So how does this work?

In a nutshell: Wear your wristband, visit a restaurant, eat and drink and repeat at the next stop until you’re full or the event ends at 9:30 p.m.

For General Admission attendees, you’ll grab your wristband at your starting restaurant — which you chose at ticket purchase — and pick up a guide map for your recommended route when doors open at 5:30 p.m. Then let the dining begin! Enjoy food and drink at participating restaurants, and stroll between locations or use our official shuttles for longer distances — and no bill ever arrives!

With a tasting menu of 3 specialty dishes and 1 signature drink at each restaurant, you won’t go hungry or thirsty. Alcohol-free refreshments will be available as well. Strolling waitstaff and self-selected starting restaurants, along with recommended routes, will keep traffic flowing and eliminate long lines! Attendees are also welcome to enjoy a free water ice dessert — at any time during the event! — at the Detroit Water Ice Factory.

Greeting you at each restaurant – and on the shuttles and route stops – will be our EAT Detroit volunteers, who’ll be eager to answer your questions. You’ll recognize them because they’ll all be wearing our official 2022 EAT Detroit apron.

VIP attendees enjoy additional benefits, including:

• In an exclusive dining experience presented by San Morello, VIP patrons will join Mitch Albom and other special guests at a pre-event reception at 5 p.m. at Shinola Hotel’s Birdy Room.
• 5 VIP-exclusive restaurants, choose your starting at ticket purchase. VIP-only restaurants allow diners to avoid any potential crowds and spend more time in these restaurants.
• Your VIP experience ends with dessert: After 9PM, enjoy a final course of flaming desserts and miniature pastries in the iconic Ghostbar at The Whitney. Relax in the hauntingly beautiful and classy space featuring an ornate wood bar and antique decor.
• Check in and get your wristband at the VIP reception.
• VIP concierge desk located in the Atrium at One Campus Martius (you’ll pick up your wristband there if you can’t make it to the pre-event reception.)

Further details can be found at www.eatdetroit.info

Lick your chops.

Three years ago, we created an event where participants could wander from one top Detroit restaurant to another, eating and drinking to their heart’s content, all for the price of a single wristband.

It was a huge success, beyond our wildest dreams. Nearly 1,200 people gathered on a warm June evening and walked or rode special shuttle buses between 19 of Detroit’s hottest and trendiest restaurants, who served up samples of signature dishes and drinks to the participants.

All profits went to help our neediest citizens through the charitable programs of SAY Detroit. We raised a good amount of money. And diners got to sample 19 restaurants in a single night, took mental snapshots of their interiors and menus, and came back to their favorites over and over.

The restaurants were happy. The participants were happy. The beneficiaries were happy. The event received a 92% approval in a survey from those who took part.

We put it on the calendar for the following summer, with plans to make it an annual event.

And then COVID-19 came.

Back for seconds

I don’t need to tell you what that virus did to the restaurant industry. “Gutted” is a word that comes to mind. We watched restaurants closed by law, then fear, then economics.

Even when COVID faded enough for restaurants to reopen, many were shells of their former selves. Cooking staff had moved on. Wait staff was impossible to find. Customers remained reticent. A number of eateries simply couldn’t take the endless barrage of bad news. Some closed for good. If not for takeout business, many more would have joined them.

But seasons pass and clouds lift. And after canceling EAT Detroit in 2020 and 2021, we spoke to the restaurant owners about 2022 and got a courageous and grateful thumbs up.

And so, we’re thrilled to announce that this summer, more than 20 of the finest and most desired eateries in Detroit have agreed to take part on Aug. 3, from 5:30-9:30 p.m., in the second EAT Detroit event.

Better late than never.

These 20 restaurants include Baobab Fire, the incredible East African eatery that was voted Best Restaurant of 2022 by the Free Press, as well as top 10 finishers Barda, the hot new dining spot by Argentine chef Javier Bardauil, and Supergeil, German for “super cool” where the Free Press noted “lamb, beef and chicken are seasoned spectacularly and cooked on vertical rotisseries.”

Also this year, the Corktown area, which has exploded into a culinary hot zone, will be a large part of EAT Detroit, with celebrated restaurants like Slows Bar BQ, Cork & Gabel, Ima and Takoi all taking part.

