Downtown 51 Grill

Closed for all except occasion catering.

CLOSED! Turned into a banquet only facility as of October 12. 2015 per the sign on the door!

Recently visited DT 51 Grille during lunch break. The restaurant is quiet during the day, but I got the impression that it would be hopping location at night. The decorum is contemporary and spacious.
Now on to the food. I ordered an interesting burger called the Korean Bbq Burger. It’s a ½ lb Angus burger topped with spicy kimchi, cilantro and Korean BBQ peanut sauce. I liked it, but something made the burger VERY salty. Would not order it again on my next visit.
My friend ordered chicken strips. Surprisingly they were made from fresh not frozen chicken. They were hand battered, juicy, and delectable. The prices were good and our waitress was friendly.

after driving by this restaurant a few times I decided to finally stop and give it a try. I was not disappointed. the food was delicious and the service was exceptional. the place is charming and very clean.
our server, and bartender, was Nick and he was extremely attentive without being intrusive. he gave my husband and I good suggestions about drinks, apps, entrees and dessert and they were spot on. there are a few things we want to try on our next visit, which we are already planning.

Was at a show at the Crofoot and got hungry. Got the Mac & Cheese, it’s ok, it’s definitely not Rock City !!!

Great establishment with great quality food. Very nice & clean décor. Food is also very reasonably priced and good portions. Only downfall is that many times there is only one server, but he does a great job a handling the whole restaurant.

This is the first restaurant I’ve been to in Pontiac. The ambiance reminds me of Red Smoke in Greektown. The food was good and reasonably priced. There was only one server working the floor, so I would recommend they add another Server to the Saturday shift to improve response time. Overall it was a good experience and I would definitely go back.

We selected Downtown 51 for our party of 35 because we wanted to have it in Pontiac and we knew the food was excellent. We were not disappointed. Our party space on the mezzanine was perfect! The space has a great arrangement of dining tables, high tops and furniture that make it great for a mix and mingle party. There are also two beautiful pool tables that added to the fun. The place was very accommodating to all our requests — including one for a food item that was not on the menu. They took time to order and pickup the item from a local market. The food and drinks were excellent. We had the cheese pâté, BBQ rib tips, stuffed mushrooms and cookies. Some guests also ordered entrees off the menu. Guests that had never been there before were impressed. A big thanks to our party coordinator, server and the owner!

This was one of the worst casual restaurant experiences I have ever had. I went there today for the first time with two of my coworkers. We work in the area and wanted to try a new place to eat in Pontiac. We decided to try Downton 51 grill.
We walked in and we were the only table at that time (another table came near the end of our meal). We asked the waitress if we order the artichoke dip could we get it fast. She said absolutely. We orderd lunch and wanted to make a couple changes since one if us is a vegetarian and the other two do not eat cheese. One of us ordered the chicken cherry salad but since I am a vegan I said no chicken or cheese. Instead I asked to replace those items with some olives and banana peppers. The others asked to sub the cheese for cucumbers. Anyway we waited for awhile and never received our appetizer. Our food came and we asked what happened to our artichoke dip. She replied that we threw her off with our salad substitutions so she forgot. Again we were the only table ! When we finally got the bill they charged us .75 for the items we replaced. I found that ridiculous since I substituted a few olives and banana peppers for the chicken & cheese which is far more expensive. When I told her that I felt that it did not make sense she told me that she had to put each item in the register and charge us per the chef. They had to charge me. I was in the restaurant business for 18 years and would never have nickle & dimed a customer like that. It made no sense. The food was ok but to be charged over$ 13.00 for lettuce, cherries, a few olives & banana peppers was ridiculous.
We would never go back and based on her attitude I doubt they care.

This place is such a well kept secret. We were at a meeting at McLaren and decided to try it out because we were hungry. I’m totally glad that we took the risk! I had «The Answer» with the sweet potato tots. These tots are constantly on the brain! It’s never had more than 10 ppl in it, so I don’t know if other people aren’t as excited about it, but I thought it was fabulous! I’m definitely going back for the tots & I would recommend you do the same!

Being part of the industry myself, I know the damaging effect these ratings can have on a bar/​restaurant and have never written one before. I feel completely insulted by the staff present on the night before thanksgiving, 2014. It was relatively busy when I arrived and it was obvious that the staff was struggling to keep up. You’d think they would over staff for the busiest bar night of the year… nope. My friend and I took a seat at the bar and waited patiently while other guests were served around us and no one even stopped to say hello or give us a menu. We sat there for 30 minutes staring holes in the 4 employees behind the bar before I gave up. 3 men showed up at the end of the bar next to us and about 5 minutes later the bartender came over, took their order and completely ignored us again. It made me feel like less than a person to be completely over looked as if I was invisible. I never got the chance to try their food but if their back of the house staff is anything like the front, I’m sure it’s awful.

I ordered a chop salad to go and it was so gross. The lettuce was limp and they forgot half the ingredients. I paid $ 12 for a side sale portion, no less. Not worth it.

