DETROIT: RESTAURANT CLOSES AFTER 107 YEARS

By ZLATI MEYER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Monday 3/24/2008
Her aunt Shaunda Minley and grandfather Aaron Minley swung by the Monroe Street mainstay on Easter for a last supper of their own: a stack of Styrofoam take-out boxes to take back to Harper Hospital.
Amid the flashing cameras, requests for owner autographs and the final cries of "Opa!" as waiters set saganakis aflame, longtime patrons of 81-year-old Gus Anton's restaurant hunkered down to enjoy their favorite dishes for the final time.
The recipes were the same ones Anton's father, James Antonopulos, brought from Greece and debuted in 1901, when the restaurant was half the size, food was cooked on a coal stove and dishwashers were youngsters from the Old Country.
"Business was way down, " Anton said, explaining why he's retiring 50 years after his dad told him to give the restaurant business a try - and if he didn't like it, quit.
But Anton explained that he doesn't have anyone to take over. His son is ill and one of his grandchildren wants to be a plumber, the other a doctor.
"We sat in this space on our first date 36 years ago, " Geri D'Anna, 62, of Frankenmuth recalled from her perch at the long table against the back wall for Easter dinner.
Anton isn't sure what will happen next. He said he doesn't know who'll buy the building or what he'll do with his free time.




I'm curious as to what the hell is going on with Hella's. Something's fishy. I just assumed the casino bought the land but maybe not. It was a pretty building.