Those restaurants will be linked by shuttles that run constantly between clusters of others. So you can chow down in Corktown, then head up to the Whitney, traditionally one of Detroit’s most elegant restaurants, then shoot over for amazing pizza at Mootz Pizzeria, or the incomparable vegan coney dogs at Chili, Mustard Onions, then continue down Woodward for some Mexican fare at Calexico, then cut to Library Street for some of Vicente’s Cuban offerings, then back to Woodward for some mouth-watering offerings from Townhouse Detroit, then over to the famed steakhouse Prime + Proper, just blocks away.

And we haven’t even mentioned trendy and award-winning spots like Grey Ghost, La Lanterna, Leila, Lumen Detroit, Oak and Reel and La Feria Spanish Tapas.

The award-winning San Morello restaurant, created by famed chef Andrew Carmellini, will serve as the centerpiece for a VIP reception at the Shinola Hotel.

There will also be local musical acts performing at many of the eateries.

And we will be honoring the late Jack Aronson, who through his Garden Fresh company and endless philanthropy fed so many in Detroit.  

All of this in a single night. All to help others.

Come hungry. Do good.

Bring your appetites

Here is how it works. Tickets are strictly limited to the first 1,000 people, with 750 general admission tickets, and 250 at the VIP level.

The general admission ticket of $150 gets you the wristband that allows unfettered access between 14 of the restaurants, starting at 5:30 pm. You pick the restaurant where you wish to begin, get your wristband there, and off you go.

The VIP ticket of $275 gets you into the VIP reception at San Morello, featuring the music of jazz great Alexander Zonjic, and then full access to all 20-plus restaurants (the VIP-reserved spots are Baobab Fire, Prime + Proper, Townhouse, Takoi and Barda, for capacity reasons.)

Each restaurant serves three of its specialty dishes for you to sample, plus a signature drink. You dine and dash from one to the other. (The idea was actually inspired by the Dine and Dash concept created by chef José Andrés in Washington, which I got to attend in 2018.)

You can even win VIP tickets through a contest the Free Press is running at https://freep.secondstreetapp.com/EAT-Detroit/.

Now, an event of this size doesn’t run itself. Volunteers are a huge part, and you’ll see them everywhere, guiding you, riding the buses and wearing signature aprons provided by Gordon Food Service, which has returned as a sponsor.

More sponsors and volunteers would be welcome. There’s still time. Any companies or volunteers interested, and all those who wish to purchase tickets, should go to eatdetroit.info.

Tickets go on sale at that site at 10 a.m. Monday. In 2019, we sold out in less than a day. We’re hoping people come back with equal enthusiasm. After all, it has been three years since we could even conceive of doing this again.

So in the spirit of great food, supporting local business and furthering the resurgence of Detroit’s culinary scene — and most of all to help the needy children, veterans, families and seniors in our community — we hope you’ll come eat, Detroit, at EAT Detroit on Aug. 3.

Eat, drink, repeat — and do good.

How much better does it get?

Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow him on Twitter @mitchalbom.

List of participating restaurants in Eat Detroit 2022

*Baobab Fare 

*BARDA 

Calexico

Chili Mustard Onions

Cork & Gabel

Ima

La Feria Spanish Tapas

La Lanterna

Leila

Lumen Detroit

Mootz Pizzeria + Bar

Oak & Reel

*Prime + Proper 

*San Morello (catering VIP reception at Shinola Birdy Room)

Slows Bar BQ

Supergeil

*Takoi

*Townhouse Detroit

Vicente’s Cuban Cuisine

The Whitney

*VIP ticket only

Albom, founder of S.A.Y. Detroit, and Dr. Chad Audi, president of the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM), which helps facilitate the nonprofit, will hand out more than $1 million in checks. Representatives from each charity will be present. The event will be held on the 7^th floor of the Fisher Building.

In addition to the distribution ceremony, S.A.Y. Detroit will announce its reorganization plan that includes the formation of a new Board of Directors to oversee the nonprofit’s activities and prepare S.A.Y. Detroit – now in its 12^th year – for future growth.

