The Whitney, Detroit

An absolute treasure. Quality and classy with attentive service. A must if you are showcasing Detroit to an out of towner!

The Whitney is a beautiful mansion. We sat in the Music Room, which is lovely. The dirty windows spoiled our view. We were surprised by the type of live 'band' on the patio; which brought people in from the street to listen! Same people, coming/going using restrooms! The patio atmosphere certainly isn't a match for the way The Whitley is billed. Outdoor landscaping needs work, not impressive. Portions, small; quality, just fair; over priced - dinner for 2, no alcohol, $110. plus tip, plus valet ($8., plus tip). I think the place has fallen out of favor and on hard times. Maybe the economy plays a part too. Housekeeping left much to be desired (dust, dirty baseboards, food on carpeting at the very start of the dinner hour, and flies). Servers not at all what we expected ... the kind of an end of the day look at the start of the dinner hour(s)! Elevator was out of service which made going to the restrooms impossible for handicapped and some elderly guests. Won't be going back. Too bad really, it could be such a gem.

Went to lunch here with my wife on a Thursday. It's a beautiful place, we were seated at a window table with a nice view of the courtyard. Our waitress was very nice, and very accommodating. the food was good unfortunately they ran out of 2 entree's so my wife ended up ordering something that she didn't want. For those who are leery about going into this neighborhood, the Whitney offers valet parking onsite for only $3 during the week.

We went with my daughter completely by the accident for Sunday brunch. The building is absolutely beautiful, but the food is totally average. (or even lower) The price is $35 for brunch per person, but doesn't worth it. The garden is let down. The surroundings are typical downtown Detroit with all possible junkies, prostitutes and drug dealers in the middle of the day. Please be careful!

Went to the Whitney for the Groupon Brunch and I can't believe I wasted my Money. Cheap, Cheap Cheap was the theme. I took my Dad and his wife along with my family and I was very embarrased to say the least. The Food was horrible, and poor quality. Not even an omelette station. I think Big Boy even has one. Shrimp -mushy, fishy -rubbery with dried out rice, over cooked chicken over dried out cous cous, nasty carving station- the meat was so fatty, the little there was that it was inedible, eggs-cold, dessert was a plate of sliced kiwi with star fuit that were both unripe and sour and store bought pastries and cookies and not a gourmet store but Kroger. Cheap champagne in the Mimosas that gave me a headache. I was literally in awe at how bad it was. With $5 dollar parking and a ticket that says gratuity not included and a bill for tax on top of the brunch this was the biggest waste of money I have ever spent. Not to mention some rooms air conditioned and some not, nice atmosphere can't make up for painfully bad food.

had been to Whitney Sunday Brunch in Feb.2011---food was good quality and variety, salmon, shrimp, side dishes, desserts varied plus fresh fruit. service good even though it was jam packed. thus decided to go again and reserved for today 01May. Cannot express the severity of our shock. fish was at least 2days past serving prime, overcooked, rubbery, the shrimp was definately dated, tasting fishy--grits tasteless(In Feb. very tasty creole style) only salad good. Dessert was gross, what looked like chocolate or fudge was flour with heaven knows what, and weird pseudo nut topping---no fresh fruit(chain groceries, much less specialty fruit/vegetable groceries are filled with fantastic fruit right now). Wine list downgraded (one of us cannot drink any white wine, so mimosas not a choice). The waitress was not even mediocre--even though there were several large groups( university graduation, shower, birthday party, plus other larger family tables), the individual guests,smaller parties were obviously of no importance(had to get the busing staff to call waitress at least twice). have currently a reservation for June 5, and doubtful about going, since they have decided to overly downgrade ingredients, must have lost the chef they had before, management must see this Brunch serving people that are not in any way discriminating, much less experienced even minimally and figures they can serve food that borders on past use date, badly prepared, with a negligent staff appearing on periphery of dining clients, but unaware or even glancing to see if they can serve them further(you would think they would do this at least for a tip---the waitress we had in Feb. at table 12 was always nearby and checking on us) and to top off this negative experience, the bill had a tax anomaly of double the 6% sales tax-called over a management person, that took it back to wherever it was tallied, and it was corrected- but wonder how many others did not diligently check on this- he claimed we were the only ones this had happened to. somehow this left a bad taste, not to mention the fishy bad taste left from the dated, badly cooked seafood . Whitney management/owners, wake up---start purchasing quality ingredients again(today's would have been unacceptable in a neighborhood diner) and get your kitchen staff(do you even have a chef? we could have prepared food that would have been over 4star, not the 1 1/2 star served today) at least up to a 3star, since you are obviously looking to spend below minimum for food cost and preparation. disappointed does not even come close to describing today's Brunch.

My wife and I went there on Feb.26, 2011. The atmosphere is great. A historic, well-maintained old mansion. But if you're looking for good food, don't go to the Whitney! I'll admit our soup and salad appetizers were OK, but it's hard to mess that up. She ordered the Sea Bass and I ordered the 18oz steak cooked medium. After over an hour wait after our apps, the entrees arrived....cold, and my steak was rare! We sent both back and they were returned in 10 minutes. My wife got a new filet and she said it was good. I got the the same steak back. It was either nuked or put in the oven because even the original sauce was baked on it. It was warm but still rare. I choked back 4 bites of the fattiest and worst steak I have ever had. I reluctantly paid just to get the hell out of there......$125.00 plus tip. I gave the ticket to the valet and gave her $10.00 ($6 plus $4 tip, again cuz I wanted out). Well, 25 minutes later and having been asked 4 times what kind of car I had, they managed to get it from across the street. They left it on Woodward at the curb for us to walk to in the snow. Unreal! Absolutely the worst dining experience I can ever remember having.

Went to the Whitney last night for the first time. Beautiful atmosphere and friendly-ish service but I was shocked at how terrible the food was. Wouldn't even call in average. I would have been disappointed if it only cost me $10. Only thing I liked was my spinach salad (that being said, it was basic and I easily could have made at home) but it was forgotten and served at the same time as my dinner. Water glasses were not filled up. Bread terrible, appetizer terrible, duck WAY too salty. Fairly shocking for such a fancy place. Not returning.

The ambiance is nice. Other then that it was not a good experience. The food was ok, it was served almost cold and they got my order wrong. Calling to make a reservation is like trying to win the lotto. You can tell its basically run by amateurs or someone who really doesnt care about service or quality. Its a shame because the actual building is wonderful.

I've always loved going to The Whitney, the most beautiful restaurant in Detroit, but it's definitely been going downhill. Diner last night was mediocre at best. Food was average, cesaer salad was bland, rack of lamb was tender but sauce didn't do it for me. The wine list is very limited and the wine glasses were terrible. After dinner I ordered coffee and Grand Marnier. Coffee was cold and they were out of Grand Marnier. I then asked for Sambucca but they were out of that also. Our waitress was very nice and service was ok but she did make a couple of mistakes with our orders. I have a gift certificate that we forgot to use so I'm going to give it one last try but based on the last few experiences I don't have high hopes.