Copyright M Live Michigan
STANDISH, MI – With the crackling vinyl sound playing throughout the dining area, working tabletop jukeboxes on tables and old advertisements and photographs on the walls, nostalgia is alive and well at a beloved restaurant. Maintaining the old school charm from 1935, Wheeler’s Restaurant, 111 S. Main Street, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, serving up the salad bar and comfort food customers crave. Owner Adam Kroczaleski, 33, a Standish native, is proud to maintain the traditions so many local and traveling families associate with Wheeler’s. “We can talk about the food, and we can talk about the interior, but it’s the customers that keep this place going,” Kroczaleski said. “It’s the people with those fond memories and they want those fond memories to continue or make new ones.” One of those stories features a group of hunters who travel annually to their hunting cabin in Grayling, Kroczaleski said. There used to be a hot pork sandwich permanently on the menu, but Kroczaleski said it’s now a special they put on. “For 57 years, they have stopped at Wheeler’s and had a hot pork sandwich before getting to their hunting spot,” Kroczaleski said. The group always calls ahead to make sure they will be able to order the sandwiches on the date they are traveling, Kroczaleski said. “So, we’re going to have hot pork sandwiches ready and waiting for them. It’s that kind of tradition that keeps us going,” Kroczaleski said. Kroczaleski said Art Wheeler opened Wheeler’s in 1935 with a goal to serve locals and travelers since the location is perfect. There have been five owners, including Kroczaleski, since it opened. Each owner has maintained the important sense of community, providing many first jobs to high schoolers and sticking to the classics Wheeler’s is known for. The menu highlights classic breakfast dishes, lightly battered fried perch, hot beef sandwiches smothered in homemade beef gravy, homemade chicken noodle soup and a stocked salad bar, which Kroczaleski said is a favorite because salad bars aren’t as common anymore. Kroczaleski took over the business in January 2019, eager for the next chapter in life, he said. “I was working in politics and working 60, 70, 80 hours a week and decided if I’m going to work this much, it would be kind of nice to do it for myself,” Kroczaleski said. Keeping the restaurant as is with some upgrades to the electrical, equipment and plumbing, was crucial to Kroczaleski. One of the first things Kroczaleski did was fix the tabletop jukeboxes to be in service again after many years. Now they can play the 7-inch records, or 45s, with a master jukebox out of sight, and people can flip through the catalog as they dine and chat. Another piece of Wheeler’s history is tied to a bakery the previous owners also had. They used to have a doughnut case in Wheeler’s so they could sell baked goods out of both locations. Once the bakery closed, the doughnut case went away, Kroczaleski said, so he wanted to bring that back too. Kroczaleski reached out to Cops & Doughnuts, and now they deliver fresh doughnuts to “Wheeler’s Substation” each morning. “They’ve got a great story, saving an old bakery in Clare. And so, we sell their doughnuts here and it’s kind of a throwback to how things used to be,” Kroczaleski said. Since they are celebrating nine decades in business, Kroczaleski said they are offering a discounted breakfast Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and buy one get one for 90 cents on things such as hot chocolate or doughnuts. “I mean, you gotta be doing something right if you’re around for nine decades and I think the playbook has been pretty similar here every year, so if it’s not broke, don’t change it,” Kroczaleski said. Wheeler’s is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
