Eminem serves fans at opening of Mom’s Spaghetti restaurant in Detroit

DETROIT — Pasta lovers in Detroit were treated to a saucy surprise on Wednesday, as rapper Eminem dished out some of his special spaghetti to fans.

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Eminem’s new eatery, Mom’s Spaghetti, opened at 5 p.m. EDT. An hour before the doors opened, the first dozen fans -- who had been there since 10 a.m. -- were called to the serving window of the walk-up restaurant, The Detroit News reported. The lucky fans were treated to helpings of pasta served up by Slim Shady himself, who was not expected to be at the opening.

“This has been my dream my whole life,” Erin Farrer of Detroit, told the News. Farrer, 24, got to meet the singer and took a picture with him. Eminem autographed her container of Mom’s Spaghetti.

“I bawled my eyes out,” Farrer told the newspaper.

“He said, ‘It’s OK, it’s just spaghetti,’” Farrer told MLive.

Brendan Linden, who is from the Bronx, was also surprised to see Eminem, MLive reported.

“I came here in the hopes of meeting him. I didn’t think he was going to be here,” Linden told the website. “He shook my hand and I told him what he means to my life and how much his music has impacted me. He told me, ‘Thank you so much,’ and he gave me some food.”

The name of the restaurant has a history dating to 2002 as a reference to Eminem’s Oscar-winning “8 Mile” lyric in “Lose Yourself.”

The lyric is not appetizing. The menu offerings at Eminem’s restaurant, however, are tasty.

The menu at Mom’s Spaghetti is simple -- Mom’s Spaghetti ($9), Mom’s Spaghetti with meatballs ($12) and S’ghetti Sandwich ($11) along with water and soda, according to MLive. For a small additional charge, you can also get vegan meatballs.

Upstairs from the restaurant, The Trailer sells Mom’s Spaghetti merchandise, items from Eminem’s retail collection and memorabilia.

The project is a partnership with Union Joints Restaurant Group, co-owned by Curt Catallo; his wife, Ann Stevenson, and managing partner Erich Lines, the Detroit Free Press reported.

“The opportunity to build a permanent location based on an incredibly meta-reference was one that everyone at Union Joints, as a Metro Detroit restaurant group, took very seriously,” Catallo said in a news release. “We’re proud of the fact that we created a scratch sauce that tastes like it’s straight from the jar, and wok-firing the noodles gives it that leftover pasta snap.”

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