The Best Dishes Eater Detroit Ate in June #DetroitFood

Courtney Burk

Burgers and wine, refreshing papaya salad, and a hoagie that’s not a hoagie

With the Eater editors dining out several times a week, we come across lots of standout dishes, and we don’t want to keep any secrets. For this recurring feature, we highlight the best things that the Eater Detroit team ate. Check back monthly!

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86 Burgers at Ladder 4 Wine Bar

3396 Vinewood Street

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of Burger Sundays at Ladder 4 Wine Bar all summer long. John Yelinek’s creation is a masterclass in simplicity: a perfectly seared, juicy, and simultaneously crisp quarter-pound smash burger. According to Yelinek, they give it a hard smash and aggressive scrape to get all of the crust off the plancha. Then it’s placed on a salted and clarified butter sesame seed bun, topped with a slice of American cheese, and a burger sauce made with Duke’s mayo, yellow mustard, ketchup, and whatever spicy brine the crew has on hand. The burger is topped with crisp golden dill pickles from Topor’s in Detroit and shredded lettuce for added crunch and freshness. It’s a diner staple that brings back childhood memories but holds an air of sophistication, thanks to Ladder 4’s natural and classic wine selection. Fries do not come with the burger, but that’s okay. Instead, pair that patty with a glass of LebNat Red from Mersel wine, a juicy natural sparking pét-nat. Order your burger at the point of sale at the bar, grab your glass and a number, and find a seat in the dining room or out on one of the couches, lawn chairs, or tables on the back patio. Ladder 4 opens its doors at noon on Sundays and the kitchen only makes 86 burgers so get there early. — Courtney Burk, Detroit-based freelance contributor

Courtney Burk

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Danny Palumbo

Papaya salad at the Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center

29750 Ryan Road, Warren

Each summer, the Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center in Warren hosts its Sunday Market, a bustling outdoor display of more than a dozen Thai food vendors, where patrons can find a lineup of foil-chafing dishes filled with curries, pad Thai, pad see ew, and other stir-fried noodles. Chicken skewers, meatballs, and fish cakes are also aplenty, as are containers of coconut pudding, mango sticky rice, and flaky curry puffs. Fried bananas, jungle curry, fried egg rolls, and fresh spring rolls also make appearances, but the most satisfying thing is the papaya salad. Bright, delightfully twirl-able, spaghetti-like ribbons of snappy green papaya comes together with a medley of fish sauce, lime, and chile from a huge mortar and pestle creating a light, yet complex harmony of flavors. The quality of a restaurant’s papaya salad offers a window into the quality of the rest of its menu. Here, it’s just one example of the market’s vast and thrilling appeal. Order it to your own desired level of spiciness. The market runs at 10 a.m. every other Sunday through November 10, and stays open through the early afternoon. Beware that stuff sells out early, so plan to arrive before 11 a.m., and bring cash. It can be overwhelming, but the move here is to bring some friends, order as much as possible, and chow down at one of the tables available in the outdoor dining area. — Danny Palumbo, Detroit-based freelance writer

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Serena Maria Daniels

Loui’s Special at Loui’s Pizza

23141 Dequindre Road, Hazel Park

I’m often called upon by my food writing comrades across the country to take them for Detroit-style pizza whenever they’re in town. Last month, my esteemed colleague, Craig LaBan, a restaurant critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, had a similar request. LaBan is a metro Detroit native, but he left the area when the city’s pizza game was still better known for chains like Little Caesar’s or Domino’s — long before the square pizza craze swept the country. So I recommended Loui’s in Hazel Park. Empty Chianti bottles dangle throughout the old-school dining room and its vibe stays true to the working-class roots of this inner-ring suburb. Of course, we ordered the pizza and marveled over its tight, crisp edges and cheese pull worthiness, however, my dining companion took note of another beloved delicacy on the menu specific to Philly: a selection of hoagies. We settled on the Loui’s Special, which, instead of using a traditional hoagie roll, is constructed with thick, crunchy, buttery layers of Texas Toast, held together with melted cheese and filled with thin Philly-style strips of steak drenched in a tangy house barbecue sauce and offered with a side of coin-cut pickles. It’s not quite what you might find at Angelo’s, Lil’ Nick’s, Pastificio. But the meal became a fun conversation about the legacies of two regional icons. Oh, and the sandwich held up long after I Lyfted my way home and dug in for leftovers. — Serena Maria Daniels, Eater Detroit editor

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