Restaurants in Harper Woods

The team at Mack Avenue Diner forges a menu of melts, fish, steak, and burgers amid an ambience of Americana, with checkered tiles and cushy bar stools. Warm up with a tasty tuna melt, which simmers under a ceiling of gooey American cheese ($5.99), or enjoy the chicken fajita salad–chicken breast, onion, tomato, and chedder cheese served with grilled pita bread ($6.99). A portabello quesadilla wrap is rendered scrumptious by an adhesion of spinach, tomato, and melted cheddar ensconced in a grilled flour tortilla ($6.59), and six burgers display the virtue of layers, such as the half-pound ground round ($5.29–$5.79).

According to The Big Salad, there are more than 17 million gustatory possibilities, and a quick look at their build-your-own salad menu makes it clear they aren't exaggerating. Customers start by selecting their base greens—baby spinach, iceberg, or romaine lettuce. Next, they choose up to seven toppings from options including artichoke hearts, black olives, edamame, sliced beets, mandarin oranges, and unlimited oxygen molecules. Folks can the build in flavor layers with five kinds of cheese, seven sorts of dried toppings, and more than two dozen dressings including sesame ginger, chardonnay chenin blanc, Mexican ventural, and blueberry pomegranate. For salad-weary guests, the shop extends their democratic process to their wraps, and offers a pre-designed selection of sandwiches ranging from a Thanksgiving sandwich to a meat lover's classic italian.

Rex's Deli heaps meats from New York and Chicago onto deli sandwiches and doles out generously portioned comfort-food classics. The 1-pound T-Rex sandwiches anchor the menu, their density of corned beef, pastrami, or a combo of both creating a gravitational pull capable of holding napkins and small cars in orbit. Flaky Icelandic cod is hand-dipped and fried to a golden crispness, and corned beef cooked fresh daily shares the limelight with cabbage on a dinner plate or goes solo between a bread back-up band. For breakfast, the new york strip steak and eggs supplies a propulsive dose of protein to fuel a day of hunting down telemarketers to thank them for their generous offers. Diners can hop on the establishment's free WiFi as they indulge.

While some places focus on specialty entrees, the chefs at Detroit’s Finest Soul Food focus on satisfying customers with a whole meal. That’s why they join each entree with a slice of corn bread and a choice of two sides—such as fresh-picked collard greens, mac 'n' cheese made with five cheeses, or spaghetti. They make their meals fresh daily and center them around a chosen cut of meat, such as a slice of hearty meatloaf or chicken in a choice of white meat, dark meat, or barbecue. They often finish meals on a sweet note with crumbly peach cobbler or banana pudding. They also use their grill skills to create half- and full-sized pans of their dishes for weddings, barbecues, and LAN parties.

BluFin Sushi rethinks the concept of a sushi restaurant, fashioning specialty rolls with unconventional ingredients and a menu of entrees that blend aspects of American and Asian cuisine. The innovative spot's chefs serve up tender Kobe beef sliders and entrees that range from fish tacos to Japanese-style fried chicken, pounded flat and battered with panko. Hefty vegetarian rolls with names such as Monster Beast keep vegetarians from going hungry and munching on nearby Chia Pets. BluFin Sushi's kitchen also prepares sushi party platters for any occasion. An outdoor patio beckons patrons outside during warm weather, and diners can wash down bites with cocktails, beer, wine, and sake.

Dish's menu unites fresh sandwiches, full-flavored salads, and pristinely parmesaned pastas in the global fight against sandwich-shop simplicity. The hummus- and feta-laden Mediterranean veggie sandwich ($8.00) encloses a sea of beets, pine nuts, and cucumbers in a perimeter of lavosh wrap or multi-grain bread, and the tiger-shrimp and bacon sandwich ($10.00) is served with caper-dill cream cheese. Pastas such as the linguine picatta or pasta puttanesca can be ordered as standalone meals ($9.50 each) or served alongside a chicken ($12.50) or shrimp ($13.50) entree that uses either free-range poultry or free-reign shrimp that were born into a uniformly diminutive aristocratic family and controversially presided over an entire crustacean kingdom.