Restaurateur Cameron Mitchell on Birmingham’s soon-to-open Big Rock Italian Chophouse
Posted By: Detroit News on June 19, 2025. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
An ambitious and luxurious dining destination is getting its final touches in Birmingham ahead of the July 15 opening.
Big Rock Italian Chophouse is an 11,000-square-foot property at 245 S. Eton east of Woodward. In 2023, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants LLC announced it had teamed up with investor partners Tom Celani and Dario Bergamo to revamp Big Rock Chophouse in Birmingham. Transformed from a train station to a restaurant in the 1980s, it closed at the end of 2021 after a nearly 40-year run.
Now, a management team is in place, and the expansive property — which includes a 360-seat, 7,718-square-foot upscale Italian steakhouse, a very high-end cigar club, and a second-floor space called the Annex — is ready to welcome guests.
“People really won’t recognize it inside,” Mitchell told The Detroit News, adding that the Columbus, Ohio-based restaurateur considers the Metro Detroit area like a second home and has opened many restaurants here. Ocean Prime in Troy is part of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants.
“I’ve been up there quite a bit,” he says. “I’ve always had interest and a fascination with (Big Rock) and I like the iconic nature of the building itself, the old train station, the history and all that combined.”
Mitchell said the property, which sits east of Woodward and was once a Grand Trunk Railway Station, needed work. When the project was announced in 2023, they estimated the investment would be $10 million, but Mitchell said he and his partners ended up spending $12 and a half million. Mitchell said it is the private cigar club at Big Rock Italian Chophouse that’s going to set it apart from other Italian restaurants and other steakhouses in the area.
“That kind of made the difference to justify the huge cost to reopen it. We’ll have 80 seats upstairs in the Big Rock Cigar Club and then 280 seats downstairs. So big a restaurant, iconic. It’s going to be a brand new restaurant,” he said.
The private club gives members access to a personal concierge, exclusive lockers, guaranteed reservations, preferred reservations at other CMR locations nationwide and access to a separate lounge and cigar bar, other luxury amenities and special events not open to the public.
The look is a mix of modern and historic charm with new multiple fireplaces, chandeliers, contemporary booths, preserved historical design elements and hand-painted brickwork.
Of the main dining area, not only is the space big, but the menu will be extensive as well. Chris Mayer is the executive chef. He comes to Big Rock from Ocean Prime and more than two decades of experience.
“It’s going to be about 85 items, but it’s the best of both worlds,” said Mitchell. The menu is still being finalized on but it’s expected to have steakhouse classics and items one would expect at an upscale Italian restaurant. “You can go in there and have an Italian dinner without touching a steak or you can have a great steakhouse dinner, too. It’s an incredible menu. I get excited just reading about it. I imagine myself as a guest in there. I would just want to come back again and again because there are so many things.”
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants are known for being hospitality forward and having a good relationship with staff members with a “people first” culture for both staff and guests.
Along with executive chef Mayer, Big Rock Italian Chophouse’s leadership team is rounded out by general manager Steve Hermiz, a Roseville native who has opened the Ocean Prime locations in New York and Las Vegas. Sue Simich will be the sales manager and guest concierge, managing private events, guest relations and more, including exclusive services for the VIPs at the Rock Cigar Club.
“I hope this is an iconic Detroit for the next 30 years,” he said. “It’s a nod to Detroit, to our second home market. I can’t stress enough about how excited I am.”
Big Rock Italian Chophouse will open July 15 at 325 S. Eton in Birmingham. Call (248) 275-0888 or visit bigrockitalianchophouse.com.
« Back to Insights