Aurora Italiana to Make Detroit Debut

Aurora Italiana, an upscale Italian restaurant group, is opening its first Detroit location later this year in the historic Briggs Houze building near Grand Circus Park. The two-story restaurant will occupy the bottom floors of the building, in a space that once housed the Michigan Oriental Theater and later the acclaimed PAO Detroit. The 110-seat restaurant will feature an open kitchen and will make breads, pastas, and sauces daily in a seed-oil-free kitchen, with dinner service seven days a week.

The Briggs Houze building, owned by the restaurant group's parent company Barbat Holdings, is also being converted into a Hyatt Hotel with 118 residential units. This is Aurora Italiana's third location — the original opened in West Bloomfield in 2023, followed by Aurora on the Lake in Commerce Township in 2024. The team plans to announce the official opening date and menu details in the coming months.