Sullivan's, downtown Detroit's newest steakhouse, opens Friday: Here’s a peek inside

Downtown’s newest upscale steakhouse, featuring a prime selection of house-cut and dry-aged prime beef and seafood, is opening Friday to the public.

Sullivan’s Steakhouse is on the ground floor of the renovated Westin Book Cadillac on Washington Boulevard.This Detroit location is in the space where the popular Michael Symon's Roast was before it abruptly closed in January 2022. And, like Roast, Sullivan's will have a happy hour.

Detroit’s opening marks the 15th Sullivan's Steakhouse to open in the U.S. from Dividend Restaurant Group, which also operates Eddie Merlot’s restaurants, including the one in Bloomfield Hills.

More: New steakhouse to occupy 2 floors of downtown Detroit's GAR Building

Kenneth Hoffman, COO of Dividend Restaurant Group, said Sullivan’s is a neighborhood spot, but it’s also about the overall experience, including drinks served out of a glass case with smoke pouring out.

"We are a neighborhood steakhouse," Hoffman said. "We are not Ruth's Chris or Morton's. We act and behave like a small company."

Being a neighborhood spot, Detroit native and general manager Yonus Howard added, "allows us to pay attention to detail."

Sullivan's Steakhouse's menu has a lot to offer. But its main thrust, of course, is its signature prime, dry-aged, hand-cut steaks, ranging in size from an 8-ounce filet mignon to a 40-ounce prime porterhouse. There's something for any steak lover, including ribeye, New York strip and Cajun ribeye. Bone-in cuts include a filet mignon, the ribeye cowboy cut, the wagyu strip, a dry-aged long-bone ribeye and others.

Diners can choose their own steak displayed in a glass case in the main dining room.

A separate case displays Sullivan's seafood selections, including scallops, lobster tails and King crab legs. All of its seafood, Howard said, is from Maine and Seattle.

A menu highlight is its $40 business lunch that includes a choice of starter, entrée, such as an 8-ounce Delmonico steak, and a side dish.

Other selections for the non-meat diners are Sullivan's signature jumbo lump crab cake, lobster tails and Chilean sea bass. There's also chicken and an array of soups, salads and side dishes. Its starter menu options include cheesesteak egg rolls and tempura lobster tails.

An exciting offering at Sullivan’s to note is its happy hour menu, which features items like $10 bar bites and $10 martinis and signature cocktails. The selections include Beef Wellington bites, puff pastry filled with filet mignon, creamy mushroom duxelles, a Bourbon peppercorn sauce and chives. There are also cheesesteak egg rolls, spicy shrimp egg rolls, shrimp lettuce cups and its signature beef sliders. On the happy hour drink menu are $10 martinis and signature cocktails. Happy hour runs 3-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday in Sullivan's entire bar area, not just at the bar, including seating at high tops, the patio and several cozy, private dining booths behind the bar area.

The name Sullivan’s, Hoffman said, comes from American heavyweight boxer John L. Sullivan, who was known as a bare-knuckle boxer in the late 1800s.

"He (Sullivan) wanted to be the best of the best," Hoffman said. "We want to be the best of the best. That's why the staff is trained for two weeks, and that's why the bar (staff) manual is so thick. We are going to leave our mark. Our plan is to be the No. 1 lively steakhouse in Michigan."

The restaurant has seating for nearly 300 spread out among the dining room, areas for private dining and a large bar area. Detroit's bar, which includes a wall of wines, Hoffman said, is the biggest among all Sullivan's restaurants.

Another exciting point of Sullivan's is its outdoor patio on Washington Boulevard. The patio, with umbrella-covered tables with seating for two or four about 40 people.

Sullivan's, 1128 Washington Blvd., is open daily and offers lunch, dinner, bar bites and happy hour menus. Hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Sullivan's Steakhouse in Detroit opens Friday: Sneak peek