Eastern Market Brewing Co.’s latest venture, Elephant & Co., is set to celebrate the grand opening of its flagship location this Saturday with DJs, doughnuts, Detroit-style pizza, craft beer, and coffee.
Since Eastern Market Brewing Co. first began leasing the former Founder Brewing Company building in September, the local brewery has been using the location’s kitchen to bake its pizzas while awaiting approval for a microbrewer’s permit.
Now, following the successful launch of a Royal Oak location earlier this year, the new spot at 456 Charlotte Ave. in Detroit is finally ready to open.
The new location boasts 50 self-serve taps with a variety of beverages, including Eastern Market Brewing Co. beer, cider, and wine. It also includes a Dooped Donuts cafe with a robotic barista and a mini-market with local drinks and produce.
The large space offers seating for over 200 people inside and an additional 100 guests outside on an extensive heated patio.
Courtesy photo
The new location boasts 50 self-serve taps with a variety of beverages.
The Elephant & Co. team’s focus on Detroit-style pizza is partially because the flavor of both pizza and beer is driven by fermentation.
“The dough sets our pizza apart,” Pauline Knighton-Prueter, president of Elephant & Co., said in a press release. “We’re a brewery turned pizza company, and truly understand the importance of fermentation. It’s what’s made us one of Michigan’s fastest-growing breweries and now, Detroit’s best pizza.”
The company first experimented with Detroit-style pizza during the pandemic at its experimental arm, Ferndale Project, launching home beer delivery with pizza to boost sales.
It was a big success, selling out quickly every day, the company says.
“The excitement I feel with Elephant & Co. is reminiscent of the early days of opening our original brewery in Eastern Market,” Dayne Bartscht, founder of Eastern Market Brewing Co., said. “We saw a gap. Detroit had this fantastic brewing history, but there was not enough unique beer. Detroit is America’s pizza capital, but no one is innovating flavor. Here is our next opportunity.”
The grand opening menu for Elephant & Co. is definitely unique, featuring a coney-inspired pizza with Detroit-style chili, sliced hot dogs, onions, and yellow mustard, as well as a pizza modeled after crab rangoons, with wontons, sweet chili sauce, and green onions. Additionally, Elephant & Co. is collaborating with McClure’s Pickles for a pizza inspired by the former J.L. Hudson Department Stores’s Maurice Salad, featuring pickles, olives, smoked ham, and turkey. Classic options like spicy pepperoni and margherita pizza are also available.
More partnerships with well-known Detroit restaurants are in the works, the company says.
Elephant & Co.’s grand opening on Saturday will run from 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Following the launch, the new brewery will be open daily.
