IF IT AIN’T broke, don’t fix it.
Well, Michele Butler, Jon Christensen and the other partners at Vango’s have chosen to ignore that time-tested rule.
Next month they’re undertaking a $225,000 upgrade to what’s arguably Marquette’s most popular restaurant. No, the crowds haven’t started to thin at Vango’s nor is the revenue declining. Not at all. It’s just that Vango’s is more than 40 years old and the old gal could use a serious facelift.
The last serious changes to the restaurant came in the 80’s when it doubled in size. Since then, nothing.
Here’s what we’ll be seeing at the new Vango’s:
1) An entirely new façade on Third Street. New doors, windows, awnings, paint, some landscaping. The iconic sign won’t change.
2) An enclosed, cleaned-up, easily accessible back entrance to the restaurant from the parking lot. Let’s be honest, the back entrance now is kind of…uh, funky. Not attractive, not user-friendly.
3) A brand new, outdoor seating area on the south side of the building with room for about 30 diners and drinkers. Vango’s customers have been asking for it for years now. So they’ll get it. Outdoor eating is more in keeping with the Greek dining experience, and Vango’s, of course, at its core, remains a Greek restaurant.
Outdoor diners will also be warmed by overhead, outdoor heaters and they’ll be able to watch sporting events on a big-screen TV.
What’s not to like here? Absolutely nothing.
Barry Polzin, Marquette’s most prominent architect, is in charge of the re-do.
Butler, Christensen et al are taking the opportunity for expansion now because they found a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation that will pay for about one third of the cost. A cool $80,000 of free money.
Butler’s longtime professional and personal partner, Clark Lambros, founded Vango’s back in 1973–he changed it over from Bimbo’s–and he established it as the go-to restaurant for diners who wanted good, honest food and they wanted it cheap. Wallet-friendly. Family-friendly. Sports-friendly. NMU-friendly. Community-involved.
Lambros passed away a couple of years ago but Vango’s lives on. Butler and Christensen brought in Lambros’s son-in-law, Rob Caron, as one of the partners last year. He’s still learning the trade but he’s young and energetic. He’ll help usher in a new era for one of Marquette’s most revered institutions.
The old gal looks to be in good hands.
Her cosmetic surgery begins next month. It’ll be completed before the Fourth of July.
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