Southwest Detroit pub and grub tour post-mortem: taquerias and dive bars

Vittoria Katanski, marketing director for the Southwest Detroit
Business Association led the tour, which visited the
West Vernor Business District, an area bordered by John
Kronk to the north, Clark St. to the east, Fort Street to the south,
and Dearborn and Dix Avenues to the west.

The first stop was at Charlie’s Pub at 1503 Springwells. The
group quickly fell in love with its carved wooden bar, pool table, stuffed marlin (we think) on the wall, and stripped down
charm, and the $2 beers definitely didn’t hurt the appeal.

Next, the group got walking — yes walking. The West Vernor Business District is one
of the most truly walkable communities to be found in the city of
Detroit.

Springwells and Vernor, two of the main thoroughfares, are
lined with bars, nail salons, auto body shops, walk-up apartment
buildings, New York-style pizza joints, and even a Mexican-Chinese
buffet.

Stefan’s Bar (1805 Springwells) was another jewel of a dive bar,
just down the street from Charlie’s. Walking in the door is like
entering a time warp: Detroit, circa 1973. Not only is the decor
retro, but the prices are positively old-school. The group guzzled $3
(or less) drinks.

Next, the Crawl turned into a sprint to the nearby
taquerias, particularly brand new Cinco Renya on Senator Street, and La Mexicana on W. Vernor at Springwells.

Cinco Renya  (7851 Senator) isn’t fancy. It’s furnished
with Formica tables, plastic lawn chairs, and a handful of children
crawling beneath the counter.  Our friendly Spanish-speaking waitress
brought over tortilla chips and two kinds of salsa. She served us piping hot tacos and tamales served the authentic way: no cheese, no sour cream, no Grilled Stuft
Burritos in this joint. Just fresh tortillas, spicy beef and
chicken, with cilantro, onion and limes for toppings — all at $1 each.

La Mexicana is more stripped down (if possible). Just a lunch counter in a small grocery, it serves up several varieties of meat served in soft corn tortillas with cilantro, lime and onion. Two hot sauces are available. And that’s about it. Don’t pass on the chorizo. The price is $1.35 for an ample portion.

The final stop was Sherry’s on
Vernor (7631 W. Vernor Hwy.), offering $4
mini-pitchers and fresh-made Bloody Marys, which our bartender mixed
with her homemade habanero hot sauce.

If you missed this one and would like a map or more info, contact Katanski here. There’s also talk of another tour early next year.

Writer: Ashley Woods