From the Beat to the Kitchen: Detroit Cop Takes Over Canton Uncle's Catering Business

CANTON, MI — Canton resident Chico Rodriguez's catering business has been all over Wayne County the last 25 years. Now with his retirement, he's hoping the growth he's seen will come naturally to his nephew, a Detroit police officer, the Canton Observer is reporting.

Rodriguez is hanging up his manager's hat with Rose Catering, the company he launched about 25 years ago and ran out of locations such as Canton, Livonia, Plymouth and now Taylor. While he's retiring from running the company, he's found another job he wants to pursue that he hopes will allow him to still help out with his nephew, Phil Rodriguez, who's buying the company.

"Then I can still stay with the catering, because eventually he'll get big enough where he'll need more help," Chico Rodriguez said. Phil Rodriguez, a Clinton Township resident and current officer with the Detroit Police Department, said he was big on helping his uncle when he was younger with the business, washing dishes and clearing tables. He got away from it for a while when he joined the Marine Corps and later joined the Detroit police force.

It wasn't until his son P.J. Rodriguez came to him and said he wanted to try his hand at running a business. So at a family party, he was approached by a family member who recommended he speak to his uncle about possibly taking over Rose Catering. The whole process has taken about three months.

"We had talked about ideas and what we should do and what we could do," he said. "What would be better than keeping something in the family first that he had built and maintaining his legacy?"

Phil Rodriguez plans on completing the takeover of the business sometime in January.

The catering company will serve any food a client desires, from high-end to ballpark cuisine, a mantra Chico Rodriguez said has been the company's slogan for years, and plans on continuing with his nephew.
"I do anything from hot dogs to caviar," Chico Rodriguez said.

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Patch file photo