Dearborn’s Popular Ciao Restaurant Reopening Soon
Dearborn's popular Ciao Italian restaurant is expected to soon reopen on Michigan Avenue.
Two years after a fire closed the popular Ristorante Ciao in Dearborn, the chef from the popular Italian eatery is preparing to reopen the restaurant on Michigan Avenue in the building that once housed Kasey’s Salad Bar.
Hassan Aoun recently opened the iburger lounge in the West Village Commons, serving some fantastic burgers, gourmet pizzas (better than the ones Aoun served when he was chef at Ciao), soups and salads. It’s worth a visit if you haven’t done so already.
Aoun is now turning his attention to reopening Ciao. Many of you will recall the Salad Bar, which later was sold and became Parisian Bistro. Well, Ciao will move into that building in the coming weeks.
Hopefully, the second time around for Ciao will be even better than the first . . .
In other restaurant news, the new business moving into the former Little Cafe that we wrote about a couple months ago is now open for business. The restaurant is called “Good Times Caffe”. We haven’t had the opportunity to stop in yet but signs say it serves soup, subs and a host of other foods.
We plan to check out the place later this week and provide an update for all.
March 31st, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Can you let me know if the person opening Ciao again is the original owner? The name doesn’t sound the same.
I thought that some of the problems with the old location were with the building and the landlord. Is this building owned by the same landlord?
I hope that they succeed. It would be nice to see a thriving area again.
March 31st, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Woo hoo! Ciao had the best bread in the universe, and the ambiance was excellent as well. I’m so glad the restaurant is re-opening (finally), and that the old Parisian space will be put to good use : )
March 31st, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Mr. Deep,
Tomorrow, Friday, April 1, is the Grand Opening for the ‘Good Times Caffe’. The Mayor is due about 11:00 in the morning. I only know this because I stopped in for a coffee last night. The young men who have opened this place have experience in the business (one has a restaurant at Wayne State campus) and enthusiasm. The place looks great. The sandwiches they served while I was there looked delicious, and the patrons sure ate them quickly enough. I wish all the success for this new enterprise!
March 31st, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Yes it is the original owner. He use to have a partner named Kasey. Hass Aoun is reopening the restaurant by himself. The chef worked something out with the landlord. I wish him the best he is an awesome Chef. I have worked with him in the past and his food is excellent.
March 31st, 2011 at 8:39 pm
This is good news. The food and service was very good at Ciao.
I wish all our new business owners the best of luck. I hope they can make a go of it in this tough economy.
I hope some retail shops will come to West Dearborn soon. I really miss being able to get my shopping done locally.
What I would give to have Crowley’s, Sander’s, The Dime Store and Sally’s back at Westborn. And of course Jacobson’s.
Looking forward to giving the new places a try.
March 31st, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Good news! Now lets lure some retail into the area. Anything!
April 1st, 2011 at 11:52 am
I agree that retail would be wonderful, however, if you have ever talk to any of the businesses that had to leave the area, they will all tell you the same thing.
They could not keep up with the rents that the landlords were charging and parking was prohibitive to their customers.
The only businesses that you will be able to get are the bigger businesses. The smaller, homegrown ones, just can’t afford it.
It would have been wonderful to have it the way it was before the “master plan” for the area went into effect.
April 2nd, 2011 at 12:37 am
I see above that someone is complaining that the parking fees are ‘prohibitive.’ Certainly paying something is more than paying nothing, but, come on. To stop in one of these restaurants to eat a meal costs fifty cents in parking fees. Fifty cents. If a couple of people drive together from their office to get lunch, it works out to a quarter per person.
Can the parking fees really be the problem?
April 2nd, 2011 at 9:53 am
Eventually, but only after enough financial pain has been endured, the City will get rid of the paid parking. We just haven’t hit bottom yet in emptying out the West End. Probably take another few years, and the loss of pretty much every store and restaurant between Brady and Outer Drive, but we are getting there, slowly but surely.
