Blue Star Café opened its doors March 1 on Congress Street just east of Shelby in the Marquette Building. The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, serving breakfast to order and select lunch entrees that change daily. Owner Barry Winfree says this gives him "flexibility to try lots of things."
Winfree describes his menu as "upscale comfort food," with recently featured entrees such as meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, chicken marsala and spinach-onion-carmelized onion quiche. In the short time he has been open, his sweet and hot Memphis-style chili has already garnered a loyal following amongst the downtown office-worker crowd. Blue Star also serves soups, sandwiches, salads and homemade desserts.
Winfree has been working solely in corporate catering for the last five years, and will continue to offer that service from his new location. He was previously a partner in Epicurian Café and a Southfield gourmet coffee shop. "I definitely wanted to have my own restaurant, and I wanted to get back into the downtown business district," he says. "I believe in the city, I believe that there is plenty to offer down here, and I wanted to be in on it."
The restaurant seats about 50 with a private dining room that seats an additional 12. Entrees are listed daily at 313-222-5893.
Source: Barry Winfree, Blue Star Café
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh