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The Flaming Embers thread got me thinking about lunch spots back in the late 60's when I worked retail Downtown. Generally I'd partake of my noon meal at Howard Johnson's [[a clam roll and coffee), although occasionally I'd go to The Mayflower.
If you worked downtown, where did you eat, or did you brown bag?
The Downtown Bar on Lafayette, across the street from the two Coneys. Good burger at a good price.
I worked in the First National Building. Mostly I would brown bag, as I was between there and Wayne State every day. But on my full days, there was a cafeteria in the basement of the Penobscot Building that we would go to once in awhile. I can't remember the name of it but it was popular. I liked to get breakfast at Shapiro's lunch counter on the first floor of the First National Building [["Special Basted," or "Special Scrambled," the waitress would sing out to the cook as she took orders.
Couldn't go wrong with a burger and fries and the Lindell AC - or a quick run across Grand Circus Park to go to Chin Tiki's when you worked at the Book Building like I did.
Was the name Schnelli's Deli? I think that was the name. Everybody ate there. Great corned beef.
When I worked downtown, I always brown bagged. We played endless rounds of Euchre during the lunch hour.
Earlier when i would go downtown shopping with my mother, our standard spot was the cafeteria at Hudson's [[4th floor??). I loved their egg salad sandwiches on whole wheat. Sometimes my mother would want to go to the mayflower [[elderly waitresses in pink dresses). We would always stop at Broadway Market to buy "lunch sticks" for Sunday breakfast. Once in a while we would eat at one of the booths in the Broadway Market. Did it burn down in 1961?
At Michigan Ave. and Cass there was a little bar [[hope someone can remember the name) between Nick's and Lindell's that had a great little steak and salad lunch. Nick's before it was displaced by the people mover was great, never the same after it moved. The building where Gail's Office supplies was located had a great cafeteria in the lower level back in the 80s and early 90s. Is it still there? And of course Hudson's had a brown bag lunch from their deli you could grab after doing a bit of shopping. For a short time Niki's from Greektown had a small location at Michigan Ave. and Washington Ave. I still think it had the best cheese and pepperoni pizza ever. Wow the memories that come back. Even the Detroit Edison building had a great restaurant for awhile back in the 80s. Those were the days.
Are you talking about Nick's Gaslight Lounge? Since I first noticed it a few years back I always wondered if it is still open. They have a rather eye-catching mural.
My favorites back in the early 70's:
The restaurant at the top of Hudson's,
Jim's Garage,
The Money Tree
Wasn't there a cafeteria called Greenfield's on Woodward that a lot of people ate lunch at? Also, I remember the Sanders basement cafeteria on trips downtown for shopping.
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Originally Posted by kryptonite
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Originally Posted by jcole
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I remember the Ham Places on Cadillac Square and Grand Circus.
Schnelli had several delis, one next to Crowleys on Woodward near the Amshack, one at Warren and Woodward, and one in People's Outfitters Building are the ones I was to.
BTW, Gail's was next door to Silver's, where the cafe was in the basement. Had several names including Britt's.
The downtown Greenfield's was on Griswold, in the block south of the David Stott Building. There was a huge Greenfield's on Woodward further up between Temple and Charlotte. That building is now the Vietnam Veteran's center. The whole chain died sometime in the mid '70s
Greenfield's at one time also ran the cafeteria in the basement of the City-County Building, but by the time I worked there in the early '80s it was run by some pretty awful city food contractor. I used to grab a quick breakfast there sometimes, but the only really decent thing to eat was the grits.
The cafeteria in the basement of the Penobscot Building was the Colonnade. There was also another Colonnade in the basement of the First Federal Building. I used to go there a lot. Nice ladies behind the counter, good food if you tended towards the soul food-ish side of the offerings, and some killer pie [[I still remember the rhubarb...).
Other places I ate a lot when I worked at City-County was Gus's Coney on Woodward, Ham Heaven, and the Checker Bar [[shhhh... don't tell anybody).
YES! The Colonnade, thank you! Sometimes I would just have pie for lunch. Yum!
We had an elevator guy at the City-County Building who walked up to Broadway every day to eat at Lefkovsky's, which was still then in the Broadway Market building between Gratiot and E. Grand River [[they later moved into the Madison Theater building before fading away). My sister worked there for awhile while she was at Cass Tech.
The Lefkovskys had been running the place since my grandparents' day [[my grandmother used to get trays from them for parties) and it was really the best deli downtown. It began as just a sandwich stand in the back of the original Broadway Market [[which was an actual multi-vendor market, like Gratiot Central) to feed the many Jewish vendors and workers there.
Every day when we were on our way down for lunch the elevator guy would ask us where we were thinking of going, and then he'd say "I'm going for corned beef!! Ya'll should go get some of that gooood corned beef up on Broadway!!"
For a quick run down to Michigan Ave - we'd grab a quick lunch at "Charlie's Chicken" - which was probably the pre-cursor to KFC. I take some when I'd go visit my Great Aunt who lived on 17th Street off Michigan. Nice lunch hour - her house is still the only one standing on 17th across from the park by the train station.
