Anchor Bar — Restaurant in Detroit

I was there yesterday after 6 PM for a business meeting with a party of 20+. The location has no free parking, the bathroom sink was dirty, the food was basic short-order barfare and my Pinot Grigio came in a plastic cup. Some members of our party sent their food back once or twice: burnt boneless chicken, unrecognizable cheese steak, strangely dark chili on fries. I would have expected the place to be better staffed for that meeting, seeing as we had it scheduled a week in advance. But, the very best thing about the joint - and why I will go back - is...the staff. I'll be damned if everyone did not pitch on some way to complete our orders and get us out in our two-hour meeting time frame. There was only one cook, our waitress was also the bartender, the manager was plating food, the other one was filling water pitchers, the other waitresses stopped to help out, and the owner took 50% off the bill via phone. Charlene, our waitress, was a positive explosion of relaxed energy from start to finish. She realized they were understaffed, apologized for a "communication mix-up," and had all hands on deck to resolve the issue. Every waitress became our waitress. Still, It seemed to be a baptism of fire for the cook, who was noticeably (and rightly) irritated that many things we ordered were not communicated to him in written form and that one order was still pending, unbeknownst to him, while he was breaking down the grille. I had "Billy Joel", a Solo cup of wine, some chicken wings that no one claimed that was probably a duplicate order, and my wife's leftover chili. The food was not...so not the reason to go. The great music, clean kitchen area, and exceptional staff were. Please take this recommendation and check them out. Ask for...

I wanted to like this place. The decor was nice and the place has good lighting. One of the big TVs was on the fritz, so while it did play, it had a blue/green hue to all the colors. The food was OK. I had a cheez whiz slider, wings, fries, tots and sort of a side salad. The slider was drowned in the cheez whiz but the patty gave me flashbacks of elementary school burgers that were kept in boiling water for warmth. The wings are the breaded before fried kind (vs what you would find at a buffalo wild wings). If that's your thing, you might enjoy them. The buffalo flavor was okay, but the breading wasn't crisp, the sauce added to the soggy texture of the wing. As you peeled the breading off to try and expose some meat, the wings were tiny. Additionally, one of the wings I got in my order was half the size of the others and instead of finding another half pint or chucking the malformed wing and providing a full sized soggy wing, I just got a half a wing. The tots that came with the slider were good. I was surprised that tots came with the slider - so honestly a good value there. The fries that came with the wing basket were room temperature. It wasn't like I waited a long time to dive into the fries, it's the first thing I usually go after on a plate. I'm not sure how the side salad was since I was done eating by the time it was ready for me. The real kicker though, was a homeless person came in, sat down next to me halfway down the bar and asked me for money and caused a small scene. I doubt I'll be a...

It may look like your average neighborhood bar/restaurant joint, but Anchor Bar is anything but! I wandered in with two friends on a Friday night, and was immediately greeted by the friendly staff and incredible aroma not to mention great signature drinks. The restaurant was filling up quickly (it was almost 7:00 pm) but we managed to snag a table.

We ordered the Big Nosh Totcho’s to share and followed that up with 2 Better Made Burgers.

The Big Nosh Totcho’s were little bombs covered in yummy goodness, and the sauerkraut was robust but not overpowering. When our burgers arrived, our expectations continued to be exceeded.

The burger was juicy, flavorful, and the chips just added the right amount of crispness. The toppings worked together beautifully. By the end of the meal we were planning our next visit.

Exceptional food, great staff and very affordable what more could...