Parks & Rec Diner

Overall, a great meal! Biscuits and gravy, Pork Bacon, Sloppy Tom, and home fries were all delicious. Do not order the grits if you are expecting a traditional taste.
The prices are slightly expensive for the quantity of food. Also, seems a little silly but they charge a dollar for a small soufflé cup full of ketchup.

honestly the food was average, the cinnamon bun was the only thing worth going back for. I would’ve gone again until the waitress asked us to leave right after we paid because people were waiting. That didn’t sit well with me.

It was alright. The service left something to be desired. The waitress greeted us and then left us sitting at the (very cheap and uncomfortable) seats with no menus or water.
Our meals came out staggered (it wasn’t very busy either). I had the Corn cakes, nothing special. Maybe if they had the preserves that are served with it I would have enjoyed it more. The waitress didn’t mention they were out of that part of the dish until I asked why it wasn’t on my plate. If it was just based on the food I’d give it a 3. The chicken sausage is more of a sweet kafta, not my thing but I could see other people liking it. I didn’t get the cinnamon roll but it looked intriguing.
To me, this is just another over hyped hip spot doing something Ferndale did a long time ago.

O geez where to begin? We came to Parks and Rec before going to the auto show at Cobo. It’s a tiny place so seating for our group of 5 took roughly 25 min but the wait could not have been more worth it! Decided to go all out and order a Coffee with Baileys and a Bloody Mary to start. Bloody Mary was excellent and it even came with a side car of beer! My mind virtually exploded as I had never experienced this! The coffee was great and the Baileys gave it just the right amount of kick. Ok moving on to the good stuff… the FOOD. I couldn’t decide between the biscuits and gravy and the eggs Benedict. Soo I decided to go for the eggs Benedict and a half order of the biscuits and gravy.
First for the biscuits and gravy… Any good biscuits and gravy has sausage gravy. Check! Fresh baked biscuits. Check! That’s it right? NOPE! They stepped it up with a poached egg on top. GAME CHANGER! Best biscuits and gravy I have ever had HANDS DOWN.
Next up the eggs Benedict… Really can’t use words to describe it. But i’ll try… Hollandaise sauce was on point! You can tell they source their eggs locally because the egg yolk is more of an orange color. The flavors all mix together to create a party in your mouth.
Overall an excellent experience, friendly staff and the food was amazing. Putting this on the regular visit list anytime we are looking for brunch in Detroit.

I had the best oatmeal of my entire life here. I may dine here daily just for the oatmeal. This whole review is because of the Oatmeal Brulee. This had seeds, oats, raisins and pollen cooked until crispy on top. It is absolutely fantastic.
Now that I’m done drooling, I also enjoyed the Build Your Own Omelette: 2 egg omelette fluffed with your choice of add on, served with home fries & toast. I opted to add in chicken sausage, roasted garlic, mushroom and avocado.
Everything was really good. But, that Oatmeal :)
Be prepared to wait a while for a table because the place is REALLY small.
The only less-​than-​positive feedback I have is that our server seemed very behind and didn’t come back to us often, so I was frequently waiting for water (since I drink like a camel).

Absolutely loved this place. I drove by a few times as my son’s school is located near by. I saw that there was very very little seating, so when my mom told me that she really wanted to try this spot, I said we would have to go early when it opened — we got there at 8am on a Sunday and most of the spots were filled already. I can not imagine coming at 10 or 11 (which is usually more my speed!).
The food was delicious and our waitress was a dream. I loved the location, the setting and the food. It is 4 stars instead of 5 because of the seating issue and because it is a little more pricey that I think it should be for about ¾ of the items on the menu.

Definitely best to come with only one other person, myself and my sister did not wait too long to sit down, people are moving and grooving in there pretty quickly — we went at 12 on a Sunday!
Once seated we played checkers on our table, the table itself was a checkers board ! how fun!
Located inside a historic building, the GAR castle! so awesome.
BIG WARNING: the decadent cinnabun has NUTS in it !!!

