A critic's bar crawl: The Lions-Buccaneers game from Detroit's Black-owned bars

It was 20 degrees on Sunday afternoon and our highly animated, fast-talking Lyft driver was explaining what she’ll do if the Detroit Lions make it to the Super Bowl LVIII as she zipped down Gratiot Avenue.

If they make it to the Super Bowl — and they don't even have to win — she said she'd redecorate her bedroom to dress it in full-on Lions gear. No matter the cost, she said she was committed to going "Lions crazy," adding that at 61 years old, she wanted to see the team win before she keels over and dies. She was somewhere between hyperbolic and dead serious. Either way, she made us laugh.

My husband and I were in the back of the driver's mini van listening to stories about her children, her late husband, the sermon her pastor delivered that morning and her own preaching for the key to marital success. We were on our way to a bar-crawl of Detroit’s Black-owned cocktail bars at the prompt of traveling food critic Starex Smith.

With more than 217,000 Facebook followers, Smith, who runs The Hungry Black Man, a platform dedicated to reviewing Black-owned eateries, shared a Free Press story on the $20 million economic impact expected for Detroit amid the Lions-Buccaneers showdown. His plea for Detroiters, and visitors alike, was to share the wealth with Black-owned businesses, which tend to be underfunded and under-resourced. Bars, he said, are equipped with televisions and encourage the social nature that comes with watching a game that can span up to four hours. Other establishments like restaurants, tend to limit table times to 2 hours, often less.

Smith compiled a list of Black-owned bars and mapped their locations for viewers to navigate with ease.

“I found a culinary and social home in Detroit’s bars, which are unlike anywhere else in the nation in many ways,” Smith said. “The sheer number and options of which bar to choose are the most beneficial. Realizing this, I felt that the city would benefit from celebrating the uniqueness of having the largest number of Black-owned bars within its boundaries in the nation! Why not celebrate both this amazing accomplishment along with the Lions' historic progression in the NFL playoffs? For me, it was a no-brainer.”

Though based in Miami, Smith’s travels brought him to Detroit years ago and his love for the city has brought him back time and again to celebrate and support the growing Black-owned culinary community. The notion that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team from Smith’s home state, would rival the team of his home away from home, is an irony not lost on him.

“I am a Miamian, not a Floridian. We are not Florida. We are something entirely different,” he clarified. “I’m a DolphFan, so once we got beat, my second team is my second home, the city I’ve come to love, Detroit! It feels great to see the team progress along with having a native Miamian as its second-string quarterback...” Smith, who owns Miami restaurant Smith and Webster, said the Lions’ Teddy Bridgewater recently celebrated his birthday at the restaurant.

At Central Kitchen and Bar, our first stop on the Detroit bar crawl, the dining room was a monochromatic sea of diners clad in blue. Necks craned to see the television screens positioned throughout the space. In the first half, crowd expressions interrupted bites of crispy chicken and waffles and sips of mimosas and beer. Screams of excitement at successful field goals and sighs of despair at missed plays filled the room.

Seeing scenic shots of the city’s landmarks on a national stage  — the glacial water beneath the Ambassador Bridge, the Joe Louis Fist, an overhead glimpse of a snow-capped Belle Isle — brought a sense of pride to all.

Smith later called on Detroiters to vote on their 10 favorite bars among his original comprehensive list of Black-owned bars. He plans to release the Top-10 List on Monday. In the meantime, he participated in a Black-owned bar-crawl of his own during the playoffs game.

“My favorite bar didn’t make the Top 10 List, but it's Top 10 for me, and I will probably spend most of my time watching [the game] at Club Celebrity," he said Sunday morning.

Our next stop landed us at Flood’s Bar and Grille in downtown Detroit, where game-watchers were clustered around tables nearest the bar’s flat-screen TVs. Blue and gray balloons were strung at the entryways that separated rooms and double-decker speakers propped in a back bar area let us know there’d be a celebration no matter the outcome of the game. On commercial breaks, hip-hop blared through the speakers and drinks flowed freely.

We finished the second half at The Shadow Gallery, whose layout allows you to choose your own adventure. It’s here where we collectively shouted expletives as the Bucs players brazenly butchered Detroit’s signature Blade Icewood dance as a touchdown celebration, and here where we’d be ultimately vindicated by the Lions’ victorious win.

The lobby was well-lit and guests were entranced by the two flatscreens suspended side by side with Moet bottles decorated in faux flowers beneath them. A dark back room was more of a nightclub where guests were vaping and playing cards under neon lights that vacillated between primary colors, casting green, orange, yellow, blue, purple and red glows on the space. There was no sound on the game here, just the bass of trap music. Cups were embossed with the Lions logo and 1800 Tequila branding.

In the upstairs lounge, where I watched the Lions’ game-winning interception, the crowd of adults and children erupted in squeals under soft pink lights. Cameras ceremoniously came out to capture the historic moment and strangers hugged and high-fived.

“NFC champions!” one man shouted. “We heading to Vegas, baby!” a manager cheered.

On the car ride home, I thought of our Lyft driver, who said she was too superstitious to watch the game. I wonder who'll tell her she might want to start shopping for bedding.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's Black-owned bars in party mode for Lions-Bucs game