Interesting how well the strip of restaurants across from Sacred Heart are doing – if they’re on the side of the building with the free parking. One closes, another opens. Still waiting for Fatburger, tho.
April 2nd, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Dearborn Citizen – I did not say that, in general, the parking fees were too high.
It was, however, a problem for the small shops that tried to run businesses. If you have a small business, and your customers are afraid, that if they stay too long, they will have a ticket waiting for them, they would rather shop where these hassles don’t exist.
I have paid for parking many places. I never mind if there is enough interest in where I am going. It is not a matter of cheap. It is a matter of common, good business practices.
The bigger problem has always been the landlords in the area. When 3 landlords own most of the property, they can do what they want.
If you give people the kind of shopping/dining/entertainment that they want, they are more than willing to pay for it.
As is evident by the number of empty buildings, small businesses cannot survive in a hostile atmosphere. Restaurants are plentiful. The area will soon be all bars and restaurants which, in itself, is not a bad thing.
People will just go to other places to shop.
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:29 pm
With Cambridge Realty purchasing the foreclosed properties on Michigan Ave, I will bet you’ll see some movement. That will be refreshing to say the least.
Ciao will be a welcome addition back to the strip. Best wishes to the Good Times Kaffe. (please advertise your establishments! Pretty Please? Get websites, please? Do some networking, please. We like seeing you OPEN a business. We would LOVE seeing you STAY in business)
Look. There is a phrase in coined in the Media biz that holds true to business in general. “Content is King”. I hate to keep sounding like a broken record (to you kids it was a piece of plastic that held music, played back by a needle) but if some business tycoon, does the market research, has the financial backing, has sound business practices, they will do fine in West Dearborn. If you put something there, because you “feel like it” or “because it would be nice” you’re gonna lose.
If the demand is there for a service or business, paid parking is MOOT. Customers will pay for the parking…in order to obtain the service. Paid Parking will never EVER be the ONLY REASON a business closes its doors. Sorry to burst your bubble you whiners and busy-bodies.
Emptying out? Really??? The Well, Moose’s, Bistro 222, Double Olive, Bailey’s, Buddy’s, Nichols Ski, etc..Oh and a Kroger…….ACROSS THE STREET FROM A KROGER! What do they know about West Dearborn that others can’t figure out?
Good grief. “The Dime Store”. I hear there’s one of those at Greenfield Village.
Give me a break. “Dime Stores” were folding left and right in the 70s and someone is mourning their death in 2011. There’s this thing called a Dollar Store. Check it out sometime.
Do you also long for your 19″ black and white Zenith with only 7 channels to watch? Oh wait, you’re gonna beat me to the answer: there’s only garbage to watch on the 100 cable channels.
Amazing. You forgot to mention Montgomery Ward.
(with apologies to cloe, I guess I just reiterated your post)
April 2nd, 2011 at 8:34 pm
I couldn’t agree more with the desire to see more retail, preferrably “home-grown”.
I agree that parking is cheap, but getting a ticket isn’t. Even if it is a miniscule amount of money to pay for parking, I think, psychologically, it is an annoyance for people when they can easily go elsewhere to grab something to eat with free parking. Besides grabbing your grub and leaving, west dearborn doesn’t offer more to see and do after paying for parking. I want to support the local businesses but I think it’s true–as it stands now, West Dearborn just doesn’t have what it takes to create that experience that justifies paid parking. You can look at a place like Ann Arbor that has lots of paid parking and see that you can do lots of strolling, window shopping outside. There is a vibrant Farmer’s market there, a home and garden store, a paper shop that even offers cooking classes, a food coop, a comic bookstore, a pet boutique owned by a veternarian, unique book stores, bars, entertainment, and restaurants offering all kinds of food at low and high end prices. Nearby you have the hands on mueseum too. Sure you have chains–like Starbucks–but you have stores that are distinctively local and unique.
