Caucus Club Restaurant

Doesn't Recommend

J Lewis 1

Joined 2 years ago

So Many Better Places.... My wife and I ate at The Caucus Club this past Friday night before going to the Symphony. It was not restaurant week in Detroit which may explain the reason this place was SO TERRIBLE! We arrived at about 615 pm and my first clue should have been the totally EMPTY dining room.

My wife ordered the salmon which was undercooked, thus fishy tasting. I had the pork tenderloin special which may as well still been oinking at me! Aside from this, the owner, Chris, was our waiter and did not ask if we would like separate checks. (We were with another couple.) At the end of the "dinner" I asked him to separate the checks and, of course, he charged the wrong cards with the wrong meals and long story short, we were charged twice for someone elses meal. After a heated discussion on how it should be done, the waiter goes to the back and vents on his waitstaff about how hard it is to do separate checks. IF AN 18 YEAR OLD KID AT APPLEBEE'S CAN HANDLE SEPARATE CHECKS WITH BIGGER PARTIES, IT SHOULD NOT BE HARD TO HANDLE AT A SO-CALLED FANCY RESTAURANT!

The phone call the next business day consisted of the same guy making excuses as to why he messed the bill up. He said he was swamped at the bar as we were checking out. This is a lie because I went to the bathroom before we left (hence why I heard him complaining) and there was no one in the bar.

This restaurant was a ghost town when we were there and it is very obvious why. I have eaten at $50/plate and $100/plate restaurants and this place was a disaster. We could have spent the same amount of money at Applebee's and actually enjoyed our food and had competent service.

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mjmorgan

Joined 9 years ago

I really wanted to like this place. Detroit needs good, solid restaurants downtown. I finally got around to going to the Caucus Club to do my bit to keep it in business. I may have been too late. There were 6 diners at 6:30 pm. I had to flag down the waiter/bar tender to find a seat (there are two entrances). We were not offered a drink: "You ready to order?" The perch was GREAT as were the ribs and the sides, which is why I feel badly about the 3-star rating. The onion soup was lukewarm (and not very good); the salads were skimpy and dreary. We were not offered coffee nor dessert. Crumbs stayed put. One drink got whisked away before it was finished. Criminy!

Old-timers said the Caucus Club was such a great place. I liked the interior, even! The place needs an infusion (more patrons? more attention to detail?--for crying out loud, the web site (history page) has 10 grammatical errors) and soon.

Go out of pity if for no other reason. Also-- it is not a $$ tab; more like $$$. We spent $75 on two drinks; two apps; one entree; and three sides. Unfortunately, not a high-value meal.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

This legendary restaurant booked Barbara Streisand before her star was born.. In Short
The Caucus Club is the last of the old-time downtown Detroit restaurants. Located on the main floor of the vintage Penobscot Building, this clubby, dimly lit restaurant has carried on valiantly. Chef Arthur Calloway has manned the tiny kitchen for years and knows the club's rich menu like the back of his hand. Decadent classic dishes like the London broil, Dover sole, baby back ribs and steak tartare are the main focus of the menu.

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lockjawdavis

Joined 11 years ago

Old School Rules. Along with Mario's, the Caucus Club is the last of Detroit's old school restaurants. The menu features your classic meat/fish/potatoes fare. The hamburger steak and Steak Velez (along with heaping sides of creamed spinach and hash browns) were incredible on my last visit. The ribs, I'm told, are among the best in the area. The service is as you would expect from a storied Midwestern eatery: impeccable. The wait-staff is invariably open and friendly, going above and beyond to make their guest feel at home. A must when visiting downtown Detroit.