Detroit, MI
Black tie or a Lions jersey, new Midtown Detroit cocktail bar caters to all
With social, political and financial tensions at a boiling point, two Detroit restaurant owners are carving a space in the heart of Midtown for guests to unwind and commune over affordable drinks and simple eats in a relaxed setting.
Dirty Shake, a new cocktail bar concept by Doug Hewitt and Sandy Levine, comes as the duo’s fourth establishment behind award-winning Detroit restaurants Chartreuse and Freya and cocktail bar Dragonfly. It’s the fifth entity for Levine, who owns The Oakland, a craft cocktail bar in Ferndale.
The partners, who were nominated for a James Beard Award in the category for Outstanding Restaurateur in 2023, are known for their higher-end concepts. Freya, a tasting menu restaurant in the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, landed on both the Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Best New Restaurants list in 2022 and the New York Times list of 50 Favorite Restaurants of 2022.
In 2023, Dragonfly was named Best Cocktail Bar by the Free Press for its exceptional bar program with a specialty in innovative nonalcoholic beverages. And back in 2016, Chartreuse took the top spot as the Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Restaurant of the Year.
Dirty Shake, however, will be a fun departure.
More: Many Michigan chefs, restaurants named semifinalists for James Beard awards
More: Detroit Lions will win the Super Bowl in dramatic fashion, ESPN simulation predicts
“This is definitely going to be very different from our current places,” Levine said of the latest project. Though currently under construction, there’s an industrial simplicity to the space. The bar, which sits at 4642 Second Ave., is lined with brick walls and features hardwood flooring and steel details. “No frills, just a fun place to be that has affordable drinks and food.”
The goal at Dirty Shake is to recreate the look and feel of classic old Detroit bars. The “Cheers” bar, where everybody knows your name. Where there are regulars of all demographics.
Positioned near Detroit’s Wayne State University campus, Hewitt and Levine envision a place where young college students can stop in to watch the Lions play a milestone game — say, the Super Bowl, perhaps.
They see it as a place where those who work in Detroit but live elsewhere might visit for a bite and a drink after their shift ends to kill time during rush hour.
“It’s that place you can go to between work and home three to four times a week,” he said.
Here, you might even find Detroiters dressed to the nines after taking in a performance at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra or a musical at the Fox Theatre.
“We wanted to have a place that’s for everyone,” Levine said.
When it opens, Hewitt and Levine said Dirty Shake will offer service seven days a week with a drink menu of affordable and approachable slushies, a variation on a hummer cocktail, creative non-alcoholic options and other drinks that pay homage to offerings at classic, old-time Detroit bars.
There will also be a small food menu curated by Hewitt, the chef behind Chartreuse, Freya and Dragonfly. To start, Hewitt said the bar will offer just six to eight items — not much more beyond wings, a vegetable and a burger — with an open mind for expanding to specials and features down the line.
“We have the ability and ambition to amp it up … but we want just a base menu that we know is sturdy, that’s DoorDash-able, that’s affordable, delicious and can be put in a box,” Hewitt said.
At Dirty Shake, there will be an option to order food to-go, a patio to enjoy a cocktail and a bite when the weather permits and a few televisions throughout to watch Detroit’s biggest games.
“Detroit is on the cusp of having four solid sports teams, so this will be a great place to congregate in the living area and watch a game,” Hewitt said. “Detroit loves sports and they’re fun to watch right now.”
The name Dirty Shake references the quick-and-dirty method of shaking the ingredients for a cocktail in a shaker tin, and dumping all of the contents into a standard glass rather than neatly straining the beverage into its respective vessel.
“At the end of our marathon shifts at The Oakland, after making intricate, fancy cocktail after cocktail, we would make ourselves these super simple drinks that we would just dump into the glass and just crush,” Levine said.
The technique, he said, embodies the new spot — “again, no frills, just drinks that taste really, really good.”
Dirty Shake, anticipated opening November 2024, 4642 Second Ave., Detroit.
After getting absolutely annihilated in his previous start on Monday in Minnesota to the tune of 11 runs in just 1.2 innings, Garrett Crochet is set to retake the mound today and convince us all that everything will be fine as far as he and his health are concerned.