I know that it use to be Bo’s about a year or so ago; I’m so glad it’s now Downtown 51! So much better than I thought it would be!
Such a cool space, plus the Baked Potato soup is Amazing! It’s a must-​order!

We always see it when driving through Pontiac, but never had the chance to stop in. We finally did, but didn’t realize they closed at 8PM. We got there a little after 7 and seemed like they were rushing us to get us out of there. On that note, the food came out fast. Unfortunately the waitress didn’t come over after the food was dropped off and I never got a refill on my drink. Luckily I used a coupon for the food, so it didn’t cost too much.
The food was excellent. I tried the meatloaf and my wife tried the pulled pork. Both dinners had large portions and the taste was great. Just wish the service would have been better, though that might have been my fault since we got there an hour before they closed.

Frist time to Downtown 51 was this past Friday. We got there pretty late, the kitchen was closing in about an hour. Had spiniach dip for an app, was served with chips and pita, which was delicious. Staff was very friendly and nice. I had a salad with grilled chicken, was great. I would come back here again!

Not bad for a restaurant downtown Pontiac. The hostess and bartender are beautiful and very friendly. Good business lunch.

So disappointing. We stopped here last night around 5:30 after discovering another place that I had Unilocal bookmarked had closed. I was super excited to try it because of many other glowing reviews of chicken and waffles. We were seated on the patio and placed drink orders. I had a the bourbon shandy, which was actually quite tasty. We enjoyed our drinks and perused the menu.
The waitress came out and asked if we had decided… we hadn’t, but did order the crispy calamari. We waited and waited… waited some more. The waitress came back out at least 20 minutes later and asked again what our appetizer was. I went in to use the restroom and realized that this waitress was the ONLY person working in the restaurant. She was also the bartender. There were 5 tables with people inside the restaurant as well as us and another table out on the patio.
We finally got our calamari, ordered a second round of drinks and ordered our dinner. The calamari was rather bland. It was cooked well, but really lacked any kind of flavor. For dinner, I had order the Chicken and Waffles, the boyfriend ordered the Banh Mi sandwich, and our guest order a sandwich wrap of some kind. The chicken and waffles were okay. I thought they were overly sweet. I could tell they had breaded and fried the chicken to order but they could have used more spice to counteract the sweet of the waffles, syrup, and powdered sugar. I prefer my waffles more toothsome… these were rather soft. The Banh Mi sandwich was ok. Nothing special. Our guest’s meal, I didn’t taste… but it had a sauce drizzled on the outside of the wrap making it difficult to eat, he had to eat it with a fork which kind of defeats the purpose of a sandwich wrap.
During the course of our meal a family left the inside of the restaurant and got into their car. The waitress ran out calling «don’t you want your food?!» Apparently, they also got tired of waiting. While we paid our bill she apologized to us for our wait and that this happens every night. Really?! Every night? And management hasn’t caught on yet that they need more THAN ONE PERSON working?!
I felt terrible for the girl. It isn’t her fault. But your business is going to close if you don’t get your crap together. The mediocre food coupled with terrible service (again, not the waitresses fault) won’t be bringing us back.

Pretty f’in gross! They put this «cheese sauce» on everything in lieu of using actual cheese. It gave my soup and tater tots an interesting plastic/​trans fat flavor that I did not enjoy.
I’m perplexed as to why this place was highly rated. This food is not worth the calories.

WHat? DT51? So that’s what’s been going on over there…
Happy to see that Bo’s Smokehouse has gotten a face-​lift. Or is it a transplant? I used to frequent the place while it was under the old management/​ownership. While I was happy it was so close to home and that the staff was so friendly, I was also pining for more variety from the menu, a different overall aesthetic…
Wish granted. Visited Downtown 51 for the first time last night and saw that the interior has softened into a classy little animal. The menu offerings have improved, and the staff? Still the familiar friendly faces we’ve missed while they were closed.
I ordered the Pontiac Cold Plate (tuna salad, chicken salad, and tomato wedges served over lettuce with pita bread) and my husband ordered the Mac N Cheese, adding bacon that they smoke in-​house. We had a couple delicious draft beers served up in large mason jars (love), and then we stayed maybe longer than we should have (I think they close around 8pm weeknights, 11 on weekends… still closed Sun.) It was cozy, comfortable and conducive to date-​night conversation.
I’m determined to get the Chicken and Waffles next time – it’s something a funky little bar/​café in my hometown used to serve… come to think of it they did mason jar beer glasses, too… but this option at DT51 (which I like saying aloud, while spinning) looks absolutely divine.
We visited during their soft open – the grand opening is in two weeks. Though we were told they’re still working out kinks in the menu, typos and the like, we didn’t see anything crazy. Except new fun in old downtown Pontiac.

Formerly BO’s BBQ, Fantastic new menu. Food is really good and clean presentation. They now have more then just BBQ. Still have a selection of Local Michigan micro beers. They upgraded the place to make it nicer but still has the comfortable atmosphere.