Do you remember the Olympia Restaurant skit on Saturday Night in the late seventies? If you are not old enough to remember it was a skit with John Belushi, Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray playing cousins working in what we here in Flint, Michigan would call a Coney Island (restaurant). It was one of the most popular SNL skits at the time. The story that skit depicted was not just my life, but my Macedonian cousins, whose Dads (& some Moms) all emigrated from the very small mountain village of Bouf, Macedonia, all growing up in the Flint area and a few Greek families. Our Dad’s worked long hours, not complaining because honestly, when you grow up under communism or during war time, many having little food, no comforts and little opportunity, you realize how darn fortunate you are and you gladly work hard to provide a good life for your children. My Dad and Uncle David had owned two restaurants by the time they purchased Atlas Coney Island on Corunna Road when I was in high school. It was originally owned by two Greek brothers and their brother-in-law. The three men had made a great living and were ready to retire and move back to Greece. One of the brothers, also named Jimmy, like my dad, approached my dad about buying the restaurant. My Dad talked to my Uncle and the deal was done.
The “Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger” skit on SNL in the late seventies, was patterned after John Belushi’s Dad’s Olympia Restaurant. It was not only the feeling of Atlas Coney Island, but many of my cousins’ Dad’s Coney Islands too. They “Nailed it!”
I worked summers and breaks during college. Atlas, like most of the coney islands in Flint, was a booming 24 hour business. My Dad and Uncle David each worked twelve hour shifts and two nights a week a cousin, George, who was semi retired, covered for them so they could each take a day off. My dad and uncle closed for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and the three summer holidays. My brother helped out during the night shift my mom did the book keeping.
At that time, there was somewhat low turn over in terms of help/staff. I sometimes worked the 5 am-11am shift with Judy, Myra, Linda & Vickie. These ladies had worked for the Greek guys and then sometimes if I was needed I worked the 11am-8 pm. This shift had a little more turnover, but there were still those who had been with my Dad & uncle for years, like Jackie. Jackie had worked for my Dad out of high school and she was such a hard worker and I loved her funny comments under her breath when she dealt with a difficult customer or snappy cook. Donna was the cashier who had been there for years and I think she lived in the neighborhood. She had beautiful strawberry blond hair that was always perfectly backcombed and she made sure lunches and dinners ran smoothly during the 11-8 shift.
Back in the early eighties, there was often a line to get in the door day or night. My dad loved the night shift. The bars in Flint were mostly downtown and on the west side so when they closed, those wanting more action came to Atlas. They got the GMI/Kettering University crowd, the hospital traffic and of course the after hours crowd. Even as crazy as it got some night, it really didn’t get dangerous. A few hot lunchers here and there maybe, an occasional non violent fight but the place was never held up. NO ONE wanted to mess with Jimmy. My dad was extremely generous. He let employees borrow money if they needed money before payday, he often gave kids candy from the counter at the register and if someone was hungry and could t pay, I saw him take their ticket. However, NO ONE was going to steal from my dad. Police officers from Flint Township and the city of Flint as Atlas was right on the border, always stopped in to see Jimmy. If someone had tried to hold up the place, if my dad couldn’t take the crook down, my Dad’s loyal customers would have done it for him. His customers loved him and my dad looked at them as his extended family. At any given time, I’d be waiting on nurses from the hospital, auto workers, attorneys from the court downtown or a group of retired teachers. One night, they even had a wedding in section 5. Atlas Coney Island was quite a place....
One lunch hour I remember we were so packed and one of the other waitresses, Sandy, on my shift got a call that her little boy was sick so she had leave. So I took over her section during lunch. I remember running around trying to make sure everybody had what they needed because many people were on their lunch hour and they had a limited amount of time. One of my tables was a man in his 40s or 50s with his wife and a son. I remember them being all nicely dressed and I remember they ordered cheeseburgers and the son ordered a couple coneys with fries and they all had drinks. I remember wondering what his occupation was and I imagined he might’ve been a doctor at the hospital, a businessman or attorney. I gave them their check after I quickly totaled it and I was on to the next table so that they could get out in time to get back to work.
When they went up to the register to pay I saw them talking to Donna for quite a while I just figured that she knew them. I didn’t think much of it as I had plenty to do taking care of my section and the additional tables after Sandy had left. At the end of the lunch hour, I saw Donna the cashier talking to my dad. I didn’t think anything of it. A little while later, Donna called me up to the register to show me the ticket for the nicely dressed family. I made an error and adding up their ticket the ticket should’ve been $13.52 and I forgot to bring down the one so when they went up to the register he paid $3.52. Donna explain to them that I had just not brought down the “1” and he argued with her and said, “no it’s $3.52.” Apparently, he made a sarcastic comment to her about my math and then laughed. Donna knew when to make a big deal out of something and when not to. In actuality the customer was right I was the one who made the mistake not him. I felt bad about that situation because it was my mistake. Neither Donna nor my Dad made me feel stupid but I did. I’ll paraphrase the conversation I remember on the way home... I apologize to my Dad. Of course he wasn’t mad. He told me it was a really good lesson to learn. I told him I agreed that I really needed to check over my math and double check, no matter how busy it was. He said “Of course” but he said “The real lesson is to be fair with people. Your reputation is everything. That man is a very successful businessman in the community. He knew it was a mistake. It is not good to pay too much for something. You want to be smart all the time but it is also not good to pay too little for something either, because that means someone got cheated. I will never look at that man the same again. He knew it was a mistake and he took advantage of it.” That was a very good lesson for me to learn. My dad was a very honest. He would rather cheat himself and then short change someone else.
Shortly after my Dad and uncle bought Atlas, he was cleaning out a drawer and found a large bag of money. He asked my uncle if it was his and he said no so my Dad called Jimmy (one the Greek previous owners) who had contacted him about buying the restaurant and he asked him to stop by. When Jimmy arrived, my Dad asked him to come into the office because he had something that belonged to him. He handed him the bag and he said to my dad “I knew I sold the restaurant to the right man and he laughed.”
One of the most important lessons I learned from my dad is to be fair with people and not try to take advantage of anyone. It was one of many valuable lessons that I learned working with my dad at Coney Island...When I look back on those days spent working with my Dad, I’d have to say...
They were Great Days 🍔
