Vinsetta Garage to Re-Open -- As a Restaurant

[Packman41]

Crain's Detroit Business is reporting that the Vinsetta Garage has been bought and will reopen as a restaurant after it gets rezoning/planning approval from the City of Berkley.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...UB01/308149981

Excerpts are below:

Expect the outside to look the same for the Vinsetta Garage restaurant, but the interior will be gutted, said Curt Catallo, leading the effort to create the restaurant.

"Its days as a garage are over," he said. "A restaurant is a great way to preserve a building and a legacy, and give it a new use and value for the community."

Catallo isn't new to restaurants; he's run the Clarkston Union Bar & Kitchen in Clarkston since 1995 and the Union Woodshop barbecue restaurant, also in Clarkston.

A 50-50 investor in the business with Catallo is KC Crain, vice president and group publisher with Detroit-based Crain Communications Inc., parent company of Crain's Detroit Business.

Crain, an auto enthusiast and publisher of the sports car magazine Autoweek, said it's crucial to preserve the building's auto heritage as much as possible.

"This is a historic landmark," Crain said. "Both of us are excited about keeping this alive and preserving the history."

[Kathleen]

Brilliant idea!!! I hope that they can put together something with the right amount of theme and some great food and drink. I definitely would welcome such a restaurant on Woodward.

[Bigb23]

I'm sure that will be a big draw for the Dream Cruise !

Attachment 10426


Autoweek.com

[CountrySquire]

Wonder about parking? No real capacity there now.

[Danny]

I went to the Vinsetta Garage. It's only one on Oakland County that is a preserved Art Deco gas station lined with early 1930s gas pumps. Those pumps don't work anymore, but it make a great decoration. It's a pity that the owners have to shut it down but a restuarant to preserve its exterior will make a great impression for the Woodward Dream Cruise.

[JBMcB]

It worked for these guys:

[rjlj]

Wonder about parking? No real capacity there now.

So you are saying you have performed the parking study for this project already and came to this conclusion? What is the love affair with people in this city and parking lots? The two terms that need to be banned on this forum are "parking" and "skippers rule."

Regardless, the concept sounds great and the team behind the project sounds solid with a proven track record. Best of all, it will not be a theme restaurant.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011081...xt|FRONTPAGE|s

[gnome]

I'd like to see the Valets attired in Texaco Service Star uniforms and the waitresses in either poodle skirts or vintage Roller Derby short-shorts.

What should they call their menu items? The twin-fin fish sandwich: the Harley Earl or the Dagmar ?

[gnome]

By the way, the google street view pix look like they ran on the Woodward Cruise.

[Thruster315]

Wonder about parking? No real capacity there now.

What in the world are you talking about? Where do you think they stored the cars they were working on when it was a working garage? There's a huge fenced in lot just south of the building as large as the building itself! And there's also a back alley which had a few spots that was also used by Jack Marwil and the crew. Tack on the few parallel spots along the garage, some down the residential streets if need be and I'd say there is plenty of parking for a restaurant the size of the Vinsetta Garage.

And even in over flow, God forbid that one has to park a block south at the Westborn Market's massive lot.

[CountrySquire]

"So you are saying you have performed the parking study for this project...."

Yah I guess I did if you call using plain old common sense "a study". Having capacity for customer's vehicles waiting for repair is totally different than having capacity for a hip night spot if that's the final intent. Just think about it... how many car's could you fit into a building vs. how many human bodies that drive cars? Maybe it's just me but if a venue is a pain in the ass to park at like most are in Royal Oak; that influences my decison to patronize it.

Real estate being what it is though I am sure a nearby property owner would gladly give up their plot for a parking lot if need be.

I guess it would have to depend on what type of establishment this is and what hours they intend to keep. If they plan to make this a high end place with ten tables then they could manage with what they have.

[gazhekwe]

I had the same thought about parking. Looking at the pix of the inside of the building, it looks like it has a lot of diner capacity. Driving by the place on Woodward, parking for the building is not obvious. There is a smallish side lot and maybe some room on opposite side on the strip next to the street. Considering the state of public transit in the city and 'burbs [[we don't all live near Woodward), parking is a strong consideration for a restaurant. Sure, I don't mind walking a bit, but will the neighbors start resenting people parking in front of their houses? Duggan's is similarly situated and they seem to do all right, but there are neighbor complaints.

