On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: American (Traditional), American (New) [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Midtown, Cass CorridorMon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Loading...
Reading through past reviews, I'm really shocked at the lack of reviews about the desserts here.
Yes, the service is spotty. Sure, the food is sometimes inconsistent (but so are a lot of other places). However, in all of the times I've been here I don't think I've ever left disappointed. Probably because their desserts are just so damn tasty.
My most recent visit (last night) exemplified why I love this place. We had a party of 5 plus my 2 year old daughter in a high chair. The service was slow, but the waiter was attentive - not a big deal. The 2 beers I tried last night, Belgian White & ESB, were both good. The Belgian was better - crisp, light, & spicy.
Nearly everytime we go to Traffic Jam we start off with the nachos. Yes, they use generic white corn chips - whatever. What makes these nachos is the awesome house made cheddar that is slathered all over. Combine that with black beans, chicken, diced jalapenos, herbed sour cream, & salsa and you have a huge, delicious meal, but that is how we start our meals at TJ. Oh, and we tried the fried dill pickles - totally awesome. Crisp breading & an excellent spicy dill dipping sauce. Great stuff.
Housemade soups are also very good (for the most part). Last night's Dal was tasty. Heavy on curry & chilis, the lentils were perfectly cooked. Could've had another cup right away.
Lamb burger was a special last night, which I'd never seen on their menu before. The lamb patty was juicy, garlicky, & fresh. The feta/mayo spread on the bun added a salty/spicy component as well as a nice creaminess. The tabouleh that was served along side the burger was different. Not heavy on parsley, there was a lot of bulghur, almonds, & mint. A change of pace from the tabouleh I'm used to & I kind of liked it.
As I mentioned above, dessert is why I come to Traffic Jam time & time again. Last night may have been the best yet. I'm a sucker for anything pumpkin or ginger. Well, last night there was a pumpkin & ginger torte on the menu. Totally & utterly FTW. Spicy, sweet, moist, crunchy, creamy. I cannot adequately explain how great this dessert was. The crust tasted like it was made from TJ's homemade gingersnaps (which are awesome on their own), the layers of pumpkin cake were cinnamon-y & moist, & the cream cheese frosting tasted like it may have had fresh ginger in it. I wish I had taken a piece home to have for breakfast this morning. So good.
Other notable goodies:
Macaroni & cheese
Fish & Chips
Madras Meatloaf
Ice Cream (made in house)
Fresh baked breads
I really love Traffic Jam & am consistently impressed with their menu - if only the service was a little better.
The wireless is spotty and there are are only three tables close to outlets (for those of us who bring our laptops to dinner). But I love the cheese platter with fig compote.
Service is slow. Food is overpriced.
But they've got great bread. And the dessert.... yum!, I love the tin roof sundae. yum, yum, yum
Where to begin with this place?
For starters, the service tends to be awful. I've never once had a waiter or waitress that wasn't stuck up and snobbish.
Second, the food is either good or incredibly disappointing. The two consistencies: It tends to be expensive, and the bread is frickin' excellent and can sometimes give nearby Avalon a run for best bread for your hard-earned bread. There also are often several vegetarian options from which to choose, and that's always a huge plus.
Third, the owner is a jerk, constantly warring with the Motor City Brewery across the street over a parking lot, even when the Traffic Jam is closed and not using it. Not the way to help your fellow (business)man in helping to turn Detroit around. Don't you want a thriving city? Don't you want an entertainment hub to lure business (The owner also owns the nearby Bronx Bar.)? I support business owners who support my city, and I'll admit that partly for this reason, I tend to avoid the Jam. I also admit that as a MCBW supporter, this pettiness has seriously tarnished my opinion of this place. Then again, even before Parking Lot Gate, I never ranked the Traffic Jam among my favorite haunts.
To sum it up, just look at the decor. It looks like a hipster Applebee's, and the way this place is run, from owner to staff, to its no-holds-barred way of doing business in Detroit, it's sort of run like a small-business Applebee's, too.