Like a lot of places opening in the Detroit area, I seem to not be as impressed with those who have rated before. Parks & Rec Diner is another experience. Just a heads up… the place is small so be prepared to wait during peak times. The staff was friendly, the seats where cheaply made (again a new trend in restaurants, not just in Michigan), and the coffee was not good… to me. I like a full-​flavor coffee. The food. I had a sandwich and it was on the small side, but good. The downside was the cinnamon roll. It looked impressive. The table to my left had one. The table to my right had one. So I got one. They use a heavy dose of lemon in the recipe… too much for my taste. It was also under cooked in the middle. I was told that this is a reoccurring issue.
Décor: 2 out of 5
Food: 2 out of 5
Drinks: 2 out of 5
Service: 4 out of 5
Cleanliness: 4 out of 5

Parks & Rec offers a quaint yet tasty dining experience nestled in the rustic and historic Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) building in Downtown Detroit. I’ve been two times now, a Saturday morning, and a Tuesday morning.
Saturday morning was really busy given that about 30 people max can dine at one time at the tables, or the bar. My friend and I waited about 20 minutes or so to be seated at the bar, and it was quite cramped with people stacked inside waiting to eat, and actually eating. The service was friendly, but a little lagging given the busy morning. I ordered the Shrimp and Popcorn Grits. I found the texture of the grits to be perfectly creamy and smooth, and the shrimp was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and covered in sautéed onions and peppers. Very nice presentation on the plate, and it was really filling. I looked over at the people dining next to us and almost regretted not ordering the giant cinnamon roll!
Tuesday morning was meant to be a quick, before work breakfast. We arrived right after opening — a little after 8:00am, and there were already three other parties there ready for breakfast. It seemed like maybe they didn’t have everything quite together, and service was slowish. I anticipated getting back to work two blocks away before 9:00, but it was more like 9:30. Food was good — I ordered the biscuits and gravy, and found the biscuit to be soft and flaky, and the gravy appropriately seasoned. The egg was magnificently poached, and I went to work feeling very full and ready to skip my lunch for the day given the rather large portion.
Overall, I like Parks & Rec and am glad it’s been added to our Detroit arsenal of fine dining establishments.

Outstanding service and nice food presentation!
But, sorry to say, the food missed the mark here. I had high hopes and maybe I ordered wrong yet again… but I’m a little burned out on saying that. If it’s on a menu it should be good.
We ordered a couple coffees… pretty standard stuff. For breakfast I tried the Leek Strata with a side of their housemade pork bacon and my girl didn’t know what to order so I got her the shrimp and grits. The bacon had a hint of chili powder to it which was nice but it wasn’t anything overly special and at $ 4 for three slices… are you out of your damn mind?! I’m also getting burned out on inflated prices and small portion sizes. The menu was nondescript as to what an order was but these weren’t big pieces, so in actuality I received 1 ½ slices of bacon… for $ 4. Housemade or not… pork belly is inexpensive.
I tried her shrimp and grits ($ 14), which was a nice portion size and it was OK, but the grits were very very plain… no salt, no cheese, no flavor. The shrimp was a little rubbery and the one I tried was actually cold… like COLD. The menu read served with «sautéed seasonal vegetables». Since when are bell peppers seasonal? The pepper medley on top was good but overpowered the grits and was the prevailing flavor of the dish.
My main complaint though was my dish. My leek strata ($ 10) came with a nice curly hair on top of the single poached egg, but I removed it and carried on. (FYI this place is small and I really didn’t want to send food back having to point out that there was a hair on my egg… I figured it might make the other diners within earshot second guess their food too, plus not a huge deal, it happens). The top of the strata had a corn anglaise sauce to adorn the eggs. It was pretty good, but once I got past that sauce I didn’t taste any leek and I didn’t see evidence of any leeks. I’m not sure they understand the concept of a strata… but it means «layers or levels». There were no layers. It was essentially a bread pudding, and the dish fell on its face. All I really tasted was the caraway seed from the pumpernickel bread which was served in a small cast iron Dutch oven and all the edges were kind of burned.
One last note… you may want to wear layers if you’re coming here. They had it pretty cold while we were here. It almost felt like the A/​C was on.
I had high hopes but so it goes… onto the next place.

Came here out of town with my buddy for a football game. We had some time for breakfast and chose this place as the reviews looked decent. I’m not sure what everyone was smoking with these good reviews?! Hands down, the WORST breakfast place I’ve ever been to! The Omelet I ordered was freezing, soggy… I’m not a picky eater, I wasn’t touching that thing … I swear it was an off green no joke! My buddy’s food was just as bad– bill was 42.00 for complete shit. We just payed it and took off, not worth arguing.
I don’t place to be back in the area for any games anytime soon, however, if I am back– I know where I will NOT be visiting– THIS PLACE!

