Vicari group takes over Triple Nickle restaurant

The Joe Vicari Restaurant Group, owner of the Andiamo restaurants and Joe Muer Seafood in Detroit and Bloomfield Hills, has purchased the Triple Nickle restaurant in downtown Birmingham, which they will rename The Birmingham Pub, offering homemade comfort food. The restaurant group also purchased The Hill Seafood & Chop House in Grosse Pointe Farms and Buc'eez Pub in Macomb Township. “We're very excited. We are thrilled to be adding these restaurants to our growing restaurant group,” said Joe Vicari, president of Joe Vicari Restaurant Group. Triple Nickel, located at the 555 Building on S. Old Woodward, closed in March with the COVID-19 shutdowns and did not reopen. Vicari said they are going to try to do a smaller menu than what the previous establishment had done. “Birmingham customers are knowledgable about food and know what they want,” he acknowledged. “While we haven't finalized the menu, we are going to do more of a comfort food menu, with homemade meat loaf, homemade chicken pot pie in the winter. Everyone has a burger, and we'll have a burger. We'll have about four or five salads on the menu, a couple of sandwiches, a pasta course, fish, chicken a beef. It will all be at a moderate price point.” Vicari said The Birmingham Pub will be designed to be a very family-friendly, come as you are dining spot. He is bringing in all new staff, several from his stable of other establishments. The head chef will be Mike Cott, who has been with the group for 10 years, Vicari said, first at Andiamo Warren, and for the last three years at their Hall Road location. Blendi Suvaria, who has been with Vicari for 14 years, will be the general manager. “He understands running a restaurant,” Vicari said. “But I'm talking to him about Birmingham. They're a little more discerning.” The restaurant is currently being redecorated by David Savage of Savage Design, as Vicari is looking to have it “lightened up.” New light fixtures are being added, along with fresh paint, wallpaper, carpet, changing around tables and booths. The upstairs private dining area is being redone, as well. “We're spending about $200,000 in remodeling,” Vicari said. Depending upon permits and approvals from the city of Birmingham, as well as staffing, Vicari is hoping to open The Birmingham Pub by the end of November. At The Hill Seafood & Chop House, located at 123 Kercheval Avenue, Vicari noted Grosse Pointe Farms has limited dining options. “There's mostly bar food,” he commented. He has brought in chef Bryan Hartway, who had been head chef at Joe Muer Seafood Bloomfield Hills, and they are adding about 30 percent new items to the menu. “We'll keep that until the end of the year, and then close it in January, and reopen it in February with a new name and menu,” he said. Buc’eez Pub soon will be reopened as Barley Corn Public House. The restaurant is currently closed for renovations and is anticipated to open in late November. “It's been a place that's been bar first, food later. It should be more successful now,” Vicari said. A new menu is planned for the restaurant, and will feature a wide variety of well-known bar foods along with gourmet entrees, as well as a wide array of drinks served from a backlit bar. Barley Corn Public House is located at 50985 Hayes Road in Macomb Township. The Joe Vicari Restaurant Group has had a busy year; they are also in the midst of building a new downtown Detroit restaurant, The Statler Bistro, a French, American and Italian eatery on the ground floor of City Club Apartments along Park Avenue, between Washington Boulevard and Bagley Street, and fronting Grand Circus Park.