Eminem's Brick-And-Mortar Mom's Spaghetti Location Is Actually Pretty Decent [Updated]

A Detroit-based reporter reviewed the rapper's restaurant, calling it "more homespun than chef-driven."

Array/Getty Images
By  Kate Bernot

Update, October 5, 2021: Thank God for local, on-the-ground reporting. Without it, we'd have no way of knowing that Mom's Spaghetti, Eminem's new carryout restaurant is... actually pretty good for what it is. The Detroit News reviewed the joint, calling it "more homespun than chef-driven," which is exactly what the restaurant team was going for. Alright, Slim Shady. I'll give you this one.

The reviewer pointed out that the noodles are cooked "just right," the sauce is pleasantly tangy and "less salty than your low-end sauce from a jar," and the portions are enormous. Of course, the reporter does explain that "Mom's Spaghetti doesn't have that freshness that you'd get from a plate of pasta in any decent Italian restaurant." But that's okay—as we reported back in 2017, Mom's Spaghetti isn't supposed to mimic traditional Italian fare. "It's not the kind of pasta you'd expect if your grandma came from Italy on a boat," a restaurant group representative said when the concept originally launched. "It's more like the spaghetti you'd know if your mom came to Michigan on a bus."

Update, September 30, 2021: It's not often we post updates to our articles nearly four years later, but in this case, we've got some news worth dredging up the past for. Remember Eminem's pop-up restaurant, Mom's Spaghetti? Where he served spaghetti in an admittedly hilarious throwback to his banger "Lose Yourself"? Well, he just opened a permanent brick-and-mortar location of Mom's Spaghetti in downtown Detroit.

As a surprise, the rapper showed up and worked the window for a while, to the delight of customers patronizing a restaurant concept born of a lyric listing things Eminem has vomited. CNN reports that the menu is straightforward, with Mom's Spaghetti being the highlight ($9 for plain, $12 with meatballs). There's also a 'Sgetti Sandwich, which is just spaghetti on bread ($11).

I have to admit, this whole thing is pretty funny. Eminem usually seems to take himself pretty seriously, so running with this and turning it into a whole restaurant is cracking me up. The obvious joke would be to ask if customers are barfing the spaghetti back up onto their sweaters, but that would be too easy. Maybe he'll win a Michelin star someday.

Original post, December 15, 2017: Right this instant, Detroiters could be visiting what is surely the only pop-up restaurant that is an ode to a food someone threw up. Eminem, in a poorly named attempt to promote his new album Revival, is this weekend hosting a Mom's Spaghetti pop-up restaurant and shop at music venue The Shelter—the very venue where said vomiting would have occurred. Meta.

According to promoters, the pop-up serves dishes inspired by Eminem's role in 8 Mile, a film that marked its 15th anniversary last month my god we're so old. The shop will also sell Revival merchandise, but who cares, tell us more about puke spaghetti.

"It's not the kind of pasta you'd expect if your grandma came from Italy on a boat. It's more like the spaghetti you'd know if your mom came to Michigan on a bus," says Curt Catallo, co-owner of Union Joints, the restaurant group that partnered with Shady for the pop-up.

The spaghetti is served with made-from-scratch sauce, jarred Parmesan cheese, garlic bread, and can be ordered with optional meatballs. In a dish inspired by Eminem's "real-life upbringing," the menu also offers a grilled (what?) Spaghetti Sandwich on white bread. Intrigued? The pop-up is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Recommended