Dann A.'s review is right on the money. TJ's, as it's sometimes colloquially called, is pretty hit or miss for most people. But as my buddy there puts it, it's like a "hipster Applebee's," and personally I'd take that as an insult to all the Applebee's out there.
There're a couple bright spots: the bread is indeed tasty, and if you're a vegetarian you've got choices.
The wait staff in my experience has been all over the spectrum, from being spot-on ideal and fun, (with tongue firmly in cheek, asking for the biggest Coke they had resulted in my own pitcher with a straw) to being a dude who made me want to buy the place just so I could fire him. Then rehire him, so I could fire him again with so short an employment period so as to deny him unemployment benefits. And then make fun of his mother to his face.
It's really not worth the drive, if you're coming from the suburbs, and if you're in the city? It's probably not worth it then, either. But who knows? If you go, you might get lucky. Everybody likes to get lucky!
dinner was so good we decided to come back for dessert after the symphony. enough said!
I went here for lunch yesterday with a bunch of friends...for many of us, this was our first major Detroit adventure, and we were under the fearless leadership of a Wayne State grad and lover of the city. We loved the Heidelberg Project, Motown, Mr Song's Millinery (I now own a hat by by the same man who made Aretha's!), the gorgeous Detroit Public Library, and a fabulous Tigers victory over the Oakland A's. Traffic Jam was the only low point in our day. There were just lots of small mishaps that added up to a strange, subpar experience.
1) Three of us ordered the beef tenderloin sandwich that was on the specials menu. 10 minutes after ordering, our waiter returned to inform us that the chef had only 1 tenderloin left--two of us would have to order something different. Could happen to anyone, I suppose, but still disappointing.
2) Prices and portions were inconsistent. Our $8 1/2 lb. burgers were huge and pretty good, but one of us had a crabcake appetizer. Put your index finger and thumb together in a circle--that was the size of the crabcake, buried in a pile of lettuce--$9. What? Definitely overpriced, and confusing, because the other plates were so big. I'd rather have a place where the portions are ALL overpriced and small than a place where you have no idea what you'll get.
3) Another of our group (a culinary school grad) found his fish sandwich basically inedible--too fishy--though someone else who had fish & chips really enjoyed them.
4) Speaking of inconsistency--for the most part, burgers and sandwiches did not come with a side--fries were ala carte. That's fine, in and of itself. Some places do that. But one sandwich (the elusive beef tenderloin, dammit), came with potato salad. The aforementioned fish sandwich came with "chips" that turned out to be...Tostitos? I've never been served Tostitos in a restaurant. The rest of us paid between $2 and $3.25 for our fries (depending on if we had regular or sweet potato).
5) We had a party of 9, so our tip was included in the bill. Fine. But when we paid, due to people paying with $20s, etc., there was some extra in the bill folder. Our waiter didn't ask if we wanted change, didn't bring us our change, and never came back again. Bad form.
6) ooooh, also! Before we were served, we could see our food sitting on trays near the kitchen for 5 minutes plus before it was brought to the table. The restaurant was NOT busy, so don't know what the hold up was.
7) SK points out that when the food finally made it to the table, the waiter basically handed each dish to one person at the end of the table and we passed it down to the right person. No effort to get the right order to the right person.
On the plus side, a couple people had turkey reubens and said they were really very good. I also heard the beef tenderloin sandwich was delicious.....sure wish I could have had it myself.
We were considering buying some of the giant cookies available near the front bakery section of the establishment, but all decided against it.
If a more assertive Yelp reviewer had been there (Jenn P....) they would have taken all of this up with the management, in an assertive but polite way, and probably would have gotten the mediocre lunch for free. We were basically tired, ready to move on to our next adventure, and just wanted to get out of there, so that's what we did. So can't comment on how our complaints were handled, because we didn't raise them. But won't be back to this spot.
I work in the area and I have been eating the occasional lunch at TJ's for nearly 15 yrs. I guess I would have figured on giving them 4 stars off-the-cuff, but all the criticism here from most of the other reviewers is pretty spot-on (sorry if that means my review isn't totally independent). Service is slow - don't plan on an hour lunch here. Servers do pass out the dishes from one end of the table. Prices aren't great (although I rarely eat here on my own dime). I have not, however experienced some of the other one-star mishaps. Food has always been more than edible, and we have rarely waited more than a couple of minutes to sit down (the place is huge).
