Jim, left, and Marty McCann, of Jackson, co-owners of the European Bakery, 622 Page Ave., put bread into the oven Tuesday morning. (File Photo | MLive.com).CITIZEN PATRIOT
JACKSON COUNTY, MI – From classic burger joints to drive-in style eateries, Jacksonians have had to say goodbye to many beloved restaurants.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the fresh-baked goods from the European Bakery or the sizzling steak from Tom’s Grill & Pub, longtime Jackson residents still think fondly of the meals and atmosphere from these restaurants.
Related: Jackson loves its restaurants, and here are 10 we wish were still here today
Here are 10 more of those beloved restaurants Jacksonians wish were still around today.
File photo | MLive.com This dapper gent appeared on Ritzee Hamburg wrappers. Many called him Mr. Ritzee. MLive Media GroupMLive Media Group
Ritzee Hamburgs
Most often called “The Ritzee,” Ritzee Hamburgs was opened by Lloyd F. Jenkins in 1954 at 128 W. Michigan Ave. in space formerly occupied by The Nut Shoppe. It was a great location because it was in the heart of what was then a busy downtown.
The business went through several owners, including Melton and Leah Bradshaw, who took over the business in 1959. They served breakfast, lunch and dinner, but it was the burgers and “orange” potatoes that were the Ritzee’s claim to fame.
The business was then sold to Jerry Kulpinski and his wife, Judy, who bought the Ritzee from the Bradshaws in 1984. Declining business and a rent hike in 1987 forced it to close.
Read more: Peek Through Time: People still crave the burgers and ‘orange’ potatoes from Ritzee Hamburgs
The Fairy Garden and its sign advertising chop suey, pictured at the far right in this photograph from Christmas in 1954, was the first place many Jacksonians tasted authentic Chinese cuisine.
Fairy Garden
The Fairy Garden was operated by the Lum family on the second and third floors of what was the Ismon Building — now the Morris Building — at Jackson Street and W. Michigan Avenue.
It was started by Ralph J. Lum. He left Canton, China, in 1909 and landed in Chicago with relatives. A year later, a local church sponsored Lum. He came to Jackson and stayed the rest of his life.
Lum opened the Fairy Garden, 101 S. Jackson St., in 1928. It was known for its authentic Chinese cabbage in egg rolls and homegrown bean sprouts in the chop suey.
One of his son’s William, worked with his father after his mother Fong Hoy Lew’s death. He took over the restaurant in 1950.
The Lums sold the Fairy Garden to Cantonese natives Yuk Ming Leung and Pik Yuk Leung. It then changed hands several times and finally closed as the Formosa Inn in 1982.
Read more: Peek Through Time: Fairy Garden treated many Jackson residents to their first taste of Chinese food
Jim, left, and Marty McCann, of Jackson, co-owners of the European Bakery, 622 Page Ave., put bread into the oven Tuesday morning. (File Photo | MLive.com).CITIZEN PATRIOT
European Bakery
The bakery was founded by Anthony Niesluchowski, who was born in Poland in 1890 and moved to U.S. at 20 years old. At 23, Niesluchowski gathered up his traditional Polish recipes and came to Jackson to start the European Bakery on Sept. 13, 1913.
Niesluchowski died Jan. 10, 1975, at 84. Niesluchowski’s daughters Gertrude (Titus) Ludwig and Loretta McCann and Loretta’s husband, Tom McCann, who baked side-by-side with his father-in-law, took over after his death.
The bakery was known to be a hot spot for paczki, bread and other pastries. Its secret wasn’t so much in the ingredients used, but the 400-degree coal-fired oven, installed with 66,000 bricks in 1915.
After 105 years, the business closed its doors, stating the next generation was not going to take it over. The younger McCanns have good jobs elsewhere, and the men don’t really want their sons to live this life.
Read more: Peek Through Time: European Bakery a slice of life in Jackson since 1913
The Wimpy Burger restaurant in the train car at 3015 W. Michigan Ave. in better days in 1974. File photo | MLive.comMLive Media Group
Wimpy Burger
Leroy Crenshaw opened the original Wimpy Burger around 1953 at 1000 Francis St. , with a U-shaped counter and a no-frills menu of big burgers and bags of chips.
The place was always bustling, which led Crenshaw to open a second location at 3015 E. Michigan Ave., in 1955.
Wimpy Burger’s business sailed along fairly well. And in 1974, Crenshaw caught sight of a Grand Trunk Western railroad passenger car at 3015 W. Michigan Ave. It became the third Wimpy Burger.
Crime plagued the dining car throughout the rest of its existence, including a robber that got away with $900. Crenshaw got out of the burger business in 1975 and Wimpy Burger faded from existence.
Read more: Peek Through Time: Wimpy Burger was a no-frills top burger joint in Jackson
Bea's Drive-In Menu (File Photo MLive Media Group).MLive Media Group
Bea’s Drive-In
The teenagers who cruised Jackson’s Michigan Avenue on the weekends in the 1950s and ‘60s always made Bea’s Drive-In a stop.
Tony and Bea Paratore opened Bea’s Drive-In in 1955 on a busy spot-on N. West Avenue, across from where Fazoli’s is today. Its first big hit was a 19-cent hamburger.
The Tater Dog, a hot dog on a stick covered in a mashed potato batter and deep fried like a corn dog, was another favorite at Bea’s. The menu touted it as “Dinner on a stick” and encouraged those who ordered them to “dunk ‘em in catsup and eat ‘em like a lollipop.”
The Paratores sold the drive-in to Peter Monteleone in 1960. Monteleone had the business until 1964, when he sold it to Chester and Helen Fracala. The Fracalas closed Bea’s in 1974.
