Mom's Spaghetti

While visiting Detroit I was suddenly reminded of the 90s like cheesy commercial I saw of Eminem's restaurant he opened earlier this year so I had to check it out. The restaurant is right by the Fox theater and you line up in an alley to order from a small window before you can enter the restaurant to dine-in.

The menu is quite simple. You can get spaghetti with or without meatballs that comes with a slice of garlic bread, and spaghetti sandwich that's sandwiched between two garlic breads. There was also a vegan option too.

I arrived on Sunday around 3pm and there was probably 7-10 people ahead of me in line and the line was moving a bit slow. Once you order you might have to wait on the side to get your food. I ordered spaghetti and meatball. It tasted good but it's not special. It's what you can expect from any spaghetti and meatball. The portion was big enough to feed two though which I appreciate since we paid around $14 after tax.

We went inside the restaurant to check out 'the trailer,' which is really a Eminem merch store with some memorabilia displayed. The trailer closes a little earlier than when the restaurant closes each night so check the hours.

If you are a fan of Eminem then this is a spot to check out. If you are craving spaghetti then this is also the spot to check out in downtown. Other than that you're not missing much.

Congratulations to Marshall for being a 2022 inductee into the Rock & Roll (alcohol) Hall of Fame. His downtown Detroit spaghetti eatery was less than a block away from where I was dining so afterward, I strolled over and visited. Mom's Spaghetti is housed inside a corner of a full service restaurant (Union Assembly) on Woodward Ave just a couple of addresses south of The Fox Theatre. The menu was a simple listing of four spaghetti entrees, two spaghetti sandwiches, Pepsi products, and water.

You order at an outside service window in an alley and then can take your food to-go or dine inside Union Assembly. It's a strange setup because you have to head north from the alley to the main entrance of UA, enter the premises, and then walk back south to a cramped corner of small booths and countertop seating outside the kitchen preparation area of Mom's Spaghetti. Apparently, there was upstairs seating too, but I did not venture to check it out which was unfortunate since Eminem memorabilia was on display in that area.

Since I had just finished a meal, I bought an order of Spaghetti Bolognese to-go. I do have to say the prices for all the items were very reasonable for the amount of pasta served. It is definitely cheaper than what I pay for something similar where I currently live. My item was stuffed inside a quart size takeout carton branded with the business logo and doused with a heavy amount of grated parmesan cheese. A triangular slice of garlic bread was added to the top of the noodles. More sauce was needed as noted by others so heed that advice. Otherwise, the spaghetti quality was fairly average.

Overall this is a fun experience, especially if you are an Eminem fan.
Personally, I'm not, but I still thought this concept was interesting and worth visiting as a tourist.

We were the first in line, getting there 10 minutes before opening. By the time they opened there was a line of 10 people.
Our food took quite awhile and it wasn't hot even I took it upstairs to open up in the restaurant.

The spaghetti itself is pretty mediocre, mostly over cooked. We took the advice of others and got extra sauce. That being said, there's something about it that I kept eating it for some reason.
The meatballs are better.
I ordered the bolognese as well but never ended up eating it.
I might have had it with the sandwich I think. It was difficult to tell since there wasn't any meat. They screwed up the order and we didn't receive meatballs in our sandwich so both sets of sandwiches seemed the same without meat. We pretty much ordered everything except for the vegan options.

You order in the alleyway and you can take the food into the restaurant to eat. There is a small section that is available with two tiny booths and counter seating on the downstairs, but if you go upstairs there are more tables.

Don't forget to visit the souvenir shop where you can buy moms Spaghetti memorabilia plus other random Eminem offerings.

Parking note....
There was no parking nearby per say. It's just street parking which you pay for, but we went on a Sunday so it was free for that day in the streets

I always like when I randomly come across places I'd heard about and wanted to try, which is exactly what happened with Mom's Spaghetti. Nate and I were in town for a concert at LCA and had dinner reservations at Union Assembly, which technically houses Mom's Spaghetti too. I probably wouldn't have sought it out, since it's in a bit of a busy area near several venues, including Comerica Park.

We decided to stop by after the concert let out around 10 pm and there was just a short line at the ordering window that moved really quickly. We ordered the spaghetti with balls for $12 and got our food right away. There is a bit of seating designated for Mom's Spaghetti customers inside Union Assembly, so we went around and grabbed a little booth.

The spaghetti was average, but hit the spot as a late night snack. Some of the noodles at the top were dried out, but the meatballs were pretty tender and not dry at all. They had good flavor. The spaghetti sauce had a lot of dried oregano, which isn't my favorite, but I liked the use of the Kraft parmesan cheese which is just very nostalgic for me. As others have mentioned, the portion is large, and you get a half slice of garlic toast on the side too.

