Vlassis Brothers Restaurant – 411 Court Street
- kellison71
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
“Restaurants come and go but when goes after more than a half a century on the Saginaw scene its passing deserves more than causal chronicle.
Such a one was Vlassis Restaurant at 411 Court in the shadow of the Saginaw Courthouse. It was a perennial favored eating place of county employes[sic], supervisors and uncounted numbers of visitors from throughout the county when they had business at the Courthouse.
It was started in 1913 by Theodore A. Ted Vlassis and his brother, William A.(Bill) Vlassis. In its early years it was confectionary and ice cream parlor. The food business, its popular mainstay, came later.
In 1947 Bill sold his interest to in the business to Ted”
--The Saginaw News, May 2, 1967.
Brothers William and Theodore Vlassis were born in Greece. William came to the United States in 1906 and Theodore in 1911. In September 1913, they opened Vlassis Brothers at 411 Court Street – some of the earliest advertising called their restaurant the Athenian Sweet Shop and proclaimed, “Short Orders All Hours.” A 1917 advertisement suggests their business was thriving. Only four years after opening, they advertised:
“FOR SALE – Soda Fountain, good condition, too small for our business; cheap if bought at once. Vlassis Bros. 411 Court.” (The Saginaw Daily News, April 28, 1917.)
Although they slowly moved away from the confectionery business, when a March 1924 fire damaged their building, reports suggests the importance sweets still played in their operation.
“Fire starting in the roof of the business block owned by Vlassis Bros. proprietors of a candy store on Court street offered stubborn resistance to the fire department Saturday afternoon.” (The Saginaw News Courier, March 1, 1924.)
The building housing their business was constructed with the Taylor House* in 1866 and contained a large public hall – ballroom. For a long time, the public hall housed the west side Masonic Lodges and by the time the Taylor House reopened as the Fordney Hotel in 1912, the structure was independent from the hotel. The building would be renamed the Vlassis Building. The use of this upper-floor space often reflected the Vlassis brothers’ involvement in the community. Newspaper articles record numerous events held in this space, and in 1931, it was transformed into the home of the Saginaw chapter of AHEPA - American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. The first organizational meeting of St Demetrious Church was held there in 1931.** Other organizations meeting at Vlassis Brothers included the Fordney Club.***
In 1947, Theodore became the sole owner of the restaurant. In 1967, he sold the restaurant to Vincent B. Furlo. At the time of the sale, “Furlo said the restaurant will be closed about three weeks. It will reopen as the west side’s oldest restaurant with most modern equipment, he said.” (The Saginaw News, April 30, 1967.)
On Thursday, June 27, 1991, the former home of the Vlassis Brothers restaurant was destroyed by a fire starting in the vacant Fordney Hotel. The flames spread to other buildings in the block. At that time, 411 Court was the home of Wally’s Old Fashioned Sandwich Shop.
As you reflect on the rich history of Vlassis Restaurant, remember:
“The Vlassis Restaurant abounded in flavor which had little to with what went on in the kitchen” (The Saginaw News, May 2, 1967.)
The Recipe: Vlassis Restaurant Rice Pudding (Ruz-Bi-Haleeb)
¾ c. med. Grain rice
1 ½ c. water
3 ½ c. milk
¾ c. sugar
2 T. orange blossom water
¼ tsp. Arabic gum
Wash rice three times to remove excess starch. Bring water and rice to boil on low heat. When mixture thickens, add milk and bring to boil. Simmer on low heat stirring constantly. Add sugar and Arabic gum (which has been dissolved in cold water) when mixture begins to thicken and rice is very tender. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Stir in orange blossom water. Pour into small dishes. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon if desired.
(From Savoring Saginaw cookbook, 2007).
CTK Notes:
-While we weren’t sure what constituted a “rice wash” we opted to rinse the rice in a mesh sieve under the tap until the water ran clear—a few minutes.
-The recipe provides no specific times for when the mixture will “thicken”—which we suspect is to allow for the flexibility in the grain of rice, level of heat, etc. Rice pudding is to be carefully tended! We spent about ten minutes for the initial thickening and about 40 minutes until the rice was very tender.
-We opted to chill the pudding before eating, so we placed plastic wrap directly on the surface to avoid a skin forming and stashed the bowl in the fridge until cold. This dramatically thickened the mixture.
-CTK taste testers agree, this was very, very good!