4 of America’s ‘Most Scenic’ Restaurants Are in Michigan: OpenTable Ranking

DETROIT, MI — Are you looking for dinner with a breathtaking view? You’re in luck: Four Michigan restaurants made the online reservation service OpenTable’s recently released ranking of the 100 Most Scenic Restaurants in America for 2016.

Whether it's watching the sunset from an outdoor patio while sipping on a handcrafted martini, or taking in an amazing city view while sharing appetizers with friends, there are some places in which the ambiance just makes the experiences that much more enjoyable.

In Michigan, restaurants that made the cut were two Detroit restaurants — Coach Insignia, a contemporary steakhouse offers breathtaking views from the top of the GM Global Renaissance Center, and Iridescence, a AAA 4-Diamond fine dining restaurant featuring spectacular views of the city skyline.

Also on the list, Cygnus 27 is perched 27 stories above the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, offering panoramic views of the Grand River and surrounding cityscape; and River Crab-St. Clair offers diners view of boats and freighters drifting by on the St. Clair River.

You can read the full list of the 100 Most Scenic Restaurants in America here.

“Whether they’re perched atop a city skyscraper or nestled on a mountainside, this year’s winning restaurants provide awe-inspiring views that showcase all the beauty of their surroundings for locals and travelers seeking a front-row seat to a city's natural or manmade splendors,” said Caroline Potter, OpenTable chief dining officer. “A dining experience at any of these honorees is the most delicious way to get a true sense of place when vacationing or exploring your own hometown.”

To arrive at its final list, OpenTable says it examined some 5 million restaurant reviews from more than 20,000 restaurants across the nation.

“All restaurants with a minimum ‘overall’ score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration,” the company says of its methodology. “Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of qualifying reviews for which ‘great for outdoor dining’ was selected as a special feature.”

— Additional reporting by Patch.com’s Renee Schiavone.
— Image credit: Nighttime view from Coach Insignia by james via Flickr / Creative Commons