My boyfriend and I (out-​of-​towners) stopped in for brunch on a Sunday after staying the night in Detroit for the Red Wings game. We got parking right out front. The wait was about 10 minutes, not bad for 10:30am on a Sunday. We sat at the counter and were served drinks right away. I ordered a Bloody Mary that was pretty good! I asked for it spicy but it wasn’t that hot.
The menu is pretty small, but they have some build your own options (BYO hash, Benedict, and omelette) that were cool. I did the build your own Benedict with pork bacon. I had read about the lamb bacon, so we ordered a side of that as well. My boyfriend ordered the biscuits and gravy. We noticed a couple down at the opposite end of the counter got their food before us, even though they sat down after us. I mentioned to my boyfriend, «They got the same things as us!» And he replied, «no, I’m pretty sure they just got our food.» They started eating without saying anything. A few minutes later, their actual order came out. They said «that’s not ours» and continued eating, even though they got different meals! So we ended up waiting for an extra ½ an hour for them to remake our food. Our server offered a round of drinks on the house to make up for the mistake.
Once we got our food, I was really happy! Everything was fresh, hot and good. It wasn’t anything super special, but I would go back again. The lamb bacon was really interesting. It was much sweeter than we were expecting, closer to an applewood bacon. The texture is the same as pork bacon.

Wow, not sure how busy this place gets on a weekend but I went on a Monday and loved it! The Dutch popover was a huge hit with my party. I really enjoyed the brûlée oatmeal which is basically a crème brûlée crust on top of a delicious oatmeal full of an assortment of crunchy nuts and dried fruit. Coffee was so-​so. Vicinity is small but very clean. Every dish on the menu looked unique. I will definitely be back to try the other dishes! Parks and Rec will definitely be a competitor for the best breakfast in Detroit! So glad they put it right downtown!
Pros-​excellent service and unique dishes
Cons-​small space and a few uncomfortable chairs

Had a nice little breakfast here with a friend during the week so it was not busy. We sat at the counter. I will start by saying that the cinnamon roll is the star here. It comes hot in a cast iron pot covered in ooey gooey frosting. There is a slight citrus flavor as well that is just amazing.
The meat crêpe was ok just wish it was served hot and that the crêpe was soft not hard like it was. The corn cakes were ok as well not my favorite, as they came warm not hot and had zero actual corns in them.
The biscuit and gravy was great as well and came with an egg. It was very flavorful and had lots of meat.
All in all I would say stick to a cinnamon roll and coffee here possibly the biscut and gravy. The flavors here are very unique and worth trying.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – one of my biggest obstacles when ordering breakfast is the eternal struggle between sweet and salty. And what I love about Parks & Rec is that you can balance things out by ordering HALF sizes of a few menu items. This means I can order two halfs and not feel like a total glutton for getting two dishes. This pleases me.
SO yes, I got two halfs – the biscuits and gravy and the liege waffle. Both were great but the biscuits and gravy? Man, that is a good dish! As I was eating it I could tell it wasn’t a typical pork sausage gravy. I asked the waitress and she told me it was made with all of the house meats, which mean there was also lamb in it. Now, I’m normally not super big on lamb but this gravy was outstanding. I had it with an over medium egg and it was perfect. I’d definitely get this one as a stand alone dish and order the full size in the future. SWEETS WHO?!
The liege waffle was also very good but mine might have been a little under cooked as the outside was a little on the chewier side than crisp. But it was still very good. I think there’s a little beer in that batter because I could taste a bit of it in there. This one also came with an egg so really you could get your sweet/​salty fix in one plate if you went full sized with this.
I was also lucky enough to try the bruleed oatmeal which was – WOW. Definitely dessert for breakfast. So delicious. I could see myself doing that and a half biscuit in the future for sure. Also had a bite of the hash with pork bacon and that was also quite good, but I liked my dishes best. On my to future to-​try list? The build your own benedict and the cinnamon roll. Our table neighbors ordered and that and despite the fact I was uncomfortably full I may have drooled a little bit watching it come out.
The place is really cute inside. The name is perfect for the décor – it’s a diner with a retro park/​camping kind of feel to it. We came on a Friday early afternoon and while it was busy it was still easy to get a table. It’s a small spot so I can see how it would be hard to grab something on a weekend without a wait but I think it’s worth it if you have the patience in you. Otherwise pop in on a weekday if you can and enjoy!

