LISTENING POST
I BEST OF EVERYTHING I
s-At,
A New Restaurant Inherits
Grand Location And Tradition
Invites You To Enjoy
IT'S BUFFET STYLE
SUNDAY BRUNCH
DANNY RASKIN
Local Columnist
10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
A
• FRESH OMELETTES • EGGS BENEDICT
• FRESH SHRIMP ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT
AND MANY MORE GREAT ITEMS
$1 95
0
$595 Children
Under 10
Adults
Tableside Cooking at Dinners . . . • Steak Diane
• Caesar Salad • Seafood Fettucini • Fettucine
• Veal • Dover Sole • Flaming Desserts
Catering For All Occasions
• Lunch Served Mon: Fri. • Pastries Made On The Premises
935 W. 11 MILE, S.E. CORNER 11 & 1.75 Res: 399-5960
Chef: Peter Lieber
Your Hosts: Bruno Ferguson & Tim Kowalec
-
--OMs WO MS MIS MI
ALSO VISIT US AT OUR
CARRY-OUT ONLY
3637 MAPLE RD. AT LAHSER
Birmingham
645-0300
0
1
1
ANY LARGE PIZZA OR
1. NOT GOOD WITH OTHER DISCOUNTS LARGE ANTIPASTO OR LARGE 1
•COUPONS GOOD AT ALL LOCATIONS
GREEK SALAD WHEN YOU
I. • Expires 2-16-92
I 31646 NORTHWESTERN HWY. PRESENT THIS COUPON UPON
AT MIDDLEBELT
1
ORDERING.
#
Farmington Hills
1
DINE IN OR CARRY OUT
855,4600
1
VITEI
12
CUM 2
CUM 4
VINT
111 Bmmmsw.....s......r Ns mom
FEE ILE
IETIM
Beau Jac
Food & Spirits
EARLY DINNERS
NOW 7 DAYS
Monday Thru Sunday
4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Entrees priced from
$5.75
4108 W. Maple • Birmingham, MI • 1 blovk W of Telegraph • 626-2630
Open For
Lunch & Dinner
Serving
AUTHENTIC
Thai Food
and
Cocktails
Bangkok
Club
11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mon. Thru Thurs. • 11:30 a.m. to II p.m. Fri. • 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sat.
I OPEN SUNDAY 5 p.m TO 10 p.m. I
29269 Southfield Road north of 12 Mile
In The Southfield Commons
569-1400
rich background of
much civic pride is
inherited by the new
Mr. B's Southfield which
recently opened on 12 Mile
Road just east of Evergreen.
This was originally the
Sussex House, built in 1967
and opened 1968 by Jimmy
Jardack, whose long-standing
commitment with the City of
Southfield has always been
one of proud bearing.
He had come to America in
1938 and in 1956 opened
.Southfield's first super-
market on Southfield Road
and 10 Mile where Harry's
Big and Tall now stands .. .
His brother, Aziz "Sam"
Behnan (he took the first
name of their father as his
surname when arriving here
in 1927, but on legal
documents signed Jardack),
owned the property where
Jimmy revolutionized the in-
dustry with conveyer belts
that went from truck to
storage area and basement.
More land owned by Sam
was to the east of Evergreen,
past the present Evergreen
Shopping Plaza . . . It was va-
cant and members of the
Southfield Council with
whom Jimmy was close as a
valued citizen asked if he
would consider putting a
needed restaurant there that
could cost a minimum of
$500,000 to achieve what
they desired.
Jimmy kept his 70x100-foot
Foodlane Market while
building what was to be a
lavish restaurant off the then
two-lane 12 Mile Road with
its asphalt street and wide
ditches on each side . . . When
he completed the beautiful
16th century Tudor architec-
ture with its carpeting
designed in England,
carpenters from Italy to hand-
carve the glamorous Sistine
Chapel-like ceiling of solid
white oak, wall paneling and
even the heavy living room
beams of solid white oak, etc.,
the final cost was over
$700,000 . . . If built today,
Jimmy estimates that it
would cost well over $1.25
million.
the
finishing
After
restaurant, he and Sam
started work next door on the
land they both owned . . .
finally completing Evergreen
Shopping Plaza in 1972 .. .
