Red Coat Tavern

An Excerpt from Motor City Burger Club, also by this Unilocaler
It might be advisable to go to Redcoat at its busiest, because you’ll need some time to choose between: two vegan-​hostile proteins, three patties, six varieties of bun, seven sauces, nine cheeses, and 12 produce toppings. Plus «blackened», which is counted as a topping, but doesn’t fit into any category above.
Erik worked out the math, and Motor City Burger Club verifies that it works out to 206,158,430,208 potential combinations. [(= ²/​ (² + ²)}
This might appeal to those who think the maximum number of choices will result in the greatest amount of satisfaction for the most amount of people. However, science tells us otherwise.
Constructing a burger from their vast, disparate choices on a poorly designed menu can take time, exhaust your creative imagination, and disrupt your executive function. In effect, Redcoat is assuring the unhappiness of it customers.

Y U NO EAT THE MAC N CHEESE. I’m a vegetarian but people hype up their burgers like crazy. I like their mac n cheese. They have a lot of great beers on tap. Came with a group and they were pretty quick to get us seated. The place is kind of crowded but understandably so.

Even though you confirmed twice that you would be able to accommodate my daughter’s birthday dinner, they were told you could not just as people were set to begin to arrive. I am sure you do not care, but you ruined someone’s birthday!

Great burgers and good staff. Only issue is that it is hard to get a seat, very busy.

The good– delicious burgers (with huge assortment of toppings to choose from), perfect onion rings, great clam strips. Reasonable prices. Nice tavern atmosphere.
The bad– always have to wait for a table (testament to how good it is), very crowded and a little loud.
Overall recommend it.

The wait was a full 1.5 hours. It was a challenge to get through the mob of people to get a drink. After all that, the piedmont Burger is way undercooked and the waiter is not very friendly. The fries are decent but definitely don’t make up for everything else.
I don’t understand why people love this place! There are so many better burgers in Metro Detroit. I am convinced that people are so hungry by the time they get seated here — anything tastes good when starvation kicks in.

Greats burgers. Their soup is probably the best thing on their menu. Their team isn’t the best. Not friendly at all and should really drop a star for that but food is just so darn good!

My girlfriend and I ate there 1÷7÷15. It’s been at least 20 years since I last ate there. I ordered a bacon burger and my girlfriend ordered fish and chips. The burgers use to be pretty good there but now it ranks as one of the worst. Other then being big portion it sucked. Burger was dry, taste was bland and bacon was so hard that you could chip a tooth. Now the fish and chips were terrible as well. The fish was so greasy and oily I could change my oil in my car.
This place is so over rated ! I will never ever go back again. You want a good burger Red Robin, Fudruckers, has a way better burger and onion rings. The fish and chips wee the worst I’ve ever had.
The décor is nasty as well. Dark, drably and nasty old carpet they had 20 years ago.
My recommendation is to stay far away from this place, way over rated!

Went to Red Coat Tavern on a Sunday afternoon for lunch. Parking was easy and were seated fast even though there were a lot of people there.
I ordered the New England Clam Chowder and Fish & Chips. Everything was fantastic. The fish didn’t even need the tartar sauce. The chips/​fries were like McDonalds which I prefer. Though just a little too much salt. The chowder was amazing! Grabbed a couple of onions rings off my dad’s plate and YOU MUST GET THESE! Best onion rings I’ve ever had… ever!
My sister claims they have the best burger she’s ever had. I’ll order the burger on my next visit. Red Coat Tavern is a Royal Oak must!

Redcoat was a-​okay. The only item I was thrilled with were the onion rings. Our server was brusk but efficient. The décor was a bit tacky and very dimly lit. My burger (the house burger with cheese, bacon, and onions added at an additional charge) was huge, and it was tasty. The fries were a disappointment: definitely stick to the onion rings, since that’s clearly where Red Coat has focused their culinary efforts! (Tip: fries and onion rings are not included with your burger, and are large enough for 2 – 3 people to split. Order to share.) Unilocal warned me that parking could be an issue, so I went between the lunch and dinner busy hours, and was rewarded with plenty of parking out back. There was nothing bad about this place, but Vinsetta’s is just down the road and has better food, so I wouldn’t go back.

