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Slider Heaven!

Humble little Hunter House a living legend.

S

he loved to cook so much that
Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m.-midnight;
among her happiest moments
Sunday, 11 a.m. 9 p.m. ... Seating is just
would be those of owning her own
30 at the small dining-room counter and
restaurant ... So much so that her husband
another eight at a window coun-
furthered that thrill by buying the little
ter facing Woodward Avenue.
hamburger place she had fallen in love
Other than the sliders, best-
with.
seller continues to be the double
It was back in 1982 that Albert and
cheeseburger with chili and
Martha Papazian became the proprietors of
cheese fries ... but not far behind
Hunter House on Woodward, just north of
come standard hamburgers with
Maple, Birmingham ... not realizing that
pickles and onions, kosher-brand
hot dogs, onion rings, chili,
they had purchased what was to one day
become a much-talked-about little dining
cheese, shoestring fried potatoes,
legend.
shakes, etc. ... Vegetarians go
Martha arrived every morning at 5 a.m.,
gaga over the Claire Burger sand-
taking over the grill with gleeful zest and
wich named after a little girl who
peeling the 50 pounds or so of onions ...
did not eat meat ... caramelized
while for five hours Al rolled every meat
onions grilled with cheese and
patty into a small ball and then greeted
sandwiched on a Hunter House steamed
Hunter House guests and refilled their cups
bun.
of coffee.
In early 2007, Susan and hubby, Tony,
Martha passed on and Al looked to retire designed their Hunter House Mobile Diner
in 1996 and, with his help, their daughter
... made to mimic the interior layout of
Susan Cobb, ran the restaurant ... In 2006,
the restaurant ... It is used to serve the
she took over herself.
Hunter House menu at private parties, bar
When its original owner,
and bat mitzvahs, weddings,
Don Ellenwood, opened Hunter
etc. ... cooking at grills just
House, his first menu had only
like in the restaurant ... and
hamburgers, cheeseburgers
staffed only by trained Hunter
and milkshakes ... followed
House employees. "About our
two years later by pies and
employees:' says Susan, "I
doughnuts ... "The best cof-
truly believe that the success
fee in town" was free for police
of Hunter House is not only
officers, and a jukebox played
our consistently delicious and
Susan Co bb
popular hits.
quality food, but also those
From this little beginning
happy and smiling faces that
comes the immensely popular
greet you when you walk in the
Hunter House of today, which
front door. It's like that feeling
of coming home:'
easily sells more than 15,000 hamburger
sliders alone each week ... It has been
A menu hangs on a wall with a list of
approached many times by those request-
Hunter House employee specials ... each
ing a franchise ... and even more so by
named after the employee who invented the
those wanting to buy Hunter House itself.
favorite interestingly delicious concoctions.
Hunter House is open seven days a week
The popularity and note of Hunter House
... Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.;
has reached national proportions ... having

been in four television commercials, writ-
ten about in three books, listed in a Harley-
Davidson catalog, on a Mustang calendar,
written about in eight publi-
cations, including Gourmet
and Food Network magazines,
have had articles written
about it in an untold amount
of national newspapers, etc.
... Hardly a month goes by
that Hunter House doesn't get
calls from movie directors
wanting to film scenes inside
the little eatery ... But Susan
says that the place is so small
she would have to close dur-
ing filming.
Its 63 years of popularity
growth has brought cherished memories
for many ... That first date ... The little
box on their plate that revealed a ring ...
The learning of becoming a new mom
and dad ... so much ... and the constant
desire of going back for another hamburger,
sandwich or shake at their favorite ... the
Hunter House in Birmingham.
SEEMS AS THOUGH every time I hear
of a building in Detroit being imploded, it
brings back memories ...The most recent
blowup of the Park Avenue Hotel for the
new Red Wing arena and entertainment
sector brought to mind the wonderful
original Town Pump restaurant that was
owned and operated by brothers Cass, Lou
and Henry Warshaw.
This was where performers like "Saucy
Sylvia" Stoun and so many other entertain-
ers performed ... It was also the eatery with
that wonderful butterfly shrimp sauce that I
still make with ingredients I can remember
from the Town Pump, whose chef left to go
out West and took the recipe with him ...
When Henry also had the Normandie Bar,
across from the Fisher Building, and a gent
appearing at the Fisher Theatre came across

Grand Boulevard, played a couple of tunes
on the piano, and a crowd soon gathered
around after discovering that it was Cole
Porter.
LOOKING FOR DEPT. ... Robert "Bob"
Kimoto, tableside dining expert and maitre
d' ... Cynthia Wybranowski, fine pastry
chef.
SILVER MEDAL in the 100-yard breast
stroke swimming at the 2015 National
Senior Games, held in Minneapolis, was
won by former sportscaster and presently
localite health and fitness guru Jim Berk ...
His second-place finish over the Fourth of
July weekend made it a big whoopee time
for Jim's family in attendance, who also saw
him place high in the 50-yard breaststroke
competition of splashers from all over the
country.
OLDIE BUT GOODIE DEPT. ... Two
Jewish men are sitting in a deli frequented
almost exclusively by Jews in the Jewish
section of town. They are talking between
themselves in Yiddish. A foreign waiter
comes up and in fluent and impeccable
Yiddish asks them if everything is OK, can
he get them anything and so forth.
The Jewish men are dumbfounded,
"My God, where did he learn such perfect
Yiddish?"
They pay their bill and ask the owner,
an old friend also fluent in Yiddish,
"Where did our waiter learn such fabulous
Yiddish?"
The owner looks around and leans in so
no one will hear, and says, "Shhh. He thinks
we're teaching him English:'
CONGRATS ... To Mert Robbins on his
birthday ... To Kenneth "Kenny" Maier on
his birthday ... To Lorrie Isenberg on her
birthday ... To Maurie and Leonor Reizen
on their 73rd anniversary.

❑

Danny's email address is

dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net.

is not jallot 000 D) ead-

1

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