By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — After 50 years of serving the Dearborn community homestyle food, including macaroni and cheese and chopped round steak, Sign of the Beefcarver, 23100 Michigan Ave. closed its doors June 18.
The sudden closing happened after employees were notified in a meeting that June 18 would be the last day. The 35 employees were offered jobs at the location in Royal Oak, but many of them said they cannot make the longer drive.
According to Crain’s Detroit, Famous Hamburger Owner Mohammad Hider heard about the Beefcarver closing nearby and said he would hire employees who lost their jobs.
Sign of the Beefcarver Co. President Charles Pelzer told Crain’s Detroit that the restaurant couldn’t pay its bills anymore, which lead to the closing.
“Our customers are very price sensitive,” he said. “The fact that as minimum wage is going up, we have to raise prices, and as we raise prices business goes down.”
An agreement to sell the building has been reached, and the deal is scheduled to close in January to allow for time to sell the restaurant’s equipment. Pelzer did not disclose the buyer nor price for the building which reportedly will be replaced with a strip mall.
On June 20, the restaurant posted on its Facebook page informing the public about the closing.
“It is with a sad heart that we announce our Dearborn location has served its last meal,” the post read. “We would like to thank all the loyal customers we have had the pleasure of serving at our Dearborn restaurant. The good news is our Royal Oak location is open, ready, and waiting to serve your favorite Beefcarver meals. We hope to see some familiar faces on Woodward Avenue.”
With the closing of the Dearborn location, only the Royal Oak location at 27400 Woodward Ave. remains open. The Royal Oak location was the first of 18 Beefcarver restaurants opened starting in 1957, with Dearborn being the fourth.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected].)