I decided to give Red Coat Tavern a spin. The burgers are absolutely phenomenal. I ordered a simple bacon cheese burger and it was to die for. My burger was cooked medium well. The burger was huge and messy. I could barely finish the conversation with my friend. I have no complaints. The onion rings were amazing as well. Definitely cooked to perfection. The portions are large. Food: ⁵⁄₅
Atmosphere: it’s dark and red. It is cozy with a little intimacy.
Service: Expect to wait. We ended up getting drinks at another bar and coming back. The waitress was a little who seated us. However, we ended up with an awesome waitress who was very attentive.

UPDATE: husband and I stopped here at 12:30am to get burgers. Once again, the service and food were exceptional! My husband can’t have seeds so they were able to substitute his burger bun with another type of bread.
My husband and I ordered a carry out burger from here. You can never go wrong with Red Coats burgers! We’ve never been to this location and were shocked to see the inside! We can’t wait to have a large group of friends take over the bar area. Bartenders were great while we waited for our take out!

I am not sure why I have waited so long to give my opinion of «The Coat» but here it is. This place is a Birmingham area staple. I have been eating here since the mid-70’s and it really hasn’t changed much. They got rid of the soldier mannequin in the entry awhile back but, other than that, expect a dark kind of cramped space with red lighting. I know I am not painting a very flattering picture but it is what it is. Frankly, the success of this place when looking at it’s physical appearance, tells you all you need to know about the food. People put up with the crummy interior because the food is THAT good. More on that in a moment.
First, a word of caution. The bar at the Red Coat is dangerous. If you have not been here before and plan to drive, I would stick with wine or a beer. The pours here are so big that it is laughable. I have accidentally rolled out of the Red Coat more than once and have some classic stories from friends as well. Proceed with extreme caution! Or call an Über and bring the thunder! They have an adequate wine selection that has gotten a lot better over time. The beer selection here is always outstanding. They have a LARGE bottled selection as well as a tap selection of maybe 6 – 8 beers that rotate regularly. Whoever buys their beers finds really niche stuff that is almost always good. I actually always order a beer from the specials menu as I have discovered some of my all time favorites there.
Now, if you are on Unilocal reading this, you have probably already heard about the Red Coat burger. Yes, it is that good. It is my favorite. Is it the best in the world or city? I don’t know but if there is a better one, I haven’t had it. You will love it. I usually stick to the classic Red Coat burger in the middle of the menu with everything on it (lettuce, tomato, and special sauce) and american cheese. One important note here… if you don’t like mayo, skip the sauce as I think it is basically mayo with some relish or something. To me, the sauce makes the burger but my wife hates mayo and, therefore, doesn’t appreciate it the way I do. They have Piedmontese beef (if you don’t know about it, less fat than chicken but tastes as good or better than the beef you normally eat) here for I think another $ 3.00. I highly recommend it as it make you feel less guilty about the gratuitous onion rings and fries you throw down with your burger. They have other burger variations that are great as well. When they opened up their west side location (the old Pizzeria Uno south of 15 on Orchard Lake) they created the Brasserie Burger which has bacon, cheese, and some other goodness on a brioche bun. Really good. Of course, you can build your own. I have a friend that does burger, mushrooms, and swiss on grilled pumpernickel, with zip sauce, for instance. I always opt for an order of onion rings and an order of fries. I recommend asking for the rings «a little on the well done side» as they can sometimes come out a little undercooked for my liking.
Not a burger person? Never fear, The Red Coat Tavern has a fairly diverse menu that has something for everyone. They have great salads (house made buttermilk ranch that I could bath in), sandwiches (the Philly and Mount Vernon (ham and cheese), clam chowder that is Boston good, and so much more. The beef tips on the appetizer menu are insane. There is just so much here that you cannot go wrong with.
A couple of other important notes: They don’t take reservations but they will let you call ahead. You will still wait but it lessens the blow! Also important is that they serve food until 2 am. Monday — Saturday. Great for after a concert or sporting event
The Red Coat Tavern has been doing this a long time and they have this whole thing down to a science. If you are visiting the area or somehow have missed this place, I recommend it highly.

I came here for lunch and ordered a small meal. I had a cup of Caribbean chowder which was nice and creamy and had a bit of spice that pleasantly worked. I also ordered their scotch egg which was tasty but I didn’t like the sauce that was accompanied with. It had too much of a mustard taste and didn’t work well with the sausage wrapped egg. I think a nice chipotle aioli would have elevated this dish better.

