The fast-casual burger spot that built a cult following out of a converted Ferndale insurance office is heading to the Grosse Pointe suburbs with its first-ever sit-down dining room. Four Man Ladder Hospitality announced on Sunday that Little Ghost will open a second location at 20567 Mack Ave. in Grosse Pointe Woods, with doors expected to open in early 2027.
The announcement came via a news release from the company, as reported by the Detroit Free Press. The new spot will offer both dine-in and take-out options, a notable shift for a brand that opened in August 2025 as a walk-up window operation squeezed into a converted insurance office at 22305 Woodward Avenue, according to ClickOnDetroit. Menu additions at the new location will reportedly include milkshakes, per the Free Press report.
The Grosse Pointe Woods building marks a dramatic jump in scale for the brand. Per real estate listing materials from Landmark Commercial Real Estate Services, the freestanding corner building spans 2,295 square feet — more than double the size of the under-1,000-square-foot Ferndale original — and previously housed a nail salon at the corner of Mack Avenue and Lennon Street. That extra space is what will finally allow Little Ghost to seat customers instead of sending everyone home with a bag.
From Nail Salon to Burger Destination on Mack Avenue
The Mack Avenue corridor where the new restaurant is landing is one of the busiest suburban retail strips on Detroit's east side, located roughly 10 miles northeast of downtown and serving all five contiguous Grosse Pointe communities, according to the same Landmark listing materials. High traffic visibility along that stretch puts Little Ghost within easy reach of Eastside Detroit suburbs that haven't previously had access to the brand's menu.
That menu centers on a smash burger built from two quarter-pound beef patties, American cheese, iceberg lettuce, and a house-made dill-mayonnaise the restaurant calls ghost sauce, alongside Nashville hot chicken sandwiches and hot dogs, as detailed by the Detroit Metro Times. The burger recipe didn't start at Little Ghost at all — it was a fan favorite at the group's flagship restaurant long before it got its own storefront.
A Prohibition-Era Name Behind the Burger
That flagship is Grey Ghost Detroit, which opened in July 2016 on Watson Street in Brush Park and was named after a Prohibition-era rum runner who once worked the Detroit River, Hoodline has previously reported. Four Man Ladder Hospitality was founded by chefs John Vermiglio and Joe Giacomino alongside beverage director Will Lee and partner Michael Gray, according to MI Foodie Adventures. The group has steadily built out its Detroit footprint since Grey Ghost's debut, opening the Midtown bar Second Best in 2018 and the Japanese-inspired Robata grill restaurant Basan inside the restored Eddystone building in November 2022, per ClickOnDetroit's coverage of the Olympia Development partnership near Little Caesars Arena.
Little Ghost's Ferndale debut in August 2025 marked the group's first venture outside Detroit city limits, according to Ferndale Radio, making the upcoming Grosse Pointe Woods restaurant its second suburban bet. The timing suggests the company isn't slowing down: just months after opening, Little Ghost landed national recognition that likely only sped up those expansion plans.
National Recognition Preceded the Expansion News
In June, USA Today named Little Ghost in Ferndale the sole Michigan entry on its list of the 15 best burgers in America worth a road trip, according to WGRD. The ranking landed less than a year after the restaurant first opened its windows to customers. Sunday's announcement of the Grosse Pointe Woods site, detailed by Detroit Free Press reporter Clara Hendrickson, came just a few months after that national nod, giving Four Man Ladder fresh momentum heading into its next suburban rollout.
