Cadieux Cafe

Cadieux Cafe has been Detroit’s headquarters for feather bowling — a Belgian pastime found almost nowhere else in the country — since Belgian immigrants opened it as a Prohibition-era speakeasy in the early 1930s. Robert and Yvonne Devos bought it in 1962 and spent decades weaving Belgian culture into every corner, from the mussels and pommes frites to the dirt-and-straw feather bowling lanes in back, and Anthony Bourdain gave it a glowing profile on No Reservations in 2009.

Ownership changed hands in 2018, but the ghost stories predate that transition by decades. Yvonne Devos is said to still occupy her old table near the feather bowling room, often described in a blue dress, while Robert’s presence is reported mostly in the basement. Staff say the most common activity is simpler and stranger: objects falling off shelves with no explanation. The Michigan Traditional Arts Program has recognized the Cadieux with a Heritage Award for keeping its traditions alive with genuine authenticity.

On our radar for the only place in America to try feather bowling with a side of mussels, or for a genuinely unique date night that comes with a ghost story built in.