Restaurant Review: Rebecca's

Enter the Munchies Museum.

Two-step inside the front door at in downtown Northville and a baby-boomer bunker spreads out before you. The air is filled with the comforting strains of “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” and the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.” The walls are peppered with pictures and paraphernalia of another era. Vintage photographs commemorating everything from the Production Line: Lindsay, Abel, and Howe to a classic Harley-Davidson sign from fifty years ago.

In one corner hangs the famous Life Magazine photograph of a war weary sailor kissing a young woman shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War. Another corner displays splashy license plates proclaiming the arrival of the Shrine Circus: two weeks of trampolines and trapeze, corpulent elephants and clown elegance. Yet another corner is adorned with a model sailboat and an antiquarian deep sea fishing rod (ah, the outlandish fish tales it could tell). The upper atmosphere contains a sprawling chandelier, a hot air balloon bumping the ceiling, several replica airplanes and biplanes…and a choo choo train that runs the perimeter of the restaurant as if it were Johnny Cash’s “Orange Blossom Special.”

Your children will be entertained by the myriad of books and toys from which to choose. An old-fashioned abacus is always a favorite. There is a salt-water fish tank to mesmerize and calm the kids down while waiting for a table or for some ice cream. And a classic 1960s Coca-Cola machine stands bold red and ready to fascinate both young and old alike.

Rebecca’s is always spiffy. The wait staff is something out of an Eddie Bauer catalogue, fresh faced with an all-American attitude. Young men and women, gliding and bouncing, delivering your meals savory fresh and your ice cream sundaes so soothingly sweet. The wait staff is a fine reflection on Rebecca Good, the proprietor and curator of this gallery of delights.

The menu consists of a potpourri of tasty and tangy victuals varying from fresh and fluffy pancakes and omelets in the morning to sandwiches and rollups, coneys, soups, and salads for lunch and beyond. Fish and chips, stir fried dinners, and even a hearty Mexican menu to quench your south-of-the-border salsa cravings. A varied assortment of vegetarian cuisine is available, along with succulent meats, lean to porcine, for those inclined toward freshly seasoned or cured meats. Rebecca’s corned beef is actually cooked for at least eight hours before it is allowed to melt in your mouth inside of a Reuben sandwich. Dad’s Specials (based on recipes from Rebecca Good’s father) of Home-made Meatloaf and Kielbasa and Sour Kraut occur occasionally on the Specials Menu to great fanfare and enthusiastic taste buds.

And you must leave room for dessert. Banana bread, carrot cake, apple and lemon meringue pie are just a few of the confections available to feast on. Then there is the ice cream: twenty flavors freshly imported from the from nearby Novi. And from this delicious ice cream, the ancient art of thick malts, shaken and stirred milkshakes, and sinful banana splits emerge magically like a sweet tooth’s best buddy. Not to mention Rebecca’s piece de resistance, the genuine Sanders Hot Fudge Cream Puffs.

Enter Rebecca’s Family Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor and enjoy a world of nostalgic sights, sound, and taste; an affectionate jambalaya of soul and wit and playfulness.