Restaurants in Clawson

Once inside Barrio Tacos and Tequila, one is immediately struck by the smoky blues and warm blooms of color that fill the space. Frosted panes of azure glass line one side of the restaurant, and vibrant murals overtake the other walls—the ones that aren't stacked with shelves of tequila bottles, anyway. Orange lights from above branch into glowing tendrils, studding the navy ceiling with miniature suns and illuminating the mortar and pestle on each table. These points of color are akin to the sparks of flavor inside the menu: pleasantly surprising and, in the words of the Detroit News, "bright and well-balanced."

Executive chef Ryan Porter is the brain behind Barrio’s inventive recipes. As a teenager, Ryan cooked for his family every night, honing the creativity that would lead him through American-, Asian-, Italian-, and finally Mexican-themed kitchens. Today, he looks in all cardinal directions for culinary inspiration, fashioning platters in the style of Oaxaca and Acapulco, among other regions. He stuffs tortillas with nine types of taco fillings, including housemade chorizo. On the side, scoops of chili-dusted sweet corn transport guests to Mexico without forcing them to throw out the giant bottle of shampoo they keep hidden under their shirt.

Chen Chow Brasserie's executive chef experimented with gigs as a musician and pro BMX rider before he discovered the culinary arts. After settling on this new career path, he wrangled a team of like-minded chefs to help craft a menu of inventive Asian-inspired cuisine, including miso-infused Chilean sea bass with crispy udon noodles and togarashi-blackened steak fillet. They also craft sushi rolls loaded with exotic ingredients such as forbidden black rice and brûléed salmon, and they occasionally hand over the reins to local celebrities, who design limited-edition maki rolls for charity. In addition to these eclectic morsels, the restaurant curates a collection of rare teas and sakes.

These Asian-fusion meals populate tables in a modern, ornately decorated dining room. Here, a recessed ceiling anchors scroll-shaped lighting fixtures that cast their silhouettes across a backlit wall. Circular booths facilitate hassle-free conversations or games of four-way patty-cake.

After more than a quarter-century of layering sandwiches, whipping up fresh salads, and ladling out bowls of piping-hot soups, Vineyards Deli Basket has the delicatessen business down to a science. The extensive menu lists more than 100 entries, broken down into sections for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as specialized options for healthy choices and Jewish catering. There are traditional deli standbys, such as a BLT or turkey reuben, as well as less traditional selections, such as barbecue wings or the jumbo Vienna hot dog, which is the size of a city bus.

The aromas of fresh-baked bread and roasted deli meats lure passersby into Central Park Deli, where they encounter a menu chock-full of sandwiches, burgers, soup, and family meals for any time of day. When they aren’t piling baked ham, turkey, or hot pastrami onto rye bread or kaiser rolls, the sandwich makers prepare an assortment of catering trays to satisfy appetites at business conferences, retreats, or really ambitious lunch dates.

At Antica Pizzeria Fellini, passionate chefs fashion wood-fired pies, sandwiches, and salads from traditional Italian ingredients and cooking methods, as live musicians fill the aromatic air with the sounds of strings and Latin jazz. Each delicious disk on the pizza menu bubbles with authenticity from being spread with imported italian cheese, sauce, flour, and olive oil and cooked in a traditional Neapolitan wood-fired oven, before finally being cast as an extra in a Scorsese film. Hand-sliced mozzarella cheese covers pizzas with creamy flavor, and the house-made dough kneaded from flour, sea-salt, and yeast instills pies with a mouth-watering simplicity. In addition to gracing dinner tables with the aromas and tastes of freshly baked pizza, Antica Pizzeria Fellini dishes out salads loaded with crisp, wholesome veggies, and traditional central Italian saltimbocca sandwiches.

The Fiddler’s doors only open Thursday–Sunday, but when they do, they send the smell of home-cooked Russian cuisine wafting far afield. There, you’ll find dollops of sour cream dissolving into bowls of borscht and cucumber slices circling a mound of tomatoes, dill, and red onions to form Russian summer salads. The rest of the menu reflects the vastness of the Eurasian nation, with tender morsels of lamb glistening in garlic and parsley marinade and sauteed whole cornish hens joining Turkish and Mediterranean dishes such as kebobs and sweet and savory blintzes. For dessert, guests can browse from a selection of sweets that includes the seven-layer Napolean Fiddler cake. The Fiddler hosts live music on Friday and Saturday night, occasionally welcoming the festive and folksy sounds of a live fiddler.