Detroit Digest

Detroit Digest: The Polish Yacht Club, a Hidden Treasure Still Sailing After More than 100 Years

March 06, 2021, 9:53 AM

Before downtown and Midtown gave birth to a cluster of new restaurants and bars, some of Detroit's best destinations were hidden gems off the beaten path.

After more than a century, the Polish Yacht Club, aka The Ivanhoe, is still one of those gems. Drive past empty fields and worn homes on a residential stretch of Joseph Campau in Detroit, about six blocks south of I-94, and you’ll stumble upon the restaurant-bar housed in a big red-brick structure with a flat roof -- almost like a little home on the prairie. Despite its name, it's landlocked, with no yachts to be seen.

Inside, there’s a hand-carved marble bar with a dark wood top, and dining rooms with little lamps on the tables and a menu full of comfort food: Kielbasa, pierogi, potato pancakes, fried shrimp, frog legs, creamy cole slaw and the house favorite, fish and chips, with a choice of walleye, perch or catfish. 

Detroit DIgest host Carlos Parisi recently stopped by and worked his way through the tasty menu.

 Polish Yacht Club, 5249 Jos. Campau, (313) 925-5335. Limited Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 



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