Savoy in Detroit takes the No. 9 spot on the 2025 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences list for its whimsical approach to Southern and Creole offerings.

For many years, the east side of Detroit’s culinary scene has been driven by fast food and fast-casual restaurants. When it opened last summer, Savoy offered an upscale dining experience for the Cornerstone Village neighborhood. Led by chef Melba Dearing, the restaurant delivers an amalgam of Southern dishes and Creole flavors, plus a few fun riffs in between.

A creative starter elevates a classic carnival food. Dearing dunks two meaty lobster tails into a sweet cornbread batter and deep fries the tails until they’re crispy and golden brown for a surf take on the corndog. The crustacean’s hard, peach-toned shell gets pierced with a wood skewer.

Two thick slabs of meatloaf are made even heartier with crunchy onion straws, a generous helping of dense garlic mashed potatoes and a spicy Tennessee pepper gravy poured over top. With its navy and orange décor, live jazz performances and a spirited waitstaff, the Savoy has a refreshingly uplifting air.

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Savoy menu highlights

Nola’s Fish and Grits brings a twist to a Southern staple. Fried catfish filets are served with sticky grits cakes that have been molded into triangular wedges and deep fried. The dish is topped with a creamy Cajun sauce chock-full of chopped crawfish.

Savoy address

17131 E. Warren Ave., Detroit. 313-469-7558; savoydetroit.com.

Save the Date: On Tuesday, June 24, Savoy, the Detroit Free Press and Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers will host a Top 10 Takeover dinner. Stay tuned for ticket information at Freep.com.

For a chance to win five $100 gift cards to dine at restaurants on the 2025 Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences list, visit chevydetroit.com/community/giveaways/roy25.

METRO DETROIT — More than 35,000 were without power Sunday night after severe storms rolled through the area, according to DTE Energy.

The utility’s outage map showed the outages scattered across the region with the highest concentrations in western Oakland County, Ann Arbor and southern Wayne County.

Officials said DTE crews are working hard to quickly restore power to impacted customers.

• Veteran outfielder Manuel Margot signed with the Detroit Tigers on their final day in Florida.
• He went 3-for-5 in the two games he played against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tigers’ opening series.

LOS ANGELES — Manuel Margot still doesn’t know all of his teammate’s names on the Detroit Tigers.

Still doesn’t know all the coaches and support staff.

And he doesn’t even have a Tigers bat bag.

His old Milwaukee Brewers bag was on a cart outside the clubhouse, stacked with all the Tigers ones.

Sunday marks Margot’s time on the Tigers at a week — he signed with the Tigers on their last day of Grapefruit League play in Florida — but he has already made a strong first impression.

EARLY RETURNS: Detroit Tigers look like they haven’t missed a beat in 2025 (despite getting beat twice)

“I feel good,” he said Saturday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers finished a three-game sweep of the Tigers with a 7-3 victory Saturday night.

Margot has been one of the bright spots in a Tigers offense that struggled to produce in clutch moments against the defending World Series champions. Margot played in two games in this series, going 3-for-5, while knocking in a pair of runs.

“Try to see the ball and swing at strikes,” he said. “I try not to chase.”

OK, so he might not know everybody, but he’s already speaking the Tigers’ language.

Unfortunately, here’s the harsh truth about this three-game series: Far too many of his teammates were not able to follow his lead.

The good news: The Tigers put runners in scoring position 32 times against the Dodgers, setting up a ridiculous number of opportunities to do something amazing against the team with five wins already this season.

The bad news: The Tigers came through in the clutch just four times. Ugh. Completely unacceptable.

“When you look back, we could have won some games because of how many opportunities we gave ourselves,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “So you want to look at it positively? Keep giving yourself as many punches as you can. If you want to be frustrated, look at the results. Because it wasn’t great with how it ended, how those at-bats ended.”

Here’s the other good news: Hinch doesn’t see any panic in his team.

But he is also realistic about what his team needs.

“We’re going to need the big hit obviously,” he said. “We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re not pressing. We’re not worked up about it. But it’s our reality.”

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Strange days indeed

In some ways, this series felt historic. It was the first time in franchise history the Tigers opened the season against the Dodgers, on a weekend they celebrated their World Series championship — gee, thanks MLB.

And it was the first time the Tigers have opened their season on the West Coast in 25 years.

Also, lost in the moment was how so many Tigers have never experienced this before. This was the first time that six Tigers have been on an Opening Day roster: right-handers Beau Brieske, Brenan Hanifee and Jackson Jobe; left-hander pitcher Brant Hurter; infielder Trey Sweeney; and catcher Dillon Dingler.

So, all of this is still so new to them. Just being part of this.

But there were some high marks.

Consider Spencer Torkelson.

More: The quiet secret behind Spencer Torkelson’s ‘awesome’ night against the Dodgers

On Opening Day, he reached base safely in all five plate appearances, with a solo home run and four walks. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Torkelson became the seventh player in Tigers history to walk four times and homer in the same game. (The others? J.D. Martinez, Roy Cullenbine, Jason Thompson, Rob Deer, Travis Fryman and Cecil Fielder.)

Torkelson’s four walks tied for the most by any player on Opening Day in American League history — that dates back to 1901.

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And when presented with Hinch’s good news/bad news approach to putting so many runners in scoring position, Torkelson found the positive side.

“I think that’s pretty encouraging, especially against this caliber of a team,” he said. “There’s not a single hole in their lineup. There’s not a single arm in the ‘pen or starting pitcher that you can take for granted. They’re a really good team. We had opportunities and, couple pitches every night going our way, we’re winning this series. So that’s encouraging.”

So, that’s the state of the Tigers after the first series.

Encouraging signs.

Disappointing results.

 “But still,” Torkelson said, “it sucks to get swept.”

ANOTHER ‘NEW’ GUY: Detroit Tigers’ Ryan Kreidler takes ride through wacky weeklong journey to starting lineup

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.