North Detroit Restaurant Blog: Tigris Restaurant, 620 W 7 Mile Rd, Detroit, MI. 5 out of 10.

I feel bad for Chaldean town (part of Detroit on 7 Mile Rd by Woodward). The neighborhood seems to be disappearing, with fewer and fewer restaurants each time I go there. And the worst restaurants I've ever been to in my life happen to be there (Sullaf, Dennis Julian's). And since it's so close to Woodward, I can see the neighborhood being gentrified over the next 10 to 20 years as Woodward gets developed and eventually adds a light rail up to 8 Mile or further (I hope). Not to say all the restaurants in that area are bad, though. I went to one a few years back called Royal Kobob that was really good and has since been firebombed (see photo below).

This trip I decided to give Tigris a try. For how few restaurants were left, there were a ton of cars parked on the street. As I entered, I smelled cigarette smoke -- I won't specify the source. What I saw was a room full of men playing cards. This was not a restaurant. It was more akin to a casino. I asked a guy behind a counter if I could still order food, and he said yes, so I went for it.

I sat in the non-smoking section, which had fans to circulate the air. The gentleman brought a menu, which was a good sign. I ordered something like a chicken tawook sandwich, but I was paying attention more to my surroundings. Halfway through my meal a guy in a wheelchair stood up and slammed his wheelchair against the wall. Everyone else got quiet and the guy started yelling in a non-English language. People started waving bye to him, but he didn't leave. Then a few minutes later, another guy started yelling angrily back at the first guy and a third guy who was trying to mediate between them. Crazy stuff.

An Iraqi station was on the television. Text scrolled the opposite direction from that of an English news station.

I wondered if the yelling would escalate into violence, and whether the police would show up at any moment. Next thing I knew, a police officer came in the back entrance -- what a relief! But instead of arresting anyone, he took a seat and ordered his usual.

Overall I give Tigris a 5 out of 10. The food was good and the atmosphere was entertaining -- I was on edge the whole time. However, I felt really out of place, and the smoking could turn some people off from eating there.