[Bigb23]

It worked for these guys:

"Quaker Steak and Lube" The lube probably came from the Onion rings. Great concept though.

Too bad our "Race Rock Cafe" from back in the day headed for warmer climes.

[Thruster315]

"So you are saying you have performed the parking study for this project...."

Yah I guess I did if you call using plain old common sense "a study". Having capacity for customer's vehicles waiting for repair is totally different than having capacity for a hip night spot if that's the final intent. Just think about it... how many car's could you fit into a building vs. how many human bodies that drive cars? Maybe it's just me but if a venue is a pain in the ass to park at like most are in Royal Oak; that influences my decison to patronize it.

Real estate being what it is though I am sure a nearby property owner would gladly give up their plot for a parking lot if need be.

I guess it would have to depend on what type of establishment this is and what hours they intend to keep. If they plan to make this a high end place with ten tables then they could manage with what they have.

I would also add that the interior space of the garage has now has got to accommodate a fully functional kitchen now that it didn't before when it was a repair facility. And bathrooms for the patrons as opposed to the dinky little spaces that the mechanics used? I'd like to think that there would be a little more space dedicated to that.

So it's not like they just gutted the space inside the building and configured the amount of table & people space square foot for square foot. It's literally a transformation of the space from one form of business to another. Even as a working garage, the Vinsetta was never a huge space to begin with. I can't see it being a massive dining establishment to begin with.

Google map the location and tell me that their parking lot adjacent to it could accommodate the amount of patrons you think that place will serve.

[adamjab19]

Living a block away from this place there has been constant work since the mechanic's have left. New roof, repaving of the side lot [[which I can't imagine fitting more than 10-15 cars), removal of pumps, and a whole lot of people taking pictures of their cars in front of the garage doors. From the street it doesn't look all that big from the outside but the few times I looked in it was pretty cavernous.

Not sure what they are going to do about parking. It seems they could use more spots but many restaurants have less parking and do just fine. Maybe they will valet into the northpointe lot, which would be a pain with all of the turn arounds and lights they would have to go through? The westborn lot is big but basically filled throughout the day.

Also Margarita's is closed now so I wonder what that space will be turned into if it is even for sale/rent.

[douglasm]

Gnome....
......I like your idea, except that it was a Shell station, wasn't it?

[Fury13]

What should they call their menu items? The twin-fin fish sandwich: the Harley Earl or the Dagmar ?

I'd vote for either the "Forward Look" or the "Ex" [[Virgil Exner's nickname). Chrysler out-finned GM in the '50s.

[Packman41]

The FREEP has now picked up on the story:
http://www.freep.com/article/2011081...ome-restaurant

"It won't be Sha Na Na. There won't be black-and-white checker floors and servers on roller skates."
The menu will offer some of the hearty, casual dishes served at Catallo's two other restaurants, the Clarkston Union and Union Woodshop, both in Clarkston. But the Garage won't duplicate either place.

The Clarkston Union's well-known macaroni and cheese will be "the cornerstone" of the Garage's menu, he says, and the Union Woodshop's wood-fired pizzas will also be featured. So far there are no plans to offer the Woodshop's signature barbecued meats, although there will likely be a steak with hand-cut fries.

[buckster1986]

I hope they put windows back in the front under the "Vinsetta garage" Signs and new pumps. Getting rid of the painted brick would look good too.

[CLAUDE G]

The exterior of the building is what sells the place as a resturant people will want to go to. If they can serve half way decent food, people will continue to come back.

[313rd]

Would be similar to this place in Pittsburgh. The outdoor area around the pumps in also a seating area in the summer months.

[stromberg2]

Man, that would be cool if this place is similar to the Pittsburgh one!

Stromberg2

[Detroitnerd]

Worked in Albuquerque: http://www.standarddiner.com/photos.html

[Fury13]

I like what they did with the Standard Diner there.

I don't think I'd like to have a rusty truck on a lift above my table [[as in the place in Pittsburgh), dripping 50-year-old axle grease on my french fries.

[Detroitnerd]

What? No jokes about "Eat here. Get gas."?