My favorite is the Madras Meatloaf with sweet potato fries and the curried peas & carrots. It is comfort food with a twist and it is very consistent. The Mac & Cheese combo with the mushroom soup is another comfort food specialty. I have had most everything else on the menu and it is all pretty good.
I am pretty sure this place is non-smoking - they have little phonebooth-esque smoking facilities near the front. I have never been bothered by smoke that has Bernoulli-motioned its way into my seating area from foreign parts.
On the whole though, this is a place worth taking someone to if you are in the Midtown/Cultural Center area. A definite Detroit fixture with a unique personality. Give them a try and decide for yourself.
What a disappointment. Wow...where to begin. The menu was remarkably overpriced to begin with, I ordered the lamb burger. It was supposed to come with fresh tabbouleh with parsley and mint from their garden. What arrived on my plate was a rather tired, overcooked piece of lamb with a small cup next to it containing two very small pieces of tomato and two small pieces of cucumber. Hmmmm and that for $8.50! HA I say! My friend ordered the turkey sandwich that promised "freshly carved turkey." The turkey that came looked as if it was served on thanksgiving then forgotten in the refrigerator until the next week. It came with rather tasteless corn chips, you know the ones you see in all the dollar stores. Come on now Traffic Jam. I once enjoyed going to you, I knew I would get a quality meal at a decent price... whatever happened to you?? I guess others had been warned though, at prime time on a Saturday night you were empty, I only wish I had gone elsewhere and will go elsewhere from now on.
Was there this past weekend, it's a nice idea but the service was AWFUL! It was not busy, but we… Read more »
Traffic Jam was one of the very first brewpubs to open in Michigan in 1992. For that paving the way, I give them 3 stars. They seem to focus less on the beer now and have been left behind by smaller, better brewers.
TJ's is a nice place to have a meal if you are looking to overpay a bit for the experience. The best thing about them is that they bake their own bread, make their own beer, cheese and ice cream. 3 stars for that as well...
Spent most of my life in the D and today was my first trip here for lunch. Where the hell have I been? Interesting place. Deceivingly large. Lots on interesting smaller alcoves. Large rooms that can swallow a large group. and a room for private parties as well. The decor was interesting and fit the overall laid-back mood of the place.
Lunch for me was half WOW and half Meh...
The WOW was the fantastic bowl of Salmon Chowder that was so stuffed with seafood, you could eat it with a fork. One of the best soups in town.
The Meh part was the Roast Beef Panini sandwich that was very bland to the point of being flavorless. The menu said it had caramelized Onions. Well if they were there, the the cook did an great job of making them tastes just like bread.
And the waitress said the Panini was better than the Red Fish sandwich, with Jalopena Mayo, that I was also contemplating. My fault, perhaps next time I ask for advice I should qualify it be saying which is better for those with tastebuds and know how to use them.
Now those that ordered the Burritos raved over them. When they were delivered to the table, I was a little green with envy (perhaps green like the Jalapeno mayo?). Others said that the Fish and Chips was well above average.
So looking at other reviews of this place, the term "hit and miss" seems to apply.
I'm reminded of the dialog of the Knight from "Indiana Jones and the last Crusade" in the Grail room. "You must choose wisely". I'm afraid that after taking my first bite of Panni, Sir Knight would look at me with those forlorn sad eyes and say "You chose poorly"... Just before my face exploded and melted away....
I have only been to TGS a few times, but everytime it's been good. The sweet potato fries are amazing and have a great dipping sauce with them. Sometimes the wait is a little long but there is a decent amount to look at and talk about. The place is a lot bigger than it seems and it's sometimes interesting trying to find the bathrooms.
The bakery is probably the most amazing thing that they have to offer! The deserts, breads, pastries, etc are amazing. The cheese is also great.
