raskin 75
th
an
the best of everything
niversary
Won’t-Quit Spirit
Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist
Georges Family
Restaurant
celebrates
15 years.
George Lukaj
Much has been said and
written about neighborhood
family restaurants … and
never enough … Every so often
there are accolades given for
them plus varied awards and
deserved accolades.
Restaurants like Georges
Family Restaurant on
Northwestern Highway, south
of Orchard Lake Road, West
Bloomfield.
Celebrating its 15th birthday
as a most significant neighbor-
hood family restaurant, it has
had a double share of reasons
for not being open … Opening
its doors again for No. 14 anni-
versary was almost a disaster
that many people might have
thought would cause closure
during the construction of a
roundabout.
And prior to that as a Honey
Tree restaurant, it was one of
two restaurants at Hunter’s
Square whose leases were not
renewed to make room for a
large chain dining operation
that was coming in … But
owner George Lukaj is not one
to quit … He vowed to reopen
again but under a new name
at another location that would
accommodate even more peo-
ple … And with a much larger
and better family menu.
The 15th anniversary of
Georges Family Restaurant is
being celebrated with a new
addition to its already excel-
lent presentation of family
dining … Other than its large
menu of choice dishes, there’s
also the huge all-you-can-eat
Sunday Buffet Brunch of more
than 50 fresh items 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. (adults $12.99, children
5-12, $7.99, youngsters 4 and
under free) … and Friday and
Saturday evenings prime rib
dinners remain.
Recently acclaimed daily din-
ing special features have been
gaining unbelievable applause
… They started out a few
months ago available from 5-9
p.m., but because of so many
requests for earlier hours, they
are now available Monday
through Friday, noon to 9 p.m.
… Monday steak wrap, lightly
floured fried shrimp, etc. …
Tuesday Asiago chicken, cherry
BBQ salmon, parmesan-crust-
ed perch, etc. … Wednesday
potato-crusted whitefish,
salmon, BBQ chicken sliders,
etc. … Thursday, seafood pasta,
eggplant Parmesan, Alfredo
pasta … Friday, spinach pie
stuffed whitefish, pecan-maple
salmon, etc. … all and more on
each of the five days.
George Lukaj’s vow of more
space resulted in seating from
98 to a whopping 200 at com-
fortable booths and tables …
including two private 35-per-
son rooms for regular seating
or small affairs and a much
larger menu for both adult and
children dining.
And to top off what so many
people consider among this
region’s better waitperson
aggregation is the presence
of a trio on the same shift
… Mother Mira Polokaj and
daughters Laura and Elizabeth
Polokaj, three smiling super
waitresses with George’s
wonderful staff that draws
many raves for its efficiency …
Mother Mira is also teaching
her daughters how to make
the delicious rice pudding she
recently made for raving cus-
tomers … “I’ll do it my way!”
says server mom Mira, as cus-
tomers exaltingly say it is so
good!
The 15th birthday of Georges
Family Dining has certainly
vaulted it far into the realm of
today’s top noted neighbor-
hood family restaurants for
entire clan enjoyment.
REARVIEW MIRROR …
Making rounds of yesteryears
… To Jakk’s Lounge, Oak Park,
to see what they meant by hav-
ing a first, soup mixed with
an alcoholic drink … It never
went over … To Michigan Inn’s
Benchmark for spring lamb …
To Carl’s Chop House, Detroit,
for broiled Lake Erie Sturgeon
… To Ciungan’s, Ecorse, for
fried shrimp … To Doug’s Body
Shop, Ferndale, for seafood
chowder while seated in a Rolls
Royce … To Fox & Hounds,
Bloomfield Hills, for shrimp
stuffed with crab meat … To
Golden Mushroom, Southfield,
for roasted rack of lamb …
To Great Dane, Farmington
Hills, for Chef Douglas (TV’s
Refi ned Resale
Duglas Duglas) Grech’s French
Onion Soup … To Jim’s Garage,
Detroit, for Florida red snapper
served on a truck hubcap … To
Stage Delicatessen, Oak Park,
for Jack and Harriet Goldberg’s
delicious soup.
MAIL DEPT. ... From
Florence Fishman ... “I’m a for-
mer waitress and often won-
dered why when I asked some
people if they wanted some-
thing to drink, they’d say, “No,
I’ll just have water.”
OLDIE BUT GOODIE ... The
dog trainer went bankrupt
and was forced to go to work
until he could start out in the
dog-raising business again.
He found a job as a waiter in a
small restaurant.
After working for a few days,
he said to the owner of the res-
taurant, “I’m turning out to be
a pretty good waiter, don’t you
think?”
“If you don’t mind,” said the
proprietor, “I’m going to make
a couple of suggestions about
your work.”
“Like what?” asked the
waiter.
“Well,” said the owner, “when
the customer refuses to eat his
food, we don’t rub his nose in
it!”
CONGRATS ... To Bernie
Moray on his birthday ... To
Bernice Stedman on her birth-
day. •
Danny’s email address is
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.
My name is Fred S. Findling. I am
a Holocaust survivor. I wrote
a book about my life and
experiences titled “Siegfried The
Dragon Slayer”. It is available on
Amazon for $12.95.
“Where Women Dress Beautifully for Less”
32923 Woodward Ave
One Block South of 14 Mile Rd
Royal Oak, Michigan 48073
248-549-7000
HOURS: Mon – Sat 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We are a
BLOW OUT SALE
DROP-OFF DEPOT for Charities
AUGUST 21, 2017- SEPTEMBER 2, 2017 A contribution will be made to your
favorite JEWISH Charity
women’s apparel, shoes, hats, furs, scarfs
PICK UP IS AVAILABLE
Let’s Make a Deal
2184200
This photo of me was taken in
Southern France in 1940,
during World War II.
I speak twice per month at
the Holocaust Memorial Center
on Orchard Lake Rd. in
Farmington Hills.
jn
August 24 • 2017
61