Slow('s) Ride

Slow's ride, nothing better than heading down to Mich Ave for some of my favorite the Motor City's favorite food.  I know, I know...it's now the Hombres turn to wax poetic on the hallowed hall dedicated to hog, hooch and hickory.  Not quite, non-believers.  Yes, this place has been written about by major fish wraps on both coasts and boasted about in every periodical, social network and bathroom stall from here to Djibouti (the capitol of which is also Djibouti but the D is silent) and next I'm going to scratch out a post on how great Supino Pizza is, no sir. 

Rather than go on and on about the hipster palace hot spot that you might think Slow's BBQ is, I'd much rather talk about what Slow's is to me and on a breezy Saturday morning, it's the place I went to with my brood for my birthday lunch (for those scoring at home, 34 years-old but 58 from the waist down).  And  I hear you saying, "Of course you did" along with the rest of the suburban bourgeois, the waynestaters and the kids who have no idea what it was like to have Tiger Stadium right down the street. Well, you can suck it because what I know is the secret that makes this establishment righteous and what you know wouldn't fill a shot glass.  What is that secret, you say? Simply stated: The people.  The folks that cook, wait, watch, clean, order, fix, smoke and serve are the reason Slow's BBQ is tops in my book.  You wanna be a scenster, Absolutely this is the place to be, sitting next to politicians and posers alike covered in BBQ sauce.  But beyond that, you want to come in to place that makes you feel comfortable both inside and out, feeds not only your appetite but your soul and keeps your glasses full of libation and conversation.  Yo, I have had better BBQ and I know places that boast a bigger BAR but from the top to the bottom everyone here makes you feel like you are part of the place not just visiting.  The people know about the food, where it comes from, and the preparation that went in to creating it.  To go with that, the food is consistently great and the drinks, whether booze brew or vino, are always stocked and selected carefully.  They know the story on the who produced the wine, what whisky goes well with BBQ (all of them!) and where the crazy beers on the chalkboard are coming from.  While at Slow's, I've been informed about what I was drinking and eating and that has been enjoyably arousing. I have never been talked down to, in fact quite the opposite, its always like visiting at a friends place.

When choosing libations, and this is the difficult part, the wine list is paired for specific taste combinations, consult your server/bartender/chalkboard for application directions.  The brew selection is easy because their are no wrong choices.  They range from hard to find sours from Belgium to locally produced ales.  All of the beers on tap make for great hangover fodder, I stick to local brews from the Great State and possibly a side car of Gaelic whisky from the Shelf O'brown booze.  My go to dish is the Mac N Cheese (With apologies to the joint in Clarkston and everyone else that has found it necessary to combine, heat and serve this dish nowadays) and depending on my degree of hangover, if heavy-full on remove the ax from my frontal lobe, I stay vegetarian and go with Fries and cornbread.  If light-clear out the dust and cobwebs, I go with baked beans and a little potato salad and/or coleslaw.

The People are the thread that keep Slow's stitched together like a nice warm smoked pork snuggie.  Each of them in the know and there to help you fall off whatever wagon you might be on that day and then pick you back up.  I don't know Phil Cooley firsthand  but I do commend him on the locomotive he's been able to put together with remanded building materials in Corktown and the people he has chosen to keep it on the tracks.  It goes to show you that if you start with selecting top ingredients, what you can get from them is truly greater than the sum of their MF'in parts.  (Note: Slow's To Go is now OPEN as well)

Please and Thank You:  Thank You, Heather & Tara for the birthday lunch, for stopping by and chatting us up and for just being cool as hell.  Hugs & Kisses and Stop working so damn hard.

Keep Hope Alive and It's a celebration B****es!