My spouse and I stopped at Gordon Biersch on a Wednesday
morning in early July 2018. The restaurant is located at the Detroit Metro
Airport in the McNamara Terminal on Concourse A, near gate 74 (but serves gates
A40 through A76). The restaurant is open daily from 7:00 am until 10:00 pm.
Gordon Biersch Brewery was
founded by Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch. Their first restaurant opened in 1988 in
Palo Alto, near their brewery and bottling plant in San Jose. There are now 35+
restaurants located across the United States, plus locations in Hawaii and Taiwan;
however, they are now operated by CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries, which
also owns Rock Bottom, ChopHouse, Old Chicago Pizza, A1A Ale Works, Big River
Grille, Ragtime Tavern, Seven Bridges Grille, Sing Sing Dueling Pianos, and
Blue Water Grille.
This location of Gordon Biersch is sort of “open air” within
the terminal; it has a suspended ceiling and minimal side walls, creating a more
intimate yet spacious feel within the cavernous terminal building. You can sit
at the large four-sided bar, at regular tables, or at booths positioned along
the far wall. The décor features lots of brown tones and woods that create an
upscale feel.
We did not sample the American pub cuisine, instead stopping for some
drinks. We tried their Bloody Mary, which was slightly unusual in that it
contained a few pickle slices as garnish (along with a large olive, a lemon
wedge, and the ubiquitous stalk of celery).
We will likely return to Gordon Biersch the next time we fly through
Detroit.
