departing Marrow executive chef and partner Sarah Welch. Avoid the wait and take a peek at the menu, and call in your order to-go by phone. Online ordering will be available soon.
Marrow Eatery & Provisions/Taylor Higgins
Cafe Origins
Few Michigan chefs can lay claim to being James Beard Award winners, but Alex Young, formerly of Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor can, as he took home the honor of Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2011. Now, Young is back with Cafe Origins, an all-day spot in Birmingham that opened its doors toward the end of 2024. The menu here may look comparable to other cafes with a variety of espresso beverages, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches, but the difference here is in the details. Young’s team bakes its sprouted wheat bread for sandwiches. In addition to offering sweet pastries like salted chocolate chip cookies and pecan sticky buns, Cafe Origins also serves globally inspired savory hand pies, filled with Jamaican spiced chicken, curried potatoes, or Cornish beef. Wraps come stuffed with fillings like lamb shawarma or wild mushrooms. Plan ahead and place orders online.
Cafe Origins
La Pecora Nera
La Pecora Nera’s stealthy Italian sub sandwiches made with bread from Rising Stars Bakery, salads, espresso, gelato, and small Italian grocery selections are now available in Birmingham, as of March. Order from the large chalkboard-style menu at the counter where you can watch your sandwich being assembled. The original location opened in downtown Detroit in 2017, followed by a spot in Farmington. Online orders can be placed via Grubhub.
La Pecora Nera
Witch Topokki
Witch Topokki, the first Michigan location for this all-you-can-eat Korean-style restaurant, opened on Friday, April 11, in Troy. With its first U.S. location in Manhattan, visitors are invited to customize their own topokki experience by selecting their preferred seasonings with broth, along with proteins like sliced meats, seafood, noodles, and vegetables.
Witch Topokki
Carajillo
Situated on Woodward in the space that, for many years, was occupied by the Emory, Carajillo is a sit-down Mexican restaurant launched by chef Ara Sotelo, who previously operated Cafe de Olla within Cafe Muse in Royal Oak. At Carajillo, expect a variety of botanas (not the cheesy Detroit-style) like the Botanaza, consisting of guacamole, queso fundido, and chicharrones, or a platter of seasonal fruit topped with sweet and spicy chamoy and Tajín. Visitors can order familiar menu items like tacos and quesadillas, but at Carajillo, customers can have them filled with Mexican delicacies like huitlacoche, flor de calabaza, or arrachera — flavorful skirt steak. The sandwich menu includes pambazos (popular in Mexico City and Veracruz) filled with chorizo and diced potatoes, and molletes — baked bolillos filled with refried beans, ham, melted cheese, and pico de gallo. To drink, expect a lineup of Mexican beers, as well as palomas, mojitos, micheladas, and margaritas. Orders of $75 or more and reservations can be placed online.
Carajillo
Tall Trees Cafe
This highly anticipated haven for dreamy sandwiches opened its doors just before the new year, bringing the talents of hospitality industry veteran Mike Finsilver to a petite space in Ferndale. Finsilver began popping up in spaces around the Detroit area with a spicy mortadella sandwich — made with crunchy semolina batards and filled with thinly sliced mortadella, a fiery bomba calabrese spread, and chopped iceberg lettuce salad in a preserved lemon buttermilk dressing. The mortadella is now on the menu at the cafe, in addition to the Clong — a thick-cut turkey sandwich featuring turkey raised on the west side of the state, provolone cheese, an herby mayo, a roasted cherry tomato spread, and pickled shallots with dressed greens on focaccia bread. In addition, try a rotation of soups, which so far has included a mushroom gumbo and a dill pickle soup. The bread is from James Beard Award semifinalist Secret Bakery next door.
Dirty Shake
Dirty Shake is inside an empty ivy-covered and red-brick building on the corner of Forest at Second Avenue with a sprawling wraparound patio and opened on Thursday, March 13 — Detroit’s own 313 Day — from the team behind the award-winning Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails and Freya. Dirty Shake promises a neighborhood bar feel with a retractable garage door window that opens up to a spacious patio area that, during the warmer months, will surely be prime real estate for leisurely hangs. There’s indoor seating for 80. The interior features a long bar, two-top table seating, and a lounge area with upholstered seating surrounding a fireplace. Kamalani Overall, from the Oakland Art Novelty Company, serves as the spot’s beverage program manager, designing a menu of nostalgic drinks, boozy slushies, and fun takes on classic Detroit cocktails like the Hummer milkshake. Non-alcoholic options will also be available. Hewitt’s food menu will include affordable options like an impressive bar burger featuring two patties from a housemade blend of ground beef, sharp cheddar, and Martin’s potato rolls; and an incredibly flavorful serving of chicken wings, which are brined for 24 hours, then dry-cured for another 24 hours, then smoked for two hours, and fried to finish.
Mark Kurlyandchik/Booth One Creative
Hosted Detroit
Replacing the longtime cheese shop Mongers’ Provisions in the Cass Corridor, Hosted Detroit is a Black-owned establishment that began serving its first customers on Thursday, March 27. Like the former tenant, Hosted Detroit also specializes in fine cheeses and cured meats, and designing beautifully presented charcuterie boards — great for home entertaining.
Enomah
Asian cuisine meets soul food at Enomah, one of the newest additions to hit Harmonie Park. The Black-owned fine dining restaurant and lounge opened toward the end of February and brings with it a variety of dishes that bring together a harmony of flavors that blend Asian and Southern traditions. Specialties include tender braised short ribs or fried shrimp and pineapple salsa nestled in a fried bao bun, jerk seabass on jasmine rice, and lobster fried rice. Take in elevated clubby vibes and live DJ sets, along with live performances coming soon.
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Chenin
The Siren Hotel welcomed the opening of Chenin on Thursday, March 6, a pocket-sized wine bar from local beverage industry professional Nick Arone. The bar emphasizes natural and biodynamic wines, including earthy Spanish varieties such as a funky glass of rosé from the Catalan winemaker Joan Ramon Escoda. There’s also a brief cocktail menu and food options such as focaccia-like tomato pies, a mortadella sandwich, olives, tomato pies, and a rotation of ice cream made in-house. Pair a glass of red with a scoop of rich dark chocolate ice spiked with a tiny bottle of Underberg for a decadent experience. There are no reservations, and scoring a spot at the bar can be tricky with just 10 seats, but there’s a narrow bar surface on the wall opposite the bar where folks can squeeze in and stand. Place an order of food and a drink at the counter when you arrive and take in the moody vibes punctuated by an impressive playlist of synth-pop and Italo-inspired moody disco and candles perched on wall sconces. It’s worth the wait.
Joe Portelli/Bar Chenin
Ostrea Seafood
The owners behind downtown’s iconic London Chop House have opened Ostrea Seafood on the ground level of the Murphy Telegraph Building at W. Congress and Shelby streets. If the steakhouse around the corner is dedicated to thick cuts of meat and red wine, consider this the splashy neighbor catering to your caviar and Champagne whims. Splurge on decadent menu items like oysters, grilled swordfish, lobster, and tuna tartare, order from the full bar, and enjoy the opulence from comfortable seating. To find the entrance, be on the lookout for a 9-foot-tall mermaid sculpture attached to signage saying “the world is your oyster.” So posh.
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Ostrea Detroit
