Honest John's, redux

[Gannon]

We stopped into Honest John's for some late breakfast today.

I'd given up on going there, because I'd heard too many stories of the previous owner banning people for no good reason...and I just didn't want to support him.

I heard a while ago that he sold the joint to a few of his employees, and was curious to see if the quality would survive...because they always had good employees and really great food.

I can happily say that this place is once again on our short list of top quality joints.

Breakfast was stellar...they have not lost their touch, using obviously high-quality ingredients deftly assembled into delights. Everyone had great food...


...but the best part was our waiter. She was prompt, engaging, attentive...enjoyable...and all around simply fantastic. We would go back just because of her.


So, YAY, new Honest John's owners...get the word out that the ogre is no longer in residence, and you might get a flood of previously banned people thronging through those doors!


Cheers and more...

[Django]

I was one of the many banned almost immediately after they opened, but that was a because of an indifference between John and I. I know of about a half dozen others that were banned right from the get go when he opened the new place, we actually were going to start our own "Banned from Honest?Johns club. I wonder if Im still banned, and to this day I have no idea why one of the bartenders has it in for me so bad. Maybe its because I called John an asshole. John is an asshole, he knows it, its just his personality, but I respect the man and always will.

Back when I was stackin rocks John came by with his two dogs [[RIP) and simply said "I dig what your doin man" and he handed me $100. Thats how we met. I hope him and his lovely wife are well. Hes still an asshole though.

[MidTownMs]

Do they still play all Motown all the time everyday?

[ddaydetroit]

I was also one banned for no reason I started going to johns when he was was by Belle Isle. When he moved to seldon I ate there once a week and always tipped good. One Sunday afternoon I stopped in for a burger and soda ate tipped my waitress 5 dollars and then was told I was not welcome there anymore. I will only go back if John does not still frequent this Place !

[Kathleen]

Honest John's? remains on my A list of places to take out-of-town visitors. The food is really good and not run-of-the-mill. The beer selection quite nice. The service always good. Everyone I've let in on this hidden gem--from the East Coast to the West Coast and from Europe--has enjoyed it!

[Gannon]

Do they still play all Motown all the time everyday?

Only if early Rolling Stones was recorded there, LOL. That is the only tune I can remember hearing, although the music was 'just' loud enough to interrupt conversation a few times. At least one comment was amusingly misheard because of it!

I wouldn't say it was too loud...we're getting older...heh.


Cheers!

[Gannon]

Honest John's? remains on my A list of places to take out-of-town visitors. The food is really good and not run-of-the-mill. The beer selection quite nice. The service always good. Everyone I've let in on this hidden gem--from the East Coast to the West Coast and from Europe--has enjoyed it!

But the extra-terrestrials so far have had no comment?! What about the southern windy belles?

[[yanno I'm just teasin'...)

[preserve]

One of the best breakfasts in town. I like that they're open early on Sundays too. haven't seen John in ages, since he gave it up. I always liked him, but I knew he could be strange about folks, but heh, it was his sandbox.

[canuck]

Django. Maybe its because I called John an asshole. John is an asshole, he knows it, its just his personality, but I respect the man and always will.

He is in the category of respectable assholes...

[Kathleen]

What about the southern windy belles?

Actually the last out-of-town friend that I took there was a Windie!!! And she loved it!

[English]

I think I've been there [[vaguely) once or twice, in all these years. Will go and have another looksee. Always looking for a good breakfast joint.

[professorscott]

I always thought getting 86'd out of Honest? John's was a badge of honor. I was always a little ashamed that, back in my younger days when I was out quite a bit, I never managed to get banished from either incarnation of the bar. And I tried.

[Gannon]

Ah, syncronicity strikes again.

Understand first that we weren't headed to Honest John's for breakfast yesterday...my honey wanted Farmer's in the Market. Made that clear, but after calling two of my best friends downtown I pitched her strongly on going to HJ's...since I really wanted to see how they weathered the change.

So, meeting our wonderful waitperson was roughly pure chance.


Then, talking with a music promoter late in the day...he reminded me of Gwen Joy's event at New Center Park. My darlin' was quite sick with a migraine and more, so she wasn't going anywhere. I planned to make a quick appearance, then get back in case she needed anything.

Walked in...surveyed the scene...and sat down to hear the first band. Caught a glimpse of some bouncy hair that reminded me of our morning HJ's server, and it turned out to be her.

It gets better...her boyfriend is someone I needed to talk with about another huge project we're putting together for next month.


I was in seventh heaven driving home...knowing that somehow I'm attuned again to the resonances of the Universe. When little things like this happen, I know I'm back on the right path.


Cheers and more on this amazingly beautiful Sunday morning. Trying to get it together to get down to Cass Park for the event there, where Emilio Basa is opening the stage. If you don't know him yet, you should seek him out. One of Detroit's more promising singer/songwriters, and a genuinely nice fellow to boot.


Sincerely,
John

[EastsideAl]

I used to be something of a regular at the old place on Field, and spent many a fun night there with little more than the occasional drunken semi-political argument to darken the mood.

