IN
MO
WHEKE GOOD FKIENDS
ET SEKVED GOOD FOOD.
The Best Of Everything
RED
FIRE
Still. Cooking
DANNY RASKIN
Local Columnist
"SPK1NG FEST"
$5.00 OFF
LUNCH
■
"MAKE LUNCH A IMPORTANT
PART OF youK DAY."
■
■
PRESENT THIS COUPON AND
RECEIVE $5.00 OFF THE
PRICE OF OUR LUNCHEON
ENTKEE WHEN ANOTHER
LUNCHEON ENTKEE
OF EQUAL OF GBEATEK
VALUE IS PURCHASED.
OFFEK GOOD MONDAY THKL! FKIDAY
11:30 AM TO 3:30 PM BETWEEN NOW
AND MAY 28,1999. DINE IN ONLY.
■
■
roso Benotein Roa6,Waila Lake/ Mi
Call for redervationo 148-669-2122
Open for Lunch &Dinner
■
Now Appearing
By Popular Demand!
After Theatre
Menu
YOUR Stage Favorites
with Light-Sized
Portions & Prices
Afar 9 Nightly
And as Aiways...A perfect
Corned Beef Sandwich!
S tage & Co.
Deli • Dining • Catering
Serving the Finest
Jewish Delicatessen
since 1962
•
•
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Open till 10 pm
Fri/Sat until 11 pm
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248.855.6622
"On the Boardwalk"
•
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4/23
1999
10
and baked with layers of
parmesan and mozzarella.
Mama Mia also makes
its own cheesecakes and
including
other desserts
the delicious Italian pizzel-
li, thin lightly-dusted wafer
cookies that defy you to
stop eating them.
Everybody seemed to
know one another when
Mama Mia was on 8 Mile
... It did a huge pizza
business ... A lot of regu-
lars used to come in for the wonderful
pizza which, in the early '60s, was a
99-cent standout on the menu.
Gabe was among the first restaura-
teurs to have waitpersons wearing
pagers on their belt ... so customers
could be served promptly ... When
the orders were ready, the servers were
paged,... His pizza deliveries were with
special boxes that kept the pies warm
... long before Dominoes even thought
of it ... Delivery folks also had CB
radios in their cars and Jeeps .. The
latter were used a lot because of their
ability to go through mud and snow.
Ann Spina is the daughter of the
original Mama Mia owners, Jim and
Mary Tringale, whose restaurant was on
Plymouth in Livonia back in the '50s.
Mama Mia on Cooley Road in
White Lake seats 150 for dining with
about 12 more seats at bar stools ...
During the summer months,
another 30 can be seated at
tables outside ... It is open
seven days ... Sunday-Friday; 4
p.m. to midnight; Saturday, 4
p.m.-2 a.m. ... Live entertain-
ment is offered Friday and
Fans of Mama
Mia on 8 Mile
have found same
family ownership,
chef and pizza in
Union Lake.
very so often, a name crops
up that makes many folks
say, "Hey, I remember them
from when I was a kid!"
Memories begin to dance as
thoughts recall the place.
DANNY
The Mama Mia restaurant that
RASKIN
opened in 1959 on 8 Mile Road
Local Columnist
between Evergreen and Lahser in
Southfield, hasn't been there for quite
a while ... But the name lives on ...
Mama Mia also makes its own
with the same Spina family operating
lasagna, spaghetti and marinara sauce
the Mama Mia on Cooley Lake Road.
three times a week ... The homemade
Opened in November 1978, the
minestrone soup is chockfull of veg-
spot is going into its 21st year at the
etables and is a big favorite.
site, one mile west of Union Lake
Being a family restaurant means a
Road between Bogey Lake Road and
lot of high chairs and booster seats ...
Union Lake.
Kids' meals for youngsters under 10
Gabe Spina passed on this year, but
are all $3.95, including a soft drink.
his wife, Ann, carries on ... aided by
The restaurant is captivatingly
their daughter, Mimi, and general
plain ... with three rooms of brick and
manager son-in-law Mickey Valle.
dark wood walls, checkered table-
Mama Mia is in what used to be
cloths, low lighting with Tiffany-style
strictly a cottage sector ... but today
lampshades and a fireplace.
has changed drastically with people
Customers enjoy the Gabe Burger,
living there year-round in the hustle
which the late owner used to love,
and bustle that seems to have taken
with tomato sauce and mozzarella
over the area ... It is not unusual now
cheese, then placed under the broiler.
to see a $600,000 home near one
Also popular are the veal and
made of plain cinder block.
shrimp Gabriel ... with crushed toma-
Mama Mia continues to be an
toes, spices and sweet and dry
Italian family restaurant that prides
Vermouth ... and Parmesan
itself on home cooking
Sorrentino ... filled with ricotta cheese
b .. . Nothing b
fancy ... And you can't fool
Mickey when it comes to buying
meat ... He was cutting it at age
12 and knows those secret things
to look for ... The veal he pur-
chases is excellent Provimi.
And Vergie Sires knows how to
cook the dishes at Mama Mia ...
She was the chef on 8 Mile and
has been with the Spina family for
35 years without missing a day ...
come snowstorm, hail or whatever.
Her chicken parmesan is
among the best-sellers at Mama
Mia ... And the specialties Vergie
makes are tasty with tangs of
freshness ... Mama Mia has
always been known for its pizza
and still sells about 350 of them a
week ... Biggest deal, though, is
on Friday nights when Mama
Mia has an all-you-can-eat Fish
Fry for $4.99, including coleslaw,
Mickey Valle is the general manager and son-in-law
French fries and homemade
of Ann Spira, who owns Mama Mia restaurant.
bread and breadsticks.
Saturday.
The banquet room for 200
is where Nancy Gurwin used
to put on her Nancy Gurwin
Dinner-Theater Productions,
which always seemed to play to
large, enthusiastic audiences.
Mama Mia is great for out-
door marriages ... with a little
gazebo overlooking a 30-foot
deep pond surrounded by wild-
flowers and loaded with fish ...
As many as 350 can attend the
wedding in this beautiful setting.
No gincy frills ... but a
good, clean family Italian
restaurant that people have
enjoyed for so many years.