Letters to the Editor: Readers respond to Deja Views photo and share their memories of Mikael’s Steak & Burger
Re: ‘Memories of Mikael’s Steak & Burger’, Deja Views, Beach Metro Community News, Jan. 21.
I am delighted to share a cherished memory of Mikael’s Steak & Burger— I have many from those years.
During the 1970s, Mikael’s was more than just a restaurant; it was our gathering place, our warm refuge on cold winter nights.
The owners, a hardworking family, were always there—the father, I believe his name was John (not Mikael), his wife (whose name, regrettably, escapes me), their son, who often worked alongside them, and their much younger daughter.
They put their hearts into that place, and their kindness never wavered, except for a few of the kids that would come in and give them the gears.
My friends and I claimed the front window as our spot, feeding the jukebox, sipping on hot chocolate or Coke, and—like so many teenagers then—smoking our cigarettes. We were never a rowdy bunch, just regulars who found comfort in our home away from home – so to speak.
They never hurried us along or made us feel unwelcome, perhaps knowing that even a quiet presence made the place feel inviting to passersby. Most customers took their food to go.
The food was by no means stellar— but the burgers and milkshakes were legendary. As business grew, they expanded into the shop next door, adding a cigarette machine and pinball games, which, naturally, brought even more people in.
In fact, Mikael’s played a small but special role in my own wedding day—my husband, in a moment of pre-ceremony jitters, stopped by with his younger brother for a burger and a few rounds of pinball to settle his nerves. After 45 years of marriage, I’d say it worked out pretty well!
Mikael’s and the Goof were our hangouts back then, just as the Mac’s Milk at the foot of Hammersmith became a meeting spot for our own children in the early to mid 2000s.
It’s places like these—unassuming yet deeply woven into the fabric of our lives—that stay with us, long after the doors have closed.
With kindest regards.
Margaret Herd (nee Siller)
Half a burger and half a hot dog
Re: ‘Memories of Mikael’s Steak & Burger’, Deja Views, Beach Metro Community News, Jan. 21.
I wanted to send you my Mikael’s Steak & Burger story.
We lived on Scarborough Road near Queen Street East from about 1971 to 1977. I would have been three or four when we moved there. I remember that occasionally my parents would give me some money and send me down to Mikael’s to get food for the family.
I remember it had a few tables, and a pickup counter. There was a side room off the main room that had foosball tables. I never went in there, but I could see the foosball tables from the counter where I waited to get the food.
There was usually some older kids – teenagers, or maybe a little older, who would be playing the games in there.
What I mostly remember was waiting after I ordered while they made the food. I would stand by the counter and tap my foot to the music they were playing – I think they had a jukebox, but I couldn’t swear to it.
I always tapped my foot inside my sneaker and thought I was very clever because nobody else knew that I was tapping my foot.
Then when the food was ready, I’d take it home to the family. I have a vaguer memory of being there and waiting with my dad, so maybe we did that the first couple of times and then he’d just send me.
I remember getting it home and I would always split a hamburger and a hot dog with my father – half each – and I remember the hot dog was very big with sear marks from the grill, and I would eat it just as it came – I don’t think they asked what condiments we wanted, so the hot dog always had relish on it.
I was a very picky eater as a kid – my mum would make lasagna and I would scrape everything of it and just leave the bare noodles, to her despair – so this was very much an anomaly for me, but I ate it as it was a part of the experience.
We never ate in at Mikael’s, and when we moved to Bellefair Avenue in 1977, we never went back.
The painting shown in the photo (at bottom of this letter) I have sent belonged to my mother. It’s painted by local artist Elizabeth Berry and captures Mikael’s back in its glory days, with a Red Rocket to boot!
I hope this is interesting to you. It always sticks in my mind as a happy memory, so it was fun to recount it.
Ben Kahn
Love at first sight/site
Good morning Dave.
Here ya go! My memories of Mikael’s Steak & Burger.
My husband and I met in February 1981.
The weeks prior to our meeting, we had a love at first sight/site moment as we smiled and eyed one another in the fruit and vegetable section of the Foodland grocery store (currently Independent Grocers on Queen Street East in the Beach).
Apparently we both left the store that day telling ourselves; I am going to find that person again.
Within the weeks that followed, my husband saw me get off a streetcar near Mikael’s but since he was driving he was unable to know where I had gone.
Afterwards, he thought, if I plant myself at the table by the window in Mikael’s, I would eventually see her. Apparently for the week that followed he spent all of his free time sitting at that table to no avail.
Rob lived by the waterworks, and his route to work as a bartender at the Balmy Beach Club led him right past my apartment. I lived directly across the street from Mikael’s.
While looking out my apartment window, I saw my shopper walking by and ran out the door as fast as I could!
We were married in November 1982.
We currently live in the Bluffs and spend a lot of our time in grocery stores. Our comfort zone.
The Deja Views photo you shared is one we most definitely value and will frame.
Judy and Rob Cockell – happily married for 42 years.
