Howell’s Bar

Jimmy is now at O’Kelly’s in Dearborn as the cook in the lounge Wed tru Sunday. Open to the public!!! :) same great food he served at Howell’s

I spoke with a friend who knows the owners of Howell’s, and it will not be rebuilt. :-(The owners are retired and live in Florida, rebuilding Howell’s would just add unnecessary stress. RIP, Howell’s.

Just devastating news. Howells burned down Friday night 4 – 25. It burned from 7:30pm until 6:30am.
Everyone was safely evacuated.
Not sure yet, but preliminary reports are that it was an electrical fire that started in the basement.

Pleasantly surprised with Howell’s. Sure it comes off as a dive bar but it’s clean and serves a great burger and fries.
The burger had to weigh in at near ¾ of a pound and it was cooked to perfection. Served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle it became Mt. Everest when I assembled it. I could get my mouth around it without squeezing it tightly between my fingers. The fries were home cut and cooked just right and hit with a sprinkling of kosher salt after coming out of the fryer.
Good prices, good food, good beer. What more could you ask for.

Okay, seriously, when did Dearborn get so BUSY? We were at Baily’s, it was packed. Then Howell’s was packed. After leaving Howell’s we went off to New Place — also packed. Way to get on it, Dearborn. So, we came in here after hanging at Baily’s for a bit. It was super packed, and really loud. The crowd was divey like you expect. The prices are about Dearborn price — pretty cheap. It’s definitely not a place you are going to be able to catch up with friends (too noisy). And the parking out back is still super annoying. I don’t know what the heck kind of stupid calling system you can do now to park back there, but it’s really painful. I’m sure once you set up an account it would be easier, but it’s not something you want to try doing on a cold cold December night. Damn it, Dearborn, enough w/​the paid parking already. Or figure out how to do it like Portland does. Okay, back to Howell’s. If you want to just shout at each other, hang in a dive, and drink some cheap beers — this is your place.

Fabulous shot and beer bar. Just friendly enough that you always feel welcome and safe… but not so intimate that you are stuck having a drunken discussion, with Homer, Carl, Barney, and the rest of the crew from «Moe’s Tavern». The bartenders work hard and usually have a smile (but also bust your chops if you are out of hand) and Jimmy the burger chef, with his gruff and loving personality make this a go to spot in the heart of Dearborn. Have a burger while you are there!

Visiting from San Francisco and stopped by Howell’s for a burger en route from airport. Michigan family had recently heard that this so-​called «dive bar» served up burgers that supposedly rivaled their favorite local establishment. The verdict was unanimous — a resounding «NO»! Although we really wanted to LOVE these burgers, there was nothing unique or imaginative about them. Yes, the burgers were huge but the flavor and juiciness was nothing to write home about. On a more positive note, our waitress was friendly and accommodating and Howell’s had a warm local vibe and good draft beer.

Stopped in here Wednesday afternoon for a couple beers. I’d call it a neighborhood bar as opposed to a dive bar. Pretty basic stuff here.
The most memorable thing was when a creepy old dude comes in. Yeah, just my luck, he walks past several open stools. So anyways, he decides to sit next to me. He then proceeds to creep on the bartender who was nice to him at first but finally put his sorry ass on ignore. He proceeded to sit there and talk to himself while I hurried up and finished my beer and got the hell out of there.
Other than that?
Bartender lady was pretty nice.
Crowd a little older mix of men and women who seemed to be regulars.
Casual place.
I’d give it another try as long as I didn’t see the creepy old dude in there.

I am not really sure what is up with this place. I have been here twice and have not been able to get a burger because I was told the kitchen was closed. The first time was about 3 years ago and we got there around 430PM and we were told they would not start cooking until later. Yesterday we got there a little after 6PM (on a Tuesday) and we were told they stop serving at 6PM. So what timeframe do you need to get there to get a burger?

