We absolutely loved our first dinner at BESA! Honestly, for us the star of the show was the fresh focaccia. SO pillowy and crispy and perfectly salted. Pulled lamb shoulder, sea scallops, grilled artichoke and BESA fries... all clean plates. We will be returning with friends!! Thank you!
Foodie
Fabulous dining experience! Started with the Don Julio 1942 Tuesday special and the Honey crisp mocktail (apple pie vibes), eggplant toast, vegan maitake meal, lamb chops, and the raspberry vegan dessert with a decaf latte with oat milk. Everything was delicious and the service was on point. I don't usually leave reviews but we enjoyed our meal and time so much, I just had to. Cheers!
Server was very sweet but food took over 2 hours. Appetizer was given to wrong table. Pop was given 30/40 minutes later. Food was good but cold. I ask for medium well was given medium rare. Not pleased with service at all.
Den48
We always have a wonderful dining experience at BESA. The meal was excellent. The service was a little slow and we attributed that to an extremely busy house and perhaps need for more servers.
CorineS
Our first visit to BESA was fantastic and we will most definitely be back. Our server was helpful and attentive, she did a great job explaining the various items on the menu. I had a hard time choosing. Our table enjoyed every dish; we ordered a spinach pie/phyllo dough appetizer, kale salad, a chicken entree, and steak frites. There were 3 options for individual glasses for cab drinkers with more options by the bottle. We had a 515 reservation so we could be on time for the 730 theatre show. Parking across the street from BESA was convenient but if the city is busy with multiple events then a 5 pm reservation would be smart.
Natalie Fireman
Such a great restaurant! We love everything we ate. Thank you for a lovely birthday meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pulled Lamb Shoulder, Open Face Spinach Pie, Mushroom Ravioli
Taylor Root
I liked it. Our serve was nice.The spinach pie and ravioli were excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Raena Ellerbe
Wonderful atmosphere and service. Great even at the bar. The food flavors need work. It tasted like they wanted to take your taste buds on an experience but didn't know how. The presentation of the food was better than the actual taste of the food.Roasted olives were warm but they left the pits in it. It took away from the experience having to take out the pits in an elegant restaurant. The kale salad was ok but missing something to match the overwhelming vinegarette taste which was a little too strong for the salad. The roasted mushroom was a great non meat option but again it tasted like they were trying to do something different with the taste but didn't finish. It was all over the place. The ribeye steak just lacked flavor. You can't depend on the side sauce to save the steak.It's a great place to have drinks at the bar before an event or a quick date but the food was not worth going back to try again. This place has a lot of competition in the downtown Detroit area that has better tasting food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Andrae Ellerbe
Service was good and atmosphere, I wanted something more from the food taste. I got the steak and it was just ok.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Breanne
We just stopped in for a cocktail before dinner, so I didn't eat here but the food looked and sounded amazing.The drinks were really great and the service was fantastic at the bar.It's a nice spot to grab a drink or two, but I'd love to go back again for dinner.The place is really chill and relaxed, but feels upscale in a good way. The staff is really friendly.
I was fabulously underwhelmed by Besa.When you spend $300 on dinner for two you expect excellent food and excellent service. We recieved neither.We were seated at a two top with no lighting for the table. We asked for a candle. The waiter lit a tiny votive that didn't help.The service included us pouring our own bottle of wine after the first taste, needing to refill our own sparkling water numerous times from the bottle we bought, having plates cleared while we were still eating, having him reach over and through us to get plates to clear while we ate, and zero charm while serving. I fault the management largely as this seemed to be the theme at all the tables around us.I ordered the $49 scallops. The three scallops themselves were cooked well. Sadly they were served on a bed of watery, extremely salty mashed potatoes with two, 4" by 2" chunks of extremely salty, fatty bacon swimming in the mashed potatoes. The dish had no texture, was completely white and brown and tasted of just bacon. I didn't finish.My date ordered the mushroom ravioli. Sadly, a repeat in many ways of the scallops: no texture, salty, all brown, and tasting only of bacon... There was plenty of bacon on this dish as well.Dessert was meh. I tried the raspberry dish. It came straight from a freezer and was so hard I had to wait a while before I could cut the crust and eat it. The chocolate, cherry cake was uninspired.I expected to be wowed. I got very salty dishes overpowered by bacon served by wait staff that didn't have basic serving manners.I will not return and will not recommend.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
Disappointedk
The server was so sweet but the food was awful for the price. They took our steaks back to the kitchen after we cut them because they were not cooked... then came back with the same steak on our plate. The entire back half of the restaurant had the same issue. We didn't get to enjoy our meal and continued to eat seperate because everyone was having issues with their food. They tried to make it better by compensating for one meal but it still didn't make it worth it. Wouldn't try it again. The poor server was amazing though but after seeing multiple steaks go back touched and recooked I was so repulsed Incouksnt enjoy.
DawnH
The food was very good as were the cocktails. Not such a great spot for a relaxing or romantic date night. Pounding music made conversation difficult. Service was a bit slow - olive oil was delivered to the table but we waited quite awhile to get the bread with it. Had to ask for plates to put our seafood shells on.
We did BESA’s Valentine’s Dinner. Both first time at the restaurant, and the rave reviews didn’t disappoint! The restaurant was busy, bright and loud; but the staff were plentiful, and always scurrying about ensuring their guests were being taken care of. We had a timetable, as we had tickets for the candlelight quartet performance at the Masonic after dinner; and our server got us out the door at the just the right time. Great downtown ambiance, highly recommend BESA!!Vegetarian options: I’m vegetarian, and enjoyed the mushroom/beet dish very much. My girlfriend had the halibut and loved it!
