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Wolfgang Puck Grille
Rating Details »
Category: American (New) [Edit]
Neighborhood: Downtown DetroitMGM Grand Casino
1777 3rd St
Detroit, MI 48226
(877) 888-2121
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
7 reviews for Wolfgang Puck Grille
I've been meaning to check out this restaurant for awhile. Tonight was the night.
First, I want to say that I had none of the bad experiences previous reviewers mentioned. Our service was completely attentive and pleasant and not at all overbearing. The server had suggestions for us and was able to answer all of our questions. I do wish he would've told us there was a different menu for the bar, if only to see all of my options, but that's really my only complaint about the whole experience.
I didn't see anything in the list of entrees that jumped out at me, but a few of the appetizers sounded really interesting. And I was tempted to just order two of those instead of an entree. But then I saw the prix fixe tasting menu. That was perfect. It's $29 per person, and you get to choose one of four or five options for an appetizer, four or five options for an entree, and there was only one option for dessert. For $45 per person, there are selected wines included in the menu.
For the appetizer, one of my friends went with the tomato soup. It was served in an interestingly shaped bowl that was actually kind of big, but the part where the soup goes is small. I tried it, and there were subtle hints of cardamom. In the middle was a little pile of crushed parmesan crostini with a sprig of basil stuck in it. Swirled around that was some creme fraiche. The seasoning was all very subtle and delicious. I went with the asparagus and smoked ham ravioli. The pasta tasted homemade and the filling was big whole pieces, not a puree. It had parmigiana reggiano shavings and a creamy sauce. I really wish I had paid more attention to the menu, because I'd like to describe the sauce in more detail. As my other friend said (pointing at the big soup bowl), "I want a bowl like that filled with this (the ravioli)." It was that good. I think there were five or six ravioli altogether. Not bad for a tasting menu.
For the entree, all three of us had the grilled flat iron steak, which is served with a bleu cheese butter and red wine reduction (again, didn't read the menu closely to get the full details on the reduction). It also comes with french fries. The fries were good, but nothing spectacular. The steak is what it was all about. Our server recommended we get it medium rare, so we did, and holy crap. It was perfectly cooked. Dark on the outside, but not tough. Then a light pink, then the dark pink, and it wasn't cold or chewy on the inside. So. Freakin'. Tender.
The dessert was strawberry shortcake. Instead of the yellow cake that you often see, the shortcake was more like a biscuit. There was a top and bottom piece. In between those, there was a strawberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream. On top of the top piece, there was a generous dollop of whipped cream with a mint leaf stuck in it. The top piece also had big granules of sugar on it. Poured all around it was a strawberry compote, which had big chunks of strawberry in it. I'm not a big fan of strawberries, but this was freakin' fantastic.
Overall, a great experience.
Finally a decent dining experience in Detroit. Is it perfect? No. But it's very very good.
I've been three times now and ALL the times were wonderful.
The first time was the most memorable because WP came to our table. I fully enjoyed! What a nice treat. Our party had 4 people and all the dishes were fantastic... We had a bottle of wine, each person had drinks, we had appertizers, entrees and dessert... our tab was around $600!!!!! Yes, it was very EXPENSIVE, but it was memorable. The appertizers were quite expensive, $9-$22 range but delicious. If you want to save some money, you could get an entree (chicken) for about $30 which I don't think is that bad. I've been in many exquisite restaurants and this lived up to it. Currently with the "discounted" menu and the fact that this in a casino, you get a lot of people that you would not necessarily expect in a restaurant where you'd drop $150/person. But the food, even in the discounted menu is still good. Oh well.... just forget about the surrounding people, and focus on the food, the decor and the service. Excellent!
I am an ardent subscriber of the WP brand, so when I discovered one in the MGM Grand, needless to say I was thrilled! The crowds throng at the Dining studio or the food court for rather obvious reasons, so the nicer restaurants in the casino, come with the perk of exclusivity.
