Restaurants in Royal Oak

Lebanese cuisine, with its blend of fresh vegetables, spiced meats, and infusions of garlic and olive oil, strikes a happy balance between healthfulness and flavor appeal. The chefs at Bostaan maintain that balance, blending chickpeas, fava beans, and veggies into crispy falafel and charbroiling chicken or lamb to fill savory shawarma wraps. The restaurant's staff also brews Arabic coffee and squeezes fresh juices from oranges, carrots, beets, and radishes, creating healthy blends that add color to cheeks and cultivate desires to sing arias with people at the gas pump.:m]]

Understanding how difficult it can be to eat healthfully while participating in the daily grind, Salad 101's owners contribute quick solutions to the community bustling around Midtown. The menu boasts seven gourmet sandwiches, including the turkey and swiss, eight hot paninis, and the Wayne State Reuben drizzled in russian dressing and geography-quiz answers. Soups include a piping-hot daily special, and a full salad bar lets diners craft their own greeny medleys. With 10 premade salads to go, such as a fattoush bouquet, Salad 101's staff enables patrons to eat well when too busy to dine in or rent their own chef.

Soft light fills the air at La Guardia, which has been serving traditional Italian fare since 1979. In addition to pastas, chicken, and steak, the menu stars 15 veal dishes, such as vitello saltimbocca, a Roman specialty that douses veal medallions and prosciutto in a butter, wine, and sage sauce. Chefs celebrate seafood on two of their eight specialty pizzas, with a fresh tomato and crab meat pie and a crust heavy with calamari, cuttlefish, octopus, and anchovies. On Friday and Saturday nights, live entertainment from a guitar soloist infuses dinners out with music without requiring guests to play kazoos carved from dry penne.

Known as “The Mariachi House,” Las Brisas Mexican Restaurant fills the streets of Mexicantown with the scents of sizzling fajitas and the sounds of feet stomping to music provided by mariachis, bands, and live DJs. Shredded cheese entangles steak, pork, chicken, and seafood within steaming tacos and enchiladas as imported pints of Corona, Dos Equis, Tecate, Sol, Bohemia, and Modelo bubble forth from the bar. Margaritas composed of eight different tequilas raise spirits at weekday buffets, weekend dance parties, or weeklong snipe hunts.

New Seoul Garden’s chefs conduct culinary tours of East Asia without setting foot on the continent. Instead, they bring the food stateside through a hefty menu of Korean and Japanese specialties, including barbecue and sushi. Like shark-themed mylar balloons, most of their entrees celebrate seafood such as sushi with squid and salmon, though many plates star beef or chicken. Hot-pot dishes actually simmer at the table; rolls of soft-shell crab or sweet shrimp come into being at the sushi bar. The restaurant's interior itself bespeaks Asian roots; spindly tree branches open toward a skylight and several low tables are ringed with mats or seats for sitting on the floor. East Asian fans and artwork cover the walls, culminating in a rooftop tier that evokes a pagoda.

At Ristorante Ciao, the aromas of cheesy baked pastas and pizzas waft from a stone oven to mingle with the scent of steaks, seafood, and chicken sizzling beneath the broiler. Amid this scintillating perfume, chefs concoct hearty Italian fare infused with imported cheeses, fresh produce, and rich sauces.

Inside the dining area, Roman-style frescos adorn stonewalls and exposed bricks. Burgundy drapes seclude leather chairs and upholstered booths, creating an intimate atmosphere for dinner dates or clandestine meetings about overthrowing a caesar salad. From behind the full bar, bartenders pour cocktails and glasses of wine from an extensive list culled from Italy, France, Chile, and California. Two private banquet areas house seating for up to 100 guests, and the restaurant’s catering crew also eagerly scurries to offsite celebrations.