Sidewalk Seating in Greektown

[ABetterDetroit]

When exactly did this happen? Trading parking spots for seating, brilliant!

[Dbest]

Did you happen to notice they put in an IKEA down there on the strip too! lol

[ABetterDetroit]

Did you happen to notice they put in an IKEA down there on the strip too! lol

Really? Damn and I didn't bring the mini van.

[gazhekwe]

Stella mght come back and haunt that sidewalk dining.

[Bobl]

Stella mght come back and haunt that sidewalk dining.

Oh, yes, she would have had a fine time with this!

Am I the only old geezer who does not consider this Greektown any more?

[Honky Tonk]

Oh, yes, she would have had a fine time with this!

Am I the only old geezer who does not consider this Greektown any more?

"Et tu Brute?"
Yep, me too....

[canuck]

I think ancient Athenians about the time of Sock-ruh-tease [[a post classical rapper of sorts) used to park their carts in a by nearby field and sit on a sidewalk. They would eat, drink and be merry. Didn't have to think about the cart they left behind.

[stasu1213]

I hope that the Starbucks that will be opening in Greektown have outdoor seating as well

[Detroitdave]

This is actually a smart move. After the recent shooting and the increase in young people "hanging out" in Greektown and all the traffic , this is the perfect way to keep the traffic moving.
This is the closet thing to a pedestrian only street without the hassle of trying to get it pass the city and all the push back you KNOW will happen.
This way no one can really complain. The store owners can relax because people that walk , stop and enjoy , people that park take up space and cause traffic.
They can park in the lots and walk, this keeps the traffic on Monroe st

[Gistok]

Without providing a single specific.... this thread lacks substance....

If you Google outdoor seating Greektown.... it links you to this thread.... and a lot of info on the Chicago Greektown.

I was just there recently, and saw no roadside dining.

Can we have some specifics please?

[ekleezy]

There are plans to close that portion of Monroe Street to traffic for the rest of the summer. Not sure when exactly that's starting though

[John]

Just got back from an evening in Greektown. Monroe Street was closed between Brush & St. Antoine. On the North side of Monroe between Beaubien & St. Antoine, most of the parking spaces were filled in with temporary staging to accommodate outdoor seating.

There was an unusually heavy presence of DPD and even border patrol; I suppose in response to the incidents last month.

[royce]

I'm gonna thread jack here for a couple of reasons. First, I disagree with those who say that Greektown doesn't feel like Greektown because of the new non-Greek restaurants. I like that there's a variety. I mean how many Greek restaurants do you need for lamb? There's still around five Greek restaurants present on the main block of Greektown, Monroe Street.

Secondly, I think it was a bad idea to take down the traffic light at Lafayette and Brush, in front of the Atheneum Hotel. When it's congested, it's harder to navigate without the help of the traffic light.

[compn]

I'm gonna thread jack here for a couple of reasons. First, I disagree with those who say that Greektown doesn't feel like Greektown because of the new non-Greek restaurants. I like that there's a variety. I mean how many Greek restaurants do you need for lamb? There's still around five Greek restaurants present on the main block of Greektown, Monroe Street.

well uh, star bucks moves in, property values go up with the rent, then the old greek restaurants blow away cuz they cant keep up with that yuppie starbucks rent prices.

supply and demand. it happens to all 'towns eventually. except instead of moving 3 buildings over for cheaper rent, the old lamb places just retire. then instead of good places to eat, we get OLGAS. maybe a jimmy johns. yay greektown.

[Zacha341]

Yech! Jimmy Johns in GT! That would be horrid!

...instead of moving 3 buildings over for cheaper rent, the old lamb places just retire. then instead of good places to eat, we get OLGAS. maybe a jimmy johns. yay greektown.

[Honky Tonk]

Yech! Jimmy Johns in GT! That would be horrid!

Just cover it in Yoplait, it'll be fine.

[Honky Tonk]

I mean how many Greek restaurants do you need for lamb?

I don't know, how many Crap Beer or latte schmatte places does one need?

[EastsideAl]

I disagree with those who say that Greektown doesn't feel like Greektown because of the new non-Greek restaurants

I'm with the "old geezers" here. The real Greektown really does seem to have disappeared. For anyone who remembers Greektown with several varied Greek restaurants [[they once didn't all have the same menu), a number of Greek food stores and bakeries, stores selling goods, newspapers, and music from Greece, coffeehouses full of Greek men drinking coffee and playing cards endlessly, Greek businesses spilling over from Monroe onto nearby streets, and a remaining small residential community of Greek men, there's very little about the current "Greektown" that seems either particularly Greek or even interesting.

It now seems to be a small and rather honky-tonk entertainment district, with a few blandly similar Greek-themed restaurants amongst the blah corporate chains, all dominated by a big life-sucking casino.

