ZANA Birmingham Michigan

What ZANA is

ZANA sits on South Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham, and it is a modern restaurant that happens to take steak seriously rather than a chophouse in the traditional sense.

The name comes from Albanian folklore — a zana is a fairy of the mountains. It is run by the Tallulah Group, and the kitchen states that its ingredients are sourced with sustainability as the organizing principle.

The steaks

The board is short and deliberate. The 8oz filet mignon comes with pommes purée, carrots and a creamy zip sauce — a lighter, emulsified take on the Detroit butter sauce, and a nice signal that a contemporary Birmingham kitchen is still claiming the local tradition.

The steak frites is unusually generous: a full 16oz New York strip with hand-cut fries, garlic aioli and chimichurri. Most steak frites hides a small hanger or flat iron, so a 16oz strip is the value order on the menu.

A tomahawk at market price rounds it out, served with cognac-flamed potatoes, herb butter and charred onions.

ZANA does not publish grade or aging information on its cuts, so SteakMap makes no claim about either.

Menu prices

From ZANA’s dinner menu: steak frites with 16oz New York strip $68, filet mignon 8oz $54, tomahawk at market price.

Birmingham has a real cluster of steak within a few blocks — read the guide to the best steakhouses in Michigan.