Mister B’s new speakeasy

This summer, Mr. B’s Gastropub, 215 S. Main Street in Royal Oak, will debut three new projects: a speakeasy, vintage arcade, and exterior mural. The first, an underground and hidden speakeasy named Johnny’s, is targeted to open in June, and like all good speakeasies will have a not-so-typical entrance. In the current design, guests will enter the 1,500-square-foot speakeasy through a back staircase accessible from an exterior kitchen door, with an entrance inside disguised as a cooler door. “There is a certain sense of mystery, an allure, that you feel as you enter a speakeasy. Johnny’s is going to be a special place,” said Johnny Prepolec, owner and executive chef of Mr. B’s Gastropub. Johnny’s will have a craft cocktail menu and food items with a prohibition-era style theme, like lamb chop lollypops and lump crab Napoleon. The arcade is already open during the restaurant’s regular business hours, with over 20 vintage and classic games. They also have a 96-square-foot pop art portrait, commissioned by Michigan-based artist Lisa Littell, on the east exterior wall of the building.

Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro intelligencer is reported/created each month by Dana Casadei who can be reached at DanaCasadei@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record.