Angelina's is a good Italian place right behind the Opera House. Also, Small Plates is kind of fun. Reservations needed for either before or after the opera. Also, Greektown is a good choice, gives a little local flavor to your trip. If you want a fancy meal, you can go to Roast in the Book Cadillac Hotel. Also, Texas de Brazil has recently opened on Woodward less than 1 mile from the Opera House.

I'll think of some other places and get back to you.

The People Mover is fun. I'll ask a family member that lives right by the casino about taxi's, etc. I am not sure there is anywhere to eat right around the casino, other than in it.

I agree with ginger50. Greektown is a great place for more reasonably priced meals. Pegasus is good or Pizza Papalis for deep dish pizza.

As for transportation, I would suggest taking a cab from Motor City directly to the Opera House. Cabs would be more plentiful at the Opera House than at a People Move station. With the exception of Greektown, Grand Circus Park and Broadway, most of the People Mover Stations are in office building areas. There is not much around them in the evenings or weekends. If you would like to see a bird's eye view of downtown Detroit, a ride around the entire route of the People Mover (approximately 2 miles) would be fun. I would not suggest walking between the Time Square and Broadway stations.

Since we are the Motor City, sometimes public transportation can be a bit scarce. You may want to ask at the hotel for options. I live in a suburb of Detroit so I have never had to get a cab in downtown.

If you have time, checkout Inside Detroit. They have many tours of the Detroit area that are really nice, even to people that have lived in the area their whole lives.