The trailer with merchandise and memorabilia wasn't open so we didn't get to check that out. I don't need to come back anytime soon, but I'm glad we got to try Mom's Spaghetti.

honestly, over hyped = huge let down. tastes likes chef boyardi but costs an arm and half a leg :/

I liked it! I'm really glad I stumbled upon this place during my walk downtown because I've been meaning to come here. I had the spaghetti with meatballs. Easy ordering at a window outside. Fast and friendly service. There is a small inside area where you can eat, which is really nice and it's air conditioned too. It has a few booths and also some bar stools.

The spaghetti was good but I thought the meatballs were the star big of dish. They were a bit spicy, which I appreciated.

Eminem could have just Tossed His name on this... but they made sure the food is SOLID.  Excellent spaghetti and meatballs.  Upstairs is the Trailer... memorabilia and $30 t-shirts

A must-visit for Eminem fans and a nice place to stop even if you're not a stan. I got the b rabbit order which is spaghetti with vegan "meat"balls. The portion is quite large so it's worth the $14, and the food tasted quite good. It also came with a slice of garlic bread! One small complaint was that none of the artwork on the first floor of the trailer had any Eminem-related references.

Upstair there's an amazing collection of Eminem swag and memorabilia, including the Robin costume from Without Me, some excerpts from his notepad when he was writing lose yourself and lots more. There's a bunch of t-shirts and hoodies available too. They're reasonably priced, around 25-35 for a t shirt and 50-70 for hoodies.

Mom's Spaghetti is Eminem's restaurant that is in partnership with owners Curt Catallo and Ann Stevenson, the husband and wife team who owns Union Kitchen. This restaurant is located on the south side of Union Assembly Restaurant and right across the street from the Comerica Park.

For those of you wondering, Mom's Spaghetti is named for the famed first verse of "Lose Yourself," Eminem's single for the 2002 movie he started in, 8 Mile. The scene where Eminem's character is locked in a bathroom, drenched in sweat and washing off regurgitated spaghetti to his hoodie. The lyrics play "Knees weak, arms are heavy, there's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti".....

I am a fan of Eminem, more so of his older stuff and was actually surprised to find out that this restaurant exist. Being that my husband and I were on a road trip in the Midwest, I decided to add a stop in Detroit, MI so that we could check it out. After getting parking several blocks away (just our luck to come on a Friday evening when there happened to be a Detroit Tiger's game on the same night.... parking was definitely a challenge), we walked over here down the alley way and arrived a little after 9 pm. There was only one person at the window, but he had already ordered so it was nice that there was no line.

After looking over the menu, we ended up getting:

Spaghetti Bolognese, $12, tax included- Just as everyone has said, the portions are huge and can easily feed 2-3 people. I really liked the sauce and thought it was very flavorful. The noodles were cooked perfectly. This was served with a half slice of garlic bread, which was oily but tasty.

Spaghetti with balls, $12, tax included- My husband wanted to have his own meal, so he ordered this. Just like mine, he also got a half slice of garlic bread. He had at least 6 meatballs in his container. He also thought the spaghetti was tasty.
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(Total= $24 after tax)

Honestly for the amount you get, the price is actually quite reasonable and I really enjoyed the spaghetti over a few meals. The employee who took my order was friendly. She was so kind to ask if I wanted a paper bag for our order since I was trying to place our order in a plastic bag that I had in my pocket. Because the paper bag is a bit flimsy, I asked her if I could have a second one to double bag so that the bag doesn't rip on me (with such large portions, these meals are heavy).

According to an article I read from the New York Times, the pasta is made a day ahead of time because noodles do take a while to cook. The food is reheated in a wok and served to the customer. This doesn't bother me since spaghetti typically taste much better the next day, once the sauce and the seasonings used have time to mingle and get more flavorful.

Anyways, if you wish to consume your purchase, you can go next door to Union Assembly and eat either on the first floor or the second floor, with designated seats for Mom's Spaghetti customers. But of course the major draw of stopping by here is the trailer on the 2nd floor to browse and purchase souvenirs. You can also view the Robin costume from the music video for "Without Me" that is in a display case.

There are no prices on any of the items for sale, which I don't know why it's like that. But anyways, Mom's Spaghetti shirts and hats are $30 each. Eminem shirts are $25 and shot glasses are $10.

Definitely worth a visit if you are an Eminem fan.

What a treat to eat here. I honestly didn't know this was Eminem's restaurant until I got there. We had the whole top floor reserved for our group event to celebrate finishing the Detroit Marathon. The food was excellent and the staff was friendly. The chicken was moist and the green beans were flavorful. Everything was great. I hope to come back here when I visit Detroit again.