COLORS Restaurant - Detroit

Colors Detroit Restaurant is a fully-functioning, revenue generating restaurant that specializes in “farm to table” cuisine and operating the Colors Hospitality Opportunities for Workers Institute (CHOW Institute) - a non-profit front of the house training center for low to moderate income Detroit area residents. Colors Detroit is managed by Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan – which is an affiliate of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a 501(C) 3 federally tax exempt organization with a 7.5 million dollar budget. Colors Detroit has been the recipient of funding support from entities such as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Comerica Foundation. Our restaurant partners include Russell Street Deli and Rose’s Fine Dining in Detroit, Levy’s Restaurants at Ford Field, and .Zingerman’s of Ann Arbor.

Since opening in 2012, Colors Detroit has trained nearly 300 Detroit area residents for entry level front of the house positions (e.g. servers, bar backs, food runners) and placed nearly 70% of those trainees in local restaurants (including Colors) within 90 days. These low to moderate income residents have been mostly women and people of color. It is important to note that “returning citizens” and people receiving public assistance have been significantly represented in these training numbers. The community at large benefits from our job creation and job placement efforts as these dollars add to the city’s tax base.

Colors Detroit has been the recipient of several local and national awards for its workforce development efforts and was the only restaurant nominated for the Detroit Metro Convention Bureau’s 2015 William H. McLaughlin Hospitality Award for Service Excellence. Food bloggers have identified Colors Detroit as one of the Top Ten Restaurants to Visit in Detroit and we were recently featured in the Metro Times and in an article appearing on the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers website. We are proud to be a part of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United’s Diners Guide App and the newly developed TopServer Game App. Colors Detroit employs three full time staff members, two part-time staff, and 20 on call front -of-the house staff.