It appears finding stories of local Detroiters Greening up the city won’t prove to be too difficult. Phillip Cooley, co-owner of Slows BarBQ in Detroit, is just one of those people helping to move Detroit in the right direction.
“When opening our restaurant, we took many steps while renovating our building to ensure we were as environmentally responsible as possible”, Said Phillip.
Slows BarBQ (Slows) on Michigan Ave in Detroit, opened in 2005 to fill a need in the area for a local restaurant serving up good food and prices and to help bridge the gap between the suburbs and the city to inspire people to spend time in Detroit.
When renovating the building, Phillip and his partners Ron Cooley, Mike Metevia and Brian Perrone reused as much wood as possible. The wood joists and framing members were reused as trim, walls, a front door, fencing and tables, which adds character to the restaurant. Original brick was also restored and is visible to customers.
In keeping with the “Green” theme, Slows installed waterless urinals and took many steps to reduce energy usage for lighting and heating such as a timed thermostat and lighting sensors.
If you’ve dined at Slows you know about their delicious meat entrees and that awesome barbeque taste. Perhaps some of that great flavor is due to the fact that they purchase meats without antibiotics or hormones, and only use cattle that were raised humanely and sustainably.
Although Slows is known for their meat dishes, Vegetarians will find wonderful tasty dishes of their liking. The staff is educated to give suggestions to all types of customers and can inform them of the ingredients.
Slows offers coffee, beer and wine from local companies, helping to keep business within the local community.
In keeping with the low-carbon footprint theme, the new Slows To Go, due to open this summer, will be located at the corner of Cass & Alexandrine. The building will have a Geothermal system installed to provide the heating and cooling for the building, and they are strongly considering a daily Digester to compost the kitchen scraps.
In addition to these sustainable initiatives, Phillip helps other local business owners with projects geared towards Greening-up Detroit. He also treats his employees in a very respectable fashion, fostering a healthy work environment.
Their location on Michigan Avenue has easy access to the freeways and downtown sporting events which makes it a great stop to add to your plans for lunch or dinner.
If you haven’t visited Slows yet, I wouldn’t wait to taste this great food and help support their Detroit initiatives to create a better city for all who visit and live there!
Slows BBQ is located at 2138 Michigan Ave, Detroit 48126. Log onto www.Slowsbarbq.com for more information or call 313-962-9828.
Connie Lilley – Public Relations, GreeningDetroit.com
Connie has a degree in Journalism/Public Relations from Madonna University and is Green Advantage Environmental Certified