When Jack Hamburger and
his partner, son of the owner
of Vlasic Foods, wanted to buy
the shopping center, Sam told
Jimmy that they shouldn't
sell and, to discourage the
potential buyers, ask for $1
million . . . Jimmy recalls
Jack saying they would think
it over and then coming back
later with a "We'll take it!"
answer . . . He laughs about
telling his brother this and
how they couldn't back down
. . . Evergreen Plaza has been
sold twice more since then.
Sussex House became
Southfield Charley's in 1982,
owned by Chuck Muer, and
later sold to Dick Sikorski
and his Charley's chain that
went tap city.
The prideful legacy of
Sussex House now trans-
mitted to Mr. B's Southfield is
one that its owners will do
well to follow with a lot of
community pride much like
that of Jimmy Jardack .. .
They have the makings for
this communal feeling, being
well aware of neighbor con-
cerns and consumer likes and
dislikes.
Mike Nash, Marty
Tuchman, Rob Jackier and
Ralph Gustafson, along with
their working partner at Mr.
B's Southfield, Rob Banish,
are highly conscious of the
tickings for a successful
operation . . . and the mean-
ing of good community rela-
tions . . . This is Mr. B's
number six by Mike, Marty,
Rob and Ralph, plus their
Mexican-related Monterrey
in Royal Oak (Mr. B's Royal
Oak, Mr. B's Farm, Novi, Mr.
B's Rochester, Mr. B's Troy,
Mr. B's West Bloomfield).
The wide-open look now in
the dining room at Mr. B's
Southfield is accompanied
by all new tile work on the
walls, a video game sector,
two billiard tables on a
private upper level, huge TV
screens for sports and movie
fun, large pictures of Duke
Ellington, Barbra Streisand,
etc., neon above and all
around the oval bar which
has been redone except for the
top, high-standing island
tables where booths used to
be, tile work along the walls,
etc. . . . Upstairs seating is
180 with tables and booths in
the remodeling that began in
August . . . after a four-month
renovation period it opened
Nov. 27 with a new entrance,
marbelized walls and drywall
and painted murals covering
former dark windows on the
east side of the restaurant.
The "romance" between
Mike Nash and Rob Banish,
managing partner at Mr. B's
Southfield, started 10 years
ago when Randy and brother
Bob, managing partner at Mr.
B's West Bloomfield, had the
Roman Tavern in Rochester
. . . Mike had Mr. B's
Rochester, a small place then,
where Rob Jackier now hangs
his hat most of the time .. .
Mr. B's didn't do as it does
now, make its own soups, so
on Saturdays when he wanted
the low-cal minestrone soup
he sent out to Roman Tavern
for it to be brought in .. .
Now, years later with Rob
Banish being made manag-
ing partner at Mr. B's, Mike
wanted, before anything else
on the menu, that minestrone
soup . . . Many gallons of it
are sold at the Mr. B's West
Bloomfield.
The Mr. B's Southfield
menu also has a lot of Mex-
ican items from their Monter-
rey operation in Royal Oak
plus beef ribs and fresh fish
Mr. B's Southfield
is on a special
site.
with daily specials on the fish
items . . . Of course, it
wouldn't be a Mr. B's without
those turkeyburgers or spicy
french fries . . . There's now
also a senior citizens 10 per-
cent discount for the first
time at all the Mr. B's
locations.
Rob Banish spends most of
his time out front greeting
people as he should, but when
necessary, like during the
holidays with a shortage of
help and the banquet rooms
going hot and heavy down-
stairs, the former Paul Kohn
Kosher Catering associate
was in the kitchen, apron and
all, pitching his know-how
along this avenue.
About the downstairs at Mr.
B's Southfield, it seats around
140 with a large room being
divided into two if necessary
. . . This is where Jimmy Jar-
dack used to have a lot of com-
munal functions that had the
place hopping continually.
Toward the end of April or
beginning of May, Mr. B's
Southfield will be able to of-
fer people outdoor seating for
80 or 90 more people.
The waitpersons of Mr. B's
Southfield are geared for
quickness to go along with
their personable ways . . .
Name tag on one of the gents
says "Heffa" but that's not his
name . . . at least not in
English . . . It's Mexican for
the first moniker of Jeff Hill.
K