I used to hit up Traffic Jam more often when I worked downtown, but it'd been about a year since I'd stopped in. The other night, after a visit to the DFT, we decided to grab a late dinner. The feeling and décor was pretty much the same as I remembered -- cozy enough, and the service was fine and friendly.
I was really eying the butternut squash lasagna special, until my guy reminded me that we were headed to a birthday party. I decided to opt out of anything that could induce a food coma.
Instead, I got the red snapper sandwich with a small side of sweet potato fries -- a slightly classed-up version of fish and chips, really. The spicy mayo on the sandwich is what made it -- with fried fish you're mostly tasting the breading (mmmm.....fried) rather than anything particular about the snapper. The sweet potato fries were OK, but a little soggy - I thought I remembered them being a bit crispier.
My partner-in-dining had a roast beef sandwich with cheese, which he happily proceeded to chomp down. The portions were so large that neither of us could finish. In sticking with my food-coma-avoidance strategy, I only ate about half.
All in all, it was a perfectly good dinner - pretty enjoyable save the soggy fries (which were still good, just a little floppy). I feel like I could be a little more impressed by a repeat visit though. For now, I'm holding out on one more star until I get to taste that butternut lasagna!
I love the idea of Traffic Jam... homemade breads and cheeses and very Detroit-centric. The food is kind of hit and miss though.
The nachos are good, but a lot of the salads use iceberg and lighter type lettuces that don't really scream salad. I do love their sweet potato fries. It's a good place for groups. They kind of close early, even on the weekends, making it not really a post-night stop.
Traffic Jam is one of those places that I can't help but come back to. I know there are places with better service. I know that there are even some places with better food for the price. But I can't help but like this place. It helps that I can't really say I've ever had a bad experience here... There are times when it could have been better, but really I'd be reaching if I were to say it was "bad."
Truthfully this place probably deserves three and a half stars. I give it four because of the emotional attachment I have to it. I find my best meals here have been when I'm in no hurry and just looking to go out and have good conversation with my friends as much as I want to have good food. It has a comfortable, eclectic sense to it that has always put the groups I've gone with at ease.
The weakest aspect of this place is probably the service. It's not that it's actively bad necessarily... On the contrary I tend to like the servers. It's just that they're about as laid back as the restaurant itself, so if you're uptight and in a hurry it probably won't be what you're looking for.
As far as food goes again, I've always been satisfied. A few of my friends have said this or that could have been a bit better, but more often than not they've also been happy. A few recommendations: The portabello mushroom soup and spinach lasagne are both excellent. My friends have also said the crab cakes are quite good. I had mixed experiences with the delmonico steak. First time I ordered it it arrived a bit too dry and ultimately forgettable, but the second time I gave it a shot it was fantastic. The freshly baked bread is also good, as long as you don't mind waiting a little bit for it.
Over all this is a restaurant with some flaws, but it should be given a chance. You might find that like me you can look past some of its issues and really come to enjoy it.
Note: This place _does_ have outdoor seating. I've sat on the patio myself a couple times this summer.
A Detroit mainstay
A shadow of its old self
A place worth skipping
Have you ever deep fried a pickle? Don't try it yourself -- just go to Traffic Jam and have them bring you out an order. They are surprisingly tasty.
If fried pickles aren't your thing, they've got a fairly extensive menu of untraditional traditional fare. You'll see a lot of familiar dishes, but this place adds a little funk to everything it creates (including the atmosphere). It also uses the freshest ingredients and makes everything itself, right down to homebrewing the beer.
I'm a big fan of the crab cakes and the nachos, as well as all the desserts. I highly recommend this locale if you frequent the Wayne State campus. Places of this caliber on/near campus are few and far between. And if you're a vegetarian, make sure to look for the little box in green.
It's OK. I know if I really like a place if I go, "Oh! I know! Let's go to X!" But that never comes up with Traffic Jam. I just go when someone else suggests it. It's not great, but it's not awful.
I wish their menu was streamlined to soups, sandwiches and salads. It's totally every where with their "world" dishes. I have yet to try their beer, but I haven't heard anyone say that it was must have beer... so... right.