Unfortunately, he won’t just be battling the Tigers. Mother Nature is once again destined to play a roll in today’s match up, and here’s how the radar looks inside of an hour from first pitch:
The good news is the initial batch of heavier precipitation has moved out and east of Boston, but more unsettled weather still lurks to the west ahead of a slow moving front. That mess will push through eastern Massachusetts over the next several hours, filling in the current dry slot. While this incoming precipitation won’t be as heavy as what fell at times earlier today, it will come attached with colder and windier conditions, so a miserable weather game lies ahead (if they even try and play through it at all — The Yankees did not and waited around for three hours before starting their game against the Royals at 4:20pm). The other option will be to just wait until after sunset when it will be dryer, but still very cold and windy.
When they do get started, today’s lineup includes Roman Anthony leading off in leftfield, Andruw Monasterio at first base, and Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, and Marcelo Mayer all starting on the bench with an opposing left-handed starter on the mound in Framber Valdez for Detroit.
OTM’s own pitching guru Jacob Roy will be around later to handle the postgame wrap and tell us if we should should be freaking out or breathing a sigh a relief when it comes to Crochet.
The Pistons have made recent moves to add more shooting, but still don’t have anyone quite as lethal as former Detroit guard Luke Kennard. On Saturday night, Kennard had a brilliant start to his postseason with 27 uber-efficient points for the Lakers in a win against the Rockets. His level of 3-point accuracy is something the Pistons have desperately been seeking all season long to bolster their offense.
Luke Kennard’s shooting makes him a dangerous playoff performer
Kennard was originally drafted to Detroit with the 17th pick of the 2017 Draft. The Pistons have plenty of draft regrets from that general era of team history, but picking Kennard has never been one of them. Despite any other weaknesses he may have, his strength as a shooter has always been enough to offset them.
In terms of pure 3-point percentage, Kennard is one of the best shooters in NBA history. He averages 44% behind the arc for his career, and shot a blistering 48% this season – the best mark in the league. Given his incredible track record, it’s not exactly a shocker to see him shoot 5-of-5 from three en route to 27 points in Game 1.
Not only is Kennard obviously an excellent standstill shooter, but he’s also a master of getting himself open with his movement. On Saturday night, he was able to play off LeBron James perfectly for a few easy looks. After that, he caught enough of a rhythm to create 3-point looks for himself, even in transition.
A player like Kennard is easily capable of turning an entire playoff game when he gets hot. In a close series, that one game where Kennard hits several threes can be all the difference his team needs to advance. If the Lakers do manage to win this series, even without Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves, Kennard’s shooting will be a major reason why.
The Pistons could use someone like Kennard
Kennard would be a perfect marginal addition for the Pistons that only makes them better without taking anything away from the team. To be fair, the Pistons do have two shooters who have been hot recently in Duncan Robinson and Kevin Huerter. But having more than one respected shooter on the court at a time is often necessary to maintain a solid offense in today’s NBA.
Given the Pistons’ current lack of shooting, any additional shooters are welcome. And Kennard is understandably one of the most feared shooters in the league, capable of bending defenses just by the threat of him taking a three. Rolling him out on the Pistons would surely open up more lanes for Detroit’s stars to attack the paint and score easier points.
Follow
A Detroit woman was arrested in the aftermath of a hit-and-run collision and shooting on Interstate 94, Michigan State Police reported.
Emergency dispatchers were called shortly after midnight Saturday about the altercation. Troopers reported the caller said while they were driving eastbound on I-94, near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a black Jeep sideswiped them and sped off.
The caller then decided to follow the Jeep.
In response, police said, the driver of the Jeep fired several gunshots in the caller’s direction.
None of the gunshots struck the vehicle.
Troopers were able to use license plate reader camera technology to locate the Jeep while it was on the Lodge Freeway, made a traffic stop. The driver and two passengers were taken into custody without incident.
The passengers were released shortly afterwards; troopers believe that the 19-year-old driver was the shooter. She has been lodged pending further review by the prosecutor’s office.
In addition, a firearm was recovered from the vehicle.
The above video originally aired on Aug. 19, 2025.
-
World8 minutes ago
Oil prices rise anew after a US-Iran standoff in the Strait of Hormuz strands tankers
-
News14 minutes agoVideo: 8 Children Killed in Louisiana Shooting, Police Say
-
Culture50 minutes agoPoetry Challenge: Memorize “The More Loving One” by W.H. Auden
-
Lifestyle56 minutes agoPhotos: How overfishing in Southeast Asia is an ecological and human crisis
-
Technology1 hour agoBlue Origin successfully reused its New Glenn rocket
-
World1 hour agoDistress call captures tanker under fire, Iran shuts Hormuz trapping thousands of sailors
-
Politics1 hour agoTrump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins
-
Health1 hour agoExperts reveal why ‘nonnamaxxing’ trend may improve mental, physical health