Lefkovsky's was also in the lobby of the Book Building.
My father ate a couple of days a week for many years at Esther Michael's fabulous Sheik restaurant, which was in an ancient house on Lafayette between Randolph and Brush. He also ate often at the long gone, but still lamented, International restaurant in Greektown, and at the old, but still operating, Jacoby's.
EastsideAl, do you remember when The Sheikh renovated? They removed ugly old metal siding which exposed a pretty, old brick victorian home, then they stuccoed it all up nice and ugly again. What a shame, the brick victorian was an attractive place.
Yes, my father and others tried to talk Esther into keeping the brick uncovered. But she just didn't want to deal with the cost and potential headaches of repointing, maintenance, etc. Guess the stucco salesman did a better job.
Of course the house was torn down anyway a few years later for a "big project" that turned out to be a surface parking lot.
I worked at NBD and we usually ate in the cafeteria. After lunch, we'd either play pinochle or pitch quarters on the bank steps down by the Congress St. end of the building. On Friday's, we'd sometimes go to the Checker Bar for cheeseburgers. The big days where when we were entertaining a client because then it was usually at the Caucus Club downstairs in the Penobscot Bldg, where we'd all have Bloody Bulls [[a Bloody Mary with 1/2 beef bouillon) and the dover sole. There usually wasn't much work done those afternoons.
Wasn't there a little diner in Times Square around 1988-1989? I left my prescription sunglasses there once.
I loved the Downtown Bar. Even if they did have the world's most uneven pool table. Used to go there before/after hockey games, basketball games, and concerts.Quote:
Originally Posted by GPCharles
Speaking of bars and burgers, anyone else remember the Mayfield on Griswold just north of Capital Park? It was a big favorite of my grandparents and my grandfather used to meet my grandmother there on Fridays after she got off work at Hudson's I was dragged in there several times as a kid by them and fed enormous juicy burgers.
Always loved Britt's cafeteria, in Silver's ...
Greenfield's was up on Woodward, on the west side of the street. It's now the Vietnam Vets HQ...
On my way to work in Rivertown I used to love picking up a slice at that one pizza place on Jefferson. What was it called?
Didn't Greenfield's also have a really nice place out somewhere around Woodward and 15 mile?Quote:
Originally Posted by pffft
I worked at University of Detroit School of Law from 1973-1996--here are my favorite lunch spots:
Cheap: REnaissance Deli--made sandwiches, subs and pizza. It was a dump, but it was near by, and they made decent sandwiches; Brothers Soul Food [[corner Jefferson & St. Antoine); Chin Tiki, they used to have a lunch buffet that was a couple of dollars; Ham Heaven,
Not so Cheap: Joe Muer's [[pretty much my absolute fav), Schweitzers, Ponchatrain Hotel--used to have a soup and salad bar.
I do have a few of theseQuote:
Originally Posted by 9936Sussex
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Yes there was a Birmingham Greenfield's, I remember it being in the "island" between Hunter and Woodward, but that's a childhood memory...
Zitro: I collect match books too. I have all those also!
A couple of places that I went for dinner: Little Harry's, Top of the Ponch, Ponchatrain Winesellers, La Marmite. Yummers!
Hey, maybe somebody should tear down the IHOP and build a New Little Harry's...
I've mentioned them before, but few seem to remember the Quickee Cafeterias or Luigi's.
Jim's and The Money Tree were a little too hoity-toity but I went just to say I'd been. There was also a little hole in the wall bar & grille on the east side of Woodward south of Lafayette; can't remember the name of it..
Anybody remember the Rocking Chair Buttery on Randolph next to the county building? Talk about butter burgers, they used 2x as much butter on their burgers than Culver's.
The Buhl Cafe in the Buhl Bldg was a real 'big city' atmosphere in the heart of the financial district. Great whitefish and perch, the Maurice Salad, and generous pour's on the cocktails.
The Sheik, Jacoby's [[when Ed Jacoby still owned it) The Kings Table [[[[First Natl Bldg) and Nicholson's on Woodward. One of the last old style haunts, Greenwich Time, on Cadillac Square still does homemade soups, great burgers and probably the best house made chicken salad and potato salad. They still cook up chicken breasts for the salad. I drive downtown to do bi weekly carry outs of the chicken and potato salads. The pot roast at Bea Evan's 500 Club on Larned was home cooking at it's best. The little French bistro in the dark basement, La Marmite was probably the best "new spot' in the 80's but who could ever forget the Pontchatrain Wine Cellars... often imitated but never matched in quality, service, atmosphere or consistancy. On the north end of downtown, the Mayfield Chop House was vintage 1920's decor and decent prime rib. Does anyone remember the other 'chop house' that was on Grand River between Times Square and Washington Blvd [[where Trolley Plaza was built) ??? And finally the Cedar's...on Columbia right behind the Fox Theatre stagehouse.
I guess the place I'm thinking of is either Foran's or Maverick's, or whatever was in one of those two locations in the mid-90s.