I love this place. There’s no other place I’ve been to in Dearborn that can literally feel so divey with such friendly people… Though I still have not checked out Miller’s yet… Yeah I know I’m awful.
I’m not a big burger person, but from all my friends that have had the burgers there, they said it’s fantastic. Though I will say that the food service is rather slow sometimes so if you’re starving this may not be the place to go for a quick lunch.
Drinks are relatively cheap. It gets really busy as the evening creeps on and can at times be hard to find a seat. There’s a really mixed crowd, but I’m in my late 20s and feel rather young when I’m there. :-) This is a fun place to meet people and be a barfly and watch people. I would never recommend to take a date here though.
The staff are really nice and makes good drinks. My only problem with the place is that the bathrooms are rather small… Hell the whole place is rather small so when it gets really busy you can barely walk and I mean you were squeezing around people and tables like crazy.
Overall, very neighborhood-​y bar with great burgers!

Well, Howell’s, I’d love to say you have great burgers, but I can’t. Because I ordered a burger at 5:55pm on a slow Saturday night and come 6:50pm, I never got my food. Screw that noise, I just got up and left.
You’ll only come here if you’re a masochist. You can get a great burger at Miller’s or Biergarten without the crappy service and bad attitude of «Jimmy», the server/​bartender/​cook/​busboy, that didn’t do crap except talk to his friends the entire time I sat without my food. He didn’t even start our burgers before we got up and left.
Also, Howell’s doesn’t accept credit cards (It’s 2012… I’ve had a debit card since 2001, get with the times already) and there are no listed prices for ANYTHING, so you have no idea if you’re being charged correctly or how much your bill will be.
You’ve been warned.

Apparently, if you’re not a regular, you’re SOL.
Atmosphere was so so. Very much a dive bar, but nothing off-​putting. Small place, I could image it being a pain on a busy night. Hell, it was a pain maneuvering around the empty tables.
We sat at the bar and ordered a couple burgers and fries. At first it appeared that there was only one bartender. No way. A one-​person staff at 6:30 on a Saturday night? After sitting for a while, I realized it was true. One person acting as griller, bartender, and server. So you’d think that if there was ONE PERSON serving the entire bar, he’d be running around like a maniac. Or at least have a little pep in his step. Nope. This senior citizen spent 80% of his time chatting up his group of senior citizen regulars at the end of the bar, and the other 20% of his time getting more beers for them.
I’ll repeat myself and say that we ordered two burgers and one order of fries. Not a complicated order. How long does it take to drop some fries and grill a couple patties? 10 – 15 minutes? At the 30 minute mark, we got four words as he walked by filling one of his buddy’s beer orders… «burgers’ll be a minute». At the 50 minute mark, we left two dollar bills on the bartop (to cover the single glass of coke I got) and walked out, stomachs empty.
Also, it’s 2012… get a f***ing card machine. Who the hell is still cash only?
Screw this place. I’ve had great burgers other places. I don’t need to be ignored for an hour to have a good burger.

Was in Dearborn for a wedding. Since I had business in the area the day before, stayed over Friday night and had no plans on Saturday. The father of the bride (my brother) called and asked way we should do for lunch, as the women were asking him to leave while they did their pre-​weeding women stuff, whatever that is.
After reading reviews in Unilocal and speaking with folks at the front desk of the Dearborn Inn, we decided on Howells. What a great decision!
We walked in at about 1pm. There were 2 people at the bar and no one behind it. After a few minutes, the gentleman appeared. Seems that he does it all. Cooks, waiter, bartender… all of it.
We ordered 3 beers and he said to get the pitcher, it’s cheaper that way. We asked what was on the menus and he said burgers and fries or fried fish and fries, so all 3 of us order the burgers. He asked how we liked them cooked and we had 3 different orders for doneness.
While it took a little while to cook, it was for good reason. The burgers are huge, juicy and cooked perfectly. Fries are hand cut and homemade. Beer was ice cold and overall quite the little gem.
After we ate, a gentleman came up and said that he was «only a customer» but wanted to help the owner by clearing the table. It was a great lunch. The place started to fill up by the time we left. The greatest complement came from my brother who said, «This is as good as Dagwood’s» (see Lansing, MI Dive Bar).

Howell’s is legendary! My dad used to regularly come up here for a couple of beers after work back in 1965 when he was 19. While I can’t speak to their ID checking ability nowadays, it is a treat to to come to Howell’s regardless. Great food, great people watching, and an internet jukebox full of songs that the manager will skip regardless of who you are or what you paid to hear (in my defense, I merely thought I was getting the bang for my buck by playing a thirty minute cut off of Sun Ra’s «Space is the Place»).