We absolutely loved our first dinner at BESA! Honestly, for us the star of the show was the fresh focaccia. SO pillowy and crispy and perfectly salted. Pulled lamb shoulder, sea scallops, grilled artichoke and BESA fries... all clean plates. We will be returning with friends!! Thank you!
Fabulous dining experience! Started with the Don Julio 1942 Tuesday special and the Honey crisp mocktail (apple pie vibes), eggplant toast, vegan maitake meal, lamb chops, and the raspberry vegan dessert with a decaf latte with oat milk. Everything was delicious and the service was on point. I don't usually leave reviews but we enjoyed our meal and time so much, I just had to. Cheers!
Server was very sweet but food took over 2 hours. Appetizer was given to wrong table. Pop was given 30/40 minutes later. Food was good but cold. I ask for medium well was given medium rare. Not pleased with service at all.
We always have a wonderful dining experience at BESA. The meal was excellent. The service was a little slow and we attributed that to an extremely busy house and perhaps need for more servers.
Our first visit to BESA was fantastic and we will most definitely be back. Our server was helpful and attentive, she did a great job explaining the various items on the menu. I had a hard time choosing. Our table enjoyed every dish; we ordered a spinach pie/phyllo dough appetizer, kale salad, a chicken entree, and steak frites. There were 3 options for individual glasses for cab drinkers with more options by the bottle. We had a 515 reservation so we could be on time for the 730 theatre show. Parking across the street from BESA was convenient but if the city is busy with multiple events then a 5 pm reservation would be smart.
Such a great restaurant! We love everything we ate. Thank you for a lovely birthday meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pulled Lamb Shoulder, Open Face Spinach Pie, Mushroom Ravioli
I liked it. Our serve was nice.The spinach pie and ravioli were excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wonderful atmosphere and service. Great even at the bar. The food flavors need work. It tasted like they wanted to take your taste buds on an experience but didn't know how. The presentation of the food was better than the actual taste of the food.Roasted olives were warm but they left the pits in it. It took away from the experience having to take out the pits in an elegant restaurant. The kale salad was ok but missing something to match the overwhelming vinegarette taste which was a little too strong for the salad. The roasted mushroom was a great non meat option but again it tasted like they were trying to do something different with the taste but didn't finish. It was all over the place. The ribeye steak just lacked flavor. You can't depend on the side sauce to save the steak.It's a great place to have drinks at the bar before an event or a quick date but the food was not worth going back to try again. This place has a lot of competition in the downtown Detroit area that has better tasting food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Service was good and atmosphere, I wanted something more from the food taste. I got the steak and it was just ok.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
We just stopped in for a cocktail before dinner, so I didn't eat here but the food looked and sounded amazing.The drinks were really great and the service was fantastic at the bar.It's a nice spot to grab a drink or two, but I'd love to go back again for dinner.The place is really chill and relaxed, but feels upscale in a good way. The staff is really friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
I was fabulously underwhelmed by Besa.When you spend $300 on dinner for two you expect excellent food and excellent service. We recieved neither.We were seated at a two top with no lighting for the table. We asked for a candle. The waiter lit a tiny votive that didn't help.The service included us pouring our own bottle of wine after the first taste, needing to refill our own sparkling water numerous times from the bottle we bought, having plates cleared while we were still eating, having him reach over and through us to get plates to clear while we ate, and zero charm while serving. I fault the management largely as this seemed to be the theme at all the tables around us.I ordered the $49 scallops. The three scallops themselves were cooked well. Sadly they were served on a bed of watery, extremely salty mashed potatoes with two, 4" by 2" chunks of extremely salty, fatty bacon swimming in the mashed potatoes. The dish had no texture, was completely white and brown and tasted of just bacon. I didn't finish.My date ordered the mushroom ravioli. Sadly, a repeat in many ways of the scallops: no texture, salty, all brown, and tasting only of bacon... There was plenty of bacon on this dish as well.Dessert was meh. I tried the raspberry dish. It came straight from a freezer and was so hard I had to wait a while before I could cut the crust and eat it. The chocolate, cherry cake was uninspired.I expected to be wowed. I got very salty dishes overpowered by bacon served by wait staff that didn't have basic serving manners.I will not return and will not recommend.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
The server was so sweet but the food was awful for the price. They took our steaks back to the kitchen after we cut them because they were not cooked... then came back with the same steak on our plate. The entire back half of the restaurant had the same issue. We didn't get to enjoy our meal and continued to eat seperate because everyone was having issues with their food. They tried to make it better by compensating for one meal but it still didn't make it worth it. Wouldn't try it again. The poor server was amazing though but after seeing multiple steaks go back touched and recooked I was so repulsed Incouksnt enjoy.
The food was very good as were the cocktails. Not such a great spot for a relaxing or romantic date night. Pounding music made conversation difficult. Service was a bit slow - olive oil was delivered to the table but we waited quite awhile to get the bread with it. Had to ask for plates to put our seafood shells on.
So delicious and great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sea Scallops, Double Cut Lamb Chops
We did BESA’s Valentine’s Dinner. Both first time at the restaurant, and the rave reviews didn’t disappoint! The restaurant was busy, bright and loud; but the staff were plentiful, and always scurrying about ensuring their guests were being taken care of. We had a timetable, as we had tickets for the candlelight quartet performance at the Masonic after dinner; and our server got us out the door at the just the right time. Great downtown ambiance, highly recommend BESA!!Vegetarian options: I’m vegetarian, and enjoyed the mushroom/beet dish very much. My girlfriend had the halibut and loved it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5