Tony Hawk to open his first Detroit restaurant

Little Village, a cultural corridor of Detroit’s east side, is rounding out its food and beverage offerings with A Tu Madre, a Mexican restaurant set to open in 2027. And some familiar faces are behind it all.

Tony Hawk, the skateboarding legend, has partnered with George Azar, the notable chef behind Flowers of Vietnam in Southwest Detroit, to open A Tu Madre. According to an Instagram post shared among the project’s collaborators, ATM will open at the Shepherd, a Romanesque-style church turned multidisciplinary arts hub east of Indian Village.

“In partnership with legendary skateboarder @tonyhawk and an all-star team of Detroit hospitality leaders, ATM blends exceptional food, art, music, and culture into a destination designed to bring people together,” the post reads.

Designing the restaurant is McIntosh Poris Architects, a Detroit-based architecture and design firm behind other hospitality projects such as Prime and Proper, the Detroit Foundation Hotel and Como’s. The project, the post says, will have both indoor and outdoor spaces, including a terrace that overlooks a public skatepark designed by Hawk on the Shepherd grounds.

ATM is the second restaurant for Azar, who has helmed Flowers of Vietnam for a decade and earned a host of honors along the way, with recognitions from Zagat, Bon Appétit and GQ. In 2018, Flowers of Vietnam took the No. 3 spot on the Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Best New Restaurants list. The chef, who is a native of the predominantly Hispanic Southwest Detroit neighborhood where Flowers of Vietnam was built, has a deep reverence for Mexican cuisine and culture. In 2019, Azar shared plans to open a Mexican restaurant on Michigan Avenue. The restaurant never materialized; now, perhaps, ATM offers an opportunity to pick up where he left off.

The forthcoming restaurant will also be the second restaurant project for Hawk. It follows Chick and Hawk, the skateboarder’s California eatery that elevates food that typifies skate and surf culture. Think hot chicken sandwiches, bánh mì and poke bowls.

ATM joins its neighbors Father Forgive Me, the wine and cocktail bar named among Tales of the Cocktail’s 10 honorees for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar in the U.S. central region, and Warda Patisserie, from the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef Warda Bouguettaya.

“As the newest addition to The Shepherd ‒ alongside destinations like Warda and Father Forgive Me ‒ ATM is set to become one of Detroit’s most exciting new cultural landmarks, delivering a dining and community experience unlike any other in the city,” the Instagram announcement says.

Contact Detroit Free Press Dining and Restaurant Critic Lyndsay C. Green at: LCGreen@freepress.com. Follow @LadyLuff on Instagram and Twitter. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for extras and insider scoops on Detroit-area dining.