Some of Metro Detroit’s oldest restaurants share secrets to longevity

What’s the secret to lasting love between a restaurant and its customers?

To find out, I asked four restaurant owners whose businesses have been with them or their families for 50 years or more.

“Don’t cut corners” and “be consistent” are the phrases I heard repeated most often.

There’s also the advantage that long-lasting restaurants have over new ones. As years go by, more customers have special moments — first dates, engagements, baby’s first chicken parm — and that makes the restaurant part of their life story.

“You have to have perseverance, but most important is you have to be a romanticist,” said Rina Tonon. She opened Cafe Cortina 50 years ago this year — the anniversary is in December — with her husband, Adriano Tonon. The secluded Italian restaurant in Farmington Hills is one of our area’s most romantic destinations.

Tonon, who grew up at her Italian-born parents’ restaurant, said to keep a place going for this many decades requires “genuine warmth.”

“Genuine hospitality, warmth and love of people, love of food,” she said. It can’t just be the owners, either, the staff has to have a similar passion. “It’s not an easy business.”

Along with having a staff that treats customers as well as the owners would directly, it helps to have family as part of that staff. Many of the restaurants in the area that have lasted since the 1960s and ’70s could not have continued without the next generation stepping up.

That’s what happened at Troy’s Mon Jin Lau. A destination for Chinese cuisine, sushi, cocktails and its Lunar New Year party each winter, the Troy restaurant was founded in 1969 by Jin and Mon Chin. Their son Marshall Chin took it over years later, and today it is run by his sons Bryan and Brandon Chin.

Bryan Chin says, “Consistency is everything.”

“From the quality of our ingredients to the care we put into every dish, our guests know they can count on the same exceptional experience every time they walk through our doors,” he said. “By never cutting corners and always putting our guests first, we’ve built lasting relationships and earned the trust of our guests for so many years.”

Farther up north in Oakland County, Gino’s Pizzeria and Restaurant also opened in 1969. It’s more casual than Cafe Cortina or Mon Jin Lau, but they’re similar in they’ve been in the same family for decades and they offer space for special events.

Owner Gino Santia knows about the hardships of having a restaurant for so long. The family-style Italian restaurant has persevered through recessions, road construction and even a 2022 fire.

“We went through the hard times like everybody else does, but we endured,” said Santia. His sister and her husband started the business in 1969, naming it after Gino while he was in the service. When he returned home, he ran it with his family, and today his son is on board.

Santia says being part of a tight-knit family and community is one of the things that’s abled Gino’s to continue for so long.

“As far as our lounge goes, we’re very friendly. My son’s got a great personality, and we try to treat everybody kindly. And we try to be fair with our prices. Fair to the customers and fair for us.”

Service and personality will go a long way with customers, but the food must be a home run, too.

“The most common thing I’ve heard from so many people is: I’ve never had a bad meal,” said Nick Piunti, whose family has owned Sibley Gardens in Trenton since the 1930s. “In the rare occurrence that someone does have a bad meal — or more importantly, thinks they’ve had a bad meal — we’ll make it right.”

“I also think having some signature dishes that you can’t get anywhere else, like our steak sammy, for example,” he said. It’s sliced tenderloin from Fairway Packing that’s been sauteed in wine, garlic and beef stock. “Everyone has chicken parm or their version of chicken piccata, but our steak sammy is kind of a unique dish. It’s tough that our signature dish is one of our most expensive to make but people still order it.”

Piunti also echoed what other owners told me about the importance of an invested staff.

“It’s not just myself, or my dad or the managers doing it. It’s everybody that works here that has a lot of pride in what they’re doing. They stay here long, we have a very low turnover, and I think that’s rare for the restaurant industry,” he said, adding that his 93-year-old dad still comes into Sibley Gardens most mornings.

“It’s a real team, a real family feeling.”

Melody Baetens is The Detroit News restaurant critic

mbaetens@detroitnews.com

Where to find the restaurants in this article

Cafe Cortina, 30715 W. 10 Mile, Farmington Hills. (248) 474-3033. cafecortina.com.

Gino’s Pizzeria and Restaurant, 1999 Cass Lake, Keego Harbor. (248) 682-6540. ginospizzakeego.com.

Mon Jin Lau, 1515 E. Maple, Troy. (248) 689-2332.

Sibley Gardens, 916 W. Jefferson, Trenton. (734) 285-1707. sibleygardens.com.