Carl's Chop House

**jerrytimes** · August-08-10, 03:24 PM

People need to be shot that do this.

**detroitbred** · August-09-10, 09:41 AM

Ray, my dad's DPD retirement party was at Carl's too!!! I didn't realize it was "the" spot for coppers to have their parties! And, Mike Cox wasn't there either.

**detroitbred** · August-09-10, 10:15 AM

Ray, I just realized that you retired the year after my dad. I was 8 mos pregnant with my daughter when he retired, she was born in 1983. Wow, I feel old and sad :-[[

**mikefmich** · August-10-10, 01:30 AM

Holy shit.

The first New Years Eve my folks and their friends brought us kids, we ate at Carls....maybe 1961. I still remember having calves liver....not long after that I had prime rib after strip steak there for years & years.

Carl put in one of the first commercial gas air conditioners in the city, my dad headed that project for Mich Con...early 50's, maybe late 40's. What I do know we got a box of 6 strip steaks for Xmas every year for at least 25 years.

God, I just thought of the little whores d'ovaries plate that stayed the same forever......creamed herring, spiced apples, what the heck else was on there? Pickled watermelon rind?

Seeing those images just tore me apart.

I worked at MichCon too for awhile...used to park next door and hit Carls for Lions games, and we used it for many work related celebrations....Xmas, retirements, etc.

**jackie5275** · August-10-10, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by mikefmich

God, I just thought of the little whores d'ovaries plate that stayed the same forever......creamed herring, spiced apples, what the heck else was on there? Pickled watermelon rind?

My husband & I went there for one of our wedding anniversaries in the late 90s. While I prefer to call it a 'relish tray', I was surprised to get one before our meal. Ours had dill pickles, green & black olives, beets, gherkin pickles, maybe some hot peppers. I can't remember what else, but I've never had that served to me anywhere else. I just figured it was a throwback to the 60s.

**Jman** · August-10-10, 10:20 AM

The last time I was at Carl's was also in the late 90's. The relish tray was delivered and I reached for a pepperocini and to my dismay it had already been half eaten. Thirty seconds later the valet was retreiving my car. Ten seconds to give hell to the waiter. Ten seconds to give hell to the maitre d' and ten seconds to walk out the door.

**marcwigle** · August-10-10, 12:32 PM

It's a very big building for a restaurant. I assume that there was more to it? Banquet halls, etc? Looks like it had 2 and 3 stories and a basement? Was the basement for storage only?

**jerrytimes** · August-11-10, 01:02 AM

Well, the only time I'd ever eaten there was in 2005 or 2006, and I thought it was great. It was very odd though when we walked it. I didn't know if the place was open for business. Including us there were only 4 tables seated. My future wife and I both ordered steaks and they were fantastic. I'm just happy to say that I ate at a landmark like Carls.

**Huggybear** · August-11-10, 07:03 AM

90% of what was taken is probably at the used restaurant equipment places on Gratiot. Kitchen equipment, tables and stack chairs aren't taken by nonferrous metal scrappers because they're iron-based and have more value as-is. The dead giveaway is the removal of some of the booths, which contain no materials of value [[they're typically wood/particleboard and vinyl).

**Huggybear** · August-11-10, 07:28 AM

And also understand that the disappearance of restaurant equipment from a closed place is not usually cause for alarm. It's expensive, it has a high resale value, it's basically technology-proof. Many defaulting owners steal it from their own places as they leave. It's hard to get financing and hard to stay in business.

The general scrapping thing, though, is cause for alarm. Part of this had to be done during daylight hours. If police don't want to be confrontational, why not just boot or take the plate numbers of vehicles of scrappers?

