Several years after a shift in ownership, Detroit staple Slows Bar BQ is expanding to a new location at 3087 12 Mile Road, taking over the space that was previously the Berkley Common restaurant.
Part-owner and managing director Terry Perrone told What Now Detroit that they hope to open in the fall, but that “it’ll be sooner, if at all possible.”
Perrone added that the space will have both indoor and outdoor dining on the first floor, while the second floor will be for private events and catering. At the flagship Slows location in Corktown, on the corner of Michigan and 14th, there is a private room that can hold up to 40 people.
“We’ve always been an off-premise caterer, but we’ve done a lot more on-premise over the last couple of years, and that just seemed like icing on the cake to have that second floor,” Perrone said of the new location.
As for why Slows decided to expand into the Berkley neighborhood, Perrone said that the restaurant already had a lot of support in the area for their catering and food truck events.
“We know we’ve got a good base of customers there,” Perrone added. “We had kicked tires on a few vacancies in the area prior to this, and then this opportunity became available, and it just seemed perfect.”
Whether customers will get to enjoy the outdoor seating area this year depends on exactly when the new location can open.
Slows opened its first restaurant in September 2005, and launched a food truck in 2015.
What Now Detroit previously reported in 2023 that the restaurant shifted ownership to a parent company called Slows Holdings, made up of Terry, his brother and founding chef Brian Perrone, and catering director Josh Keillor. Philip Cooley, who also helped found the restaurant, sold his shares to Slows Holdings, but retained ownership of the flagship location and Slows To Go, a fast-casual kitchen that opened in 2010 at 4107 Cass Ave.
Also at the time of the ownership shift, Slows partnered with the BBQ franchise Mighty Quinn’s Barbecue, which has locations in New York, New Jersey and Florida, among other sites.
