For 68 years, the Clawson Steakhouse has been delighting metro Detroiters as a proper supper club complete with dinner and dancing. This year, it is the 2026 Detroit Free Press/Chevy Detroit Restaurant of the Year Classic, awarded to an exceptional establishment that has been under continuous ownership for at least 10 years.
It’s of the moment to look back.
Restaurants across the country revere the Golden Age of hospitality, from the post-Prohibition supper club to the 1950s luxe steakhouse, a period often replicated in branding and aesthetic. Dimly lit restaurants dressed in vintage rugs and velvet furniture channel the old supper clubs, complete with Wurlitzer jukeboxes tucked neatly into corners and period music piped through the speakers. The retro steakhouse is new again, servers in suits are cool again, sticky leather booths acceptable again…