After running the half marathon, enroute to my parking spot, I ran across this little diner. Being freezing out and still sweaty and wet, this was perfect for me. Warm and serves food.
I grabbed a seat at the bar and did a quick scan of the menu. Had lots of interesting diner breakfast choices. I went with the omelet with mushrooms and peppers and onions. Add homemade sausage patty. No fries or toast. All protein!
The omelet was nice and fluffy with a salty peppery seasoning. The sausage was great and they did not lie– it was homemade.
I ended up sitting next to the owner. He was cheerful and had nice conversation. He is a local small business owner. So with good food, friendly staff, and a nice local business owner, why shouldn’t we frequent this place?
Give it a try if in the neighborhood or take a trip downtown to give it a try. They even serve alcohol since they own the tavern next door.

This establishment has a cool vibe. On the outside it is built as a giant castle, and on the inside of the little space it has an old school diner feel mixed with a bit of a park feel, which will be perfect once DTE builds there park across the street.
When I say «little space» I really mean it. They seat a maximum of 30 or 40 people total. Most tables are for 2 people, a couple for 4. We went with a group of 7 and had to sit at the bar, which we barely fit at. But there was no wait, which may have just been good timing. The place was basically full the whole time we were there.
The food was delicious. It didn’t blow my socks off or anything. But I really enjoyed it still. The portions were rather small however for the prices. Most breakfast joints load you up with potatoes and such. This place does not do that. You’d probably be best off order a side dish of some bacon or fruit or something to compensate. Although I will say that I got the High-​End Hash, which I found to be filling and appropriately priced. But most others in my party left with happy taste buds but disappointed stomachs. The meat pie in particular was tiny.
Overall, I enjoyed this place, would recommend it, and will probably return at some point.

Went here on a Friday near noon and figured it would be less busy so we could get in quick. This place has been on my radar since I first heard about it when Republic opened. I was pumped to try it because Republic’s food is so phenomenal. It was not too busy when we got there but filled up soon after.
The inside of the place is small and shaped like a triangle (due to building shape). The bar is big enough to seat 10 – 12. We picked a table just as you walked in. The décor looks as if you mixed a 50s diner with a park. But décor doesn’t matter to me anyway.
We were hungry so we decided to order two entrees and a meat pie from the bakery. I was worried that this would be way way too much food. It ended up being a perfect amount because their entrees are smaller than you would expect for a breakfast place. Be warned if you’re starving.
We chose the eggs cocotte and the cornbread pancakes with the meat pie, but it was tough because everything sounded amazing on the menu. By far the best was the meat pastry. Picture a croissant and add sausage and potato baked in. Fantastic. The eggs cocotte was very interesting. The portion is small, you can think of it like a breakfast spread with bacon jam, bacon, eggs, and mushrooms mixed in. Although it wasn’t very well mixed. Very flavorful, but I don’t think I’d get it again. The cornbread pancakes were less sweet than I would expect from cornbread, but the jam they gave made up for it. Some sort of blackberry I think. It was pretty good. Scrambled eggs are well, scrambled eggs.
Service was great, we didn’t wait at all for our order to be taken or refills to be had. Everyone was very attentive. Maybe they took note of the previous reviews. I was happy with it.
Overall: I wasn’t as impressed with this place as I was Republic. I thought this place was supposed to be a burger and milkshake type place? Not sure what happened. I don’t know if its because I was so hyped about it or I just eat way too much breakfast food and I’m a breakfast snob. It’s a good spot, and I would definitely go back. Food was very flavorful and not ridiculously expensive. Worth checking out. But there are better places in the metro Detroit area.

