Restaurants in Taylor

Lit by more than 20 big-screen TVs—which, depending on the time of year, show NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA games—the interior of Stars of the Game Sports Grill is abuzz with cheers and groans. Bartenders pour frothy brews from 11 taps and a variety of bottles, and servers carry out plates of wings doused in 1 of 16 sauces, custom pizzas, and slow-smoked racks of ribs. With five feeds for the televisions, visitors are always sure to catch their favourite games, UFC fights, or reruns of Gilligan’s Island.

The pizza-twirling foodsmiths at Valentino’s Pizzeria hand-toss freshly made dough into sliceable discs before layering them with a sauce free of preservatives and corn syrup. After a dusting of mozzarella cheese, the pizza snuggles into a giant oven until it turns a bubbling golden brown or screams. Non-circular foods delight diners as well, with 16 oven-baked subs and crisp, freshly prepared salads ready to quash hunger in no time.

Though well versed in whipping up hearty salads and gourmet pizzas, the true culinary calling of iBurger Lounge’s chefs lies in the art of burger creation. As chefs man the sizzling grills and chop cheese into thick, meltable slices, savory wafts of halal-certified beef patties and sautéed wild mushrooms drift from the kitchen to greet patrons eagerly awaiting their meals in the window-lined dining room. Daring to depart from the burger’s traditional beefy nature, the staff delights in assembling atypical bun-ensconced noshes, from a burger forged from crab cakes to a vegetarian iteration that replaces the patty with a portobello mushroom. In the warmer months, an alfresco eating area beckons guests outside for open-air munching, protecting them from the elements with snowy white umbrellas who aren't afraid to punch the wind.

Drawing from family recipes and culinary know-how refined while working in a military mess hall during World War II, Italian native Edoardo Barbieri founded the first Da Edoardo restaurant in 1978 with help from his son. Three generations later, the chef's family carries on the epicurean legacy at Da Edoardo's four locations across the Detroit area, earning the 2012 Restaurateur of the Year Award from the Michigan Food and Beverage Association.

At each eatery, chefs follow the Barbieri family's guidance, authentic recipes, and instructional shadow puppets while assembling fresh, elegant entrees inspired by Northern Italian cuisine. They complement pastas and steaks with a convoy of wines from Italy, California, and Oregon and regularly dole out their creations for catered events amid the restaurants' chic, upscale environs.

According to the Windsor Ontario News, owner Milan Miokovic opened Crave Grill to correct the faults he found in other restaurants: crowded seating and inferior ingredients. The eatery's menu marries traditional cuisine—strip steaks and 8-ounce burgers—with exploratory international fare, such as creamy Italian pastas and tender wiener schnitzel. An extensive wine list brimming with sundry varietals from Canada and the world over complements entrees or serves as a reminder of grapes' mortality.

For almost 30 years, the Costanza family has chaperoned a troop of juicy steaks and steaming pasta dishes through Station 885's warren of dining rooms, fireplaces, and the long, burnished-wood bar. Thick, broiled filet mignon and jambalayas enriched with andouille sausage and shrimp represent the menu's hearty steak-house-style fare, which is offset by stone-fired pizzas, and gluten-free and wheat pastas. Diners can cozy up in the fireplace dining room or twirl up a spiral staircase to a dining area above the bar. Throughout the restaurant, bowl-shaped art-deco lamps cast pools of light over white-linen tablecloths, recalling the site's origins as the Chesapeake freight house with its utilitarian elegance and penchant for trains.