No booze there (yet) of any kind, but
Supino's is a must-visit. Not really adherent to any particular style of pie -- it's wide and thin but decidedly not New York. Very classic Italian approaches to toppings, great flavor, usually a seasonal pie with ingredients from the farmer's market across the street, etc.
James at
Great Lakes Coffee in Midtown has a really nice bottle list for wines. It's sort of a "coffee shop by day, cafe/bar by night" spot. He's just started changing the by-the-glass list over to some cooler stuff too. James is the only guy there to ask about the wine, but fortunately he's impossible to miss: Thin guy with a GIANT beard, probably wearing bright sneakers. Twelve tap handles too if you're in the mood.
Roast has a large but expensive list with a few interesting nuggets. Good cocktail program and they usually have some Jolly Pumpkin beers on draft. Great Happy Hour at the bar. They do a nice job with all the food in general, though much of the menu is just standard steak house fare. When I do a big, expensive meal in Detroit, this is pretty much the only place I go.
Putnam has actually been consulting on the wine list at
Rodin, a French-inspired spot that does a lot of live music at night. The list is short but 100% French and very reasonably priced. Putt and Chef Kate have a great special going right now on Camille Saves for 7 bucks by the glass or around 40/bottle.
If you're a cocktail fan,
Sugar House is the best bar in the city for sure. Lots of hard to find (well, hard to find in Michigan, at least) bourbons and ryes.
A new place just opened in Hamtramck (a city within the city) called
Revolver that does rotating pop-up restaurants. So a different chef takes it over every weekend and does his or her own thing. So the quality could vary from time to time. But it's BYOB, and some of the chefs that have come through have done really nice stuff.
Green Dot does a creative little burger menu with a variety of solid sides, all $2-3 bucks each. Beer and bourbon are the only drink options though.
I haven't been in over five years, so I hesitate to mention it, but a really old Detroit spot called Giovanni's, downriver a bit, used to do really solid Italian food with a huge, reasonably priced list of Italians. Might be worth a look if you're in the mood.
Breakfast/lunch snacking can be done with superb coffee at
Astro Coffee. All Zingermans bread, all local ingredients, all the cakes and scones and pastries are made from scratch in the basement kitchen. She's a hell of a baker, really. I'd definitely spend a morning here.
Some of the better food in the area can be found at ethnic spots. Look up La Tarazza and Mi Pueblo (among many others) in southwest Detroit. Great Middle Eastern in Dearborn, just outside Detroit. Look up Al-Ameer and Shatila.
There are more options outside the city proper, of course. That's a whole different list. Highlights on the higher end would definitely include Bacco (great food based on the best ingredients) and Forest Grill (new young chef just took over; the few things I've had there have been great after a few down years). A very heavy, very rich, very classically French place called Marais just opened in Grosse Pointe, not far from Detroit -- haven't been yet but have heard a few good things.
