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