About Us

Fairfield and Vicki Butler first got into the restaurant business in 1956 with a full-service diner called Loretta’s located near 8 Mile and Wyoming. At that time Mr. Butler was a juke box and tv repairman and not involved in the restaurant day to day. After about a year, the Butler’s decided to close Loretta’s because it was too much of a strain for Vicki to manage it alone.

With renewed energy and optimism, in early 1958, the Butlers reopened Loretta’s at West Warren and 24th street. By this time, Fairfield decided to dedicate all of his time to the restaurant and run it alongside his wife. Also, this time the Butler children got involved in the business as well. Loretta’s was well received; however, the Butlers were wanting to try something new. Later that year the couple opened “Vicki’s Shrimp Hut” offering secret recipe fried shrimp and grilled chicken in a building on West Warren near West Grand Boulevard.

Oddly enough, another shrimp upstart called Dot and Ettas Shrimp Shack opened up in the same building as Vicki’s. The restaurants co-existed for a while when Dot and Ettas moved to a new location across the street and Vicki’s moved to a new location down the same block. Still within eyeshot of each other and still serving a nearly identical menu, the Butlers added pork spareribs to the menu in 1964 and Vicki’s Bar-B-Q was born.

As people began to discover the tasty charcoal grilled ribs and the fact that Vicki’s was now more than just a shrimp and chicken restaurant, Vicki’s quickly became a favorite with their own niche. Steadily, business began to grow, but something was still missing. One day, a customer walked in to Vicki’s and asked to speak to the owners. The customer told both Vicki and Fairfield that she loved Vicki’s ribs cooked on the charcoal pit, but did not at all like the sauce. She offered to show the Butlers her family BBQ sauce recipe and the Butlers agreed. After some tweaking, Vicki’s famous sweet tomato and vinegar-based sauce was born.

By 1965, Vicki’s Bar-B-Q Sauce became so popular they began to bottle it and sell it at all the local A&P grocery stores. Between 1965 and 1968 Vicki’s had their own line of bar-b-q sauce, vinegar, tomato paste, and hot sauce. Faced with the social climate in Detroit in 1968, the eventual riots and growing racial division, The Butlers decided to eliminate the retail products and focus solely on the restaurant.

In 1973, the Butlers wanted a change of pace and to get away from the social ills of that time, so they moved to Guadalajara, Mexico. Their oldest son, Dennis stepped in to run the business from 1973 to 1977. The Butlers returned to manage it again from 1977 to 1985. It is in 1985 that Dennis took over full time and the elder Butlers retired. Dennis operated Vicki’s Bar-B-Q until December 2020.

Over the years, Vicki’s has had many notable visitors, customers, and fans. Vicki’s was featured in 2013 in Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown”. The original taping got cut from the first airing of the Detroit episode but was later featured on a “Parts Unknown Revisited” as Detroit accelerated its renaissance in the national eye.

In addition to all types of local politicians and business leaders, Vicki’s is also a hometown favorite of recording artist KEM. Vicki’s has fed the likes of Aretha Franklin, Tommy Hearns, Emanuel Steward, and Detroit-born soul singer Johnnie Taylor. The story goes that Mr. Taylor would send his sister for Vicki’s and she would arrive in a Rolls Royce and ask for curbside service. If she only knew!!

Now under the leadership of longtime Detroit restauranteur & caterer Barry Winfree, Vicki’s is committed to keeping all the recipes sacred and preserving the rich history of this iconic Detroit original.