Grab a seat and get ready for some people watching! This place may be my new favorite dive bar.
The crowd was very mixed; including locals, well dressed business professionals and well, people who spend a lot of time on the street, outdoors.
When the older waitress finally arrived, I asked for a beer menu and she said ‘huh?’, so I pointed to a picture on the wall and said ‘that one’. Then I asked for a food menu. She said they don’t have menus, but tonight’s selection was burgers and fries. I ordered fries. The waitress then stated the fries would be out when the cook arrived, turned on the fryer, and decided to cook the fries. I had time, and was good with her answer.
When the fries arrived a good 40 minutes later I could barely wait for them to cool down. The huge plates of fresh cut potatoes were some of the best fries ever! Totally worth the wait! After 3 (premium) beers and fries, our bill was a cheap $ 12. I can’t wait to return to the Howell Bar!

Dirty tables, we had to wipe them off ourself. This was at 6:30pm on a Saturday with very few people inside Extremely SLOOOOW service for the grill. Took 30 – 45 minutes to make a burger and fry. Not sure why people rave about this place. Recommend Miller’s down the street on Mich Ave instead. That said, the burger was pretty good — much larger than Millers… it was just the slow service and overall cleanliness of the bar. Avoid.

Classic dive bar, in the best of ways. The crowd is diverse, from the happy hour crowd, to Ford people stopping by after work, to local bar-​flies, to older folks, to suburban passersby. And the prices are cheap.
The bar food sets it apart, though. They have one tiny grill station in the bar area and just one guy cooking (always the same guy), so it might take a little longer than you’re expecting to get your food, but it’s worth the mouth-​watering wait. Hand cut fries, and one of the juiciest burgers in Detroit. The perfect compliment for some cold brews.
I haven’t been there in a while, because it’s on the opposite side of town, but it’s definitely about time for a return visit.

Stopped here for lunch the other day based on the reviews of my fellow Unilocalers. Some big words were thrown around at Unilocal… burgers better than Miller’s Bar??? So we stopped in, had the burgers and fries, and gotta say the burger was awesome. Good size, juicy, cooked just right. The fries with the sea salt were fantastic.
So basically, I don’t have much to add from everyone else, except the price was more than expected. A cheesburger, fries, and a pop was $ 10 even. WIth tip, over $ 10. A bit more than I expected. We’ll go again, just not quite as often since the place broke my $ 10 max rule for lunch. :)

If anyone reading this happens to be on a quest for the best fried chicken on the face of the earth and it’s Thursday, stop now check the adress up above and GO! Howells is the cheers of Dearborn– a little hole in the wall spot where everyone knows everyone and if they don’t know everyone they know Jimmy the chef And that’s good enough. Jimmy has a different food hook up each day: tacos are I think Tuesday, Cajun blackened catfish with sweet potato fries on Friday (awesome) and thursday oh boy Thursday… Chicken dinner. The dinner comes with either one breast or two leg quarters (not much of a decision gimme that dark meat), potato salad, green beans and corn and okra salad. It also comes with another plate under the first one because you need a landing spot for the chicken to be able to even see the rest of it. That earns big fat kid points with me for some reason as if the pile of food bigger than a taco truck wasnt enough.
If you wanna make fast friends ask Jimmy for his hot sauce collection!

I went to Howell’s after trying to complete my burger quest for Metro Detroit. It’s like everyone else says, a dive bar owned by some genuinely nice people.
The large, evenly cooked juicy burger is showered with delicious toppings, all crispy and fresh. The bun is toasted and the cheese is just oozing when it hits your table. I really enjoyed it, you can tell that this guy has been doing it for a while. The burger is a steal compared of what I’ve payed at other places but really the fries shine. They are huge, crisp, tossed with sea salt and truly delicious. Something reminiscent of my childhood; serious love go into these things.
The only gripe I could say is that, the bartender is the only guy working the place so it took me an hour and fifteen minutes just to get my food. thats 1:15 to eat. I can’t let myself past that, mind you I killed some time with some on draft Pabst. I just don’t see myself coming back here.