Detroit: MidTown’s Bakersfield

Bakersfield is part of the Thunderdome restaurant group. It was founded in 2012 by Joe Lanni, John Lanni and Alex Blust, when they opened the first Bakersfield in Cincinnati’s “Over-The-Rhine” neighborhood. (Over-The-Rhine, or OTR as it is commonly referred to, is located in the Urban Basin of Cincinnati and is one of the largest, most intact urban historical districts in the US)

Bakersfield’s Detroit location is one of 7 Bakersfield locations, and the only one in Michigan. On top of Bakersfield, Thunderdome Restaurant group has 9 different restaurant concepts, with over 50 locations in its portfolio, mostly throughout the Midwest including Bakersfield’s sister company, The Eagle in Detroit.

The Detroit location of Bakersfield opened in 2017 and has quickly become a definite hot spot for drinking and dining in the D. Located at 3100 Woodward between Watson and Erskine, they are just a 5 minute walk from Little Ceasars Arena and 10-15 minute walk form Comerica Park and Ford Field. It is not uncommon to see them full of sports fans before and after games.

The décor is very rustic and industrial with wood plank floors, exposed brick and concrete walls and pillars, vintage Edison Style lights and tables made with cement slabs with bourbon barrels as their base. It has more of the feel of a BBQ Smokehouse than a Mexican restaurant. There is a huge cement top “U shaped” bar that seats around 20 people, with shelves and shelves of Tequila and Whiskeys. The remainder of the dining area is set up with booths lining the walls and tables in the open areas.

There are over 40 Tequilas, 9 Mezcals, 40 Bourbons, 14 Ryes and 7 Tennessee Whiskeys to choose from. I’ll have one of each please.

There are roll up garage doors that are open when the weather is nice, as well as an outdoor patio.

Other than their vast selection of tequilas and whiskeys, Bakersfield is known for their Mexican Street Fare. They specialize in street tacos, offering 9 different varieties from your traditional Carnitas and Al Pastor, to the Short Rib and Baja Shrimp.

They also offer a couple Vegetarian options in their Papas Rajas (roasted poblano, charred onions, corn, potato, queso fresco, crema, cilantro and onion) and the Huitlacoche (corn truffle, roasted poblano, corn, onion, cotija cheese, and cilantro) While tacos are their mainstay, they do also offer a nice variety of Bocaditos (appetizers) with choices like blue corn tortilla Taquitos, and Mexico City Empanadas. You can also get chips with a trio of salsas, guacamole or one of their awesome queso dips (plain, or with chorizo or short rib)

They also offer a torta, which is a Mexican sandwich. Theirs is made with a chicken cutlet, frijoles charros (stewed pinto beans with onion garlic and bacon), salsa Verde, arugula, avocado and lemon mayo as well as a few salads.