Metro Times magazine’s annual “best of“ awards is now on newsstands in metro Detroit so we thought it would be good to list what Dearborn establishments this year were chosen either by readers or the staff of the Metro Times.

There are many great Dearborn places that didn’t make this year’s list but the 12 establishments that did certainly deserve the recognition. We just think there are a lot more “bests” in this city that should be on the magazine’s list. Perhaps it’s just a little bit of the hometown bias . . .

We’ve pulled out the Dearborn locations in each category and pasted the link for the complete metro Detroit list. Take a look for yourself.

Best Liquor/Wine Store — Wayne

Merchant’s Fine Wine, 22250 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; 313-563-8700

Don’t let the relatively austere front fool you, when it comes time to buy that bottle of scotch to impress the boss or soon-to-be father-in-law, Merchant’s offers a great selection, efficient service and helpful advice if you need it. Between the variety of unique gourmet products and reputation of helping customers find that hard-to-find bottle, Merchant’s has plenty of other goodies to satisfy all palates. And their good taste can become yours.

Top Cultural Assets

Best Anti-Mall Near a Mall, University of Michigan-Dearborn natural area, Corner of Fairlane Drive and John Montieth Boulevard, Dearborn; 313-593-5338

Not far from the bustle of Fairlane Mall, the University of Michigan-Dearborn owns 75 acres of natural habitat (part of the original Henry Ford Estate) and oversees another 225 acres owned by Wayne County. UM-D’s Environmental Interpretive Center on Fairlane Drive houses exhibits on topics such as the Rouge River (which runs through the area) and is the gateway to the area foot trails traversing various kinds of forest (such as one of southeast Michigan’s rare climax beech-maple forests), maturing old fields, Clara Ford’s former rose garden (now returning to nature), an 8-acre lake and a community organic garden. You can see fox, raccoon and deer; more than 250 bird species have been recorded by the Rouge River Bird Observatory, housed at the center. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; trails open sunrise to sunset. No dogs, no running; bicycling only on the River Rouge Gateway Trail (trailhead on Michigan Avenue). More info at  umd.umich.edu/eic

Best Record Store — West Side

Dearborn Music, 22000 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; 313-561-1000

You’d never know the sales of physical music are down and that the record biz is in the toilet when you step into this glorious record emporium. It’s like walking into late last century, a time when record stores hummed fiscally and were crammed full of new and obscure music you couldn’t wait to sift through. There are tens of thousands of titles here (more than $1,000,000 worth), including up-to-the-minute and rare imports from Italy, Europe and Japan, and a whole room of just blues and jazz, used and new, plus DVDs, pop culture trinkets and assorted ephemera. You can find hi-res titles too, Alice Cooper gold CDs, box sets and tons of vinyl. This well-run, organized shop has lasted more than 50 years (!) for good reason.

Best Non-Health Food Store Salad Bar

Westborn Markets, Berkley, Dearborn and Livonia; www.westbornmarket.com

It’s still not that easy to find a decent salad bar at a grocery store in the metro Detroit area — but we have to give this boutique market kudos for its consistency. Even Whole Foods Markets — which did well in our last two “Best of” issues — has disappointed us at times of late for inconsistency. For instance, they often don’t have blue cheese at their bar … and we’re sorry, but a salad bar without blue cheese just ain’t a proper salad bar. But Westborn always seems to have the exact same items — cheese, fruit, chicken and crabmeat (in addition to those healthy veggies) at their bar, seven days a week, 12 months a year. When it comes to salads, it’s nice to know there’s one place you can depend on in the area. Check out their nearby soup bar as well (the variety of soups for that day are listed on their website for each location). In a word: It’s awesome.

Restaurants

Best Italian Cuisine — Wayne, Oakland & Macomb

Andiamo’s, www.andiamoitalia.com

You’d think that breaking up the Italian category into counties would endanger Andiamo’s standing in our polls. No worries: They still aced it. With locations in the counties of Wayne (Detroit, Livonia, Grosse Pointe Woods, Dearborn), Oakland (Bloomfield Township, Rochester, Royal Oak, Novi) and Macomb (Warren, Saint Clair Shores, Sterling Heights), nobody even approached their status as the best.

