Union Joints opens Lincoln Yard and Little Yard eateries
Two Birmingham eateries under one roof, a concept proposed more than six years ago, are open for business.
Lincoln Yard and Little Yard, touted as “siblings” on East Lincoln near Eton Street in the Birmingham Rail District, opened Monday..
The restaurants are from the Union Joints restaurant group co-owned by Curt Catallo and Ann Stevenson, and they bring to 12 the number of metro Detroit restaurants under the group’s umbrella.
For this project, the husband-and-wife duo partnered with Roger Penske Jr. to transform the former Birmingham school bus repair garage into a neighborhood eatery. Penske Jr. is also a partner in the group’s Union Rec in Ann Arbor.
Lincoln Yard is “built around cleaner, greener comfort food and rotisserie meats with far-reaching sauces,” Catallo said.
As with the couple’s other restaurants, Stevenson oversaw the project design. Union Joints is known for repurposing and renovating buildings that once served a different purpose.
With this space, Stevenson said the challenge was working with a cinder block building without much “architectural appeal.”
“But there’s something about just that basic eesthetic that it could become anything,” she said. “I think the challenge for me was, ‘How do we make this garage sexy.’”
Stevenson forged ahead, making the space comfy, including the sofa lounge area with additional furniture with a relaxed vibe that
also features roll-up garage doors.
The vibe
Nods to the former repair garage include walls covered with pegboard and beer taps with handles that look like school buses. High ceilings with exposed ventilation make the place a little loud, but not unbearable.
The building sits on a spacious lot with plenty of parking. It’s also walkable from nearby neighborhoods and convenient to the ice arena across the street.
“I wanted Little Yard to feel like a playfully crafted Scandinavian cottage … heavily influenced by the rinks and courts across the street,” said Stevenson in a news release. “The Lincoln Yard space combines a bit of the industrial garage grit with some loungy comfort.”
Lincoln Yard’s dining room has a variety of
seating with tables, banquettes and oversize booths. There are six roll-up garage doors on two sides of the building for openair dining. Both Lincoln Yard and Little Yard will have outdoor seating.
The menu
Union Joints district chef Zach Kuhagen and Steve Carlton, its chef de cuisine, lead the kitchen.
Stevenson said the menu, feels like their “most personal” yet and features items they look for or crave when dining out.
Highlights are its wood-fired pizza oven with counter seating in front, a French rotisserie oven and a smoker.
“It’s the trifecta of wood-fired flavor,” Catallo said. Shareable snacks include wood-fired bread with three dips and seared halloumi along with salads (many shareable), soups (two), entrees and wood-fired pizzas. Also offered are several gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options. Across the menu are a variety of flavors including Middle Eastern and Moroccan spice blends, Calabrian chilies and North African harissa.
Main dishes of rotisserie chicken, a vegan cauliflower offering, smoked beef short rib and smoked pork tenderloin can be paired with various sauces, vegetable and starch side dishes.
Entrees also include Union Joints’ beloved mac and cheese (there’s a gluten-free option), fish and steaks. The Otto burger has melty raclette, thick-cut bacon, smoked tomato aioli and red onion jam. Vegan and gluten-free options include a large stuffed sweet potato with a blend of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors topped with watercress and coconut yogurt.
A half-dozen pizza options — from cheese and pepperoni to specialty pizzas — are offered. The Calabrian Project topped with a blend of cheese, red onion, sopressata, and Calabrian chilies is served with a final drizzle of warm honey.
Billed as a neighborhood spot for morning coffee, Little Yard, its takeaway offering, opens at 7 a.m. daily with a range of coffee
drinks and breakfast items. At 11 a.m., the menu changes to lunch and dinner build-your-own options including bowls, rotisserie chicken, pita, and salads.
Catallo and Stevenson started Union Joints in 1995, opening the Clarkston Union in a former Baptist church. It’s the spot where the group’s famed mac and cheese was born. Other restaurants are Vinsetta Garage in Berkley, Union Assembly in downtown Detroit, the Union Woodshop in Clarkston, and Fenton Fire Hall. About 1,200 people, Catallo said, are employed across all properties.
Lincoln Yard, 2159 E. Lincoln in Birmingham, is open 11 a.m.9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Little Yard is open 7-7 p.m. daily.