The best burgers around! You can order as is, or build one of your own. There are plenty of toppings and add ons and the appetizers are just as good! The drink menu could be better but I am just happy with a good burger. Good service and nice staff.
It gets pretty busy so get in when you can!

RCT really knows what a true burger is — just the right amount of greasy, with thick slices of tomato and onion, drizzled with lettuce, and topped off with a great, toasted bun.
The base price of their Red Coat burger is 8.75, and any add-​ons listed add about .75 to 1.25 more to the price. There are about 16 of them so you can get creative. From what I remember, there were different bread substitutions, cheese choices, bacon, avocado, guac, fried egg, etc. as choices. Note that the original price of the burger does not include any cheese on the burger.
Our group also delved into some appetizers — fried mushrooms and sweet potato fries. Excellent seasoning, nothing over-​salted. Everything perfectly crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.
One thing that I wasn’t too fond of was our waiter pressed us quite often throughout the meal. We were a couple of friends who haven’t seen each other in awhile, and we were catching up while looking at the menu. We took about 10 minutes to settle on what we wanted. In that amount of time, he came by 3x — which I thought was a bit pushy. You guys close so late, what’s with rushing the customers?!

I love burgers. I love being able to make your own burger and add your own toppings. If you’re also a fan like I am, then this is the perfect place for you.
It’s too bad my fiancée and I were a little full from our lunch or else we both would have ordered our own, but instead we decided to split the burger. Usually when you order a burger to split, you and the other person sit there trying to cut the thing in half. You try to cut it so that all the toppings are not falling off or you make sure it’s even. What does Red Coat do for you? They cut it in half prior to bringing it to your table! WHAT SERVICE.
We got our cheeseburger with smoked gouda and on an onion roll with all the veggies to put onto the burger. Man… it was so hard to decide what rolll or cheese we wanted on there. The selection of cheeses is amazing. What’s that? YOu want a good list of beers to pick from to accompany your burger? Well they have it here. Treat yo self to an awesome beer! Dont be scurr’d.
I got too excited about talking about the burger… forgot to talk about our app. We selected the calamari. It. was…amazing. I loved that they cooked it with banana peppers, cherry peppers, and plenty of garlic! Put all ofthem together on to your fork and put it in your mouth. MOUTHGASM.
I will def. come back here again to try… EVERYTHING on the menu.

Amazing burger joint. We heard about this place from one of our friends so we decided to check it out.
Beer on tap and bottle. $ 4/​domestic is pricey I would say. Burgers start from $ 8.50 to about $ 11. Depending on what toppings you get, it’s an extra $ 0.60 per topping.
Service was very slow. Place was packed, 4 people had to wait around 20 minutes. Not bad I would say.
The food:
Yum! We ordered the special burger, brassiere I think. It was GOOOOD!
The fries were fresh, but onion rings were very greasy as I was told.
The atmosphere was very noisy. I mean it is a sports bar. They have tvs everywhere to watch sports. Casual dress code, there were more guys here for sure.
I definitely will be back, but hopefully service will be a bit faster for hungry folks like us!

Last may I went to Detroit. I went over to a friend house and we were starving. And it was already 10pm. But then he was like I have the perfect spot. I walked in and it was dark than the outside and it was night time. Super cool red booth vibe. Burgers were off the charts and they have the sauce called the zip sauce. That’s sauce was out of this world. It’s a must when visiting this restaurant. But the real dime piece of this restaurant is the Scotch egg which is a classic pub snack boiled egg wrapped in spicy fried sausage, served with
mustard sauce. All I have to say is WOW. TRY IT!!!

Was less than 20-​minutes from our hotel. Had great reviews on Unilocal,so had to check it out.
Easy to find. Across the street from a Irish pub. This place was dimly lit on the inside. Everything was red, or a shade of red. Furniture and décor was on the weathered side. Bar was big, and they had a good selection of bottled beers. Not a lot choices on tap.
Appetizers were good. Food looked good, and even though we didn’t order food, our server told us the Red Coat burger was by far the most popular.
Servers were not the coolest hipsters I’ve encountered, and their knowledge of beers was pretty lacking. Oh wells, I’m only here for the night.
Would recommend this place to anyone looking for a quick beer or two or three and some good appetizers. But be warned, it’s not your trendy, hipster, craft-​on-​draft with large flat screens everywhere with hot servers kind a place.
Enjoy!