Night in Budapest Restaurant - 8101 West Jefferson

[buckster1986]

While doing some ancestry research I came across a relative whom at the time of registering for the army during WWII worked at a restaurant called "Night in Budapest." The address is 8101 West Jefferson Avenue. The proprietor's name was Charles Nichols.

I'm just curious if anyone has any more information on this place. It looks like there is no building still standing there. Any help would be much appreciated.

[DetroitPlanner]

Seems correct from an ethnographic perspective. This would have been the heart of Del-ray, known as an enclave of Hungarians and others from East Europe at the time.

Sorry, thats all I got. Way before my time.

[Lowell]

My 1940 City Guide shows 8101 as being the Hungarian Colony Club. My guess is that they may have had a restaurant in the building under that name "Night In Budapest".

In my 1953 Guide it is listed as "Club Basin St Restaurant with the name of Wm. Kader.

Street view?

1940 residents

[wilderness]

There's a website for Old-Delray that is a wealth of information.

[lafontaine]

If i am not mistaken, the address the OP listed was 8101 but the street guide is for 8001.

[Lowell]

Oops I had posted information for 8001 W. Jefferson above [since corrected] and then saw its address is 8001, not 101. But 8001 is also interesting and along the same topic. 8001 was called is the Verhovay Building. It also appears to have been a center of Hungarian-related enterprises according to these Detroit City Guide listings.

1940



1953


I became curious about the name Verhovay and with a little digging found this.

As the tidal wave of Hungarian immigration set in, the fraternal insurance companies came into existence. One of the first and most important of these was the Verhovay Segely Egylet [[Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association). It was founded in Cleveland on February 20, 1886. The Association was named after Gyula Verhovay* a member of the Hungarian parliament. The Association started with a capital of $17,25, which thirteen ordinary miners collected themselves. Verhovay was chartered as a sick-benefit and burial association. A year after its foundation it had seventy-seven members and assets amounting to $126.83. The number of members increased as the number of Hungarians in America grew. The Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association became the largest of all American-Hungarian fraternal orders Its total membership in 1944 amounted to 52,292; it had total assets of $7,408,000 and 364 lodges.

So this site was essentially a Hungarian ethnic hall with 4 of these 'insurance associations' in 1940.

*Gyula Verhovay was also an anti-Semite who was kicked out of the independence party for that.

[buckster1986]

Thanks for all of the information... I will continue to dig...

[jennyc]

Thanks for all of the information... I will continue to dig...

My father actually was a bartender at the Night in Budapest i. The late 30's early 40's. I have a great pic of him behind the bar and a view of the whole bar.

[EastsideAl]

In my 1953 Guide it is listed as "Club Basin St Restaurant with the name of Wm. Kader.

Club Basin Street was a jazz club. Part of the southwest side/downriver "black and tan" [[ie, mixed-race audiences) Detroit jazz club scene of that time, along with the better-known West End Hotel and the Rouge Lounge. Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert's book "Before Motown" shows a 1953 ad for Club Basin St. advertising a Kenny Burrell-led band with Frank Foster, Harold McKinney, and Paul Chambers.

[buckster1986]

My father actually was a bartender at the Night in Budapest i. The late 30's early 40's. I have a great pic of him behind the bar and a view of the whole bar.

Any way to post the pictures you have, jennyc?