Saksey's opened on Friday, November 14, 2025, with eight tables and 55 seats in the basement of Gilly's Clubhouse at 1550 Woodward. The entrance is in Parker's Alley. The decor is dark cherry wood paneling, brass back bar, deep green velvet banquettes, and 1960s and 1970s lounge furniture.
The drinks are small. The bites are very specifically not. The bar takes its name from a Detroit lounge that ran in the 1970s near Seven Mile and Woodward.
Sam Gilbert and Irv Saks ran the original. Sam is Dan Gilbert's father. The new room is a partnership between the Gilbert family and NoHo Hospitality Group, the New York firm whose Detroit projects already include San Morello, Evening Bar, the Brakeman, and Penny Red's at the Shinola Hotel.
The same NoHo partners (Luke Ostrom and Josh Pickard) also operate Gilly's, which sits directly above Saksey's in the same building. Gilly's was Nick Gilbert's project. He died in 2023.
Saksey's and Gilly's both opened in his memory. Daniel Caudill of DTM Consulting designed the room. He used to be Shinola's creative director.
The cocktail program is led by NoHo Bar Director Darryl Chan, who has worked the Portrait Bar, Café Carmellini, and Westlight in New York, in collaboration with Head Bartender Tara Wong, who built Dragonfly's program in Milwaukee Junction into a Detroit Free Press top-10 list spot in 2023. The drinks are the Dirty Snow Cone (boozy shaved ice, a grown-up summer toy), the Root Beer Negroni, and the bar's signature Teeny 'Tinis. The Teeny 'Tinis are martinis the size of a shot glass, each garnished differently, intentionally not asking to be taken seriously and being very good anyway.
The food doubles down. Caviar with Bugles. Cornflake-crusted fried chicken with Dynamo Sauce.
Pretzel Tots. A Cap'n Crunch Berry Sundae. The kitchen is making cracker-crusted bar food with caviar money.
The room runs Tuesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight on weeknights and 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. weekends. Reservations are available on Resy. Walk-ins are encouraged.
The lounge is small enough that they will both be necessary on busy nights.
1550 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Entrance off Parker's Alley.
