Joe's Reputation
Is Duplicated in Southfield
DANNY RASKIN LOCAL COLUMNIST
W
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AFTER 9 MONTHS IN ETHIOPIA GATHERING EXOTIC NEW RECIPES
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508 Monroe St In Greektown • 964-6699
BAR & GRILL
There's stiL only one Joe Muer's...
but now there's also Joe's Bar & Grill.
Specializing in
Fresh Seafood, Black Angus Beef and Pasta dishes
(Try our Chef's Daily Specials, too!)
Open Daily, excluding Sundays
30855 SoutlIfield Road
(810) 644-5330
A Joe Muer Restaurant
Touch A Life. The United Way.
hat could be one of the
biggest misconceptions
in the restaurant busi-
ness is sitting out there
on Southfield Road in Southfield.
The name would have much to
do with it and could naturally
throw a lot of folks off base in
their thinking about the food.
But make no mistake about it
... Joe's Bar & Grill at the former
Bijou locale, on Southfield near
13 Mile, is definitely a Joe Muer
operation.
Business has flourished after
opening March 18, mainly be-
cause of its newness ... Howev-
er, there are still many people
who have never been there be-
cause Joe's Bar & Grill may pos-
sibly be looked upon as just
another place to maybe eat a
hamburger, some chili or perhaps
a chicken sandwich.
And this is where a difference
from the truth couldn't be any
greater.
Except for the divergent decor,
art deco look and downtown's
choice of 35 seafood entrees and
price structure, Joe's Bar & Grill
is pretty much like a miniature
Joe Muer's ... with the addition
of pasta (seafood fettuccini with
shrimp, sea scallops, salmop,
tomatoes and fresh basil, $13.25);
linguine with breast of chicken,
mushrooms, onions, fresh herbs
and garlic tomato sauce, $11.25;
grilled baby back ribs $15.75;
whole breast of chicken mari-
nated in lime, Dijon and tarragon
vinegar and grilled with roast-
ed red peppers and green chilis,
$12.25; plus chops and Black An-
gus steaks to go with 15 seafood
dishes.
What seemingly has happened
with Joe's Bar & Grill is the cre-
ation of a best of two dining
worlds.
Joe Muer's on Gratiot opened
in 1929, and one of its world-
known signatures, for example,
is a Roquefort dressing difficult
to copy ... Joe's Bar & Grill has
the same salad dressing.
The fresh 10-ounce boneless
broiled Lake Superior whitefish
($12.75) loved so much down-
town, is prepared exactly as Joe
Muer's on Gratiot ... Joe's Bar &
Grill goes through 75 to 100
pounds of whitefish a week ...
and about 225 pounds of perch,
skinless and sauteed, $14.25;
fixed also like those at Joe Muer's
in Detroit.
Identical seared salmon, too,
broiled if preferred, swordfish,
marinated tuna steak ... scallops,
shrimp, including baked shrimp
scampi with garlic butter and
parmesan cheese, $14.95; six sal-
ads, veal chops, steamed veg-
etable platter with bearnaise
sauce, $9.95; etc.
Joe's Bar & Grill is owned by
Joe Muer and Chick Taylor ...
Chick has been with Joe Muer 15
years and general manager of his
downtown Detroit restaurant
landmark since 1983 ... Plus be-
ing partners at Joe's Bar & Grill,
both also oversee the two restau-
rants.
Their general manager at Joe's
Bar & Grill, Joe Crowell, started
at Joe Muer's Nov. 1, 1993 ...
When he came to take over the
new restaurant's g.m. spot mid-
dle of June this year, Joe was
thoroughly trained in the strin-
gent philosophy and quality style
of operation as exemplified by
Joe Muer throughout the years.
Chick will admit that when it
first opened, Joe's Bar & Grill
couldn't keep up with the crowds
... 420 dinners on Saturdays and
250 on weekdays ... It was too
are also available as an appetiz-
er at Joe's Bar & Grill ... The
swordfish, too, is cooked exactly
the same at both places ... with
fat removed between the skin
and blood line, leaving only the
center portion prime meat.
Those wonderful and hefty
one-and-a-half pound fresh
Maine lobsters folks love at Joe
Muer's in Downtown Detroit can
also be gotten on Southfield
($21.25).
The idea behind Joe's Bar &
Grill opening was to present an
upbeat, lively yet comfortable at-
mosphere, new, exciting and crisp
... The daring menu was created
to offer quality products at rea-
sonable prices ... Its large wine
list is priced to sell wine ... with
23 obtainable by the glass.
The clam chowder at Joe's Bar
& Grill and that at Joe Muer's is
the same ... from an original
recipe ... Except for capers on
Southfield, salmon is served the
same way ... Soft shell crabs can
Chick Taylor and Joe Muer.
much ... Also, Chick discovered
that a number of people found it
difficult to have a conversation
... This problem has been elimi-
nated with a completely insulat-
ed ceiling.
Executive Chef Mike Muysen-
berg came the middle of July and
has helped make a difference ...
So have wait personnel like pleas-
ant, smiling and efficient Tracie
Pickering ... As great as the
name Joe Muer's is, he and
Chick, being the fine restaura-
teurs that they are, know only too
well how much a reputation can
fall without proper service ... and
all-around employee teamwork.
That famous Joe Muer's white
bean relish and cottage cheese
be gotten at both restaurants.
The very intimate and com-
fortable Southfield Road location
is more than one would expect
from an ordinary bar and grill ...
But then again, this isn't your
common place of such sorts ... it
is Joe Muer's Bar & Grill.
All desserts are made on the
premises at Joe's Bar & Grill ...
also the soups, sauces and salad
dressings ... The 15 fish and
seafood entrees include Joe
Muer's sauteed Alaskan king
crab cakes, $13.50.
The former Bijou restaurant
was virtually gutted ... Where
the fireplace used to be is now an
exotic fish tank ... a huge mural
depicting Detroit was custom-