Sports
Mallie’s, the longtime downriver restaurant noted for gigantic burgers shutters
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A downriver sports grill and bar noted for big offerings, including gigantic hamburgers, gallon-sized Bloody Marys, and two-pound tacos, has abruptly closed.
Mallie’s Sports Grill and Bar in Southgate, on the corner of Allen Road and Northline, shuttered after 19 years in business.
Its last day of operating, owner Steve Mallie told the Free Press, was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, or what’s known as the busiest bar night of the year.
“It was the hardest decision I had to make,” Mallie said of closing the longtime bar and restaurant.
While Mallie said the place was running poorly and he was personally funding the restaurant, he’s also cited family reasons.
“I am dealing with several family illnesses,” Mallie said. “It was hard for me to come up with this decision, but I have to take care of my family.”
The restaurant and bar operations are closed indefinitely. Mallie provided the Free Press with a screenshot of a post on the restaurant’s employee Facebook page that read:
“This is terribly hard news for me to announce after over 19 years in business but due to recent circumstances and the decline health of my parents. I have decided to suspend the operations of the restaurant at this time.”
A Facebook post on the Downriver and Friends group was not kind to Mallie or the closing, especially before the holidays. While the post has since been taken down, it also mentioned unpaid Mallie’s bills and bounced employee paychecks.
Mallie acknowledged some bounced paychecks but told the Free Press he made good on them.
“The business was not making enough to support itself,” Mallie said.
About 40 people were employed at the grill and bar, Mallie said, and the place is about four times the space as the Thirst Parlor in Wyandotte, which Mallie co-owns.
Thirst Parlor, a Prohibition-themed bar with a food menu, opened in 2022, and it remains open. Mallie said some employees have moved to the Thirst Parlor location.
More than a half-dozen years ago, Mallie and his staff set a record for building the largest cheeseburger commercially available, at nearly 1,800 pounds.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.
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