Monroe Street runs under your feet, the spine of Greektown and one of the last walkable ethnic commercial districts left in the city center. Greek immigrants began settling here in the early 1900s, opening coffeehouses, groceries, and restaurants that drew the whole city for late-night meals after the theaters let out. The flaming-cheese cry of opa and the smell of grilling lamb became part of Detroit's nightlife.
As the Greek families prospered and moved to the suburbs, the restaurants stayed, and the district became a downtown entertainment magnet, anchored today by historic storefronts and a large casino. Just steps away stand the Second Baptist Church and other buildings dating back well over a century, layers of immigrant history stacked on a single short street. Look at the bakery and taverna signs along Monroe, some bearing names that have hung here for generations, and notice how this one compact block has stayed alive while so much around it changed.