I remember, oh, a few city council meetings ago (perhaps it was one in February)…Nancy Hubbard asked one of the city’s guys (or perhaps it was The Guy) that deals with business in Dearborn (sorry, I really didn’t catch what his formal title/responsibilities were). She asked him what Dearborn has to do to attract new businesses. He mentioned, instead, that Dearborn should practice “economic gardening”. From what I gleaned from his explanation, “economic gardening” means supporting businesses that are here now. If getting rid of paid parking helps businesses that are here, perhaps we should do this.
April 2nd, 2011 at 11:42 pm
No business person wants to accept failure,thus the parking did me in excuse. Cry me a river. Create a business that a provides unique goods and quality services and people will come. The reasons people won’t pay for parking is because the same quality food and drinks can be bought at any number of locations in metro Detroit. There is simply no reason to go to downtown Dearborn. It is congested at lunch and rush hour, the walk in the cold is to far, and the options are lame. 50 cents is not a barrier that kills a bussiness, poor service low quality food, and lack of options are the knife in the gut. People who blame parking do not understand business. If your margins are so slim you can’t validate .50 for a lunch bill, open a stall in Gibraltar trade center.
April 3rd, 2011 at 11:05 am
Reality: I wasn’t mourning, I was simply remembering some fond memories. But you can’t pick a balloon to see how much your sundae costs at the dollar store. I tried to make a positive post since there is so much negativity on this blog these days. Thank you for spoiling that for me. Would you like some cheese with your whine?
April 3rd, 2011 at 11:09 am
Oops, I apologize Reality, my comment was directed at Anthony. Sorry.
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:36 pm
@Anthony if you are trying to be a comedian don’t quit your day job.
Why don’t you try just making your point without calling people names like whiners and busybodies or making fun of their ideas. Were you one of those kids in school who tried to build themselves up by making fun of other kids? Didn’t your mommy hug you enough? Why so bitter?
April 3rd, 2011 at 2:27 pm
I do believe Kasey Chammout was the original restaurant owner, although the Ciao building was owned by someone named Schneider(sp?) who sold the building a few years back. My understanding was that Kasey was going to buy it for the asking price, but that Hakim Fakhoury outbid him. This was all before the fire.
April 3rd, 2011 at 4:58 pm
cambridge realty and fakoury are the same….he is part of this company…dont expect anything other than different colored “for lease” signs……….
April 3rd, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Friends,
Its nice to live in a community where there’s lively dissent, it means folks care. Let’s have a great big group hug, and see what we agree on – that to overcome the impact that paid parking can have on our current downtown mix, we need to keep pushing to have the sorts of attractive retail, restaurant and entertainment options we see (and go to) in Royal Oak and Ann Arbor.
Or maybe Dollar Stores, I don’t know. I’m discouraged over what we’ve lost in 30 years, and until we see the Warren Avenue merchants bring their drive to West Dearborn, I just don’t see it happening.
Cloe is right when she points to landlords and rents, Anthony is right with “content is king.”
I do love the Kroger and Kroger – “discuss amongst yourselves.”
April 3rd, 2011 at 10:13 pm
In another restaurant related note…. It looks as if On The Roll on Telegraph closed. The place looks cleaned out. I’m not surprised as I think I only saw the place open once. It closed at 6pm on weekdays and didn’t open until noon or 1 on weekends for an even shorter day. I actually thought it would close sooner!
April 3rd, 2011 at 10:19 pm
I’m not sure how we get so far off the topic but i still believe it would be great to get some retail in Dearborn. I also believe that paid parking won’t ruin a business but it certainly won’t be a lure to anyone considering the risks of opening a new business. Let’s hope landlords either reduce their rents or sell their buildings so the city is no longer held hostage and people can afford to open new businesses. Then we need to do our best to support them.