It's also really dark inside with a pub feel despite it trying to be a healthful-chic restaurant. It's nicer when the weather is warm and you can eat on the patio.
I've got to say, I agree completely with Dea A's review. The menu just doesn't do it for me. I have no problem with a restaurant that wants to offer funky stuff for lunch, but every time I've been there I struggle to find something that sounds appealing. Then, whatever I get isn't anything great, so my expectations are sadly fulfilled.
You'd do yourself a favor to go across the street to the Motor City Brew Works instead and get a pizza.
Traffic Jam was actually the first restaurant that I was taken to my first visit to Detroit. My aunt, actually a pretty good, "restaurant picker" decided on a spot that was close to the university for us to go to for lunch.
Well it was bad then, and its bad now. Of course, this is a spot where you can go and get a quick meal. If you are a vegetarian, you may even love this spot.
Ppl rave about their nachos....blank stare, TRUST, I can find a number of places with much better nachos...perhaps because they use chicken & black beans, some other ridiculous reason, ppl have fallen in love with this place. The salsa that comes with them is a tad on the sweet side, but not bad nonetheless.
My boss used to rave about their Blazing Red Fish Filet, which is basically a fish sandwich that is pretty spicy....I used to order this a lot, with the sweet potato fries (which are pretty yum).
The fish and chips leave a bit to be desired for....convenient place to eat at, but honestly, the food is overrated, and with certain menu items, overpriced.
I have heard so much about Traffic Jam for so long but hadn't yet actually made it down until this afternoon.
In retrospect, I should've had one or two pints of their brewery offerings, but I've been trying to break my caffiene habit with water 24/7, so I stuck with water. Pros are the decor and the fact that our group of 8/9 people got seating in a private alcove type room, which allowed us to be extra-raucous without bothering anyone else too much. The beer was good, by all accounts.
I was fairly disappointed with my meal and our service. Our server was nice, but not particularly professional, caring or knowledgable. He was also rocking out the starving artist/emo look a little bit too much for someone who looked 35, but to each our own, I suppose. I probably rock out the slacker student look a little bit too much myself.
I had their roast beef sandwich. Now look. I suppose all their food may be locally sourced -- I don't entirely doubt it, but it didn't shine through in my meal. I had a pickle that was identical in look and taste to a vlastic (? the ones with the bird in a blue shirt or whatever) icicle pickle. I ordered a small side of the potato wedge fries, which never came and I was given a side of tortilla chips. Which looked and tasted identical to those Tostitos small round tortilla chips. Bummer. The roast beef was okay, but a little bit too refrigerator cold for my taste and the sandwich didn't taste like bleu cheese at all, which was about 80% of my reason for ordering it. Roast beef + bleu cheese = love in my book.
I would return, but only for beer and to try their cheese platter and some of their desserts. Give the food a pass.
We first ate at TJ&S during a brief visit to Detroit in 8/03. We ended up living in Detroit for almost three years (from 9/05-6/08) and we ate dinner at TJ&S several times. Admittedly we only lived about a mile from the restaurant, but it was one of our favorites in Detroit - and anyplace with that name deserves a second look. I ordered the very same things every time I went there, since I couldn't resist: a cup of salmon chowder, the vegetarian spinach lasagna and the bread pudding. The food was always delicious - and the interior of the restaurant is interesting & fun, with antique objects on the walls. In addition, they make their own breads (which are also for sale) and they have a small brewery. The only reason I didn't give five stars is because the service was spotty. The first two times we went there, our servers were pleasant and very efficient - but during successive visits, the servers were very aloof and hardly paid any attention to us.
This place is set up in a unique way. They have a restaurant section which is dark and cozy with a fireplace. You can sit at booths or tables. And then they have the bar area which has three sections. The wrap around bar, seating area towards the back or you can go up the stairs to the "smoking area". The smoking area is a pretty cool idea, it really keeps it in one area and its a bit more private. You can still look down on the bar from here.
They have lots of funny pictures to look at on the walls. And the atmosphere is pretty laid back. And it seems like a good place to come for a drink after work, because they have their own micro brewery. They were the first restaurant to have a brew pub license in Michigan. I had a pint of the 2nd Avenue Pilsner, it was not bad. I don't really know much about beer, but I liked it.