The nonprofits and programs set to receive funding: S.A.Y. Detroit Play Center at Lipke Park; S.A.Y. Detroit Family Health Clinic; Working Homes Working Families; S.A.Y. Detroit Tomorrow Fund (endowment); Detroit Dream Scholars/College for Creative Studies; Cass Community Social Services; Bing Youth Institute; Humble Design; Westside Cultural & Athletic Club; COTS/Bright Beginnings; SASHA Center; Michigan Veterans Foundation; LA SED INC.; Notes for Notes; Real Life My Music; EVO Detroit/D2N; United Sisters of Charity/Mother Batie’s Kitchen; Grace Episcopal (Hole in the Roof Foundation); Veterans Matter; Art Road; Friendship Circle/Farber Soul Center; JVS; Buckets of Rain.

ABOUT S.A.Y. DETROIT: Founded by best-selling author and journalist Mitch Albom, S.A.Y. Detroit and its umbrella of programs and projects are committed to helping to improve the lives of Detroit’s neediest citizens. The 501 (c) (3) nonprofit was created in 2006.

In its fifth year, the radiothon will be broadcast for 15 straight hours on WJR-AM(760), running from 6 a.m to 9 p.m. The event, hosted by WJR’s Albom and Ken Brown, will be streaming live to watch at facebook.com/MitchAlbom, saydetroit.org, freep.com, clickondetroit.com, and wjr.com, with frequent cut-ins on WDIV-TV Channel 4. The public is invited to attend the event at Somerset.

Donors can call 855-955-GIVE (4483) or log on to mitchalbomradiothon.com to donate or bid on auction items. Listeners may also follow the conversation on social media using #SAYDetroit #radiothon.

“The radiothon has become a huge event for us at S.A.Y. Detroit, something we plan and look forward to all year,” said Albom, who founded S.A.Y. Detroit in 2006. “Michiganders have been incredibly generous over the last five years, and we humbly hope they join us again on Dec. 8. We promise to continue to allocate 100 percent of funds raised to the needy and the programs that serve them and make our donors proud of the good they are doing for so many who need help.”

More than $1 million in donations were raised at the 2015 radiothon; funds were distributed to 20 area charities last March.

This year’s list of scheduled guests includes Hugh Jackman, Dr. Phil, Lily Tomlin, Tim Allen, Jane Pauley, Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Stanley, Alice Cooper, Jeff Daniels, Dan Gilbert and Andre Drummond. On-site appearances are expected to include Matthew Stafford, Henrik Zetterberg, Dave Barry, Mayor Mike Duggan, John Pizzarelli and Carmen Harlan.

S.AY. Detroit was founded in 2006 by best-selling author and journalist Mitch Albom. Operated in partnership with the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, S.A.Y. Detroit (Super All Year) – a 501 (c) (3) charity – and its group of non-profits are committed to helping improve the lives of Detroit’s neediest citizens. All administrative costs are paid privately.

We’ve been invited to participate in the #GiveDetroitChallenge, a friendly fundraising competition that begins Thursday, September 29th. Will you join us?

Ten years ago, I read a story that I couldn’t get out of my head.

The story, in essence, was that, with the city’s encouragement, a local homeless shelter was going to offer a three-day “party” over Super Bowl XL weekend that would provide food and a big-screen TV – and would also cut the visibility of our most downtrodden citizens as Detroit played host to one of the largest sporting events of the year.  I had this vision of the shelter doors opening, and hundreds of homeless people being nudged out into the cold, essentially being told, “Party’s over. Good luck.”

And so I turned to you asked if you would help me do something to change this. Could we raise enough money to do the same for the homeless through the winter as was planned for one football weekend?

We could. We did.  And a fully formed 501(c)(3) charity was born.

S.A.Y. Detroit is aimed at improving the lives of our neediest citizens through shelter, food, medical care, volunteer efforts and education.

It serves as the umbrella for ongoing major projects including the free S.A.Y. Detroit Family Health Clinic for homeless children and their mothers, the innovative S.A.Y. Play Center for motivational learning, Working Homes/Working Families, Bright Beginnings day care, Detroit Dream Scholars college scholarships, A Time to Help volunteer group, as well as funding projects for Detroit area agencies for veterans, seniors, children, and the homeless. 

And today I ask your help in keeping us super. With the #GiveDetroitChallenge, every dollar we raise will raise even more money if we’re able to raise the most funds and win our weekly bonus challenges (up to $33,500.00!).

