The Restaurants of Milford Michigan

One of the things to love about the Village of Milford, Michigan is the variety of good places to eat (or get something to eat) in town, some 31 in all. The town fathers (or whoever makes these decisions) decided some time ago to preserve the downtown area (called Main St, of course) and keep the fast food chains out on the periphery. So one can still find the McDonald’s and Taco Bells, if one is so inclined; however, the places to eat downtown are all sit-down restaurants. I say all; however, there are a few pizza places in the downtown area where one can either take out a pizza or sit at small tables and eat-in. For pizza we have Village Pizza, Jets, Benito’s, and Little Caesar’s in town and several other pizza chains that will deliver to Milford. There is also The Burger Joint, a locally owned and operated place right down town for custom-made burgers and fries.

Milford also has its share of family dining eateries and Coney Islands, which generally serve good comfort food, but which have no liquor/beer or wine service. There is Klancy’s, a long-time family dining favorite in Milford and our Coney’s – Dimitris Coney Island in the Prospect Hill mall, Americus Coney & Grill and The Villa Coney Restaurant (formerly the Big Boy) out on the south end. At the north end of the Village in the Mill Valley Center is Ruggles, which is currently a deli-style restaurant, but which is planning for a liquor license later this year. There is also a Thai restaurant – Bangkok City Thai Cuisine – which has both sit-down and carry-out service.

Then there are the places to dine in Milford, where dining means being able to sit at a table with proper linen and/or place settings, ordering a drink before diner and then having a relaxing diner served to you, with a good menu selection and good food. Within walking distance from the center of the downtown there are eight sit-down restaurants, three of which are described by some as “destination restaurants” – restaurants that people from surrounding communities drive to Milford to visit – The Milford House Bar & Grill, Coratti’s on Main (formerly Appetiser) and Cinco Lago (Formerly Five Lakes Grill). Those restaurants all have received good write-ups in local papers and attract crowds from surrounding communities on weekend nights. The Milford House is one of the few downtown restaurants that are open on Sunday’s – the other is Coratti’s on Main. The Milford House is also Milford’s premier carry out and catering place and has an ice cream storefront on Main St.

The other sit-down restaurants downtown are Gravity, Main Street Bar and Grill and Lei Ting, which features a sushi bar and Chinese food. Two others might also be walked to from the center of the Village – The Bar on the south side of the Huron River and Hector & Jimmy’s on the north side of the Village. Also on the north side is the Red Dog Saloon, which has good bar food and features bar entertainment including karaoke nights. Just a bit further south of The Bar on the south side is the Village Pizza & BBQ (formerly a Papa John’s Pizza), which features pizza, ribs, salads and subs and has a nice outdoor eating area in the summer months. In the summer months many locals walk to the restaurants from the surrounding residential areas. Milford is one of he most “walk-able” towns in the area.

Of the full-service restaurants, Cinco Lagos features a Mexican menu and Caratti’s on Main is Italian. The Milford House, Main Street Grill, Gravity, Forza and Hector and Jimmy’s might be called American Grill menus, while Lei Ting is Chinese. The Bar features what it calls a modern bar menu with several unexpected entries; whereas, The Red Dog Saloon has classic bar burgers and food. A few of the restaurants have nice bars that may feature specialty drinks, such as a variety of martinis (Gravity) or other house specialties or unusual beer &wine selections (The Bar and Coratti’s on Main).

If you drive out to the South side of the Village you will also find Forza Sports Bar & Grill (formerly The Rack Room and before that called Lou & Carl’s) and Oh Tokyo, a Japanese sushi eatery. It’s out in that area that the Americus Coney & Grill and the Milford Family Coney are located, along with McDonalds, Taco Bell, Subway, Tim Horten’s & Wendy’s, and Rio Wraps. If you keep going south from the Village you’ll find Baker’s, which most local’s just think of as a Milford restaurant and which has banquet facilities.

One nice touch during the summer is that most of the downtown restaurants (and a few of the outlying ones) feature outdoor dining on the sidewalks or in little patio areas. Some of the restaurants (The Milford House, Hector and Jimmy’s and Baker’s) feature live weekend entertainment during summer months, too.

I won’t try to rate or review these restaurants, although I have eaten at all of them (or had carry-out from them). Everyone has different tastes and I would go to different ones depending upon whether it is for breakfast, lunch or diner. For diner, my wife and I prefer a nice sit-down place where we can get a glass of wine and one which has a fairly wide menu. If it’s a Friday night we would likely choose a place with good sandwiches or lighter fare; however, for Saturday nights we prefer a full menu from which to choose (along with the requisite glass of wine). The Coney Island/Deli restaurants provide great places to go for breakfasts and perhaps lunches. The point is that you have lots of choices and some very good places to eat in and around downtown Milford, so come and enjoy.