Read more: Peek Through Time: Wimpy Burger was a no-frills top burger joint in Jackson
Art Dolan stands outside one of his Burger Chef restaurants in Jackson. (File and courtesy photos | MLive.com).MLive Media Group
Burger Chef
The first big franchise to come to Jackson was a McDonald’s restaurant opened by Bill Sigmund on Prospect Street in July in 1959. Two months later, Arthur T. Dolan Jr. joined in with the 20th Burger Chef restaurant in the nation and the first outside of the company’s Indianapolis headquarters area.
Jackson’s Burger Chef restaurant was at 1500 N. West Ave., where Fazoli’s restaurant is today. Burgers, fries and shakes cost 15 cents each.
In 1974, Dolan Jr.’s Burger Chef on N. West Avenue was the chain’s longest-held franchise. In 1983, Burger Chef moved out when the company sold out to the owners of Hardee’s restaurants.
Read more: Peek Through Time: Burger Chef tickled Jackson residents’ taste buds with fast, flame-broiled burgers
Owner Nelson Kluck sits behind the counter of his A&W Root Beer Stand, 1300 S. West Ave. The stand was a popular spot for people of all ages, and they were sure to see Kluck always dressed in his pressed white shirt and tie, no matter how hot it was. (File Photo | MLive Media Group).MLive Media Group
A&W Root Beer Stand
Jackson’s original A&W Root Beer Stand, 1300 S. West Ave., was a hit with parents, grandparents, Little Leaguers, tourists and teens.
The mugs, submerged in ice-chilled water in stainless steel containers until they were filled, were one of the special trademarks of the popular root beer stand that Nelson and Edna Kluck opened around 1951.
Frosty root beer wasn’t the only thing that drew people to the A&W stand. Its chili dogs, made with a bean-less meat chili from a recipe of Nelson Kluck’s German mother, were hugely popular.
Nelson Kluck died in 1970, and eventually the business was sold to Robert Emmons and Elmer Horn in 1974 and they operated it as Cascades Root Beer Stand before selling it to David J. Stanton & Associates Inc. in 1979. Stanton opened the Wendy’s restaurant on the site a year later.
Read more: Peek Through Time: A&W Root Beer Stand on the corner of S. West Avenue and High Street was a staple of summertime for 30 years
The original Tom's Grill, which opened in 1938. (File Photo | MLive.com).MLive Media Group
Tom’s Grill & Pub
This restaurant at 3705 Ann Arbor Road was the labor of love of Tom and Irene Kosmet, who opened it in 1938. From the start, it was Irene who convinced Tom that steak should be the specialty of the house.
The prosperity nearly ended in 1969, when a fire destroyed the restaurant. Tom quickly began a construction project that resulted in a modern 200-seat restaurant on the same spot that was rebranded to Tom’s Fine Food & Cocktails.
The sizzler, described as hot, juicy, tender and flavorful, remained a house favorite. The menu also featured seafood, including fried perch, rainbow trout, scallops, shrimp, frog legs and oysters.
Tom died in 1993, but Irene stayed in the kitchen until 1998 when illness wouldn’t let her work anymore. She died in 2000. Long before then, though, Tom Jr. and his wife, Connie, were running the family business, until it was sold in 2004 and renamed to Azalea Steak & Seafood Grille before it closed in 2006.
Read more: Peek Through Time: Hot, juicy sizzler made mouths water at Tom’s Grill & Pub
This was the home of Pat's Hamburgs, 107 Cooper St., before the area was cleared out and the street re-routed for a downtown Jackson urban renewal project. (File Photo | MLive.com).
Pat’s Hamburgs
To this day, those who remember Pat’s Hamburgs at 107 Cooper St. still crave its ground loose-meat hamburgers.
Pat’s Hamburgs actually started on July 13, 1925 in Jackson, when Hamilton “Pat” Patterson opened an eatery called Kewpee Hotel Lunches. Business was usually best on Saturday nights, when more than 1,000 burgers were sold.
The key to Pat’s tasty burgers, most people agree, was the cast-iron grill they were cooked on. Nothing but hamburger was ever fried on it. And no detergent ever touched its surface.
Many have tried without much success to match the flavor since 1965 when urban renewal closed the restaurant for good and knocked down its walls.
Read more: Peek Through Time: Cast-iron grill was the secret to tasty, simple loose-meat burgers at Jackson’s Pat’s Hamburgs
Minnie Cleavinger hands a bag of fresh popcorn to 20-month-old Marcelle Andrus in July 1971. (File Photo|MLive Media Group).MLive Media Group
Cleavinger’s Popcorn Stand
Ignoring the cravings caused by the smell of freshly popped popcorn is almost impossible.
For 35 years, they were felt by anyone in downtown Jackson near W. Michigan Avenue and First Street, home of the bright red, ornately lettered popcorn stand of Charlie and Minnie Cleavinger.
Charlie arrived in Jackson via train in 1913. He soon purchased a second-hand popcorn stand and set it up first on E. Michigan Avenue, before permanently putting it just west of Withington Park in 1939.
Charlie and Minnie were married in 1924, and she joined him in making candy in a shop behind their home at 811 S. Jackson St. Everyday, the couple used his secret recipe and a one-hour process to make his taffy. They added caramel corn, popcorn, fudge and warm peanuts to their menu.
When Charlie died in 1961, Minnie continued to work until 1973 when a group of teenagers hurled a brick through the stand’s window, causing flying glass to slash Minnie’s arm. She had plans to reopen, but instead retired.
Minnie sold the stand through a classified ad in the Jackson Citizen Patriot. It was purchased by Collins L. Carter, former president of Hayes-Albion Corp., who donated it to the Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History.
Read more: Peek Through Time: Cleavingers’ popcorn stand kept Jackson popping for 35 years
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