Any surviving information on Tally Hall [[the food court-NOT the band)?

[G-DDT]

I'm trying to find any old information [[especially photos or literature-any folks got them, please pot them!) on an old childhood hang-out from the 1980's. It was a giant indoor complex around the Hunter's Square area of Orchard Lake Rd. in Farmington Hills . It had over twenty little restaurants [[none of them fast food chains or chincy spots) tightly packed on all four sides, lots of tables and chairs, and nautical style bunting/flags decor filling up the topside. I'd say it was a food court, but I haven't seen a food court as cool as this place was, since.
I know Marvin Yagoda [[Marvelous Marvin's Marvelous Museum) would be the go to guy on this, and I remember his first incarnations in the center of the place [[when he just put in a few coin-op kiddie rides next to the store that sold Sanrio items). However, I'm interested in other folk's memories of, in, and around that place. I still remember the newspaper and T-shirt store in one corner, the Super Spud, the place that sold Italian Ices next to it, the Orient Express, and Harry's Coney Island more towards the center. The outside area winding in had a fudge shop and a small bookstore [[an earlier version of Border's-remember that ill-fated chain?- was further on down the road).
Please, once again, I know they're a cool band paying a cool homage, but the internet is saturated with enough stuff about them. I'm only requesting info/photos/stories regarding the giant indoor foodcourt facility from the '80s.

[Bham1982]

I was very young but I vaguely remember a boardwalk/Jersey Shore style french fry place [[like those Cedar Point fry places) and a candy shop.

[Malcove Magnesia]

My very first job [[and first place I got fired from, two weeks later) was a spring break vacation at that Tally Hall fries shop. They had the best Monte Cristo sandwich.

I know Marvins survives [[as I see periodic offers in LivingSocial spam), but I'm not sure where they are these days.

[jcole]

Marvin's is on Orchard Lake south of Maple in about the same spot Tally Hall was. I went there several times in the late 70's/early 80's for those wonderful Spuds. As my friend back then put it "They have potatoes bigger than my two fists!!"

[G-DDT]

Mom got an autograph from one of the reporters from PM Magazine after he was trying out one of Marvin's Love-testers, in the center of the Hall.

[Kelton]

Aside from Marvin's, the only place I remember from Tally Hall was Anita's Kitchen, which was a Lebanese restaurant with delicious food. I think they may have had a separate entrance from outside so I'm not sure it would be counted as being in the "food court" area, though I could be wrong about that - it was a LONG time ago.

Kelton

[jcole]

Aside from Marvin's, the only place I remember from Tally Hall was Anita's Kitchen, which was a Lebanese restaurant with delicious food. I think they may have had a separate entrance from outside so I'm not sure it would be counted as being in the "food court" area, though I could be wrong about that - it was a LONG time ago.

Kelton

And it's still around today:

In 1981, Pierre & Anita Farah set out to share the exciting flavors of their homeland, Lebanon. By following a simple formula of using only the freshest ingredients, the Farah family, and Anita’s Kitchen, has proudly been serving the finest Lebanese cuisine for over 30 years. With their first restaurant located within Tally Hall in Farmington Hills, and the addition of a second location in Troy, Pierre & Anita pioneered restaurant service of Lebanese food in the suburban Detroit area. What started out as nothing more than an idea in their small kitchen on Drayton Street here in Ferndale, has come full circle in to the restaurants we are today.

[DetroitPlanner]

Did not know there was a place prior to Marvin's. Would never get out that far. Looks like the place was also known as Hunter's Square. Did a google:

http://www.metroalive.com/michigan/b...9302&arrayid=3

[G-DDT]

Did a google:

http://www.metroalive.com/michigan/b...9302&arrayid=3

Now that is what I'm talking about! More of that!-any photos or links or dug up relics pertaining. Huz-zah to you Mr./Ms. Planner! Huz-zah to you!

[jackie5275]

Did not know there was a place prior to Marvin's. Would never get out that far. Looks like the place was also known as Hunter's Square.

Yes it was. I as remember it was Tally Hall at Hunter's Square which was the name for the entire mall area. I used to work at a psychiatric hospital in the early-mid 80s. The rec therapists used to take patients there on an outing occassionally.

[detlump]

I remember going to Tally Hall quite often in the 80s. I do recall having burritos there, when Mexican food was "exotic" to me [[I could be wrong though). Most of all I remember getting chocolate chip/chunk cookies from a bakery/cookie shop there. The cookies had a milk chocolate coating on most of the top, they were so heavy! Sugar high every time! I also recall playing the games, especially the frog squirt gun game. We also used to go to Max and Erma's as well. Fun place, it seemed huge inside, but that was from a child's perspective.

[Detroitnerd]

I ate there. Big whoop.