A few years ago when many thought Dearborn was going to be a magnet for folks looking for a little nightlife and good restaurants a good dose of greed took up residence on Michigan Avenue. Landlords buying up property and the city putting in paid parking were the result of dollar signs dancing in their heads prematurely. Now its time to get back to reality with sensible expectations – lower prices and more time for businesses to take root and grow. Then we may see some development and progress in our downtown.
April 4th, 2011 at 6:45 am
“Landlords buying up property and the city putting in paid parking were the result of dollar signs dancing in their heads prematurely.”
Paid parking was a result of the city doing what the business owners and residents wanted them to do. Remember? We voted for it. We COULD have voted to tax ourselves to pay for the development but instead we voted to “tax” the users. Couldn’t the people who are now contending that paid parking might put the doodad and brick-a-brack retail shops and bad restaurants out of business have figured that out back then? “Hmmm, people might not come if they have to pay to park behind a business that relatively few people want to patronize in the first place.”
If anything, it appears the city messed up by setting themselves up for a good screwing by BK.
April 4th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
For those of you who always beg for retail in Dearborn, do you actually patronize Dearborn retail???? Sophia’s Giftique, Dee’s Hallmark, Sweet Peas Boutique, Nigosian Rugs, Steven Bernard Jewlers, Gniewek’s, Nichols Ski, Dearborn Music…………..
Also, I don’t think a paid parking is the problem – the problem is the FORM in which you have to pay – cash. Most people I know only carry debit/credit cards, not a pile of change.
The other problem is slumlords such as Newman & Fakoury.
I’m still wishing the best for Dearborn!
April 5th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Newman and Fakoury and their monopoly on the price of rent and real estate is the problem. Paid parking…come on!! It’s not a deterent. I know of plenty of prospective buyers who were interested in opening businesses, particularly in the shamefully worn down Dearborn Jewelers building, who could not cut a deal because of the PRICE not the parking. The same is true for leasing from Newman and Fakoury. In real estate, no matter how much the client complains about why their house is not selling, it’s always always the price. If the house is a mess…adjust the price. If the location is bad, adjust the price. If the market is flooded with inventory, adjust the price. No one is making a conscious decision to stay away from Dearborn because they have to put a $1 in the meter. I for one shop at all the stores, put my quarters in the meter, and go about my business. I suggest everyone do the same and quit whining. And for those that only carry debit/credit cards…first of all, that’s just nuts, second of all…I believe some of the meters let you charge your phone or you card or some ridiculous thing to accomodate you.
April 6th, 2011 at 7:38 am
Credit and debit cards are the future. The only people who don’t take credit cards/ debit cards are merchants who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Debit cards can be scanned with an iphone, and the amount of all cash / check transactions declines greatly every year. That is why they put credit card readers at the parking meters. You know what else is crazy people who still cling to the idea of inefficient market transactions.
April 6th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Rob,
I went to On the Roll once a week since they open. Yes, they shorten their hours to try and keep the business open. They were open every day between 11 and 6 for the ‘sandwich’ hours. They rarely did much business at 4pm. It is a shame more people didn’t support an independent trying to live the American dream.
April 24th, 2011 at 8:35 am
I remember speaking with one of the owners of a small store who was getting ready to move out of Dearborn. She told me that the city wouldn’t even let her workers park free. Can you imagine making minimum wage and having to pay parking? I also spoke with one of the store owners who has since moved to the same little mall where Maestro’s was and he told me that Fakhoury wanted to raise his rent. He had been at the same site for years but was offered a better rental price in the new location. What I don’t get is why would Fakhoury raise rents on people, have them move, and then have a bunch of empty buildings? How does that make good business sense? But a comment to the City of Dearborn: PLEASE! How many more coney islands do we need? If you want to bring people to your town, you need to put in retail and make it beneficial for them to move here.
September 10th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
We had dinner at Ciao last night. Great service, food and atmosphere. A great carafe of wine for a very reasonable price. We will definitely go again.