How Often Do You Eat Out, Rochester?
With all of the restaurant comings and goings around town, the answer is likely "often."
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There is no lack of restaurant happenings in Rochester and Rochester Hills.
Consider the past six months:
- Bar Louie opened at the corner of Tienken and Rochester roads. Qdoba and Chipotle opened second locations in Rochester Hills. Flat Top Grill opened at The Village of Rochester Hills.
- Bonjour Cupcake opened, then closed downtown. In the meantime, Rockin Cupcakes has expanded, selling their cupcakes at a new Macomb bakery.
- Fortesa, the upscale restaurant overlooking the Paint Creek downtown, closed sometime between Christmas and New Year's Eve. A handmade sign on the front door reads "Sorry We Are Closed."
- Tower Pizza has expanded and transformed. Now known as Tower Bistro, it features a revamped, bistro-style menu.
- Hibachi House opened last week downtown. It's a Japanese-style steakhouse brought to you by the operators of Sumo Sushi; Patch dined there over the weekend and will have a full report later this week.
According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurant owners are optimistic about sales growth in 2012; the majority of restaurant owners surveyed nationwide expect to have higher sales in six months, and 47 percent planned to spend money on equipment, expansions or remodeling in the next six months.
A year ago this week, we launched a contest to discover our readers' favorite restaurant (Kruse & Muer was the winner). This week, we're wondering: with all of the optimism in the restaurant industry, and with all of the local restaurant changes, how often do you eat out, Rochester?
In This article
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Sumo
418 S Main St, Rochester, MI -
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Kruse and Muer on Main
327 S Main St, Rochester, MI
Sa
8:27 am on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Flat top grill was ok but over priced. I bet it won't last long.
Carol Jackson
9:39 am on Sunday, January 8, 2012
I recommend that existing liquor laws be changed so that in restaurants without a liquor license, patrons (of the right age) can bring in their own wine or beer if the it's made/brewed/bottled in MI. It would help local commerce.
Kristin Bull
4:12 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Interesting idea, Carol. Has this happened elsewhere that you know of?
Sandy Altherr
4:32 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
I don't know of anywhere here in MI. that has BYOB allowances but it is a common thing in New York, California, etc. If you google it, you can search for places that allow it. It's a great concept for a place w/out the liquor license and for those that want to enjoy their own flavor of wine/alcohol..maybe cheaper too ? It would be a cool concept to try here and I love Carol's idea of supporting the local breweries & wineries !
Susan Heholt
10:07 am on Sunday, January 8, 2012
We eat out at least a couple of times a week and have a list of restaurants that are "our favorites", and occaisionally add something "new" to try it out. On our list of favorites is: Downtown Cafe, CK Diggs, Red Ox, Outback, Grand Tavern, Chapman's Mill, AND the Flat Top Grill. We frequent these establishments because of the people who run them and work there, the quality and value of the food, and the general experience that we have while in the restaurant. We love that we end up with another whole meal from the single serving of food we get at the Flat Top and find that this makes it an exceptional value. In addition, we also go to several other restaurants just slightly out of the immediate area: the Shamrock in Utica, Buffalo Wild Wings at 26 mile and M53, and Santino's in Washington. Again, we go for the people who run the establishment, the general atmosphere, and the value for our dollar. We also look to the Patch for our new ideas to try, and that is why we went to Mark's Coney Island yesterday for lunch. Yum, yum, yum! Great food, fast and delicious, and great value. Not to mention the super friendly waitress, and other staff. Please keep the restaurant reviews coming Kristin!
Laura Cassar
11:43 am on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Susan, I'm happy to hear you had a great experience at Mark's Coney. It's pretty easy to see (and taste) why they have such a loyal following!
Tuscanyisterrible
5:42 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Why not Buffalo Wild Wings on Walton near Crittenton?
christine
10:12 am on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Bar Louie was good (not exceptional) but really over-priced. The drinks were way overpriced. Atmosphere is nice, good for sitting and drinking, if you can afford to.
David Gifford
8:51 am on Monday, January 9, 2012
I felt like that too about the food. Shouldn't a "small plates" menu be priced below the cost of entrees? I found most of them were the same cost! Great atmosphere though and the food is pretty good.
Heather
2:33 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Wow. That's too bad about Bonjour Cupcake. I've been telling people to try it. We eat out more than we should for our budget.
rhmusa
2:49 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Agree about Bonjour....they were FANTASTIC...I'm just not much of a dessert eater....
Scot Beaton
9:00 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
CJ Mahoney's great place to go in RH. There going to be puttin' on a Super Bowl party Feb. 5th w/$3.99 wings and $6.99 large pizza.
David Gifford
8:55 am on Monday, January 9, 2012
We eat out about once a week. Usually it is Miguel's Cantina because of my love for their fresh salsa and amazing Chimichanga. We do plan on trying every restaurant downtown over the course of 2012. Last night we started with Chomp.