[G-DDT]

Just want to take some time to thank anyone who has contributed positively so far to this thread. It may seem a silly thing to some to talk about a food court, but as I stated before, there hasn't been a place like that one since. I'm sure Trapper's Alley [[telling by what I see in the old Metropolitan Detroit magazines I've come across) had similar ways of evoking memories before it became a gambler's hell. Listen: living in the here and now is essential, yet, we need to occasionally retrace our steps for a variety of reasons [[ie. heed lessons from the past, recall certain pertinent details, unearth the threads that connected us to others or to what brought us here and now, etc.), and coming from a family of history-minded folks, I can't help but do that from time to time to time.
For me, Tally Hall was memories of eating Chinese food [[that didn't pull itself off as MSG-ladden-"city chicken"-like you get at chincey mall food courts) and Italian Ices, playing a few coin-operated doo-hicks in the central part, reading the Jack O' Lantern alternatives found in the Electric Company magazine bought at the news stand [[Swamp Thing was my Mom's favorite), buying a generic Go-bot [[before they got big) at the Sanrio store, and going home to watch Whiz-kids, Count Scary, or Penny Marshall Breakdance on the New Show on NBC.
What about you?

[G-DDT]

Found an old bookmark from the bookstore that was there in Hunter's Square [[before Border's moved in) right outside the Hall and next to the Fudge shop. The place was called Pages & Pages Ltd.
I remember seeing a book about the T.V. show Mr. Merlin, and thinking [[as a kid mind you) "Is the show that big that it deserves a book, already?"

[G-DDT]

Someone posted online that they went there because the girl who played Vicki, the robot girl, [[from that odd pre-Saturday Night Prime Time Sitcom "Small Wonder") was there for a guest appearance. Bizarre. Maybe she should've been a fixture at Marvin's.

Would really love it if some folks can dig up some more old '80s photos of the place.

[Bigdd]

We used to go there after church. I remember all the little food places, and the games placed throghout. Very cool and ahead of it's time.

The building is now a Loehmann's. Not sure what a Loehmann's is,.. they probably sell clothes or something. From an angle,. you can still see the peaked green roof of the old Tally Hall.

All the games, trains, airplanes etc were squeezed into the left, rear corner of the building,.. and that area is walled off from the Loehmann's and called Marvin's Marvelous Museum. When you go in there and look up,.. you can get an idea of what the whole place might have looked like.

[G-DDT]

Special thanks to my brother for digging something up. Now this is for anyone who doesn't mind dealing with Zuckerberg's FB https://www.facebook.com/groups/12156072137/ -but man, over 500 people reminiscing on that site-mostly about funnel cakes, smoothies, and elephant ears [[or ears getting double-pierced)-what? no Italian Ices?! Guess a lot of folks worked there.

Glad to see photos [[Hey! there is that helicopter ride in one snap-that was like maybe the third thing Marvin installed there), but there have got to be more of them floating around somewhere. In fact, that map lay-out is probably more to the later 80's, as you can see a lot of available space, and there is a lack of the Italian Ice place. Yet, so many folks mention Harry's, the Incredible Spud, and the Canary and the Elephant store [[with all the Hello Kitty stuff and where I got the "Go-Bot").

Special shout out also to anyone who got to meet Marvin Yagoda and visit his Marvelous Mechanical Museum before his sad passing some time ago.

[MarvelousMarvins]

WOW
I just found this!
I am Jeremy Yagoda, Marvin’s son and owner or Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum! We are redoing the website and it will have a small history page which will tell how it all started soon! If anyone has questions about Tally Hall please ask away, I more or less grew up in there. I was 6 or 7 when it opened and was there way too much LOL! Food Courts were great but for the landlord they ended up a headache as they only rented out about 60% of the space, the rest was aisle and tables which they had to staff for cleaning etc so the landlords decided big box retail was less headaches and probably ended up getting more per sq ft in the long run.
BUT if you did not know we are still open and we are not going anywhere!

[Danny]

I have been to Tally Hall in 1990 with my Godmother, God brother and his friend. I was a great international food emporium in all of Farmington Hills. Marvelous Marvin's

Mechanical Museum by Marvin Yagoda, the last of the carnival mechanical engineering wizards was booming.

The last piece of Tally Hall International Food Emporium is Marvelous Marvin's Mechanical Museum. I met Mr. Yagoda just a year ago and his son. His son is running the Museum.

[Jimaz]

... I am Jeremy Yagoda, Marvin’s son and owner or Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum! We are redoing the website....

That needs a link: http://marvin3m.com/.

[7miledog]

Bump.

Found this article about a Tally Hall Ann Arbor, which I never knew about.
https://aadl.org/taxonomy/term/112608

[Malcove Magnesia]

I didn't know there was an Ann Arbor Tally Hall, neat!

I'm testing the limits of my memory here, but didn't Greektown have it's own Tally Hall in the mid-to-late 80's? The space for which was eventually incorporated into what is today the casino. Or was there a different name for the collection of stalls/shops in that Greektown space?

[Former_Detroiter]

I didn't know there was an Ann Arbor Tally Hall, neat!

I'm testing the limits of my memory here, but didn't Greektown have it's own Tally Hall in the mid-to-late 80's? The space for which was eventually incorporated into what is today the casino. Or was there a different name for the collection of stalls/shops in that Greektown space?

Trappers Alley

[Malcove Magnesia]

Trappers Alley

THANKS! Maybe I connected Trappers Alley with Tally Hall because the two names felt so similar to me as a pre-teen then.

[jcole]

I heard Marvin's is going under