First Taste: Union Street

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Union Street

Metromix Detroit First Tastes

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There are a lot of ways to describe food cuisines. Style names like continental, fusion, haute, nouvelle and midwestern serve the culinary enthusiast with a nice and tidy categorical way to describe what they eat. But sometimes, a broader title just doesn’t work. Midwestern one-pot, or hearth cooking, just cannot encompass the essence of what Detroit food is. As such, we have to make a new term – a new food style – eclectic Detroit.

Now that we have that, how do we describe what it is? Easy – eclectic Detroit cuisine is the food that’s served at Union Street Saloon. Since the mid 1990s, Union Street has been the place to be seen, the bar with a great pour, and the restaurant with some fantastic and memorable dishes.

With a combined tenure of 26 years, executive chef John Wesenberg and executive sous and catering chef Edward Hamilton have been paying out their investment to Detroit, day in and day out. And it’s more than just the chefs who have the community roots – everyone who works at Union Street either has lived in the city or grew up around the neighborhood, making the establishment a true home-grown product.

All this translates into the food and service. Choose between getting a table, in the darker (and uniquely red) atmosphere for a quiet dinner or have a seat at the bar where old (and new) friends find themselves engaged in conversation. Either way, you’ll feel right at home with the staff and the service.

Ask anyone about the menu at Union Street, and I’m certain you’ll hear a couple things. One is that for what you get, it’s an affordable price, with a generous portion. The other probably has to do with the fan favorites: its fire-d up dragon eggs and fresh calamari.

Nothing compares to a good soup in the colder Michigan weather, and Union Street’s seafood chowder is at your side to help bring the warmth back. Served hearty New England style, the chowder is filled with bay scallops, shrimp, clams, and fresh hickory smoked salmon.

A good variety of sandwich options are available, from eight ounce angus burgers to the vegetarian friendly portabella mushroom sandwich (red wine and aged balsamic braised portabella mushrooms, roasted garlic cloves, roasted red bell peppers and provolone cheese served on a fresh multi-grain bun).

Entrees also include the Union Street jambalaya (the Detroit-influenced, cajun creation, of chicken breast, spicy Italian sausage, sweet bell peppers, herbs and seasoning simmered in a hearty cajun-style stew, topped with spicy grilled shrimp atop creole rice), a variety of pastas (such as the Scooby Doo pasta - diced chicken breast, garlic, sherry wine, cream, spinach, shiitake mushrooms and fresh tomatoes tossed with cavatappi pasta), and the regional Lake Michigan whitefish (a whitefish, marinated in milk, dusted with seasoned flour flash fried, served with French crème diced potatoes and vegetable of the day, accompanied with bleu cheese cole slaw and Miss Linda’s tartar sauce).

Centrally located between venues such as the Fisher Theatre, the Fox Theatre, and sitting directly across the street from the Majestic Cafe, Union Street’s been called the hub of Detroit. It’s the place to be seen, and the place for great food and drinks. It defines what we call, Detroit cuisine.

Get the full dish on Union Street