Grand Trunk Pub revamps menu, adds Monday hours

Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read
Chef Petro Drakopoulos is the new director of food and beverage at Grand Trunk Pub.
Chef Petro Drakopoulos is the new director of food and beverage at Grand Trunk Pub.

A refreshed menu under a new food and beverage director is debuting at the Grand Trunk Pub in downtown Detroit.

The iconic and longtime Woodward Avenue pub near Campus Martius has expanded its menu and bar offerings under the direction of Petro Drakopoulos, a metro Detroit hospitality industry veteran. Drakopoulos joined Grand Trunk Pub as well as Checker Bar, as its food and beverage director several months ago.

Changes include re-emphasizing the pub's Wine-Down Wednesdays promotion when bottles of wine are half off at specific times. In addition, new wineries have been added to its offerings, including House of Brown, Napa Valley’s first Black-owned and women-led estate winery.

Cajun salmon is part of the menu revamp at Grand Trunk Pub in downtown Detroit.
Cajun salmon is part of the menu revamp at Grand Trunk Pub in downtown Detroit.

New to the menu will be more in-house food prep, according to a news release, and new menu items include curry poutine and its house-battered and fried-to-order chicken and waffles. Grand Trunk Pub's new menu offerings will also include a new brunch revamp and rollout. Included on the brunch menu are a selection of eggs Benedict dishes, biscuits and gravy and French Toast.

“We want to put the emphasis back on Grand Trunk Pub being a classic Detroit pub,” said Drakopoulous in a news release. “We’re showing that we are still the same great pub that people have come to expect, but we have new menu items and a new chef, and are looking to continue owning our identity.”

Drakopoulos is also a chef and industry veteran with stints at Hollywood Casino at Greektown, Marriott International, Detroit Shipping Co. and Atheneum Suite Hotel. He is the founder and owner of Republica Gastro Pub in Berkley, which opened in 2013 and has served for the past six years as chair of the Detroit Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Chicken and Waffles is on the brunch menu at Grand Trunk Pub.
Chicken and Waffles is on the brunch menu at Grand Trunk Pub.

This downtown pub was a former ticket station for the Grand Trunk Railway and dates to 1905, according to its website. Eventually, the place was turned into a bar and kitchen and still has the high-vaulted ceilings, brick walls and railroad-theme vibe.Grand Trunk Pub also announced they will now be open at 4 p.m. on Mondays. Other hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday, 10 am. to midnight Saturday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Grand Trunk Pub, 612 Woodward Ave., Detroit; grandtrunk.pub.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Grand Trunk Pub has new menu items and expands its popular brunch