Best Thai Cuisine — Wayne County

Bangkok 96, 2450 S. Telegraph Rd., Dearborn; 313-730-8161

Open since 1996, this bright, warm space decorated with wall hangings and elephant imagery enjoys a steady stream of loyal dine-in and take-out customers. The menu boasts traditional Thai favorites such as gang gai, pad prik khing, pad almond, pad kra tiem and pla lad prik.

Best Middle Eastern Cuisine — Wayne

Al-Ameer, 12710 W. Warren Ave., Dearborn; 313-582-8185 and 27346 Ford Rd., Dearborn Heights; 313-565-9600

Owner Khalil Ameer says with pride that his Lebanese fare isn’t Americanized factory food. He has labored to stay true to the Lebanese table, offering fresh bread, serving no pork or liquor, and preparing food that’s not overwhelmed by spices and herbs. Instead of simply ordering a vegetarian platter, diners may choose among vegetarian grape leaves, tomato kibbee, green bean stew, eggplant stew, a “veggie galaba” of rice, mushrooms, carrots, green peppers — and, if you must have it, they’ll add more spice.

Best Japanese Cuisine

Tie: Benihana, locations in Dearborn, Troy and Farmington Hills; see www.benihana.com for info/Noble Fish, 45 E. 14 Mile Rd., Clawson; 248-585-2314

On the one hand, you have Benihana, with the famous theatrical dining experience that has chefs turning cooking into a performance on special grill tables. At Noble, you don’t have the entertaining teppanyaki (nor simple teriyaki, nor really much in the way of cooking even), but simply a menu of excellent sushi turned out by their unassuming experts; at Noble, it’s the sushi that’s the star of the show.

Best Burger — Wayne

Miller’s Bar, 23700 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; 313-565-2577

Do people come for the burgers, or the novelty of eating them from baskets and wax paper? None other than GQ rated Miller’s No. 8 among the top 20 burgers in America. Metro Times readers consistently rate it the best burger in Dearborn. Don’t let the spartan setting and limited menu options fool you, the choices are few, but they’re finely tuned classics. Table service has been paperless for years — all on the honor system. Unless you want to be known as an outsider, don’t ask for a menu or a tab. Just order the burger and a beer. When you’re done, tell the bartender what you got. The system works, in part, because the prices are so reasonable, there’s no reason to lie.

Best Fine-Dining Value

Bistro 222, 22266 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; 313-792-7500

Veteran chef Michael Chamas (LA Express, La Dolce Vita), who trained with Wolfgang Puck and Keith Famie, has put together a near-perfect bistro. Such a romantic setting and colorful and creative dishes usually come at a price. But not here where you can feast on risotto with diver scallops and shrimp or sautéed lake perch in a creamy caper sauce among entrées that hover around the $16 mark. The bistro became even more attractive after Chamas finally obtained a liquor license and filled his list with affordable interesting bottles.

Best Hospital Food

Hummous, Oakwood Hospital, Dearborn

Gone are the days of identical trays featuring Jell-O delivered off carts wheeled throughout the hospital at pre-determined times. Now, nourishment for the bed-ridden — assuming it’s not just intravenous — is more like hotel room service: Pick up the menu and then the phone and it comes fresh and hot throughout the day. At Oakwood, it’s actually good. Especially the hummous, served with fresh pita. Finish with the chocolate cheesecake and some coffee. Just don’t order too much for your guests.

Best Nightlife – Staff Picks

Best IMAX, The Henry Ford, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn; 313-271-1570

Ignoring the inherent irony that a historical museum would be home to the most state-of-the-art film technology, the Henry Ford is in fact the best place in town to experience the mind-blowing best in Hollywood amusement. While the Science Center has that funky, ’70s style dome seating, and some of the other chains claim to have IMAX, they just can’t compete with the 6-story-tall, 84-foot wide monster screen on display in Dearborn. We won’t bore you with the tech specs, but an IMAX frame is 10 times larger than a standard 35 mm frame, the xenon lamp is nearly as bright as the sun, and the sound system has more bass and subwoofers than a lowrider convention. If you’re shelling out extra scratch for 3-D, this is the way to go, and right next door you can see butter churned at Greenfield Village — all the more reason to be thrilled you have modern entertainment options.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Around Town, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.