Slows Bar BQ — Restaurant in Detroit

First try: its ok/good..... (Reviewing as a 20+ years Hotel/Restaurant Industry Veteran)

Entered through unique door into comfortable atmosphere with slight smoke scent....OK potential! Greeted by seated hostess tucked behind the staircase with odd gooseneck light awkwardly thrown there, less the duct-tape. She asked if my party of 2 had a reservation; I declined without care as the place was 2/3 empty, only 4 people seated at bar, and huge side room not in use, with chairs stacked on top tables. So, PLENTY of seats, especially as It was 4:15/30 on Friday/January 17. Held us at the desk for awhile, as she scanned her screen perplexed. I paid careful attention; too long a wait for table of 2 assignment of a mostly empty place. She announced that she could "get us a table" adding "your table is reserved, but not until 6:30PM. " I politely shared with her as I looked at my watch that that is OVER 2 hours from now, and we would hope to be long gone by then, now scared to think, how long does serving their BBQ take.

Atmosphere minimalistic, with nicely stained wood panels, vast windows screened to control lighting and set the mood, yet tables so very close together you are definitely going to hear EVERYTHING adjacent tables will be talking about! (so close no two people are going to pass between the tables simultaneously.) Facility clean, from floor to table tops. Impressive was FIVE BBQ sauces, each flavorful marked with permanent impressions on each bottle. "Apple" fantastic 4.75/5, all vinegar-based, each delicious 3-4.75/5 in their own way, (IF YOU DONT LIKE VINEGAR-BASED SAUCES, SKIP THEM!....except the Apple whose sweetness remained pronounced.) Impressive use of REAL NAPKINS which contained silverware....however, some decision-maker's bad judgement had the roll lacking spoons! Pathetic thought, when your menu serves beans, chili, and mash! Corrected after much delay getting the attention of the waiter, who was pleasant, wearing his stocking cap from outside, though provided no suggestive selling until I asked....ouch. Menu thought out detail was the best thing about the place. Food delivery quick, yet visually lack-luster for the ambiance, smoke aroma, and sauce building up of our expectations! Large pans holding a SMALL portion of each item.....SAD when the paper liner shows up at face value MORE THAN the food, nearly signaling cheapness, versus a more robust meal one might anticipate from a BBQ venue. FIRST-IMPRESSIONS are everything, especially in plate size/presentation. Stunned I had to laugh internally, ponder and photograph (see attached), as I wondered how much does cornbread cost versus the damn tiny little loaf presented, which is more perfect for a toddler to hold or a Lil Debbie snack-size portion unwrapped from cellophane in a school-lunch.(Sorry, not sorry Slow's...you can and should do better.) Platter-size to portion off. Quality varied. Per other reviews, skip the mild flavored brisket 2.75/5 and go for the great near excellent 4.5/5 pulled pork, Sweet Potato Mash was excellent in flavor 4.5/5, perhaps too sweet...powerful enough it could be a dessert!! Pit beans tasty great/excellent 4/5 with meat fragments and a rich smoky flavor, of course with a hint of vinegar...remember ask for a spoon! Coleslaw 2.5/5 creamy, yet bland and nearly flavorless. Cornbread 4.5/5 surprisingly tiny of a tease, yet moist. While we admittedly DID NOT have ribs, due to noticing neighboring table having quite a bit more pull on them! Completed Rewards Registration noted at bottom of receipt, and inquired of waiter how it all works, who was perplexed and could not answer basic questions. Asked for managerial assistance, to which he indicated HE WAS MANAGEMENT with lack of knowledge as to the program mechanics, indicating rarely used. Overall, OK to GOOD visit, with much room for improvement. With the greatest of humor, exited at 5:30pm with a full-smile "thank you" to the still seated hostess, chuckling as I shared she "still had another hour before that 6:30pm reservation...

We held our family holiday party (~30 people) here 11 a.m. EST 12-22-2024. Carrie arranged everything with us via email and text. We reserved their private room in Corktown, which has a bar and a single stall restroom (your guests don't have to go out in the restaurant to use the restroom). The menu was served family style, and included salad, appetizers, mac & cheese, chicken wings, brisket, pulled pork, mashed sweet potatoes, waffle fries, and carrot cake. We were able to order mocktails for non-drinkers, and people who drank alcohol could have whatever they wanted, including IPA on tap. Molly, our bartender, did an excellent job. I didn't catch the names of our servers, but they were great, too.

We are senior citizens now and always cooked for 20-40 people. What a relief it was to hand over the cooking and cleaning to Slows, and what a treat it was to eat in a charming building with much better food than we could have gotten at most restaurants. This was a much more interesting meal than we would have gotten at most places, too, and the wide range of offerings (including some gluten free) appealed to everyone in our party. Our guests ranged in age from 3-72.

I chose Slows because I used to work for the insurance company that does their commercial coverage. I was there on an insurance walkthrough ~ 6 months ago and was so impressed because they really smoke their food (they don't add fake liquid smoke), and their kitchen was super-clean.

The only tip I have (and this is not Slows' fault), is that there's a lot at 2040 Michigan Ave. It has a sign that says it allows parking for Slows, IMA, and several other businesses. There are also Park Detroit metered spots. We were there on a Sunday, and parking's free in the metered spots. I elected to use the lot because I'd used it before and, since it's 1-1/2 blocks away, I figured I'd leave spots for my guests on the street. We arrived at 10:50 a.m. When we came out at 2 p.m., the lot had stuck a claim check on our car and tried to get $5. They'd already shaken down several of our guests for $5. They had temporary signs out front that said "Parking $5." If it costs $5 to park there, why doesn't the lot have a sign that says "You will be charged between the hours of 1 p.m.-11 p.m. (I don't know if those are the hours). I refused to pay, because I thought it was a scam. I looked at the claim check later and it does say Misba Parking, LLC, 2040 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI. I am not sure if it's legit or not (there are a lot of fake parking spots in Detroit). If it is, they need to post a sign right out front, and they need to put up a gate that doesn't let you enter it (only exit) unless you pay. The lot is open and has...

I had made reservations a couple of weeks in advance to celebrate my husband’s birthday. We arrived about 10 mins before our reservation time to be told we did not have a reservation! I pulled up on my phone the confirmation of our reservation for them to finally find us, someone had marked us as “done” ! This caused us to have to wait a little extra but that was okay. As we were waiting I secretively asked the nice young women that greeted us at the door if she could inform our waitress or waiter that as our reservation stated we are here celebrating my husbands birthday that if they could at the end bring out a dessert for his birthday. She had stated she had already informed the manager of the mix up with our reservation and that we were there to celebrate a birthday and not to worry they will bring out a birthday dessert on the house! We finally were seated and were seated in the first little booth as soon as you walk in to only be crowded by groups of people waiting with their parties to be seated. Peoples coats were brushing up against us, people bending over and socializing half way in our booth and it was so loud right there that we could barely hold a conversation without yelling! We place our order for the food only for that to take an hour to come out!! Per our waitress “ the kitchen was very backed up”. After we finally eat she come to our table asking if we would want or like dessert so not trying to be obvious since the dessert should have been a surprise I kinda just give a small nod thinking she had been informed. Needless to say no birthday dessert ever came out the only thing we received was our bill!!! This is the 2nd time trying this restaurant, after a not so good experience the first time we decided to give it a second shot and to be only extremely disappointed! The food was pretty good but unfortunately don’t think I...