Erica M.
Yelp
Zipping over from Corktown, we got downtown and parked across the street from The Guardian Building in a parking garage that was like a crazy maze. I mean, no matter what THEY try to tell you, most parking garages don't just have you go up to park and then down to exit. There are like sub-levels and trolls to pay before you can actually park. Then, you have to REMEMBER where you parked, but who can remember Green 4B, Spot 890, The Toledo Mud Hens Level? Even when you take a picture of nearby signs, you are still tempted to leave bread crumbs.
Before the twisting garage, I read about The Guardian Building while researching coffee places in Detroit. You know when that internet rabbit hole happens? Coffee places leads to NEW SAVORY OPTIONS leads to healthy snacking this summer leads to KEEP YOUR ENERGY UP BY WALKING leads to beautiful walking tours leads to ART DECO BUILDINGS IN DOWNTOWN DETROIT. I know that has happened to you. I know.
Feeling like we needed to have a coffee run mid-point in our Detroit adventure, we intended to go to The Rowland Cafe in the lobby of The Guardian Building for coffee, but got distracted by the prettiness.
To say this building had amazing architecture and design would be a giant understatement. The beauty of the mosaic tile, the delicate stairs, the Michigan mural on the south wall, the orange in the clock... incredible. Oh, AND there were souvenirs! A great Pure Detroit store is just to the right of the cafe in the lobby, where we bought onesies and t-shirts (because that is what you do when things around you are beautiful- it is Art Museum Gift Shop Logic).
After the purchasing of many things with D-E-T-R-O-I-T plastered on them, we finally went to the Rowland Cafe, just feet away. It is here that I got into a conversation about the merits of beet salad because people don't understand.
My beet salad argument (adapted for your attention span): You can roast them, coat them in a balsamic vinaigrette, add goat cheese and miracles happen. They should never be JUST pickled. OK?
After everyone (the barista and another half-interested patron) was swayed by my excellent oratory skills, I ordered. The Cafe makes a good caffeinated beverage, but also has lots of bottled water, imported beverages, desserts and snack food options.
With a Quicken building across the street, there were many lanyard-sporting people about mid-day looking for places to eat. If I was one of them, I would eat here almost every day. The service was good, the eats looked tasty and the environment was unusually ideal. Also, the building is a block away from the Hart Plaza Fountain; it is really a statue that is a fountain, a circle, and could probably beam you to space if you asked nicely. Just all around goodness. But, if chili and hot dogs are more your thing, you could walk down the street to the middle of the coney wars.