OCTOBER 29 • 2020 | 45
T
he walls were paneled
in heavy wood … The
chairs and bar stools
comfortable … the steaks and
chops generous.
The crowds of people
who came to
Berman’
s Chop
House were big-
time athletes,
newspaper men
and women, vis-
iting celebrities
and many sales-
men … A sort
of New York’
s Toots Shor’
s.
Through the years,
Berman’
s had built a nation-
al reputation on steaks and
chops, which were about 85
percent of the business.
At one time, it had two
coolers filled with about
10,000 pounds of aging U.S.
prime beef … Its strip sirloins
and tenderloins were cut after
14 to 18 days.
Berman’
s steaks came in six
convenient sizes … A large
sirloin and a big tenderloin, a
bigger sirloin and tenderloin,
a club steak and a ground sir-
loin steak.
Its lamb chops averaged
three ribs each and were
almost as thick … It also
featured thick cuts of roast
prime ribs, trout, whitefish
and frog legs … The cot-
tage-fried potatoes were par-
ticularly good.
The kitchen at Berman’
s
was another point of interest
… During the dinner hour,
there were at least seven men
in the tiny open kitchen …
It was a lesson in efficiency
to watch them work … They
hardly had room to turn
around, but they got every-
thing done.
Plus the food … espe-
cially the steaks … a sort of
floor show went on … Folks
laughed at the fellow chop-
ping cottage fries from an
above site … as a cigarette
dangled from his mouth with
the long ash never falling on
the dishes.
When Harry Berman orig-
inally owned it, the consider-
ation was only that his restau-
rant was just another good
steak house … But after being
bought by Ben Kasle, whose
family owned Kasle Steel, those
words were changed consid-
erably … Legend has it that
Ben discovered the corners of
the steaks were being cut and
tossed away … He is said to
have immediately brought in a
large cutter/chopper and began
saving those corners … which
caused a dining sensation
when placed on the menu as
Chopped Sirloins … coupled
with an ultra-array of very thin
cottage-fried potatoes … Talk
was of changing the name from
Berman’
s to Benny’
s, but that
was short-lived and Berman’
s
stayed in all its glory …
Between its wonderful steaks,
lamb chops, chopped sirloins
and fantastic cottage fries,
among a luscious array of food,
it became a big favorite.
There never again was
another Berman’
s.
DID YOU KNOW
DEPT. … That there still
is a Ginopolis’
Bar-BQ
even though the one on 12
Mile in Farmington Hills
is closed? …It was opened
by one of the two brothers
… Peter is serving them
at his Ginopolis’
in nearby
Brighton.
OLDIE BUT GOODIES
SHORTIES … Patient: “I
have a ringing in my ears” …
Doctor, “Don’
t answer!” … Q:
Why don’
t some Jewish moth-
ers drink? … A: Alcohol inter-
feres with their suffering.
CONGRATS …… To Amy
Wechsler on her birthday
… To Jeanette Olson on her
birthday … To Melissa Litvin
on her birthday … To Jerry
Olson on his 85th birthday
… To Herb and Audrey
Saperstein on their 64th anni-
versary.
Danny’s email address is
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.
RASKIN
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING
Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist
A Tribute to
Berman’s
Chop House
EBAY
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