Ansara family has a true
immigrant success story.

the best of everything
Raskin

From
Big Boy to
Red Robin

S

uccess stories that pertain
to immigrants arriving in
the United States to make
a new life for themselves will
never die.
When they
came to this
country from
Lebanon in 1951,
brothers George
and Andrew
Ansara couldn’
t
speak any
English, which is
an immediate shoulder-shrug-
ger in itself … Especially when
they wanted to go into business
and banks wouldn’
t give them a
second look.
It took 10 years, but they
finally opened their first restau-
rant in 1961, a Garden City Big
Boy … and the family-operated
and owned operation steadily
grew … Nine-year-old Lew
Ansara was its dishwasher in the
Big Boy owned by dad, George,
uncle Andrew and great-uncles

Louis and Victor … Lou went
to Lawrence Tech, also became
its sports writer and a Big Boy
manager for them in the early
1970s … Cousin Victor grad-
uated from Detroit College of
Law and University of Michigan
- Dearborn, cooking and help-
ing wherever needed at Big Boy
while attending school.
Today, the family has numer-
ous Big Boy franchises … Red
Robin is a national chain that
originated in Seattle … George
went to one in Scottsdale,
Arizona, and was
so impressed he
had to take Lew
there … It revved
up a lot of inter-
est and was the
beginning of a
major franchise in
the Michigan market … One of
them is off the road to Cosco in
Commerce Crossing, others are
in Novi, Brighton, Livonia, Troy
and Ford Road, Detroit.

Best seller is its Gourmet
Burger … but the family sees to
that same quality with chicken
sandwiches, pastas, steaks, ice
cream floats, etc. … and a lot
of love.
MAIL DEPT. … “Bea Cohen
and I had to tell you this. We
took our 4-year-old daughter
Sherill to see her sister Lillian’
s
new apartment. She was wide-
eyed when telling of getting into
a little room and the upstairs
came down.
” … Sy Cohen
OLDIE BUT GOODIE … A
balding white-haired
man walked into a
jewelry store Friday
evening with a beau-
tiful much younger
girl at his side and
told the jeweler he
was looking for a
special ring for his girlfriend …
The jeweler looked through his
stock and brought out a $5,000
ring …
The man said, “No, I’
d like to

see something more special!”
The jeweler went to his
special stock and brought out
another ring and said, “Here is a
stunning ring at only $40,000.
”
The girl’
s eyes sparkled and
her whole body trembled with
excitement … The elderly man
seeing this said, “We’
ll take it!”
The jeweler asked how pay-
ment would be made. “My
check is good. I’
ll write it now
and you can call my bank to
verify the funds. I’
ll pick up the
ring on Monday morning.
”
On Monday morning, the
jeweler angrily phoned the old
man and said, “Sir, there’
s no
money in that account.
”
“I know,
” said the old man.
“But let me tell you about my
weekend!”
CONGRATS … To Rabbi
Jason Miller on his birthday …
To Ken Maier on his birthday.

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

Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist

RED ROBIN FACEBOOK

THE GALLERY RESTAURANT

WELCOME BACK!

Our Dining Room is now Reopened!

“For 40 years, Gallery Restaurant has served up masterpieces”


~ Danny Raskin

Bloomfield Plaza • 6638 Telegraph Road and Maple • 248-851-0313

www.galleryrestaurant2.com

OFFERING
CARRY OUT &
CURB SIDE PICK UP!

8AM – 8:30PM

DELIVERY
AVAILABLE
VIA DOORDASH!

STILL OFFERING!
GROCERIES &
MERCHANDISE!

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an




can’
t enj
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ewel
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f i
t’
s si
tti
ng i
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deposi
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Sel
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We deal
i
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Coins & Jewelry

JULY 23 • 2020 | 45