A venerable staple of Royal Oak’s downtown entertainment scene is literally ramping its game up to another level.
Fifth Avenue, a sports bar and restaurant at 215 W. Fifth Ave., will be installing a rooftop deck with a full-service bar and kitchen, according to site plans recently approved by the city.
“We hope to begin construction this fall with a spring 2024 arrival date,” Fifth Avenue co-owner Tony Yezbick told What Now Detroit.
Fifth Avenue originally opened its doors at the Main Street location in the early 1990s. It’s been under the ownership of Yezbick and his team for the past 13 years. The bar currently has two floors with a dance floor and billiards hall on the second level. A sports bar with 40 high-def TVs, a 14-foot HD projection screen and outdoor street deck are on the ground floor.
Owners intend to add a third level where the nearly 3,000 square-foot rooftop bar will be built on the northern half of the building. The seasonal deck will feature a covered bar with 60 seats, lounge seating for about 30 patrons, a dozen tables that can seat 48 people and a pair of 42-inch covered fire tables, site plans indicate.
All toll, the deck will have a capacity to accommodate up to 160 people. It will be surrounded by glass railings on three sides with an eight-foot wall or fence buffering the south side of the rooftop.
“This is going to be very exciting not only for Fifth Avenue, but for the entire downtown of Royal Oak,” Yezbick told city leaders during an April 11 planning commission meeting. “What we found coming out of COVID, even though Royal Oak is still the king of downtown entertainment, we just don’t have the same energy downtown on the weekends. Not the same number of party buses and people coming down. It’s much better, but not like it was pre-COVID.
“So we just thought that, although this is a significant investment, it’s just time to take it to the next level,” he added.
Fifth Avenue offers strip steak, Bourbon salmon, penne carbonara, fettuccine alfredo, burgers, wraps, pizza and wings, among other food items. It’s drink menu includes cocktails and over 30 beers on tap.
The deck up top will have a full bar and kitchen menu with firepits and a DJ booth. Owners envision it as a swankier atmosphere than the dance lounge and sports bar on the floors below. They say it’ll be designed for an adult crowd looking to enjoy good conversation over food and craft cocktails.
“This third level, that will give you a different level of opportunity,” said planning commissioner Jim Ellison, who did four terms as the city’s longest-serving mayor before becoming a state rep in 2016. “It’s a more laid-back crowd. It’s not a crowd that’s going to stand up there and do a lot of dancing and craziness. They want to sit at a nice quiet place, look over the outside balcony and take advantage of a rooftop café.”
