Carter’s Restaurant

24 hr Quick counter service. Cash only. Budget pricing. Standard Detroit area white porcelain paneled restaurant.

I’ve been coming here at least weekly for years. A blonde young woman completely ruined carters for me today. I ordered what I always order, breakfast. They serve breakfast all day. The blonde woman said, «I can’t believe someone would order bacon and breakfast during the dinner rush. Unbelievable.» And shook her head and rolled her eyes. Mind you, my husband was sitting right there and there were several people eating inside the diner. Incredibly disrespectful. After years of loving this place and frequently eating here, we won’t be back.

Definitely sub standard as far as sliders go. They might edge out White Castle but that’s about it. Coneys aren’t bad and breakfast is pretty good. Kinda pricey for what it is, but at 2 am after plenty of beers the food gets magically better. I eat here because it’s close to my house.

always good always fresh, meat is well done but i prefer well done to undercooked any day :)

You’ve been warned… Took my two boys here for lunch hoping it was similar to Bates in Livonia however my hopes were immediately dashed when walking in. After seeing the women working the grill I should’ve just walked right back out. Buns are huge, burger patties were so small and unappetizing that I couldn’t even finish. Normally if my kids don’t eat I try force them. I didn’t even bother. Stay away, far away, this place is disgusting and should be closed

Miserable hamburgers.

After having heard about Mott’s burgers for years, and having been treated to Joe’s hamburgers in Wyandotte I stopped by here on a whim and did not leave disappointed. All I had was a burger, but I will say that it was a very tasty and quickly made piece of wonderful. After having such a good experience I am curious to try their shakes and the breakfast special everyone raves about. Also to note, the service is superb, and the ladies have a great rapport with their customers that made me instantly want to come back.

The service here definitely leaves something to be desired. I’m not sure if this happens every night, but on the evening we came in someone had called in sick, leaving one waitress all by herself. She handled this poorly, to say the least, swearing, screaming about wanting to kill customers, and eventually breaking down in tears. On one hand, I was sympathetic, but on the other, it was a little frightening. Service was, as you would imagine, extremely slow. It took about 30 minutes for her to get to our order, and the burgers were unremarkable.

We needed some sliders after the bar and Carter’s was nearby. My friend who lives in the area pleaded with us not to go, and told us stories of gnats getting cooked in with the burgers. We waved off his concerns which ended up being a huge mistake. Carter’s is easily the worst sliders I have ever eaten. When I took the bun off to add mustard I was confronted with burnt, shriveled little hockey pucks. They looked completely inedible and I should have walked out then and there. However, I stupidly soldiered on as I was starving. Not surprisingly, the taste matched the visual — completely dry and flavorless burgers. I had to smother them in ketchup and mustard just to get them down. I ended up with an awful stomachache hours after my meal. Avoid Carter’s like the plague!

Not a fan of the burgers here. Haven’t had the coneys but they’re breakfast special is worth four stars no matter how simple it is, plus open 24 hours.

Chili was nasty like can chili would be in the microwave. For five hamburgers over $ 7 crazy you can get better Burgers at McDonald’s.

From Louisiana and stumbled by this place on way to the Ford Museum. This is the kind of place I look for on the road. No tables, just stools and a drive through window. Will come back!!!

Slider joint with crappy sliders. Not a good business model.
Hard pressed, poor quality beef. Hell, even the buns and onions somehow sucked. Nothing really had any flavor.
When will these places understand that loosely pressed, quality beef (not overly priced patties, processed in some factory somewhere, and frozen for three months before they reach your dive), are the way to go.
On the slider scale, these are worse than Telway, which I think are the epitome of average.

Slimy, greasy, tasteless yuck! The burgers/​sliders are disgusting! Loading them up with onions and mustard will not breathe life into a bland burger. I cannot believe people eat these grease balls. My stomach cursed me out the whole ride home. Never ever will I eat at Carter’s again. This is a cash only restaurant but I suggest you take your cash down the street and have a burger at Five Guys.

Prices are very good, and service is friendly, however the sliders are pretty flavorless. I would definitely go back for coneys or breakfast, however.

Over priced as hell. It’s supposed to be a coney. They deep fry there hot dogs Wack canned chili. Staff is rude.
Over priced as hell! 4 $ for breakfast special.

I rarely go there for the sliders, but I do love the Breakfast Special. Even when you get it after the Early Bird Special time frame, it’s still less than $ 4. I know it’s technically just 2 eggs cooked to order, 2 slices of bacon, a large heap of hash browns, and 2 slices of toast, but maybe it’s the seasoned grill top or something, because I can’t make it like that with 100 tries. The ladies that work there are super friendly and it’s like Cheers, they’ll remember your name and order very quickly. Carter’s is also an awesome super late night stop as well, i.e., 4am, after a night of partying. Couple of coney dogs with a chocolate shake will certainly hit the spot. That sounds gross when you’re sober, but trust me, it’s a great combination at 4am, just sayin’.
I really hope Carter’s will stay around for many more years. These old school Fountain Service white building diners are like endangered species, if you don’t take care of them, they will completely disappear. Things are changing so fast, it’s comforting to know there’s still a slice of history that’s just around the corner. So, go to Carter’s soon, OK?

Sliders are a very personal thing. Everyone’s got a fave. I try to judge each on their own merit but I will cop to being heavily biased to a childhood fave.
Here the burgers are a bit bigger, the onion is cut larger and is a bit less cooked than some places, the bun is a trifle more solid. I prefer a little less overall. That being said though, this is a pretty damn good burger that I enjoyed. I tried a variety for experimentation. As usual I preferred my sliders without the cheese, heavy everything. Ahhh bliss, messy and just happy.
The fries were not as beloved as my other joint but the onion rings here were crunchy and addictive. Bonus points there. They went quite well with the burgers, yes I ate two. The thing that puts this joint over the top though is the peanut butter milkshake. Good freaking lord that thing is liquid guilt. Beautiful, absolutely amazing.
I say this is one of the best balanced type slider places. The burger is not quite the star because the accompaniments are so terrific, but the burger was indeed very good, no slouch or anything.
Is it my fave? No. Am I returning? Hell yes!
I think its a four and a half for now.
More slider joints to come.

Went here for lunch. I was highly sceptical but it ended up being pretty good and fast. I had two cheese burgers and some onion rings. When they gave them to me they didn’t visually look great but to my surprise they tasted delicious. The onions really made the burger. I will be back again.
I will warn you now though that they only take cash which is a big pet pev of mine.

Times change. There used to be 3, now there is but one.
I first encountered Carters burgers as a mere lad of 5, and it was not this location but the one on West Jefferson, which is now closed. I had the opportunity to drop into this location after I dropped a client off at Oakwood Hospital. Since it is illegal for me to pick up and bring the client home, I must come back to Detroit empty. But it doesnt have to be a sad experience. It is this time when I run over to Carters to drown my sorrows in greasy goodness.
They are the same burgers I had as a lad. The Big burger is like the Big Mac, but wayyyy better, and the price is nice too. The service, by 3 ladies who have been there longer than I care to remember or even speculate about make sure the place is spotlessly clean and the service as fast as the traffic moving on the freeway.
As I have said before, I am no fan of chain restaurants, and I would ban them if I could because this little place may fall victim to the mentality of McD’s. But I feel as long as there are people like me who savor a touchstone back to the old days, they will be here for a long time to come. VIVA CARTERS.