Detroit’s Clique still the spot for hot cakes, hot takes

Tucked beneath the glassy facade of an east side motel surrounded by the buzz of Jefferson Avenue sits a Detroit institution. 

For over half a century, the Clique has been an unassuming gathering place for a loyal community crowd from all walks of life. Visitors line up at dawn for its signature, made-from-scratch dishes: silver dollar pancakes, corned beef omelets and flat-top grilled cinnamon rolls.

From politicians to rappers, to athletes and neighborhood residents, the Detroit staple is a space where people of all economic classes and races come together. Despite ownership changes and ongoing challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the tiny city gem has endured. It continues to thrive, one bottomless cup of coffee and stack of pancakes at a time, in a segment of the restaurant scene where food made with real ingredients and shared with good company and conversation are what truly matter.

The Clique has been a hangout for Eugene Jones since his teenage years. 

“The love is in the food, that’s what keeps us coming back,” Jones, now in his 50s, told BridgeDetroit during a recent visit with his brother. 

“The Clique has been a cornerstone for the city of Detroit for quite some time,” he added over a plate of pecan pancakes. 

Nancy Kaffer, a longtime columnist and editorial page editor for The Detroit Free Press, has regularly visited the Clique – a haven for civil and political leaders –  for at least the last eight years.

“They have the best pancakes in the world, and it’s convenient,” said Kaffer, who returns weekly for a standing date with her best friend. Kaffer said the reliable diner is her go-to spot when entertaining out-of-town guests. 

Sitting at the counter just inches from the stovetop, flat griddle and fry station, Kaffer and her friends watch the food being prepared. They are mesmerized by the sheer volume of eggs, hash browns and other items the cooks crank out for the packed dining room. 

“It’s almost poetic,” she said. 

In fact, the Clique has inspired at least one poem. 

Spirit of Detroit awardee and Emmy award-winning poet Joel Fluent Greene penned an ode to the diner in a poem as unassuming as the diner itself. 

“The Clique deserves the words since it’s such an institution in our city,” said Greene. “I’ve definitely seen cool Detroit creatives and people I deeply respect there over the years.”

Local food influencer Carlos Parisi called the Clique “one of the last diners of its kind left in the city” that isn’t a Coney Island or a ham shop. And, he has a Clique tradition of his own: taking people there for a birthday breakfast. 

“I love that place. It’s a place of celebration,” said Parisi. “If you want something a little extra, unique, we go to the Clique.”

‘We lost a lot of people’ 

But the local treasure, like many small businesses, hit a wall during COVID-19.

Vincko Gjokaj, an immigrant from Montenegro, bought the Clique about 17 years ago and said he felt like “a king on top of a mountain” before the pandemic.  

“Since COVID, I would say ‘king that fell off the cliff,’” he said. 

“When I was a young kid in my old country, I never dreamed of making as much money as I made during the four years before COVID. I really did good, and I really honestly tried to help everybody around here, my employees and all that,” said Gjokaj, who said he pays his cooks $27 an hour. 

The effects of the pandemic were worse than the Great Recession and Detroit’s bankruptcy, said Gjokaj. 

“This was a lot more difficult for me than the recession in every which way,” he said. “It was brutal.”

At the onset of the pandemic, the diner, which had been open daily, closed completely for three months, forcing Gjokaj to take out an economic disaster loan of $120,000 with 4% interest. Eventually, he reopened three days a week but struggled to serve customers without consistent staffing. Meanwhile, food prices soared. To cut operating costs, he reduced the menu, removed the beloved meatloaf, 12-hour slow-cooked roast beef and a lot of sandwiches. 

Focused on survival, Gjokaj said he couldn’t keep up with maintaining the diner’s greenhouse vibe. Empty planters now line the ceiling to the curiosity and slight disappointment of visitors. Although customers sometimes inquire, the plants haven’t made a return because the daily work of caring for them is “another extra thing to do,” Gjokaj said.

For the first time, Gjokaj also had to navigate consumer credit card fraud, which he said cost him around $7,000. As a result, he switched to a cash-only operation for several years, which cost him even more customers since about 70% had been paying by card. Every day, he said, he would watch festival goers, tourists and other potential visitors turn and walk out the door when they learned the restaurant wasn’t accepting credit or debit cards. 

“We were really struggling to pay our bills and, on top of that, you get enough fraud – it was really tough,” he said. “We lost a lot of people.” 

Challenges ahead 

Although he’s celebrated some gains over the last 10 months – expanding hours and reinstating credit and debit card payment options – Gjokaj is still uncertain about the future of the business he admits isn’t quite what it used to be.

“Even so many years after COVID, I really never recovered fully business-wise,” he said. 

The business has struggled with staffing and lost clientele who worked in the Detroit Renaissance Center and downtown before remote work became a common practice, Gjokaj said. 

Another challenge is the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision to phase out tipped wages and raise the minimum wage; effective Feb. 21 Michigan’s tipped employees, like servers and bartenders, make $4.01 per hour. The hourly pay would increase to $5.99 under the ruling, and add paid sick days. 

“We’re going to have to adjust to that too,” he said. “That’s gonna be a tough one, so we’ll see.” 

Kyara Jones, 35, said she’s been going for two decades and intends to stay loyal. 

“If you think about downtown breakfast, you think about the Clique,” said Jones on a typically packed Friday morning. The menu item that draws her in is the grits, and so does the consistent service.

“It’s actually a staple, no matter if you’re coming from Canada – people will literally come over just for the food,” she said. 

Gjokaj said if it weren’t for his two kids, who helped out in the restaurant, the businesses likely would’ve been gone by now. 

“The good thing is, we are still here. I still have a family. A lot of people lost their family, lost their business. So I’m good, and things are improving.” 

The Clique, 1326 E Jefferson Ave., is open Monday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Doors close at 2:30 p.m.