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the best of everything

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What’s In A Name?

Danny Raskin

Senior Columnist

Sposita’s Italian

Ristorante builds

reputation on food

and service.

Joe Sposita

Seems like more people than
ever before are going into the
restaurant business with abso-
lutely no experience in operat-
ing an eatery … Some are lucky
enough to have others they can
depend upon to assist them…
But, oh, those sometimes-sleep-
less nights thinking of a name.
In many cases, it might be
well for them to remember the
experience that lay ahead for
Joe Sposita after being asked
to become a partner in a new
restaurant that was soon to be
opened … using the last name
of the experienced co-partner
to-be as its so-thought drawing
card.
They had a falling out and
Joe was left holding the bag,
so to speak … Had a lease but
couldn’t use the “draw” name …
He was in a spot … no name …
no one with restaurant knowl-
edge around to help him.
But Joe Sposita did learn a
very important lesson in res-
taurant ownership that should
perhaps apply to the many who
might need his experience to
teach them a most essential
message … That a dining spot’s
name was secondary … Much
more important were a restau-
rant’s good food, good service,
customer satisfaction, etc. …
Why not use his own good
name, he was asked … Surely, it
also holds respect … And if he
could satisfy whatever may be
needed for return visits by cus-
tomers, a name could be any-

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thing … A name’s importance
in bringing people back was
quite little.
Because of this, Sposita’s
Italian Ristorante on 14 Mile
Road, between Orchard Lake
Road and Farmington Road,
West Bloomfield, is celebrating
its 18th anniversary as one of
this locale’s finest neighbor-
hood Italian restaurants.
Joe retired as an officer in
the International Plumber’s
Union in 2001 to devote full
time to making certain that
above everything else, good
food, proper attentive service,
etc., will undoubtedly bring
customers back for more …
And perhaps a super special
offer as a “thank-you” gesture
for their appreciated patron-
age … Joe has never forgotten
the cooperation of people who
became steady customers from
its opening in 1999 to today.
And so Sposita’s heavily
requested “thank you” every-
other-week dining offer, which
had originally started out as
a once-in-a-while gift, soon
became a very much desired
in-house offering … Petite
prime filet, full antipasto tray,
minestrone soup, salad, side
of pasta, potatoes and bread
basket … complete for $22.50 …
This, plus a quality menu that
offers more appreciated dining
enjoyments.
The signage name? … Who
cares? … How’s the food? …
How’s the service? … How are

6535 Drake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322
phone 248.592.2000 | www.cienafacilities.com

of going Downtown as a kid
with my mother and grand-
mother on an adventure, dress-
ing nicely, riding elevators to
the 13th floor, with operators
wearing white gloves, calling
out floors and items as we went
higher. You can’t talk Hudson’s
without mentioning its Maurice
salads. The classic traditional
food continued at Macy’s.
Informal modeling and fashion
shows in the 1950s through
1970s.
“A kids’ menu had peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches and
burgers and chips, but I also
remember most the macaroni
au gratin, Canadian cheese
soup and hot fudge walnut
sundaes. Northland was a
total experience of shopping
for clothes, then lunch at the
fourth-floor Hudson’s restau-
rant. By the 1980s, Hudson’s
became more health-conscious,
adding grilled chicken, broiled
fish, fresh fruits, vegetables and
low-sodium dressings.”
OLDIE BUT GOODIE Seeing
signs years ago … On a ped-
dler’s cart, “Don’t be fooled by
imitators. This is my only push-
cart.” … On a Las Vegas divorce
lawyer’s door, “Satisfaction
guaranteed or your honey
back.”
CONGRATS … To Mariana
Yonova on her birthday … To
Jeff Metzger on his birthday. •

Danny’s email address is
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.

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the prices?
IT WAS BOUND TO
HAPPEN … A Joe Muer Seafood
restaurant in Las Vegas …
Opening projection is for 2020,
according to Joe Vicari, CEO
and president of the Joe Vicari
Restaurant Group that includes
10 Andiamo eateries and now
three-to-be Joe Muer Seafoods.
It will be built on the closed
Las Vegas Club Hotel site on
the Downtown strip, Fremont
and Main, about a block from
the former Fremont Hotel, now
the D Hotel & Casino, con-
structed by ex-Detroiters broth-
ers Greg and Derek Stevens
… and housing Joe’s Andiamo
Steak House, voted in the top
three of Las Vegas’ 3,500 eater-
ies. … The brothers are con-
structing the new hotel as well.
The new Joe Muer Seafood
Las Vegas will be patterned
after the present two Joe
Muer Seafood restaurants in
Detroit’s Renaissance Center
and Bloomfield Hill’s former
Kingsley Inn.
“We have had such a great
relationship that this was an
easy decision to make,” says Joe.
“I’ve seen the rendering and the
new property that will cost over
$700 million and rival the finest
hotels on the Las Vegas strip.”
FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
of yesteryears … From Jerry
Naftaly … “Another favorite
restaurant of mine was in J.L.
Hudson’s, Downtown Detroit
and Northland. Fond memories

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jn

November 9 • 2017

53