If there’s one characteristic that sums up Detroiters, it’s persistence. Working with grace under fire has always been a prerequisite for surviving and thriving in this city, whether it was during a pandemic, the struggles with gentrification, a historic bankruptcy, or decades of disinvestment. Somehow, we know how to overcome whatever challenges we’re faced. That’s no different for the restaurants and bars and in 2022, a number of establishments have found ways to innovate in the kitchen, build community one cocktail at a time, and design spaces in neighborhoods that feel welcome to all Detroiters.

This year, we saw an underutilized ground-level storefront near downtown transformed into an intimate neighborhood destination that’s perfected the art of Coney-style steak and frites, a long-vacant historic firehouse reimagined as a casual-yet-elegant wine bar, a trio of Black bartenders whose pop-up beverage program encapsulates Black excellence, and a pair of neighborhood restaurants that are redefining Detroiters’ notions of fine dining in their own communities.

And with that, Eater Detroit is proud to celebrate the winners of the 2022 Eater Awards.

Detroit Bureau

Detroit Bureau

Detroit Bureau

Best New Restaurant

Bar Pigalle

Years ago, sommelier Joseph Allerton and bartender Travis Fourmont got to know each other at the new-at-the-time Michael Symon’s Roast in the swanky Westin Book Cadillac. Allerton stayed at Roast, while Fourmont parted ways with the spot. The two crossed paths over the years after that and somehow always knew that they would get the chance to work again someday. That someday came