Sing along with us: His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti. Eminem’s 2002 Oscar-winning hit, “Lose Yourself” isn’t really the most appetizing idea for a restaurant, but time heals all nausea.
According to The Detroit News, Eminem attended the grand opening of his new restaurant, Mom’s Spaghetti, last week and was welcomed by eager and hungry fans. The menu? “Mom’s Spaghetti available for $9; Mom’s Spaghetti with meatballs, $12; and the ‘Sghetti Sandwich, which is exactly what it sounds like, is $11,” the publication reports.
Moms spaghetti it’s alllllll ready Detroit! Come thru Wednesday info on the site – https://t.co/b49UQxAhnx pic.twitter.com/PsXgPqNXY2
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) September 28, 2021
Although Eminem’s new culinary venture doesn’t open until 4 p.m., fans of the Detroit-native started lining up seven hours earlier just to get a taste of the new spaghetti spot. The dishes, that were “conceptualized to taste like reheated day-old pasta” is explained by Curt Catallo, co-owner of Union Joints, who helps run Mom’s Spaghetti and other Detroit eateries. “It started as a crazy experiment,” he said. “It’s scratch sauce that’s designed to taste like it’s from a jar. It’s great pasta that we cook the night before, and reheat in a wok, like you’re reheating it on a stove the next day. We wanted to make the best leftover pasta ever, from scratch.”
eminem at the grand opening of his ‘mom’s spaghetti’ restaurant in detroit (photo credit: jeremy deputat) pic.twitter.com/AilN5Logbf
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) September 30, 2021
The restaurant takes this concept very seriously. “It’s nowhere near a gourmet item,” Mom’s Spaghetti cook Chris Springer explained. We had to redo the sauce a few times, because it was coming out tasting too fancy.” The interior has a similar vibe with “cloudy, scratched windows” and “candy, pop, potato chips and Bic lighters for sale and tagged with cheap-looking orange price stickers” lining the shelves. “There’s nothing accidental about the space, but everything has a cheeky undertone,” Catallo said.
We know what you’re asking. How’s the food, right? “It’s pretty good, I would say. They know what they’re doing in there,” said Derek Yeutich, who came in from Ohio. But for the fans of Eminem, the spaghetti was secondary to supporting one of their favorite artists with likeminded people. “I’m totally starstruck,” said Brendan Linden, who flew in from New York City and even managed to snap a selfie with Eminem. “It was really nice being around everybody who likes the same artist.” Spaghetti and vibes. That’s really all you can ask for.
