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Casual And Classy

Beverly Hills Grill celebrates 25 years of light and trendy eating.

y

ou sort of knew that it was just a
matter of time before he would
be joining the act in becoming a
small chain restaurant operator.
In many circles, five is the number that
seems to constitute such a chain.
But this wasn't owner Bill Roberts' origi-
nal vision when he first opened Beverly
Hills Grill 25 years ago ... He had taken
the former Jaxon's restaurant and, after
renaming it, could hardly believe the mark
of success it suddenly made.
Bill's Beverly Hills Grill on Southfield
Road in Beverly Hills, was the first of
Roberts' Restaurant Group that became
five with the recent opening of ML Grill on
Maple and Lahser, Bloomfield Township
... The other three are Streetside Seafood,
Birmingham, Town Tavern, Royal Oak,
and Roadside B&G, Bloomfield Hills.
The beginner of Bill's small restaurant
chain, his Beverly Hills Grill, has outlasted
some fine restaurants that were open
25 years ago ... Golden Mushroom, Les
Auteurs, Pontchartrain Wine Cellars, Van
Dyke Place, Money Tree, Excalibur, etc.
After taking over Jaxon's, Beverly Hills
Grill set a wonderful pace as it changed a
menu of eggs, pancakes
and short-order items
with dishes like fresh
fish, little-neck clams,
braised short ribs, lump
crab cakes, etc.
The fashionable ...
yes, fashionable neigh-
borhood restaurant
Beverly Hills Grill saw
women in mink and
ermine and men in
dress clothes mingling
with casually but neatly
dressed guys and gals
at breakfast, lunch and
Bill Roberts
dinner.
Imagine only around 72 seats and eight
bar stools for people to dine on sauteed
and poached salmon, roasted chicken, etc.

There are many reasons for
the Roberts' Restaurant Group's
success ... The massive and
very fine reputation that his
Beverly Hills Grill amassed ...
good food, excellent service,
reasonable prices and the all-
around feeling of much convivi-
ality, like a country club session
of togetherness and laughter.
Bill remembers the days
back in 1987 when he went to
California to visit a place called
the Mustard Grill for ideas, and soon after
opening Beverly Hills Grill was shaking his
head in wonderment at his little restaurant
overtaking the Mustard Grill in popularity.
"It seemed that restaurants in California
were becoming more casual and less pre-
tentious:' says Bill. "They were lighter and
the food was becoming fresher and more
simple and wine more important."
Beverly Hills Grill is open seven days ...
Mon.-Fri. from 7 a.m.; Sat. and Sun. from
8 a.m.
In the 25 years since opening, more
than 3 1 /2 million people have come to
dine at Beverly Hills Grill on breakfasts
like crab cake Benedict,
corned beef hash,
Bananas Foster French
Toast, etc. ... Lunch of
pulled chicken salad,
Doc Greene salad,
Kobe meatloaf, etc. ...
Dinners like Creole rock
shrimp, pepper-crusted
filet, fresh fish, etc.
The innovative menu
selections at Beverly
Hills Grill are frequent-
ly changed, but regular
customers always seem
to get what they want,
whether a dish from
the menu or one of the daily specials
handwritten on the chalkboard.
"Since opening 25 years ago:' says Bill,

"our guests have become much
more sophisticated in their
dining and continually look
for quality of quantity."
Bill Roberts had a vision to
open a small restaurant but
never in his wildest dreams
one that would grow into a
fine restaurant group.
READER MINI REVIEW
... From Jerry Naftaly, former
Oak Park mayor ... "Walk into
Unique Kosher Carryout on
Greenfield Road north of 10 Mile in Oak
Park and the selection is like what people
might get when entering their Bubbie's
house on a holiday. Everything is prepared
on the premises under supervision of the
Council of Orthodox Rabbis.
"I pick up meals at least twice a week.
My mother, Grace Naftaly, enjoys the
roasted chicken, grilled chicken breast,
brown rice and peas, stuffed cabbage and
potato kugel. I also buy the fresh salmon,
chicken salad and tuna, among my other
favorites. Occasionally, I'll get the spa-
ghetti with chicken meatballs.
"David Nederlander is a customer since
Unique Kosher opened, and says he loves
just about everything they sell.
"Aaron Tobin says, 'The fried chicken is
great!' and also orders the chicken breast,
shnitzel and egg rolls with chicken. Also
the soups, including Hungarian vegetable
with dumplings.
"We are lucky to have Unique Kosher
Carryout in Oak Park:'
QUESTION & ANSWER DEPT....
"I'm confused and hope that you can help
me. I love Chilean sea bass, and my wife
Alice's uncle, Joe Stollar, says that it is not
from Chile. Do you know if he is right? ...
If he is, why is it called Chilean? ... Alvin

S. Dworkin
[As far as I know, Chilean sea bass
is actually Patagonian toothfish found
in cold Antarctic waters ... There are
various explanations of why it is called

Chilean sea bass, which it is known only
as that in the United States and Canada
... One has it that Chile is the first coun-
try whose fisherman are credited with
bringing it into this market ... Another is
that a fish wholesaler thought the name
sounded better and the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration took the "Chilean
sea bass" as another marketing title for
Patagonian toothfish.]
THE NAME IS Stuart Silbert, not
Silber, who recently reopened Executive
Custom Shirtmakers on East Maple, next
to Social Restaurant in Birmingham ...
Small world that eight years ago, while
visiting his mother in Florida, he took her
to the Galleria in Fort Lauderdale.
She wanted to rest, and when Stuart
returned from getting her a drink, his
mother introduced him to a woman
whom she had sat down next to ... The
lady told Stuart's mother that she and her
husband, Ernest, used to own Executive
Custom Shirtmakers ... Marietta Drucker
was one of 50 child survivors that had
been saved during the Holocaust.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... Fellow
is walking along when a filthy-looking,
smelly tramp comes up and asks if he
could have money for a meal.
The gent says, "You mean for alcohol."
"No:' says the tramp. "I don't drink"
The fellow says, "Then to gamble it
away."
And, again, the tramp says, "I don't
gamble:'
"OK, I'll give you the money:' the man
says. "But first, I want you to come home
with me so my wife can see what happens
to a man who doesn't drink or gamble:'
CONGRATS ... To Jimmy Gottfurcht
on his birthday ... To Manny Litvin on
his 90th birthday ... To Sue Ann Malkin
on her birthday ... To Herman "Wishy"
Millman on his 57th birthday.

❑

Danny's email address is

dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net .

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April 25 • 2013

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