When I was going to Cass Tech, 1963-66, I remember going to lunch downtown at the Automat. The place had your food behind the little clear plastic doors, like the ones in modern vending machines today. You would put your money in the one you wanted and the door would open. You could get anything you wanted. It was a new idea at the time but it didn’t last long. I don’t remember where it was, maybe there was more then one. Anyone know?
During the early 80s I usually drank lunch at Sinbad's, Little Harry's, Carl's Chop House or Joe Muir's. If there was no booze involved [[rare occurrence) Brothers Barbecue [[with Jeanne's Sauce of the Islands) was a favorite.
I often went to lunch with my older sisters, who worked downtown. I remember going to Flaming Embers, Ham Heaven, Colonnade Cafeteria, the Money Tree and [[later) The Blue Nile in Trappers Alley.
I have a fond memory from Chin Tiki. My sisters took me there for my 12th birthday. I had the sweet and sour pork and a Shirley Temple. When I think about how much sugar had to be in that combo, I have to remind myself that I was 12! :)
Worked at the David Stott Bldg. in 1969, and One Woodward 1970-71. Used to do Checkers often, sometimes Jim's Garage, Top of the Pontch or Flame, & Schweitzers if a liquid lunch was the order of the day.
Of course then as now, Lafayette & American Coneys have been there forever.
I've got two questions about restaurants, both slightly out of the tread subject. Back in the '60's there was a very fancy restaurant at the top of the Mich Con Gas Bldg at the foot of Woodward. It was called The Top of the Flame. As a high school student, I could never afford it, but my brother worked there for a while. Also, on Woodward up around the Blvd, or slightly north, there was a nice little restaurant on the East side of the street. If I remember right, it was by an old Victorian house that sold pianos and organs.
I haven't lived in the area since the late '60's so does anybody remember these two eateries?
Mexican at Cadena's, Franks Bar for a Frank burger, club sandwich at The Bull Market, tuna sandwiches and ice tea at Shapiro's, soup and salad at Quickie's.
Look at the post just above yours. I used to work at One Woodward....celebrated my 21st birthday at Top of the Flame. The guy looked at me funny when I gave him my ID for a free 21 drink...because I had been drinking in there for months with phoney ID. I worked in the floors below.Quote:
Originally Posted by rodj44137
Would be Smiley Bros. Piano & Organs place up Woodward Ave probably....old Col. Hecker's house?
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Not visualizing restaurant at the moment.
Cass 66, the Automat was on Grand Circus Park around the corner from Flaming Embers. I ate there a time or two myself. I think it closed in the early 70s.
There was a little restaurant just north of the Museum of Art across from old Art Centre Hospital. I think it was called Cappy's. Mostly a lunch spot, IIRC, but good.Quote:
Originally Posted by mikefmich
Edit: It was also about a block south of Smiley Bros/Law office Victorian house.
The restaurant next to Smiley Brothers, could it be either Z's or Mr. Mike's? I think Barbara Streisand sang at Mr. Mike's very early in her career.
Quickee's was famous for their great donuts, malts & shakes as well as their home cooked cafeteria style meals.Quote:
Originally Posted by Meddle
Many Cass Tech students hung out there and I believe there were 6 downtown locations. All very profitable.
I'm pretty sure there was more than one Automat. I mentioned those before too, but nobody remembered them at the time.
At least now I know I wasn't totally nuts.
I remember Qwikee Donuts, too. Just the donuts part, though you could order food too.
Barbra Streisand sang at the Caucus Club early in her career.Quote:
Originally Posted by gazhekwe
Automats were very popular on the east coast, and particularly in New York, for several decades. Going to the automat was one of the "exotic" things we almost always did when visiting my cousins in NYC. I honestly never knew that Detroit had one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cass1966
On the history of automats:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_&_Hardart
http://www.theautomat.net/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...ect_aug01.html
After school time during my Cass years, or years spent hanging around people who went to Cass, was passed at the Quickie Donuts on the south side of Capitol Park [[until we were banned, that is). Always had an order of french fries with extra salt poured on, a coke, and a chocolate frosted donut. Ahhhh youth...
My memory of the area really only goes back to the mid to late '60s, but if you're thinking of a nice restaurant north of the Smiley Bros. piano store [[in the old Hecker mansion) then you're probably thinking of Mr. Mike's. If it was actually north of the Boulevard [[which is quite a ways past the Hecker house) then you may be thinking of Lelli's.Quote:
Originally Posted by rodj44137
Cappy's was in the Park Shelton hotel & apartments. Folks I knew who worked at the DIA used to eat there every day. Nice friendly little lunch counter kind of place. I remember some really good soup.Quote:
Originally Posted by jcole44137
Speaking of lunch counters, there was once a Toddle House just north of the Hecker house too. Pecan waffles!!
I used to work at the Money Tree. Waited on Carmen Harlan and few other notables. Used to have this lawyer [[can't remember his name now) that would always take his dress shirt and wanted his water with a small plate of cut lemons. Very eccentric.
Are you thinking of Dick's Deli? It was on Bagley between Grand River & Clifford.Quote:
Originally Posted by Detroitnerd
Was Carmen as nice to you as she is on TV?Quote:
Originally Posted by Islandman