Do you have $2? Do you have access to a car? Okay good, get your keys ready because you now have dinner plans at Green Dot Stables, but wait, finish reading this first (please).
Photo courtesy of @austinfrank on Instagram
Even though some of the best rappers have come out of the D, we all know Detroit still gets kind of a bad rap. (See what I did there?) It’s not, historically, the safest of cities, but the Motor City is on the up-n-up, and it’s our duty as Michiganders to aid its increasing popularity. But, “What’s there for me in Detroit?” You ask? Green Dot Stables.
Green Dot Stables originally opened in the 1970’s, serving bar food and late-night drinks, but after closing in 2011, the restaurant took a turn for the better. Jacques and Christine Driscoll, along with Chef Les Molnar, had a vision for a new eatery, and in 2012, their aspirations came true with the reopening of the newly improved slider restaurant.
The new restaurant focuses on what they thought was lacking in Detroit: a place for late night food that was cheap, but still great quality. The menu includes a few sides/soups/salads, two desserts, five different types of shoestring fries, drinks and most importantly, sliders. With 20 creative slider options and one “mystery meat” weekly special, everyone can find something palate-pleasing.
Photo courtesy of @mgutelli on Instagram
Oh, and I forgot one small detail. EVERYTHING on the menu is $2 or $3. Those are McDonald’s prices people, and Mickey D’s doesn’t serve up corned beef sliders or Moscow Mules. The beauty behind these college-student-friendly prices is that you can get three or four sliders, some fries and drinks and still leave with both your stomach and wallet full.
My boyfriend and I tried out this place after a day at the DIA, (which, side note, 10/10 would recommend a visit), and being Green Dot virgins, our waiter suggested that we step out-of-the-box and instead of ordering cheeseburgers, try the more wild sliders on the menu. We took his advice, ordered fries, kale salads and several sandwiches including the Korean (pork with peanut butter and kimchi), the Lamb (lamb with rosemary hummus and pickle) and the PB&J (peanut butter with chipotle jelly). After all, we were only shelling out $2 for each item (point of reference: that’s 1/2 a Big Mac).
Photo courtesy of @skighwalker on Instagram
Long story short, you NEED to take a trip to Detroit and eat that food. I mean it too – you should have eaten at this restaurant, like, yesterday. The cajun fries were thin and crispy, the kale salad made us actually happy to eat kale and the sliders were like nothing I had ever tasted. My boyfriend even said that the kimchi was as good as his Korean mom’s (shout out to Ann Arbor’s Brinery, which is Green Dot Stables’s kimchi supplier). What’s kimchi you ask? This article will enlighten you.
I know Detroit can seem a bit intimidating, but a trip to Green Dot is a perfect change-up from Ann Arbor’s food scene. Where else can you enjoy a mystery meat sandwich of alpaca shoulder or rabbit? Trust me, these sliders will bring you to Detroit faster than you’ll be run out of it.
Photo courtesy of @craigderrick on Instagram