 JANUARY 23 • 2020 | 53

the best of everything
Raskin

Beans & Cornbread continues to earn 
accolades as it enters its 23rd year.
Soul Food Mecca

I

nto its 23rd year is one of 
Michigan’
s top soul food 
restaurants … as acclaimed 
recently in GQ magazine along 
with other highly esteemed pub-
lications. 
And the list of celebrities 
continually 
grows as Beans 
& Cornbread, 
Sunset Strip, 
Northwestern 
Highway, 
between 12 Mile 
and Inkster, 
Southfield, is 
where so many make regular 
dining visitations … Laurence 
Fishburne, Matthew Stafford, 

Barry Sanders, Shaquille O’
Neal, 
Stevie Wonder, etc., in a list 
that would take up a couple of 
columns … The late Aretha 
Franklin and many others called 
it their second home.
Since before it opened in 
1997, owner Patrick Coleman 
always wanted his own soul food 
restaurant … Year after year, 
he keeps taking it to another 
award-winning high standard … 
from traditional to modern orig-
inations in soul food culinary 
experiences … and a wonderful 
dining delight… with specialties 
like tempura shrimp, lobster, 
fried okra, vegetarian Sloppy 
Joes with garnished sautéed 
onions … down-home Southern 
fried chicken to catfish fillets to 
baby back ribs to juicy steaks, to 
salmon croquettes, etc. …
Beans & Cornbread bakes its 
own cornbread, sweet potato 
muffins, etc. … including a 
luscious peach cobbler, among 
other goodies.
To say that Patrick knows 
his food is putting it mildly … 
The one-time former manager 
and general manager of pres-

tigious restaurants, who also 
was spokesman at one time for 
Lawry Seasoned Salt, is noted, 
too, for his varied ways of soul 
food cooking and presentations 
without the high prices that are 
asked for by many soul food 
restaurant operations the nation 
over.
Beans & Cornbread is open 
seven days for lunch and din-
ner … Sunday-Thursday, 11 
a.m.-9 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-10 
p.m., Saturday, noon-10 p.m. … 
Seating is for around 70 in the 
dining room and 18 at the bar 
… Sundays also includes brunch 
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Going into its 23rd year 
certainly tells something about 
Beans & Cornbread … It is 
everything a good soul food 
restaurant should be … and 
then some … Don’
t be fright-
ened by all the cars that may be 
there … Most of the folks who 
own them know a good thing 
when they enjoy the food at 
Beans & Cornbread.
I REMEMBER …From 
William Ruskin … “Lieberman’
s 
Delicatessen on Dexter and 

Waverly. It would put out the 
back door an empty pickle 
barrel at least once a week and 
you could smell it almost a half-
block away.
”
OLDIE BUT GOODIE 
… A cop pulls a car over and 
informs the driver that he had 
just entered him in a safety 
contest that encourages drivers 
to wear seat belts … The cop 
explained that if the man won, 
he would receive $50,000 but 
as a runner-up he would get at 
least $5,000.
“What are you going to do 
with all that money?” asked the 
cop.
“Well,
” said the driver, “I 
guess I’
m going to get a driver’
s 
license.
”
“
Oh, don’
t listen to him,
” said 
his wife. “He’
s always a smart 
aleck when he’
s been drinking.
”
CONGRATS … To Dr. Stuart 
Kirschenbaum on his birthday… 
To Jim Hiller on his birthday…
To Barbara Cohen on her birth-
day. 

Danny’
s email address is 
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.

Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist

VIA BEANS & CORNBREAD FACEBOOK

Patrick Coleman

COURTESY OF BEANS & CORNBREAD

Reservations at www.thewhitney.com
 (313) 832-5700

2020
T
HE
 
WHI
T
NE
Y

Afternoon Tea

Elegant Four Course 

Tea Luncheon

Everyday at
2:00pm

