Where to celebrate Fat Tuesday 2024 in Metro Detroit

Fat Tuesday can be observed as Paczki Day, with the Polish tradition of eating sweet sugar-dusted or glazed confections, or as the gold, green and purple carnival of Mardi Gras as they do in New Orleans and elsewhere.

Either way, it's cause for a celebration next week when the holiday lands in Metro Detroit. You'll see some parties kicking off this weekend, but the majority of the hoopla will be on Feb. 13, the last day before the 40-day season of Lent starts and many Christians are supposed to abstain from sugar and other treats.

It's also a good occasion for bars, restaurants and communities to shake off the winter blahs and look forward to spring.

"We'll have a special menu all day and we'll be giving away beads and masks," says Howe's Bayou owner Michael Hennes. His New Orleans-themed Ferndale restaurant, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in the summer, always hosts a Mardi Gras party on Fat Tuesday.

"It's very festive, very lively and celebratory. It's the last hurrah before Lent. I always say 'poonchkey-schmoonski, have some gumbo.'"

Here's our guide to celebrating Fat Tuesday 2024:

Early celebrations

Celebrating Fat Tuesday isn't just for the day before Ash Wednesday. This weekend revelers who can't get Tuesday off work will find plenty of changes to let loose.

Tuck into an authentic New Orleans Mardi Gras meal cooked by chef Ederique Goudia at Frame in Hazel Park. The Louisiana native will serve gumbo z’herbs, charbroiled oysters, redfish Pontchartrain, macaroni pie with red gravy, creole cornbread and praline-stuffed beignets. Frame’s beverage director will have cocktails to match, including some made with Detroit City Distillery’s Paczki Day vodka, which is made with real raspberry paczki from Hamtramck’s New Palace bakery.

There are four seatings for chef Goudia’s dinner, 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Fri. and Sat., and they start at $70 per person, sold in pairs only. Visit framehazelpark.com to book.

Detroit City Distillery is hosting their own pre-Paczki Day bash at a party in Eastern Market Saturday with their neighbors Easter Market Brewing Company, which also makes a paczki-flavored adult beverage in the form of a blonde ale. Of course the DCD's Paczki Day vodka will be flowing, too.

They're closing off Riopelle street near Winder to make room for the indoor and outdoor bash, which goes 10 a.m.-10 p.m. with Polish food, cocktails, live music and a shot ski (a long ski with shot glasses affixed to it).

But first, head to Hamtramck Saturday morning for the annual Paczki Run, a 5K jaunt through the eclectic enclave starting at Holbrook and Jos Campau. Runners and walkers get a paczek after crossing the finish line and those 21 and older can also have a beer and a shot of the aforementioned Paczki Day vodka.

Hang out in the polka tent, or make your way around town and enjoy "bib discounts" at local restaurants and retailers who are offering a deal for participants. Visit tour-de-troit.org/paczkirun for details.

If you can't make it down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is hosting themed events Friday and Saturday at Valade Park, 2670 E. Atwater in Detroit.

Highlights include a mask-making event Friday afternoon and a second-line parade with the Gabriel Brass Band at 3 p.m. Sat. There's also the flavors of NOLA all weekend with Cajun Soul Sistas and Smokey G's Smokehouse. The Shed Bar will have hurricane cocktails, too.

More:Our 5 favorite paczki that you can get right now in Metro Detroit

Paczki-palooza

Fat Tuesday is often called Paczki Day because traditionally Christians abstain from sweets during Lent, which starts the following day, Ash Wednesday. So Polish paczki are made as a way to get rid of all the lard and sugar in the house in one fell swoop.

Over the decades, the city of Hamtramck has turned this into a cause to roll out the barrel and have a day-long party in the bars throughout the 2.2-square-mile town. Here are some highlights:

P.L.A.V. Post 10: The Polish League of Veterans hall will have a two-story party with two bars, DJs, live music and to keep you fueled they'll have Marcus Hamburgers straight from the joint on Six Mile. The paczki-eating competition starts at noon. 11824 Jos Campau.

The Polish Muslims: Find this comedy-polka-rock band performing at 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Ant Hall (2320 Caniff) and 2:30-5 p.m. at Whiskey in the Jar (2741 Yemans)

Small's Bar: Booze-infused paczki starting at 10 a.m. and live rock and roll 1-10 p.m. 10339 Conant.

Kelly’s Bar: Hamtramck baker extraordinaire Maryrose Moses will have traditional and specialty paczki, including the “Fat Elvis” with banana cream, chocolate glaze and a slice of candied bacon on top. Rumor has it she’s also making cheeseburgers made with paczki for the buns. 2403 Holbrook.

If you can't get to Hamtramck on Tuesday, you'll be able to find paczki all over town, from grocery stores to restaurants. It's not just strawberry, blueberry and plum anymore, either, bakers are getting crafty with their flavors.

Check out Randazzo Fresh Market in Macomb, Warren and Clinton Township for their cannoli-stuffed paczki, available now through Tuesday. Blake's Orchard and Cider Mill are taking preorders through Sunday for their traditional flavors as well as caramel apple, cherry chocolate, Bavarian chocolate and triple jam paczki.

For another sweet-and-savory hybrid, Sidecar Slider Bars are serving sliders made from paczki Monday through Feb. 18 at all six locations. They’re doing a beef, bacon, fried egg and cheddar cheese slider with a raspberry paczek for a bun, as well as a hot honey chicken slider version and their own Polish Monte Cristo with ham and cheese on a raspberry paczek. Visit sidecarsliderbar.com for locations.

Let the bon temps roule

While Howe's Bayou in Ferndale has been around for a quarter century, other New Orleans-themed restaurants are experiencing their first Mardi Gras.

Brine Oyster House, which opened in 2023 in Grosse Pointe Park is having its first Fat Tuesday celebration next week. The two-level sustainable seafood restaurant and bar will have live music from Brandon Reeves & The Happy Hands Club, plus NOLA-inspired cuisine and cocktails. The party is 5-9 p.m. and reservations are recommended.

In Macomb County, sports bar Gator Jakes at 36863 Van Dyke, which has a Mardi Gras theme all year-round, will host a crawfish boil on Tuesday with drink specials and a DJ all night long.

If you just want some great Louisiana cooking without all the hubbub, Louisiana Creole Gumbo is a longstanding Detroit business with three locations. Last year, owners left the original Gratiot Ave. carryout spot that housed LCG for more than 50 years and are working on a full-service restaurant just a few blocks north at 2830 Gratiot.

While it's not set to open until this spring, they will be serving from their food truck in that space on Tuesday. The other locations at 13505 W. Seven Mile in Detroit and 29216 Orchard Lake Road in Farmington are also open serving gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, candied yams, fried chicken and more.

Shrove Tuesday

Did you know that in some parts of the world Fat Tuesday is known as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday?

A Detroit church is leaning into this tradition with a pancake supper to raise funds for its Sunday Breakfast Outreach program that feeds those in the neighborhood with food insecurities.

Chef Greg Reyner of Royal Oak restaurant Café Muse will lead the kitchen at historic Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 4800 Woodward, serving stacks and stacks of hearty flapjacks Tuesday evening, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Free will donations will be collected, cash or check, in exchange for dinner.

Melody Baetens is The Detroit News restaurant critic

mbaetens@detroitnews.com