Restaurants in Allen Park

Dream Dinners makes meal preparation a breeze with easy-to-follow instructions, precut meats and veggies, and a host of complementary ingredients. The experience is like a cross between a barn raising and a bar crawl, minus the alcohol and hard labor: After choosing from a rotating menu of up to 14 dishes per month, customers schedule a spot at a fun prep session (call at least a week in advance) to assemble meals in-store. Items from the April menu include blackened salmon with pineapple salsa ($15.89 for three servings) and crispy sesame chicken with gingered green beans ($14.04 for three servings). Groupon holders can dazzle dining-room tables with fancy, restaurant-inspired fare or serve up flavor-filled comfort foods such as white-chicken lasagna ($14.04 for three servings) and caliente pork chops with garlic mashed potatoes ($16.42 for three servings).

At Secret Recipes Family Dining, Jim Woolford helms an affable staff who slings breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a sunny, relaxed dining room that caters to families, offering coloring books and toys for the kids. Omelets, breakfast burritos, and pancakes greet the dawn alongside coffee, cappuccinos, and tea. By suppertime, the kitchen's signature baked meatloaf—slathered in gravy and flanked by mashed potatoes—crowns tables as slices of pie vie for space amid entrees and each table's caddy of sugar, ketchup, and nine-irons. Secret Recipes also caters special events with chafing dishes and place settings that serve up buffet-style entrees and a myriad of sides.

Sushi Kami's chefs bring the distinct flavors of Southeast Asia to metro Detroit as they craft entrees using Japanese and Korean cooking techniques. They carefully carve fresh eel and king crab into exotic maki, sushi, or specialty rolls. The multitalented chefs also assemble customized bento boxes during lunch service, filling each compartment with chicken katsu, sauce, and a series of smaller bento boxes.

There is perhaps no greater sign of Louisiana's culinary heritage than the mélange of aromas that wafts from a pot of simmering gumbo—a cornerstone of creole cooking from as far back as the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Nearly every recipe calls for some kind of roux, a traditional French sauce that consists of butter, oil, or some other fat mixed with flour. Beyond that, the specific spices and ingredients vary wildly, but most versions of gumbo fall into one of three general categories. Seafood gumbos feature oysters, crawfish, and other catches simmered with okra and vegetables, whereas filé gumbo uses a spicy herb made from ground sassafras leaves to highlight the savory flavor of andouille, poultry, ham, or smoked links. The third variant is known as gumbo z'herbes, a vegetarian recipe traditionally served during Lent.

Despite its indisputable creole ties, gumbo can't actually be traced to a single cultural tradition; the version using filé powder, for instance, originally derives from Native American cultures. Either way, the name itself comes from the West African term “gombo,” which means “okra”—a plant native to Africa that the French colonists of Louisiana likely introduced to North America in the early 1700s.

Each day, restaurant owner and chef Adel Elsayed assembles his Lebanese platters from scratch. Using breads hot from the oven, ingredients that have never been frozen, and falafel with no past stints as ping-pong balls, he creates a menu of zesty Middle Eastern staples, such as meaty kebabs and lunch pitas. His shared plates of appetizers and entrees satisfy groups of two or four, and the catering menu provides ample skewers for larger outings. On some weekend nights, Monaco’s dining room comes alive with the strains of live Arabic music and the hypnotic undulations of belly dancers.

The Turkish meal at Hakan Turkish Grill begins at 9 p.m. with two hours of open bar, a professional belly-dancing performance, and a group belly-dancing lesson. The two-course Turkish meal made from all-natural ingredients includes your choice of either hummus or tabouli and a choice of kofte (ground-sirloin patties grilled and served with rice and veggies), chicken (sautéed with garlic and veggies and served with rice), or a vegetarian sauté of seasonal veggies (served with rice). After the event, guests will be shuttled via Hummer limo to either Club Play or B.E.D., where they'll skip the line of either of the posh South Beach nightclubs and will typically enjoy two initial free drinks before dancing the night away. Reservations are required.