City Park Grill: At the intersection of history and Petoskey‘s future

April 27, 2005

As Patrick Faylor walks through the doors of the City Park Grill he has one mission in mind: to carry on the traditions started 95 years ago at the historic landmark in downtown Petoskey. Great food, values for every dollar spent, an extensive wine list, friendly service and warm fresh biscuits are the standards patrons have come to expect.
“We hold every employee accountable to certain service standards and that goes for us as owners as well,” said Faylor, a stakeholder and general manager of City Park. “I think our success has come from our ability to get employees to buy into our system. We are blessed with a great staff and most everyone has been around for at least three years. It also helps that one owner is usually here waiting tables, serving biscuits or greeting customers.”
At 432 East Lake Street City Park Grill is located right in the heart of Petoskey and not just geographically but culturally and historically as well. Built in 1910 City Park has changed names a few times, enjoyed several owners and had a couple of face lifts, but its friendly inviting personality has remained through it all.

HEMINGWAY HAUNT
For regulars, City Park is more than just a place to get great food and catch eclectic entertainment offerings; it is a place of inspiration. Throughout its history and even today many business deals have taken place during the lunch hour. The occasional scribe still walks in and sits at the bar orders a whiskey and hopes to catch the “Spirit of Hemingway.”
In his younger years Hemingway was a regular. It has been well documented that Hemingway’s works were inspired by his summers spent in Northern Michigan during his youth.
One of Hemingway’s all-time great short stories, “The Killers,” was written as result of regularly dining and drinking at the City Park Grill. The film adaptation of “The Killers,” was his favorite of all of his works made into movies. It starred Burt Lancaster (making his film debut) in 1946 and was later remade featuring Ronald Regan in his last acting role.

NAME GAME
The business was originally called the Grill Café and renamed the Park Garden Café in 1932 when Prohibition. Current owners Bob and Mary Keedy and Dick and Laura Dinon bought it in 1997 and combined the two original names to come up with City Park Grill.
When entering for the first time, expect a little bit of everything. It is something Faylor and his staff work hard at and that is trying to be all things to all people.
“It is a challenge to market this place and while we might not be all things to all people, we are a lot of different things,” said Faylor.
One example is the weekend transition of moving from upscale casual dining during the early evening to rock and blues bands closing the place down.
In addition to year-round weekend entertainment City Park has Acoustic Thursdays and an open mic night on Wednesdays. Music has been a part of the establishment since its inception.
“We get people in here telling us about coming in the ‘40s and ‘50s for swing and jazz bands,” said Faylor. “I think we do a pretty good job of getting bands in here that reflect the musical times.”

CHANGING STYLES
Falyor, who started in June of 1997 as waiter and in 1999 became the manager, has seen the musical styles change over the past eight years.
“When we first re-opened in May of 1997 we were strong into the blues,” said Faylor. “Eventually we went through a funk movement and now we are in garage or the alternative styles of rock. We still have the occasional blues and funk bands come through.”
The process of band selection is tough. Faylor points to modern technology as giving anyone a chance to sound good on a CD but on stage it might be a totally different story.
“We have had a few that we thought sounded good but when they took the stage they weren’t invited back,” said Faylor.
While Faylor won’t name names he does have one favorite band.
“Bumpus was my personal favorite. Especially when Rachael Yamagata was their lead singer,” said Faylor. “She has since left and hit the big time as a solo performer.”
Currently bands like the Ghettobillies and Sista Otis have become crowd favorites, packing the Park when they come to town. The venue has garnered them four Northern Express Best of Awards this year as readers picked City Park as the Best Place To Hear Live Music, Best Blues, Best Alternative Rock and Best Open Mic in Emmett County.
While Faylor and the other owners, which include chef John Norman, are excited about the success of their entertainment offerings they are equally thrilled with their menus. So are diners who voted City Park as Best All Around Restaurant in the Express Readers Poll.

CASUAL GOURMET
City Park has a gourmet menu at casual dining prices. “John Norman cut his culinary teeth at Tapawingo so he has a gourmet background,” said Faylor. “We strive to stretch our patrons dollar. I think our prices reflect that.”
Must tries are the Creole Gumbo (tip: take a fresh biscuit and soak it in the Gumbo) and the Smoked Whitefish Dip off the appetizer menu. For lunch enjoy the Northern Spinach Salad or the Mediterranean Bow-Tie Pasta, have both by ordering the smaller version of the salad. During the dinner hour there is a 24-ounce Porterhouse for beef lovers and for those who prefer offerings from the lake try the Parmesan Herb Crusted whitefish with a Roasted Garlic Sauce.
City Park has a turn of the century bar with modern amenities of microbrews and imported beers on tap along with top shelf vodkas for martinis. With the old Victorian look and the tin ceiling that creates a tavern feel what surprises most first-time visitors is the wine list.

WINE IS FINE
For the past five years City Park Grill has made the Wine Spectator’s list of restaurants with the best wine lists in the country.
“Owners Bob & Mary Keedy love wine,” said Faylor. “They developed this wine list with family and friends in mind. Bob has been a professional wine buyer for years. When The Arboretum (famed Harbor Springs restaurant) closed a few years ago he bought their cellar, so we have a lot of unique offerings.”
Another approach taken at City Park with its wine list is pricing.
“The industry standard is to mark up the wine three times the wholesale price. This goes against our philosophy,” said Faylor. “We mark up 100% from wholesale.”
City Park also offers monthly wine dinners and throughout the year they host several theme nights. They recently came off their annual “Beach Party” at the end of the winter where they brought in sand for the dance floor and a reggae band. Every so often the have a 1980s night with the next one this Friday. Three years ago they had their first 1980s Prom Night.
“It was packed. People wore their old ‘80s prom dresses and tuxes,” said Faylor. “We will do another one again this June or July.”
Downtown Petoskey is one of the best in the state. But without the City Park Grill the city would have no soul. Visit their website www.cityparkgrill.com or give them a call (231) 347-0101. Oh yeah, don’t be afraid to ask for seconds on those biscuits -- don’t worry, you won’t be the first to do so.