I’ve been to the Detroit area before; however, ever since my parents moved here, I have been going back more often and have discovered many new places!

On one of the recent trips, I had a chance to go into the actual city and explore other places around the area.

The Places I Visited

Heidelberg Project

Before the trip, I had researched a few places to check out and kept coming across this community art project, Heidelberg Project. It was started by Tyree Guyton, who upon returning to the street where he grew up, found it in a state of disaster. With the help and encouragement of his grandfather, he cleaned it up and ultimately turned it into a huge art installation.

In 1988 they turned this effort into the Heidlberg Project whose mission is to “inspire people to appreciate and use artistic expression to enrich their lives and to improve the social and economic health of the greater community. ” 

I live for this kind of stuff, so naturally it was the first place on my list of places to check out in Detroit.

It’s located on the east side of Detroit in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood.

Guardian Building

Next up was just walking through the city of Detroit with no particular destination in mind. Also, it was freezing the day I went. I parked the car in one area and walked down Woodward Avenue to the Guardian Building. 

This Art Decco building blends Native American, Aztec, and Arts & Crafts influences building in the most breathtaking way!

Hart Plaza

After the building, I walked straight to Hart Plaza which had a stunning view of the city. You can also see Canada from here! In fact, it’s so close, that I kept getting “Welcome to Canada” messages from my phone! lol

Monument to Joe Louis

Then, on our way back towards the car (I know it was the shortest trip to any city.), we stopped at an iron fist sculpture which is a tribute to Joe Louis. Joe Louis was a heavyweight champion. The sculpture represents the power of his punch both inside and outside the ring. He was a part of a lot of efforts to fight racial injustices.

The Spirit of Detroit

Another important landmark in this area is The Spirit of Detroit which symbolizes hope, progress, and the “spirit of man.” 

The Food I Ate

And of course, let’s not forget all the food I ate!

La Marsa

The Detroit area is known for all of its epic middle eastern food! This was an accidental find, which I guess are the best kinds of finds! This restaurant had some of the BEST breads I’ve ever had! I will go back to it for the bread alone!

My mom and I wiped two bread baskets clean before we even got the food! We ordered a combo chicken and meat shwarma platter with tabouleh and fries. To my surprise, the chicken shwarma was more delicious than the meat (I usually prefer meat over chicken). We ate it all with more bread and left very satisfied!

Wayback Burgers

Okay, I did not know this was a chain when I went. I went because I saw a picture of Irish Nachos on the instagram feed of ChowDownDetroit. lol…(I just follow the food.) So when we went, we ordered just that, a dish of Irish nachos, a cheeseburger and a chocolate/vanilla milkshake. 

(wish they had melted the cheese a bit more)

It was all delicious!

Nihari Cafe

Came to this restaurant for some Pakistani food. Although the service could have been better, the food was good! I am not a huge fan of nihari, but since we were at a place with the dish in the name so we felt compelled to try it out. I liked it and totally recommend it! 

Custard Hut

I try to go to Custard Hut whenever I am in town. I’m addicted to it thanks to my friend, K who introduced me to it! It is in Dearborn and usually out of the way, but I somehow manage to sneak it in. I grabbed it on my way to the airport, and man it did not disappoint!! I always get the vanilla custard between two warm, crispy and chewy waffles. YUM!

The food scene in Detroit is pretty awesome and I am already looking forward to future trips! 🙂