Will you be a S.A.Y. Detroit Super Hero? Here are three simple ways to join us, in any way you can:

1. Donate $10–or multiples of $10!–to celebrate 10 years of S.A.Y Detroit on September 29th at noon (ET) HERE.

2. Tell 10 of your friends about the work of S.A.Y. Detroit by forwarding this email or sending them the #GiveDetroitChallenge link: https://www.crowdrise.com/say-detroit-givedetroit2016

3. Sign up right now to join the Super All Year Team by starting your own fundraiser. It’s really easy to do. Just head to our #GiveDetroitChallenge page here and click FUNDRAISE FOR THIS CAMPAIGN. Your own page will be automatically created, and all funds you raise will count towards the S.A.Y. Detroit total. If you belong to a book club, an organization, or even a sports team, you can work together as Super All Year Super Heroes. Need tips and tricks to get started? Click here.

S.A.Y. Detroit and Say Something….AMAZING

“With the launch of Ally Caring Coconut, we hope to engage the Detroit community in a larger effort to give back,” said Gina Proia, chief communications officer and head of corporate citizenship at Ally. “The contributions of Mitch Albom and The Detroit Water Ice Factory have made a meaningful impact on Detroit, and we hope that the support from patrons and the continuous proceeds from this initiative will help amplify their efforts in the city.”

Broadcast live from The Somerset Collection in Troy, MI on December 10th, the fourth annual S.A.Y. Detroit Radiothon surpassed all previous fundraising records to collect more than $1 million to help Detroit’s neediest citizens. Hosted by Mitch Albom, S.A.Y. Detroit’s founder, the fifteen-hour broadcast aired live on WJR 760 AM with video streaming on several media outlets including wjr.com, WDIV’s clickondetroit.com, freep.com and at saydetroit.org.

The day’s entertainment brought together all parties—the people who benefit from these charities, famous folks who wish to call attention to them, and donors who wish to help—to create a star-studded celebration of Detroit. For the first time, visitors from around the world (and as far as South Africa) could participate in live auctions for one-of-a-kind items donated by sponsors and celebrity guests. Highlighted items included a round-trip to Los Angeles to meet Dr. Phil and attend  a show taping, a signed hat worn by The Voice winner Sawyer Fredericks, a round trip to New York for breakfast with Jane Pauley and attend a taping of CBS Sunday morning, a professional keepsake video recording of a fan catching a pass from Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford, personalized  voicemail greetings from Hugh Jackman, Hank Azaria (in Simpons character), and Craig Ferguson, signed guitar by KISS’s Paul Stanley, tickets and backstage passes to a Jimmy Buffet concert, and a night in the Zetterberg suite at Joe Louis Arena.

Albom welcomed on stage, or virtually by phone and skype, notable guests and co-hosts including Hugh Jackman, Michael Bolton, Paul Stanley, Billy Bob Thornton, Jane Pauley, JK Simmons, Craig Ferguson, Alice Cooper, Bradley Whitford, Hank Azaria, Tim Allen, Sawyer Fredericks (winner of the Voice), Howard Schultz, Kevin Eubanks, Desmond Howard, Kirk Cousins, Matt Stafford, Stan Van Gundy, Brad Ausmus, Bernie Smilovitz and many more. Bestselling author and humorist Dave Barry and renowned Jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli shared the co-hosting desk for most of the day. Detroit media stars like Carmen Harlen, Devin Scillian, Roop Raj, and Amy Lange also joined, as well as Mayor Mike Duggan.

More than entertainment, the day was also an opportunity to highlight the success stories of the efforts funded by the event. Three working families were given homes through Working Homes/Working Families, a program designed to pair refurbished abandoned homes with working families who will maintain them and help rebuild neighborhoods. Patients from the S.A.Y. Detroit Family Health Clinic gave testimonials about their care at the first free clinic for homeless women and children. A student from the new S.A.Y. Play Center shared her love of dance, which she gets to practice in the dance studio of the newly launched academic and athletic center.

Since the first broadcast in 2012, the previous radiothons have raised over $1.6 million to help the poor, the homeless, families without homes, children without medical care, students hoping to reach the college of their dreams and veterans who have hit hard times.  All funds raised benefit S.A.Y. (Super All Year) Detroit, an umbrella 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that funds programs like the S.A.Y. Detroit Family Health Clinic, the S.A.Y. Play Center, Working Homes/Working Families, the Dream Scholars, A Time to Help, and several other local charitable efforts who care for Detroit’s neediest and work towards a revitalized Detroit.