arts & entertainment >> the best of everything Tequila! Huerto Restaurant & Tequila Bar a big first-year hit. W hen friends are together and talk The first year in the restau- about having a vision, it is many rant business is considered the times just that ... Nothing more most difficult ... Huerto, as ... But when it eventually becomes a reality a better-than-good Mexican- for them it could be a thing of happiness ... Southwestern eatery, had its Notably when opening a restaurant. share of hair-pulling but, like all Except for one thing ... Whether or not well-run dining operations, has the location that is selected is considered come out with big smiles. important ... In this case, the site that three Seating in the dining room is local gents chose was one that so many for 80 people ... plus a separate would say just wasn't a lucky spot ... Didn't at banquet room for 128 ... The least five other restaurants occupy the same lounge area seats another 60 plus locale? ... Sign of the Beefcarver, Chuck 20 stools at the bar. Daly's Great Northern, West Bloomfield It is a seven-day operation ... Dining, Great Northern, Big Daddy's Parthenon, Sea Monday-Wednesday, 11-11 p.m.; Thursday- Grille? Saturday, 11-midnight; Sunday, noon-11 But it was no problem for the present p.m. ... Lunch, Monday-Friday, 11-3 p.m. ... owners as Huerto Restaurant and Tequila Bar, 80 different kinds of Tequilla and crafted Bar celebrates its first anniversary on cocktails, is Monday-Wednesday, 11-11; Orchard Lake Road, Thursday-Saturday, north of 15 Mile, hi 11-1 a.m.; Sunday, West Bloomfield. noon-11 p.m. Many memo- Huerto's Mexican ries will be jogged and Southwestern in bringing back menu includes MSG- Mexican restaurants free and gluten-free of yesteryears and selections ... It is today on 23rd and notable that about 98 Bagley and other percent of the dishes Detroit locales, but Mark Mendola, Eduardo are freshly made Huerto Restaurant & Zaraga daily, truly a most Tequila Bar may eas- significant feature in ily be among the better ones in the northwest Mexican style of dining. sector of Metro Detroit One of its fine appetizers is Huerto's best "Our dream was to have something dif- seller ... Flautas, a trio of flour tortillas rolled ferent" says Eduardo Mayin, co-owner with with seasoned ground chicken and flash-fried Safa Zaraga and Mark Mendola, whose origi- to a delicate crunch ... The flautas are served nal intent was to have an authentic Mexican on a bed of lettuce, pico, sour cream and and Southwestern restaurant with its own guacamole and drizzled with poppers sauce, character. cheese and fresh cilantro ... Also, the sizzling And so they have, with Mexican cuisine fajita platter of marinated steak, chicken or one might have enjoyed or heard about in shrimp, grilled with onions, tomatoes and varied styles ... But, at Huerto, more so along peppers, served with refried beans, pico de the coveted lines of genuineness ... This is gallo, lettuce, cheese, sliced jalapenos, sour seemingly coupled with modern versions of cream, guacamole and warm flour tortillas. authentic styling that have already in its first Entertainment is at 8 p.m. ... Thursday, DJ year of existence attained loyal acclaim. Lou Dimes playing latest rhythms and giving salsa instruction ... Friday, rota- tion of live bands ... Saturday, Toty Viola and Greco Freeman. In its first year, Huerto Restaurant & Tequila Bar has proven that the correct choice was made for its location ... Excellent Mexican food to go with good service in a comfort- able atmosphere will always win out with much-appreciated customer attendance. LOOKS LIKE supply and demand may show its ugly price increase head now that sandwich chains like Subway and Arby's are making appearances into the delicatessen field with heavy showings of corned beef, pastrami, etc. And while on the deli kick, a 23-year part- nership at K. Lefkofsky & Vienna Wholesale Co. in Taylor has agreed to a buyout separa- tion ... With Dan Lefkofsky looking to retire, Marty Cook takes over the company in the distributing of products to numerous delica- tessens it services. FATE MAY HAVE had a hand in the recent first Greek Night by Uptown Parthenon in Crosswinds Center, Orchard Lake and Lone Pine roads, West Bloomfield ... Might have been a breakdown in com- munications, being called for 9 p.m. and entertainment not getting started until 10:30 p.m. ... But the later time proved to be much more correct for a Saturday evening with the ability to sleep in on Sunday. Belly dancer, trio with gent playing a bou- zouki, another on an electronic orchestral music maker and another singing ... all in very lively rhythms as customers danced, flaming cheese "Opa!" filled the air, good Greek food and drink, etc. And fate also brought together again the first-night uniting of Tony Hadjisofroniou as manager and Ted Stavropoulos as server. NUMEROUS requests to the new owners of Golden Phoenix restaurant, Sugar Tree Plaza, Orchard Lake Road, north of 15 Mile, West Bloomfield, for the addition of Thai food has been answered in a big way ... Now, along with the good Chinese lunches and dinners, are more than 30 choices of Thai dishes. Gent in the kitchen putting out the deli- cious Thai goodies is noted Bing Zhao, father and father-in-law of boss folks Ada and Arthur Fung ... Golden Phoenix offering the fusion of these two cultures is a wise choice. SIX MONTHS IN MOST instances tells the story of many new restaurants ... It does if the eating experiences continue on a suc- cessful path ... This it seems to be doing with crowds continuing to come into 5th Tavern, on Telegraph Road, across from Costco in Bloomfield Township. It was opened this past May by George Lukaj and brothers Jerry and Luis Sanchez, and is proving to be on a straight road to success ... George continues to own Georges on Northwestern in West Bloomfield. 5th Tavern, with its elegant interior, seats 240 in the roomy open dining room ... and 110 in another room that is also used for overflowing attendees on weekends. A spacious back room with its own bar recently feted the victory party of 48th District Court Judge Kimberly Small, whose friends, family and co-workers joined her in the celebration. OLDIE BUT GOODIE ... A woman goes to the butcher and asks the price of ground chuck ... "$4.50 a pound" he tells her. "But the shop across the street sells it for $3.50 a pound," she protests. "So go buy from across the street" says the butcher. "He's all out" she explains. "Oh," says the butcher, "when I'm out of ground chuck it's only $1.50 a pound" CONGRATS ... To Leonard Moss on his birthday ... To Denise Ilitch on her birthday. ❑ Danny's email address is dannyraskin@sbcglobalmet. COME JOIN US FOR THANKSGIVING! 4;1 44: THANKSGIVING BUFFET 11AM -8PM Adults Kids (10 and Under) 0:11_11 - c rArcrW‘?...1\11