Best Eggplant Parm in Detroit, MI

Eggplant parm in Detroit, MI: our top picks

Detroit’s Italian story starts east of downtown. Around 1900, immigrants from Genoa, Lombardy and Sicily settled around Eastern Market and the blocks east of today’s Greektown, and the community’s center grew up along Gratiot Avenue. By the 1950s families were dispersing, some up Gratiot into Macomb County, others west toward Dearborn, and today Italian Detroit has no single neighborhood to call its own.

A few long-running rooms anchor the west side of the map. Giovanni’s Ristorante, on South Oakwood Boulevard in far southwest Detroit, started in 1968 as Giovanni’s Pizza Parlor; the Cannarsa family, who named it for their immigrant father and grandfather, turned it into an elegant dining room whose lore includes Frank Sinatra. A few miles west on Dix Avenue in Dearborn, Roman Village has been run by the Rugiero family since Antonio Rugiero bought what was then Joe’s Pizzeria in 1964. Then there’s El Barzon on Junction Street near Mexicantown, where chef Norberto Garita, who grew up in Puebla, serves mole poblano alongside Italian pastas; the pairing makes sense once you know he spent eight years cooking Italian at Il Posto in Southfield before opening his own place.

Closer in, Rocco’s Italian Deli has been building subs on Cass Avenue since 2018, when Gabe and Jeff Guido and Kyle Mrkva opened it as a modern take on the old-time delicatessen. On the east side, Salvatore Scallopini, a small local chain, has a location on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Woods.

1. Rocco's Italian Deli (Detroit) — Parm Score 76. Eggplant parm comes up in 1 of the recent Google reviews we sampled, and the tone is positive. 4.8 on Google across 999 reviews.
2. Giovanni's Ristorante (Detroit) — Parm Score 72. Eggplant parm is on the restaurant’s own menu (checked November 2026). 4.7 on Google across 1,413 reviews.
3. Roman Village Cucina Italiana (Dearborn) — Parm Score 71. Eggplant parm is on the restaurant’s own menu (checked November 2026). 4.6 on Google across 3,532 reviews.

We ranked 5 restaurants within 10 miles of Detroit, MI. 5 of them have the parm confirmed, by reviewers or on their own menu, and Parm Scores run from 69 to 76. Only places where reviews or the menu confirm the eggplant parm are listed. How Parm Score works.

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