[mikeg19]

To me, Greektown should feel like Mulberry street in NYC's Little Italy. Open to traffic during the daytime, then reduced during the weeknights, and completely closed off at nighttime during the weekends. All of the restaurants have expanded seating out onto the sidewalks and pedestrians walk in the street. I'm sure many of you have been there and experienced it as well. That is the type of atmosphere that needs to exist in select downtown areas. I think that DG understands that, and we might kinda see that with the alleyway next to the Z-lot and it's planned eateries and bars there. Small scale, but same idea generally.

[Bham1982]

It would be nice to have a good Greek restaurant downtown, and not another derivative "Opa", Sysco and microwave-laden place. How about no more grape leaves and moussaka and bad wine, and instead serve actual food eaten in Greece? Greek cuisine is massively seafood centric.

Is there even one Greek restaurant in Metro Detroit specializing in seafood? Are they afraid Detroiters are scared of authentic cuisine, and will only eat derivative crap?

[Gianni]

Among other seafood, they have really good octopus and whole fish bronzino at Santorini. They will even leave the head on if you ask.

[Gistok]

It would be nice to have a good Greek restaurant downtown, and not another derivative "Opa", Sysco and microwave-laden place. How about no more grape leaves and moussaka and bad wine, and instead serve actual food eaten in Greece? Greek cuisine is massively seafood centric.

Is there even one Greek restaurant in Metro Detroit specializing in seafood? Are they afraid Detroiters are scared of authentic cuisine, and will only eat derivative crap?

Expert on ethnic food too eh?.... well not everyone likes seafood [[I hate it)... so please leave us to our vices... I took a group from Ohio and Tennessee there last week and they LOVED it.... Of all the Greek food that is served here [[and yes Saganaki and grape leaves are indeed Greek)... it serves the American palate well.

Just like not every American who goes to a German restaurant wants to try Ham Hocks or Hassenpfeffer.... so to is some of the Greek food decidedly unappetizing to the American palate [[the thought of Greek Octopus drying in the sun waiting to be fried up turns my stomach!)

Now where did I put the rest of my Almond Boneless Chicken.....

[Bham1982]

Expert on ethnic food too eh?.... well not everyone likes seafood [[I hate it)... so please leave us to our vices... I took a group from Ohio and Tennessee there last week and they LOVED it.... Of all the Greek food that is served here [[and yes Saganaki and grape leaves are indeed Greek)... it serves the American palate well.

I have much higher hopes for the American palate. Yes, some people are happy with the Applebees version; doesn't make it authentic or worthwhile.

Seafood is absolutely integral to Greek cuisine. Greek without seafood is like Mexican cuisine without masa. It's easy to get "Greek" cuisine [[try any Coney Island) it would be nice to have a place that doesn't insult our taste buds.

[Honky Tonk]

I have much higher hopes for the American palate. Yes, some people are happy with the Applebees version; doesn't make it authentic or worthwhile.

Seafood is absolutely integral to Greek cuisine. Greek without seafood is like Mexican cuisine without masa. It's easy to get "Greek" cuisine [[try any Coney Island) it would be nice to have a place that doesn't insult our taste buds.

I don't know quite how to say this, but I agree with you. A whole bunch of people LOVE McDonald's. That doesn't make it great food, or even a good representation of American food.

[EastsideAl]

It would be nice to have a good Greek restaurant downtown, and not another derivative "Opa", Sysco and microwave-laden place. How about no more grape leaves and moussaka and bad wine, and instead serve actual food eaten in Greece? Greek cuisine is massively seafood centric.

Is there even one Greek restaurant in Metro Detroit specializing in seafood? Are they afraid Detroiters are scared of authentic cuisine, and will only eat derivative crap?

I agree with you on the long-declining quality of what's being served in our local Greek restaurants, and especially those in Greektown. A lot of what comes out of those kitchens is pretty abysmal now.

But the dishes served in most Greek restaurants in the U.S. are like those in most Italian-American restaurants. They have a lot more to do with the taste, class, and region of those who immigrated here decades or centuries ago, as well as the culinary landscape they found here in the U.S., than they have to with what is being served in those countries today.

Most Greeks who immigrated to the Detroit area actually came from Turkey, from where they were increasingly being driven out, culminating with a mass "population exchange" dislocation at the end of the Greco-Turkish War that followed WWI. When these folks, of mostly peasant backgrounds, came here, fresh ocean fish was not something you could get easily in Detroit or Chicago or other places in the Midwest [[easier to get in, say, NYC, which is why you see a lot more Greek seafood restaurants in Astoria than around here). On the other hand, meat, which had been something of a luxury in the old country, was abundantly and cheaply available here.

So, much like the meat-heavy Italian-American cuisine that developed in the U.S. [[which was not and is not what is served in Italy), Greek-American restaurants here served more meat-centric dishes based on the rural peasant foods they remembered. The fact that these meaty dishes were also more generally attractive to midwestern American diners was quickly noted as well, and certainly was not lost on entrepreneurial Greek restauranteurs.