Bagley Grille

I don’t want to mislead you: I haven’t had a bite of food here. I went there for lunch today, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 12:35 pm. I stood in line for a few minutes. When I got to the counter, the woman waiting on me said «Hurry up, I gotta go drop this chicken.» The first words to a new customer were not in the form of a salutation, rather an admonishment. I brushed that off and continued «I’d like to order the catfish sandwich», I said. She turned, wordlessly, and headed for the back. I stood awaiting her return. A few seconds later she came back. «It’s gonna be a while. It’s frozen.» She glared at me as though she was praying that I wouldn’t make her go through the trouble of working. Luckily, her prayers were answered when I excused myself and left. I work four blocks from this place in one direction and live two blocks from it in another. I hope the permanent alienation of a potential customer was worth it.

I have eaten here several times, and I enjoy it every time.

Amazing food, but even better service.
Bagley’s Grille is a Southern cookout kind of place nestled near the heart of Downtown Detroit. Due to poor navigational skills, we we’re lost looking for this place. When we finally got here, the restaurant was to be closed in a half hour. We wanted to eat there, but felt it was only right to take it out. However, the owner (i think) was amazing. He not only sat us down, but was very friendly and didn’t seemed bothered at all.
We ordered a lot of food and was able to try a lot of the fixin’s that were available. We grabbed an order of 20 piece whole wings (leg and wing — so 40 wings) for $ 20. They ran out of ribs (we came late), so we got our grubby hands on some rib tips instead. We also ordered some cole slaw, fries, baked beans, and mac n cheese. The menu is fixated on chicken (fried, wings, buffalo, etc) and ribs, but they also have burgers and sandwiches.
The food took a while to prepare, but it was only one guy working so we understood. When it was ready though, you could smell the scent of fried chicken and rib tips filling your nostrils. It was WAY too much food (but here in America, we don’t believe that exists).
The fried chicken whole wings were great. The were seasoned well and were HUGE. Very crisp on the outside and tender (And steaming hot) on the inside. The rib tips tastes better than it looks. It was fork tender, which can be good or bad. I like using my hands on ribs, but a fork is probably the smarter idea. The meat was very moist and tender, but a tad too much sauce.
The sides were good and complemented the meal well. The mac n cheese was alright. Nothing too special. The fries were great as well as the cole slaw. The cole slaw tastes way better than it appeared at first. The baked beans are good but a tad too sweet for my liking. You should really come for the chicken n ribs.
Overall, Bagley’s was a great experience. The service was incredible. The guy was put in a tough spot but really helped us out. Extremely friendly guy in the middle of a sketchy neighborhood. Their biggest negative might be the location. It’s in the middle of Downtown Detroit and parking is pretty scarce. But if you can make your way to them, you won’t be disappointed.