**thomprod** · August-11-10, 04:54 PM

Although Carl's quality had gone down in recent years, the restaurant was a real treat in its heyday. I dined there over ten times between 1965 and 2000 and never had a bad meal or service. I especially liked the filet mignon, live lobsters you picked from a tank before they were cooked, tender short ribs, Potatoes O'Brian, excellent "creamed roquefort dressing" for the house salad, and the relish tray, which included a shrimp for each person at the table along with olives, pickles, green onions and more. Great memories!

**detroiturbex** · August-16-10, 04:32 PM

The Detroit News did an excellent writeup on Carl's: http://detnews.com/article/20100812/...e-to-vandalism

**beachboy** · August-18-10, 01:57 AM

So sad another D-institution is gone... we enjoyed steaks at Carl's in the 60s...can recall those little herring slices on the appetizer tray...last ate there in '73...Dad worried when the car valet floored his Toronado.

**Bizzdo** · August-18-10, 08:27 AM

Makes me wish I had stopped in before they closed just like many of the other places that have closed up shop.

**vrygdgrl** · August-18-10, 08:49 AM

on the City of Detroit and its residents.

**rsa.313** · August-18-10, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by vrygdgrl

on the City of Detroit and its residents.

sad commentary on you that you feel the need to publicly judge thousands of people based on the actions of someone that might not even be from the city. did the owner pay security? where does the owner live? you know for a fact the scrappers are from the city? i'm getting pretty sick of people seeing something happen in the city and automatically deem it necessary to point out that all the people that live here are the cause.

**Uncledave54** · May-08-18, 05:41 PM

Are there any restaurants that comes even half way close to Carls?

**Maof** · May-08-18, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Uncledave54

Are there any restaurants that comes even half way close to Carls?

Mr. Paul's on Grosbeck never disappoints. Went a few weeks ago after not having been in about 10 years. Same great service and food. Several waitress' have been there since they opened in '68!

**Uncledave54** · May-08-18, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by Maof

Mr. Paul's never disappoints. Went a few weeks ago after not having been in about 10 years. Same great service and food. Several waitress' have been there since they opened in 1968.

Thanks...I've heard that before. Just going to have to give it a shot.

**Maof** · May-09-18, 07:23 AM

Originally Posted by Uncledave54

Thanks...I've heard that before. Just going to have to give it a shot.

And you should. But if don't want to wait in line, get there early.

**Smirnoff** · May-09-18, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by Maof

Mr. Paul's on Grosbeck never disappoints. Went a few weeks ago after not having been in about 10 years. Same great service and food. Several waitress' have been there since they opened in '68!

Agree, food is delicious, reservations recommended, soft jazz music starts around 7:00pm.

**jackie5275** · May-09-18, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Maof

Mr. Paul's on Grosbeck never disappoints. Went a few weeks ago after not having been in about 10 years. Same great service and food. Several waitress' have been there since they opened in '68!

Clawson Steak House is similar to it also. You might, additionally, want to check out Moro's in Allen Park.

**Bham1982** · May-08-18, 08:44 PM

Originally Posted by Uncledave54

Are there any restaurants that comes even half way close to Carls?

Carl's, at least at the end, was horrible, almost comically bad.

I think the best eating were the stale supermarket crackers they gave you as as the bread service. Classy.

But supposedly it was great in its prime.

**Zacha341** · May-09-18, 05:13 AM

It was comically horrid, having stayed opened well past prime. The food was ghastly, albeit still over-priced, the place was dimly lit to hide the dirt and grime, the service was worn, plates scrapped from over use. Goodness they should have closed before skidding down so bad!

Originally Posted by Bham1982

Carl's, at least at the end, was horrible, almost comically bad...

**9936Sussex** · May-09-18, 05:18 AM

I have to pick When my husband and I worked in the city, we occasionally would stop and have dinner there [[70’s). In it’s prime the food was good, but I remember the woman’s restroom as one of the dirtiest. The last time we stopped in for dinner a cockroach jumped out of the bread basket and ran across our table. We were gone in a heartbeat. Never returned after that. My husband was a Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor and a lot of that offices retirement parties were held there.