I have been waiting for Parks & Rec to open since I heard about their possible existence. I really dig Republic and was looking forward to a more informal dining experience put on by the same people. I wanted to love them, but sadly I just didn’t… I actually almost feel bad about it too. I gave them a 3, but if I could do half stars I would given them a 3.5. I’m hoping to upgrade my rating after another visit because I feel like they have all the makings to be great.
Upon first walking in, I instantly loved the diner feel. It’s very old school vintage. Kind of like the old Maes in Pleasant Ridge, but a bit more hip. My friend and I sat down and perused the menu. The items on the menu all sounded awesome. It was so difficult to pick. As we all know, food regrets are horrible, so we sat deeply in our foodie thoughts trying to pick out the perfect dishes. I wanted to do a custom hash or benedict, but then I thought I would like to see what they do with their signatures instead of creating my own, which I can do almost anywhere else. So, instead we ordered the egg cocotte, half order of biscuits and gravy, chicken sausage, house ketchup, and potatoes.
What’s an egg cocotte you ask? Yeah, I didn’t know either. Maybe other people know, but I totally needed an explanation of the dish and after I got it, I still didn’t really quite understand it. :) It’s an egg, cream, onion, garlic, and bacon jam mix served with homemade bread. It sounds like they rotate bread because the waitress said that today it came with a garlic twist. All of the amazing ingredients were hidden in compartments and it was executed as an undercooked gooey mess. The cocotte sounded good. In a nutshell it’s a small breakfast bread dip. It was ok. When I say small, I mean small. They should probably indicate that on the menu or always tell their guests when they order it. I’m used to a big breakfasts because… well…I eat a lot. lol So this dish didn’t do it for me. The cocotte wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something I would order again… I ended up taking the leftovers home, but was a little disgusted at the sloppy sauce it became so I don’t think I’ll be eating it. I was between this and the smoked leek strata. I wish I would have gotten the strata. #foodregrets
I’m glad I got the half order of the biscuits and gravy. I sampled the biscuit which was really, really good! I liked the gravy, but again, it didn’t rock my world. The biscuits and gravy come with a poached egg. This was definitely the best thing we ordered. The potatoes were ok, but they needed salt and pepper. I got the house ketchup for a dollar because I thought I would use it on the potatoes. I ate it, but with every bite it just seemed like a thick non-​alcoholic bloody mary. My favorite house ketchup is Café Zola’s in Ann Arbor. You need to ask for it and it’s free! The chicken sausage was very good. It had a nice sweetness to it and would have been complemented by some syrup, but since I bought the ketchup, I didn’t want to buy the syrup too.
Now, for the service… this was mentioned in someone else’s review too and I have to say that… the customer service did not fix itself in the time they wrote theirs and when I went. When we sat down we were given water pretty quickly, but it took them several minutes to take our order. We got the ketchup about 20 minutes before our meal and then the biscuits and shortly after the rest of the dishes. The food coming out separately was totally fine to me. It’s all going right to my belly anyway so who cares. What really sticks out to me is that no one gave us refills and/​or checked on us. We waited for a long time for a person to come to our table giving them the sad puppy dog face, but we ended up having to flag someone down. We also sat there waiting for someone to take our money for a long time, but then I finally went up to the counter to cash out. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be? The weird part of the experience was that our waitress totally peaced out because she was no where to be seen after she took our order. Maybe her shift ended? Normally, waitresses tell their tables that…
My friend was going to order a cinnamon roll to go, but then decided not to because they didn’t want to wait longer. The customer service was kind of a bummer because in order to come to this place or places in Detroit, I have to be willing to plan, drive far and find street parking. I think this is true for most suburbanites.
This is not a negative review. I want to reinforce that the food was all very tasty for the most part. It wasn’t not good… it’s just there were no «foodgasm» moments. Every bite was good, just not exceptional. Though the food is decently good, the service would hold me from coming back, unfortunately.
Next time I get the strata and egg sausage sandwich. For 8 bucks it looked like heaven on bread. Damn. Food regrets all over the place! :)

Love the design, décor and the menu — the food is delicious and well priced! Seems to be focus on eggs, local foods, and those «feel-​good comfort» recipes.
I ordered the corn cakes which came in a stack of 3 generously sized pancakes, topped with the blueberry preserves and delicious with my over-​easy eggs. The chicken sausage had a slight sweetness to them that were also very good. My lunch date had the half order of waffles and eggs, which he finished with gusto, and are an interesting dichotomy of crunchy yet soft and not overly sweet. Pork bacon was also crispy and very good. Iced coffee was only $ 2 and had free refills; service was quick and water was always topped off.
Also:
— Seating area is small, includes bar seating, and the individual chairs (while fitting into the whole «Park» theme) aren’t really that comfortable.
— No reservations; street parking was easy to find midday though.
— Seems like they are still working out the kinks in the kitchen as our food didn’t come out around the same time; I was about halfway through by the time his waffles arrived. Same with the party of 3 next to us.
Will definitely return as I already have my eye on some other menu items including the meat pie, salmon platter, and «create your own hash» plate!