Pine Hall’s interior and outdoor space is designed for gathering, as this pre-opening rendering illustrates. | Photos courtesy of Union Square Hospitality Group
Editor’s note: This is part of RB’s look at Detroit and its restaurants. Check out Market Watch: Detroit.
Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group has been opening and operating restaurants for 40 years, with all the full-service concepts centered primarily in New York City. But earlier this month, Pine Hall made its debut in Detroit, and Meyer and CEO Chip Wade couldn’t be more excited, said Wade.
“Before the opening party and reception, we had an opportunity to speak to the staff, and there’s just so much pride in the city,” Wade reported. “There’s been a revitalization seven or eight years in the making of this wonderful kind of classic Midwestern city.”
Not counting fast casuals Shake Shack and Daily Provisions, and Maialino’s move into Washington. D.C. in early 2020 that didn’t survive the pandemic, this is USHG’s first full-service restaurant opening in a new city. Why Detroit?
“There were a couple of factors that convinced us about Detroit,” said Wade, starting with the company’s own bank, J.P. Morgan, one of the largest in the world. “Over the last 10 years, the bank has made a sizeable investment in the city, about $200 million in small business loans,” he added.
The second reason was Detroit’s former mayor, Michael Duggan, who served from 2014-2026. “I found the mayor to be very thoughtful, very smart, and very committed to turning around the city of Detroit,” Wade said. “And the third reason is the relationship USHG has forged over the last three-plus years with Bedrock Hospitality, the development arm of Dan Gilbert’s company.” Gilbert heads up Rocket Mortgage, is the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and has been instrumental in Detroit’s revitalization.
That trifecta led USHG to a new Class A office building called Hudson’s Detroit in the center of downtown, the former site of the J.L. Hudson Department Store and the new home of General Motors. Sitting atop the building is Pine Hall, the restaurant group’s new rooftop cocktail bar and lounge with a tavern-style food menu. It’s designed to be a gathering place, with 300 seats and a 3,300-square-foot outdoor terrace offering sweeping city views and directly overlooking Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team.
Pine Hall is named for The Pine Room, the iconic wood-paneled restaurant once housed in the historic Hudson’s department store. The interior space plays off that nostalgia, with warm wood tones, vintage-inspired details and graphic typography, but local artwork and music curated around Detroit DJs bring the vibe up to the present.
Warm woods define the interior space and the cocktail program uses Michigan spirits.
“This was never designed to be a Danny Meyer fine-dining restaurant,” said Wade. “From the food perspective, we have what every great bar should have … fun dishes like homemade sausage in puff pastry, a warm buttered pretzel, a classic burger with fries, and a duck fat baked potato created by the chef, Joe Downey-Zayas.”
Elevated bar snacks and starters range from Deviled Eggs to Crab Fritters, Clams Casino and French Onion Toast. There’s also a Maurice Salad inspired by Hudson’s Department Store and desserts including Bumpy Cake with vanilla butter cream, a local favorite, and rotating soft-serve flavors.
The menu includes chef-driven bar snacks and gastropub signatures.
The beverage program, overseen by General Manager Kris Peterson, highlights Michigan spirits and regional ingredients. Signature drinks include the Detroit Vice with Weiss Arcane Aquavit, lime, pineapple, coconut, lingonberry, and dill, alongside reinterpreted takes on classics like an Ice Box Martini — served dirty, clean or in-between — spotlighting Detroit-made Two James Spirits Gin. There’s also a roster of housemade, non-alcoholic alternatives, a deep Midwest-centric beer program, and a value-driven wine list.
“Pine Hall is the kind of place we hope people return to again and again,” said Meyer, in a statement. “It’s meant to feel familiar from the moment you walk in — a welcoming spot for drinks and dinner that belongs to Detroit and reflects the pride of the city.”
Will Detroit be home to more USHG restaurants?
“It’s too early to tell,” said Wade. “We’re really focused on getting Pine Hall up and running, making sure we create this space with our signature hospitality, giving Detroiters a reason to come back again and again. We will be spending a lot of time in Detroit, and we’ll continue to watch new business development.”
Detroit wasn’t initially on USHG’s radar screen, he added. But the collaboration with Mayor Duggan, J.P. Morgan, and Gilbert was compelling enough to jump in and open Pine Hall.
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