I didn't get a chance to try their food here, but they have there own bakery. You can can buy the baked goods and cheeses to go.
It's definitely a place to check out because of their history and the unique layout.
Get a pint of their home brewed pale ale or dopplebach. Good stuff.
The service has fallen off here lately. Avoid the dude named Madison at all costs.
The Parisian goat cheese salad (w/ chicken) is good --- WHEN EFFING DRY THEIR LETTUCE!
I like the random rusty things hanging from the ceiling.
Good place to go w/ fam and friends to "catch up," which usually means shooting the shit over a few pints and good meal
I have mixed feelings about this place. I think their own bakery and brewery is good, and their comfort food kind of, vegetarian-like, healthy/local menu seems to appeal to many people.
But the food and service haven't been good. One time, my boyfriend's potato salad was half frozen...
Many customers are out-of-town theater or sports game goers. The median age is like, 55?
I love their sweet potato fries, possibly the best i've ever had.
Aside from the fries and the fact that they make they're own ice cream, the traffic jam & snug doesn't do much for me. It's also pretty expensive for what they have to offer.
There are vegetarian options, and very few vegan options.
I'm vegetarian, but not vegan. That being said, Traffic Jam & Snug kicks it like a stack of amps. The homegrown ingredients (bread, cheese, beer and I'm sure I'm forgetting something) makes everything taste that much better.
Menu does change a lot, which is great for vegetarians who usually have to order the same thing over and over again at most restaurants. Just had a "bean & vegetable" burger that was fantastic -- served with maple/roasted red pepper aioli. Whew.
Worth it for the food and atmosphere. Plus also the decorative toilets and sinks outside.
I'm not the biggest fan of their food, but the beer and cheese are excellent. They also have decent prices on wine. You can grab a bottle from the wall in front and enjoy at your table with no markup!
TJ's has been around for 40 years and definitely a place you need to stop through to see what all the fuss is about. They are known for the freshness of its food, as well as the vegetarian-friendly option. Of course, I don't care much about what vegetarians like, so I enjoy the meatloaf and burgers fully. The restaurant has a nice ambiance, with a fireplace in one room, and lovely lamps. There is a full bar, if you wanted to just come up here for happy hour. The wine list is also extensive, if you wanted to bring a date and lounge. The prices are roughly $7-$15, depending on your entree.
I have eaten here a few times and have ok food - not memorable however. I do like the atmosphere - I like darker, cozy places with funky pics and stuff all over. The variety of seating is great too. This is a good place to go with a group or on a date.
Great food--they make their own bread, cheese, & beer here, if I remember correctly. The menu changes frequently (seasonally?). The salad entrees are good & large portions. Desserts are delicious & rather large (good for sharing). They've been around forever, according to a friend of mine. The front seating area always seems rather dark, for some reason the back seating area (past the kitchen & their wine selection) seems brighter. It's located 2 blocks west of Woodward, south of Wayne State. When there's special exhibits at the Detroit Institute of Art, there's usually drawings on the sidewalk in front of the place related to the exhibit. The parking lot's across the street.
Sweet potato fries and meatloaf. That is all you need to know.
We stopped in for lunch and a beer before a tigers game . Our server appeared to be having a bad day . She acted like she was doing us a favor when we requested a pitcher of beer . Her knowledge of the menu was lacking . The food was so-so but nothing special . At first we were told they offered 5 of their beers on draft but on this day they only had 2 . We have no reason to ever go back . They do have a nice outdoor seating area for the warmer months .
Neighborhood: Midtown
Category: American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: Midtown
Category: American (New)
Neighborhood: Downtown Detroit
Category: Cuban
Neighborhood: Midtown
Category: Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Cultural Center
Category: Japanese
While the D can be a food desert with nothing but…
Restaurants & food places I like in the metro…
Restaurants, bars, and services in the Detroit's…
Somehow, I manage to consume a lot of sweet potato…
This is a list of places that I like to study at.…
Michigan might change the law someday - till then,…
