I BEST OF EVERYTHING

Banquet Facilities • Garden Luncheons
Piano entertainment Wed. Thru Fri.

Kitchen Hours:
\
.111
Mon.-Thurs. 5 to 10
Fri. & Sat. 5 to 11

'4

Mystery Muncher
Takes A Nostalgic Look

Restaurant

DANNY RASKIN

Reservations Suggested

1990 Hiller Rd.

(Old Orchard Troll)

682-1047

Off Pontiac Trail to Old Orchard Trail
To Hiller Road

0

° e

foeolmall ,13/gtro

Good Times with the
Continental Touch ... Sample the

sophisticated pleasures of Tango's European Bistro, now
open in the new Radisson Hotel at Town Center.

Greater Detroit's newest spot for mellow merriment
has set the town to talking about...

...enticing entrees, smoked and mesquite-grilled...
European deli sandwiches...fabulous tortes, homemade
ice cream and cheesecake.

...fine wines, classic cocktails and rich, dark espresso—
slowly savored to the tune of nightly piano melodies.

Tango's European Bistro. Good times with the
continental touch.

Open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

For reservations: 827-1382
Ask about Tango's Office Parties!.

Radisson Plaza Hotel

At Town Center

1500 Town Center
Southfield, Michigan 48075

76

FRIDAY, OCT. 9, 1987

Local Columnist

T

he Mystery Muncher
writes . . . "Do you
remember the tea
rooms of old like the popular
Frame's of Downtown
Detroit? When we were about
to conclude that tea rooms in
this area were as extinct as
Dodo birds, we discovered
Ann Sayles Dining Room on
13 Mile in Royal Oak. Unlike
tea rooms we remember, Ann
Sayles serves hearty,
wholesome dinners complete
with homemade soup and
rolls, salad, meat, fish or
poultry, potatoes, vegetables
and dessert. We particularly
enjoyed the sweet and sour
red cabbage which you don't
often see in restaurants. The
warm, homemade apple pie
was delicious. Everything's
included and the price is
right. You can get liquor, wine
and beer at this nice, comfor-
table restaurant and for sure
you won't go away hungry.
"According to a Gallup poll
on eating out, adults are more
likely to order vegetables
served plain rather than in
combination and the most
popular vegetable is corn. The
least popular is zucchini
which is part of the mixed
vegetable dish you get in too
many restaurants these days.
Even chefs with imagination
make the same old, tasteless
veggies.
"You can take just so much
of a good thing. Gourmet din-
ing should be a treat for
special occasions except when
you're out of town and feel
compelled to try every highly-
touted restaurant on your
list. What you anticipate as
adventures in dining may be
a disappointment. Almost
everyone has a tale of being
ripped off on a vacation.
"Restaurants, of course, are
known by their names. But in
the Detroit area, names can
be confusing and you may
find yourself in the wrong
place.
"There's E.G. Nick's on
Maple Road in West Bloom-
field (formerly Wyn
Schuler's), Nicky's at Top of
Troy Building, Niki's on Main
Street in Royal Oak, Nick's
on Woodward in Ferndale and
Rikki's American Grill in the
American Center.
"Then you've got the Red
Coat Tavern on Woodward in
Royal Oak, Red Dragon on
Long Lake in Troy, Red Hut
on Campbell in Royal Oak,
Red Lobster all over, Red Par-
rot in the Michigan Inn on

J.L. Hudson Drive, Red Devil
on Fenkell and Red Timbers
on Grand River in Novi. Red
Cedars on Telegraph had a
fire and will not re-open.
"If Chinese food is your
thing, you have your choice of
golden restaurants. They are
the Gold Coin on Ten Mile,
Golden Bowl on Coolidge,
Golden City on Dequindre,
Golden Palace on Southfield
Road, Golden Phoenix on
Maple, Golden Star on Wood-
ward, Golden Wheel on John
R.
"Being a nostalgia buff, I
get a kick out of looking back
and seeing how some things

By 1977, the first
lady of the libbers
was back in the
kitchen and so
were many other
emancipated
housewives.

change and others stay the
same.
"In 1961, Detroit was call-
ed a shopper's paradise. It was
said Northland and Eastland
had positive side effects on
suburban strip shopping
centers and neighborhood
stores. The faith in Detroit's
business future was shared by
expanding stores and chains
like Crowley's, Sams, Peoples,
Winkleman's, Kresge's,
Demery's, Robinson Fur-
niture, Grinnell's, Hughes
and Hatcher, Bond Clothes,
Robert Hall and Edison
Brothers.
"Can you pick out which
stores are no longer in
existence?
"In 1961, guests of Detroit
hotels were getting the red
carpet treatment from the
1,101-room Sheraton-Cadillac
which catered to 358,560 oc-
cupants in 1960 and called it
an average year.
Hotels come and go but will
there ever be another Statler
with its elegant Terrace
Room, a mecca for celebrities
and Detroit night-lifers?
Hotel dining rooms in the
Detroit area are rated about
average and expensive. It
doesn't appear these eating
spots today have a captive au-
dience of weary travelers, nor
are they in great demand by
outsiders.
"Hotels like the Statler and
Book Cadillac were very
much a part of Detroit after
dark. Stars shone in the Ter-
race Room where you dined to
the strains of Carmen