Get ready to drink margaritas and mint juleps.
From Friday to Sunday there are many celebrations, lots of food and drink, wars, horses and more. Fridays are Mexican food and margaritas at Cinco de May. Saturday is his 149th Kentucky Derby, also known as ‘Run for the Rose’, which takes place in his fastest two minutes in the sport.
Activities near the Detroit Subway include:
cinco de mayo
Friday is all about winning the war and Mexico. Cinco de Mayo, on May 5, marks the 1862 Battle of Puebla in Mexico and its victory over the Second French Empire. Throughout Metro Detroit, and especially in southwestern Detroit, Mexican restaurants and businesses are gearing up to celebrate the culture.
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What you need to know
The Mexican Patriotic Commission of Metropolitan Detroit’s 58th Annual Cinco de Mayo Celebration takes place Friday through Sunday in southwestern Detroit. The 21st and Bagley Street Fiesta features artisan vendors, food his trucks, local musicians, mariachis, and family-friendly activities. The annual parade takes place at noon on Sunday and begins in Patton Park on the corner of Woodmere and W. Vernor Highways and ends in Clark Park.
celebration at the restaurant
Grancaster and Honmachi
Troy and Clarkston
These two Latin-inspired spots by the Union Joints restaurant group, along with several other Detroit subway restaurants, celebrate Cinco de Mayo with food and cocktail specials. At Troy’s Gran Castres, the drink menu includes a Strawberry Thai Chili Margarita and a Blue Raspberry and Lime Jell-O shot.
The food special is Gran Caster Elote, a traditional Mexican street corn covered with mayonnaise, queso fresco, chili-lime condiments and sprinkled with coriander. There’s also Perroco his hot dog topped with Peruvian chili sauce, salsa and finished with Union Joints Woodshop bacon. Clarkston’s main town features fruit margaritas, including her four spicy berries. The menu features Honcho Inu, Elotes, Nachos, Choli Sauce Sliders, and Chimichurri Steak His Tacos.
information:union joint.com
M Cantina
13214 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn
The specialty here is not only Nuevo Latin street food, but also specialty drinks and cocktails by owner Junior Merino, a master mixologist known as “The Liquid Chef.” For Cinco de Mayo, Merino offers special margaritas with different types of chili: chipotle mango margarita, garnished with poblano peppers, and tamarind con him with chili pasilla, cinnamon and amaranth slime. of chili.
information: 313-399-9117 or mcantina.com
batch brewing
1499 Porter Street, Detroit
The Cinco de Mayo festivities begin at noon and continue until 10pm at Batch Brewing in Corktown. This year’s celebrations include the food vendor’s Taqueria El Rey, Cafecito Alvarez and Tres Leches ‘n Snack. Enjoy the music of a mariachi band and a DJ. Also featured is Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation’s Phantasma Market & Cafe.
information: batchbrewingcompany.com
Mezcal Mexican Bar and Kitchen
201 E. Nine Mile, Ferndale
The Cinco de Mayo Festival is from 5-10 PM on Fridays and from 12-11 PM on Saturdays. Restaurants offer live music and DJs, mariachi bands, lucha libre wrestling, and specialty food and drink. Highlights of Mezcal’s menu include tacovillia, shredded beef marinated in corn he tortillas with melted cheese, onions and cilantro. Burritos, tortas (sandwiches), street tacos, soups and salads are also available. 201 E. Nine Mile, Ferndale.
information: 248-268-3915 or mezcalferndale.com
Southwestern Detroit Businesses Celebrate
Southwestern Detroit is home to several Hispanic markets with an abundance of specialty produce and meats, as well as tortillas and homemade tamales. Many have been around for decades. The market also has made-to-order meals. And chili? There is a large selection, from dried to fresh. The area is also home to several bakeries, including La Gloria Bakery on Bagley Street and Interstate 75 Service Drive, and Mexican Town Bakery on Burner He Highway. The bakery offers a variety of Mexican breads such as borrillos (rectangular breads used for tortas or fillings), churros, and tres leches cakes.
Markets include:
E & L Super Mercado
6000 Vernor Highway, Detroit
This market is located off the Vernor Highway. Famous for its carefully selected meats and wide variety of marinades. In addition to chicken (brisket, wings, drumsticks, boneless thighs), there are also meats for short ribs, beef and fajitas. According to the company’s website, they offer more than 10 different marinades.
Information: or 313-554-2140 or el-supermercado.com
bee market
2443 Bagley, Detroit
Bagley Market, located on the corner of 16th Street, first opened in 1956. Just blocks from Michigan Central Station in trendy Corktown. Honey Bee Market is famous for its homemade guacamole, produce and salsas. They also make thousands of pounds of chorizo, a spicy Mexican sausage.
information: 313-237-0295 or Honeybeemkt.com
Prince Valley Market
5931 Michigan Avenue, Detroit
This market has been family owned and operated for nearly 50 years. Six days a week he churns out not only thousands of tamales, but also other hot foods such as enchiladas and burritos. There is also a large bakery with made-to-order cakes, Mexican he pastries, and breads. Cinco de Mayo weekends offer samples of chips, salsa and guacamole.
information: 313-898-9717 or princevalleymarket.com
kentucky derby
Aside from dressing up and wearing fancy hats, Kentucky Derby traditions also include drinking mint juleps and bourbon. And you can’t go wrong throwing in favorite foods like hot brown sandwiches, pecan pie, and pimento cheese spread.
Here are some offerings:
green dot stables
Detroit
This horse-racing-themed bar and restaurant is known for its variety of sliders and truffle fries and hosts the annual Kentucky Derby event from 4pm on Saturdays. Green Dot offers mint his juleps, special menus and live music. At the festival, guests are encouraged to wear their best Derby outfit.There are prizes for “Best Hat” and “Best Dressed”.
The menu includes hot browns, cheeseburger sliders, and derby pies. Bluegrass band Thrift Store Cowboys start at 4pm. The first 100 customers will receive a Kentucky Derby Woodford Reserve Collection Cup.
“Detroit may be 350 miles away from the race, but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate the best days of horse racing,” Driscoll said. It is an opportunity for
information: greendotstables.com.
Detroit City Distillery
Detroit
Detroit City Distillery celebrated winning two double gold medals at the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco with a Kentucky Derby party on Saturday. The distillery’s Eastern Market Tasting Room (2462 Riopelle, Detroit) hosts $7 mint he julep, bourbon and whiskey tastings from 5-8 p.m. The Detroit City Distillery will also showcase the processes used to make its award-winning whiskey. The most recent awards are his second Double Gold with DCD’s Butcher’s Cut Bourbon, 2020 and his third Double Gold with Homegrown Rye, which he won in 2022.
information: detroitcitydistillery.com
Contact Susan Selasky, food and restaurant writer for the Detroit Free Press, and send food and restaurant news to sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. subscribe to free press.