Takoi
2520 Michigan Ave.
Detroit
Feb. 11, 2026
Another cold day in Detroit, another search for happy hour relief.
This time, we’re circling Takoi on the map. This is modern Thai cooking topped off with ingredients from a farm that the restaurant owns just down the street. It’s regularly top ranked in town, consistent and sexy without feeling fancy. (Sometimes, we conflate these things in the restaurant design world, or assume they have to work in tandem.)
This was my second visit in less than a week. I’ve been working through this place like a paleontologist on an architectural dig. No menu item left uneaten.
The happy hour menu here is a magical arrangement of a refreshing tea leaf salad with apples and sunflower seeds alongside a Thai fried chicken sandwich that’s so behemoth and cheap ($10 during happy hour) that you’ll think you’re living back under the Clinton administration.
But of course I’ve ordered off the main full-priced menu, too. I’ve cruised the khanom gui chai tod crispy chive cakes with block soy and fermented chili. I’ve stabbed my fork deep into a bowl of their southern Thai curry (available during happy hour), where the grilled cauliflower is so well prepared and meaty that you’ll forget all about beef or chicken. I’ve even treated myself to house-made coconut ice cream brightened up even further with mango and dulce de leche.
This winter at Takoi, the real hero here is the duck noodle soup. It’s so delightfully delicate and understated, even when you strike gold and scoop up a duck dumpling floating around the broth filled with rice noodles and stewed duck. It reaches its full potential when you soak it in their sriracha, housemade with ingredients from the aforementioned farm. The dish completely wakes up, bringing out the subtleties and arriving as one of my favorite dishes in the city – period.
Keep it to the happy hour menu or dream of bigger dishes on the main. Either way, you’re at one of the best restaurants in the city, and you’re beating the Detroit winter while you dine.
