Starex Smith, the food influencer known as The Hungry Black Man, opened Smith & Williams at 1428 Gratiot Ave. on Friday, May 1, 2026. Co-owner Devante Williams is the second name on the door.
The room is in Eastern Market, in a building that went up in the early 1930s with Art Deco geometric trim. The kitchen is doing soul food. Smith and Williams previewed the menu over three days in mid-April before this week's grand opening.
This is the second Smith & Williams. The first is in Toledo and has been the proof-of-concept room for the partners. The Detroit version is the bigger build.
Smith is from Miami. He has built a national following reviewing Black-owned businesses on social and has been cycling through Detroit on those reviews for years. The framing he gave Metro Times is that Detroit holds people the way Miami holds heat, which is the influencer version of saying he is moving here.
Eastern Market does not have a dedicated soul-food sit-down room within its district. Detroit Soul on Linwood and Highland Park's spots are not in the market. Smith & Williams plants a soul-food flag inside the Gratiot corridor, two blocks from Russell, on a strip that has filled in steadily since Eastern Market Brewing opened in 2017.
The restaurant is in the market more than the market is in the restaurant. The hours and the menu both run weekend-heavy.
The Toledo location is what gives the partners a working blueprint. The Detroit room is the bet that the blueprint travels.
1428 Gratiot Ave., Eastern Market.