Somehow though the atmosphere, and John himself, seemed to change with the move over to Selden. He yelled a stream of obscenities at me and members of my family one night and I never went back - not that I was in any hurry to as the clientele and move to turn into more of a restaurant at the new place was not all that much to my liking anyway.

I put John's changes off to the demons that moving back to his old neighborhood may have brought to the fore. He really wanted to move there, and spent a lot of time and money doing so. In some ways it seemed he really wanted to prove something, but that childhood and adolescent memory is some powerful stuff [[especially if you had a young life like John's) and often affects us in ways we aren't, and cannot, be prepared for. Even though he acted unconscionably to me [[and many others it seems), I am glad for him that he bravely got out before his life's course really reversed.

[Patrick]

What do you have to do to get banned from this place? What, did you pull down your pants and dance on the bar?

[ferndalien]

I am glad for him that he bravely got out before his life's course really reversed.

Agreed. On our last few visits of John's ownership, I was never quite sure which John would plop down at our table for a chat. For quite some time his mercurial antics were endearing, but toward the end there he got too antagonistic and nearly violent for us to go without a little apprehension, so we stopped going. Seemed like the demons kicked in hard there at some point.

Been back a few times since he stepped aside - the new crew does have it together and seems to somehow maintain the Thompsonian spirit.

Hope John's ok, wherever he is spending his days. And nights.

[Django]

I put John's changes off to the demons that moving back to his old neighborhood may have brought to the fore. He really wanted to move there, and spent a lot of time and money doing so. In some ways it seemed he really wanted to prove something, but that childhood and adolescent memory is some powerful stuff [[especially if you had a young life like John's) and often affects us in ways we aren't, and cannot, be prepared for. Even though he acted unconscionably to me [[and many others it seems), I am glad for him that he bravely got out before his life's course really reversed.

WORD Al.
The stories he told me about that bar [[the current H?Js) before he owned it were pretty terrifying. I remember it as Elmers, and always had a great time there, probably the seediest bar in the Corridor back in the day. A regular stream of hookers and dealers in and out of the place. Always an interesting place to get a cheap beer with some friends and play some pool. I used to photograph the hookers there. I dont know what the bar was called back in the 60s, anyone have a clue? I wonder how long it was Elmers?

[CLAUDE G]

I liked the location on Field.

[sumas]

Ah... I feel old. used to go to Honest John's on Field back in the day when the original John owned it. He later sold it to Bernadette. She is still alive and kicking and in her ninties. Anna May was a bartender there too. She owned a bar on third for years and her stories were fancinating. The bar on Field had a one way mirror and you had to get buzzed in. There was an old piano and a friend of ours played kick ass ragtime. John would be so pleased with the music we frequently drank for free.

[mikeinmotown]

John was mean as hell when he was drinking. I heard he had quit drinking so I'm really surprised to hear all of these stories. John's saintly wife, who stood by him for years had an horrible stroke about a year ago and the last I heard she can barely talk or walk. Very sad. John's mom used to work the streets and would leave John at the bar so they would keep an eye on him. I was told the original name of the bar was Sugar Dick Daddies.

[Bigb23]

I never met the man, but he seems to be a real character. The Polar Bear swims are legendary. Give us Irish a break.

[pgn421]

Sumas- Anna Mae had The Red Dog Bar
On Selden and Third. I know her too

[kryptonite]

The Field St. bar was one of my favorite places although I wasn't exactly a regular there, I had other dives I went to more often. They threw some of the best bar parties in tow. I like the Selden bar a great deal, but it is a totally different atmosphere. I used to rag on John that he had opened a 'fern bar'.

I know he had a lot of enemies, but I managed to stay on his good side. He did give up drinking, you have to admire someone for that.

I still hear about him and the Mrs. through a mutual friend.

[Lowell]

WORD Al.
The stories he told me about that bar [[the current H?Js) before he owned it were pretty terrifying. I remember it as Elmers, and always had a great time there, probably the seediest bar in the Corridor back in the day. A regular stream of hookers and dealers in and out of the place. Always an interesting place to get a cheap beer with some friends and play some pool. I used to photograph the hookers there. I dont know what the bar was called back in the 60s, anyone have a clue? I wonder how long it was Elmers?

Or as John put it, the bar his mother used to hook out of. He was a Cass Corridor street waif who boot-strapped himself up in life. It has a lot to do with why he had a short fuse, was fearless and did not abide fools.

I first met and befriended him when he tended bar at Cobb's Corner in the mid seventies. I lost touch with for a while then ran into him when he was a nail salesman and was talking about getting into the bar business that would become Honest? Johns Bar and No Grill on Field.

The Selden location was a homecoming in many ways. Sure he could be mercurial, but he could also be incredibly generous and was always very, very humorous.

[Lowell]

I never met the man, but he seems to be a real character. The Polar Bear swims are legendary. Give us Irish a break.

And don't forget the Easter Bunny Roasts - an Easter Sunday neighborhood benefit featuring, yep, roast rabbit. Then there were the famous Moon Shots, where the patrons would line up for a group picture baring their derrieres.

John always had a natural instinct for promotion that got him headlines. He would probably have been a billionaire if he had gone into PR and marketing.