Redcoat Tavern – Royal Oak, Michigan: The Best Burger in Metro Detroit

If you live in Oakland County you most likely already know that the best burger in Southeast Michigan is served by the good people inside Redcoat Tavern at 31542 Woodward Ave in Royal Oak, Michigan and you derisively laugh in the face of anyone who suggests otherwise. Find six cheeses, guacamole, zip sauce, pico de gallo,
fried egg, fresh and pickled jalapeños and our personal favorite, awesomely flavorful burnt onions, among their extensive roster of unique burger toppings. Get adventurous and have your patty blackened or substitute the Redcoat’s traditional sesame seed bun with an onion roll, baguette, grilled rye or pumpernickel bread. Health conscious burger gluttons can substitute low-fat, low-cholesterol Piedmontese beef for an extra $2.00. After repeated visits we’ve come to the conclusion that the Redcoat’s grill experts routinely prepare their patties one step below the customer’s request on the traditional cooked-to-order scale. We can’t really blame ’em. Try it their way if you must, but we recommend you order your burger medium if you want it medium-rare, order it
medium-well if you want it medium, and so on and so forth. Trust us.
Burgers aren’t their only dish worth sampling. Pair your sandwich with some of the richest and most flavorful onion rings you’ll ever taste, but share your side with a party of four or more, as you just might ruin your appetite if you indulge in any more than two rings before your main course arrives. We’re pretty certain they transmogrify into lead upon reaching the pit of your stomach. For lighter eaters, top-rate thin-cut French fries are a more than acceptable alternative. Baked Onion Soup au Gratin and the Iceberg Wedge salad with tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, bacon bits, scallions and bleu cheese dressing round out a tasty selection of appetizers.
Other excellent main dishes include “The Cubano” sandwich topped with ham, smoked pork, pickles, Swiss cheese, mustard and mayonnaise on grilled and pressed Cuban style bread, and the “Smoked St. Louis Spare Ribs” served with oven-roasted potatoes, coleslaw and and the obligatory moist towelette on the side.
A lively late-night atmosphere (open ’til 1:40am six
nights a week, kitchen ’til around 11, and 9pm on Sunday) and a stunning array of well over 100 bottled beers from over fifteen countries and ten states and provinces are two more of the many reasons we count the Redcoat Tavern among our favorite regular haunts in all of Southeast Michigan. ~I♥DM