A nice touch is that typical pre-dinner eats (ie bread!) that are typically "self-service" are served by staff. The restaurant is somewhat sneaky in that they don't offer up the bar menu at the tables, unless actually asked, again for obvious reasons..but we asked, and we received and we loved the option! It ended up being a Puck style pizza dinner in a white table cloth setting, over some great drinks - now that's a working class dinner for the white collar professional!
This place seriously sucks. Read on if you must, but here's a quick summary:
Wait staff - Act like they belong in a diner.
Food - Bland and expensive
Service - Slow and hard to track down
Host - Made to wait for a table when there was no one in there
I don't care if Mr Puck himself was in town and went around shaking hands with people who were dining in his restaurant tonight, but I've eaten here twice for dinner, and tonight is the last time.
The first night I ordered the braised short ribs and the first thing my dining companion said to me was, "That looks like a big turd."
Yeah, well, it did.
Luckily, it didn't taste like one, but it didn't taste like any braised short rib I've ever had. And I don't mean that in a good way. We had started out with the vegetable chopped salad, which sounded good, but looked like it was, "Hey, let's take all the leftover veggies we found in the fridge and make it into a salad! Yeah!" It had waaaay too much going on for a salad, and it was also huge, which was weird since you would think it would be a nice starter salad size.
Aside from the food with an identity crisis, our waitress was just as pleasant as can be (read: sarcastic). I don't know if it's because we were from California or what, but she made us feel like freaks when all we wanted was just water. "What? You don't want anything?? Not even a pop or anything?" Uh, no. Not even pop.
Then she presents us with a tasting menu, which wasn't really a tasting menu. She brought us our checks, except in my friend's check holder, it was sans check. And she kept on telling us to sign, but didn't bring us any writing tools. We told the bread guy to leave the basket of bread, since I was ready to chew an arm off, and he didn't, so acted frustrated when I asked him for a bread. Which he then proceeded to drop onto the ground when tonging it. Told ya you should've just left the darn basket.
Tonight was just as bad with a five person quick meal after a long day working the auto show, turning into a 2 1/2 hour torture session. Good thing I had my Blackberry to keep me occupied. Took about 15 minutes and three tries to get some limes. My water glass was continually empty (so parched) and anytime the wait staff would bring our food, they would just drop and run. You didn't have a chance to ask them for anything, nor did they ask if everything was okay, or if there was anything else they could bring.
I just ordered appetizers for dinner. Tuna tartare, which was good but a bit on the spicy side for me; lobster and mushroom ravioli which came with 7 ravioli and crabcakes of which there were four and yummy. That was plenty for dinner. At least the food was better this time.
For breakfast I've been ordering a plain bowl of oatmeal with honey and sliced bananas on the side. When I ordered it with tea downstairs, it was like $15, when I ordered it for room service, it was like $21.
When you order room service, everything comes from WP's. I'm so glad I only have one more night here.
Wolfgang Puck is a swanky, trendy restaurant, well deserving of the name. My husband and I dined at a WP restaurant in Illinois, and fell in love. The menu is creative and original, not your run of the mill upscale restaurant food. A must try: the butternut squash bisque soup.
Pros: menu is top notch, decor is pleasing, some areas are secluded and romantic, the waiters are incredibly attentive.
Cons: its in the casino, you will still gag on smoke just trying to get to it; the table we sat at was in a very poor location, next to a cash register.
This is a great place to go for a special occasion dinner. I think that it is in the casino is a huge detriment, but I am biased because I hate cigarette smoke and the business that is always present in the MGM.
I dined at Wolfgang Puck and I really enjoyed myself. I find the environment to be ultra swanky! I knew what to expect from the menu because I previewed it online. The service was great, personable without being annoying. My food was delicious and please,please, ask for the dessert menu! The food was everything I expected based on previews of other "Puck" restaurants. One plus is that you can't smell the cigarette smoke coming from the casino.
