Campau Tower/The Americana Eatery

Here is our overall review! Please go back and check David’s review too.

Campau Tower is an important place to a lot of people. It was always the spot to go when you were wasted and needed food before the morning – and everyone had a story to tell after going. One night, we had the saddest cook in the world, and a friend that made the mistake of ordering the most expensive thing on the menu (the 21 shrimp dinner, for around 5.00) . The silence during that meal, punctuated by loud sighs, sobered me up immensely. One of Scott’s stories involves a lot of yelling about chili, an ungodly amount of mustard on their shirts, and some blood. Needless to say, bad decisions were made before, during and after dining at the Tower.

With all that history, you can imagine the sadness and surprise when this 24 hour institution closed its doors a few months ago. The ending was abrupt – with just a sign on the door saying “closed today – end of business”. The news spread mostly through facebook – residents talked about the stealing that went on there, and the safety issues of only having one employee. But here’s the thing – they also talked about reopening it, doing the same thing but with food that wasn’t entirely frozen and cooks who gave a shit. I definitely had a few conversations about opening a taco place (which it seems everyone in the city wants).

After a couple months, it was announced that Nikita Sanchez of the popular Hamtramck establishment Rock City Eatery would be reopening Tower, with a few changes to the menu. I was excited – he had established himself in the city as a reputable person, capable of accomplishing good food for reasonable prices. The Rock City menu is always changing, and each change is a positive step. Others, however, were more skeptical- and with good reason. It’s hard to take something that I previously had described as “exactly what you expect and want it to be” and turn it around.

Three months after the building closed, and after installing some door locks, the restaurant re-opened as Campau Tower/The Americana Eatery. The menu was totally revamped. In addition to the regular Tower burger (with completely different, fresher ingredients), they now have a number of specialty hot dogs, bao bun sandwiches, hot pockets, and milkshakes. Oh, and they have a square to take credit cards. Nice. Prices rose too, but not outrageously. You can still be more than full for about 7 bucks. Although this is a far cry from the 4 dollars you might spend for a smogasbord previously, you could certainly do worse – or spend that same money at McDonald’s for something far inferior.

I’d visited a number of times before the actual review day. I had good results. I’d heard other things from other folks in the city, about food not being available, weird hours, and so on. To those people, I remind them that even at this point, they’ve only been open a month. There are always kinks to work out. Despite the naysayers, One thing I’d often heard was “It’s great for the price”.

A lot of mixed reviews, mostly positive. But we were curious – would the new and improved Tower stack up to our memories of the old one? To tackle this challenge, MCBC had a bunch of drinks, went to the bar, had more drinks, and then went to tower. We brought along Anais, a couchsurfer, and Andrew, a non-biased friend and old ELBC member from Kalamazoo, along with a regular Hamtramck crew. A few losing games of pool over at 7 Brothers Bar against George may have contributed, but the amount of drinks we had definitely put us in a weird hungry place.

Three staff were working at the time, and we came in to take over all the stools at the same time – luckily the only ones there at the time. It took a couple minutes, but after a round of waters,we all ordered our burgers with various toppings. While everyone stared at the huge flatscreen with American Horror Story playing. I am not a fan of this TV, and I think it detracts from the atmosphere of the tiny kitchen and dining area. The intimacy of the space forces you to talk to the people around you, whether you’re bored with them or not, and the TV provides a distraction from this.

I opted for the caramelized onions and roasted peppers on my cheeseburger. Staff slapped them on the grill immediately, and although the orders came out staggered, the five of us got them in relatively short time. They come presented in a basket with wax paper. Classic. Refined. Nostalgic. No complaints here.

The toppings make the burgers pop, and they all have a squeeze of “burger sauce” on them. I don’t quite know what it is. Mayo and hot sauce? Homemade thousand island? A basic fancy sauce? Whatever it is, it is a welcome addition. Several club members echoed this sentiment, that it helped round out the burger flavor, which I thought was underwhelming.

the patties are fresh and hand-formed. The problem lies in the flavoring and crust formation- a little more salt and pepper on that patty would be a huge attraction. And I’m sure the folks that run Rock City Eatery understand the importance of the maillard reaction! The option to get it cooked at a temperature other than medium is offered on the wall- but I’m not sure that this is what would help. A good medium for these small patties should be perfect. Instead of doing their own thing for these patties, which is awesome and encouraged in every other respect, a call back to the roots of cooking this style of burger may help things rise up from just “OK” to “fantastic”.

Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed this experience and the ones I’ve had before. They do a lot of really good things, the service is awesome and their concept is spot on. The bao buns and specialty hot dogs are fantastic, the toppings available for everything are super high quality, and I won’t stop talking about the pickles that they use. This is still a damn good burger! But there’s room for improvement.

All in all, Tower is killer. Across the board, the folks that attended said they would come back (5/5 all around, even from out of towners, which is unprecedented). We confirmed that the value is huge, and that you get what you pay for and then some. The late night hours are excellent and provide a service for the many bars in town and their patrons. I know that I’ll be back, and I hope the Tower builds a whole new history for itself.

(Update 2018: Tower closed after two owner changes. Dos Locos Tacos is now running out of the business and they are great!)

Ratings:

Burger: 3.76

Service: 4.03

Atmosphere: 3.63

Value: 4.49

Overall Rating: 4.020

Note: Frank and David also provided ratings in order to make the data more robust. They didn’t come with us, but ate on similar late night occasions to ours. Mark claims he had seven beers before arriving, so he declined to rate, but left his comments.

Erik: “Those pickles. Whoa. I wish I got a hot dog too.” 4/5

Andrew: “Good food, good price, great hours. The selection of toppings was a little limited but what they had was good!” 4/5

Frank: “They have an alright burger but the topings and options you get with your order make it worth coming back for. All sides/menu items are better than the burger–besides the fries. The fries are bad. Tasty hotdog options and good quility little bao bun sandwiches. Shakes!” 4.5/5

David: “Costs more than the old tower, but totally worth it.” 4.65/5 (Note: Check out David’s Standalone review on this one!)

Brett: “To sum up my thoughts, I rated most things just above average, but not quite amazing. I believe that is true, I wouldn’t say I was blown away by this experience. That said, it was a delicious experience, a convenient experience, and a well priced experience. These three magical factors add up making it an almost irresistible experience. I’m not sure I’ll ever love this place, but I find it inevitable that I will return.” 4/5

Cowboy Carl: “I was excited to see Gruyere cheese on the menu. I am glad I added bacon because the hamburger was pretty bland.The pickles were phenomenal, lettuce very fresh. Buns could be nicer, I would have liked mine slathered in butter then toasted a bit crisp. Chili Cheese fries were pretty dang good. Good place for late night drunk munchies and brunch hot dogs (I want to try the breakfast hot dog)” 3.65/5

Mark: “EVERYTHING WAS GOOD.
I HAD LIKE 7 BEERS BEFORE HAND, I DONT REMEMBER MUCH, I JUST REMEMBER ENJOYING EVERYTHING.
THE BUNS WERE GREAT.
THE FRIES WERE REALLY HOT.
I HAD A WATER, LOTS OF ICE CUBES. THEY HAD A PITCHER FOR ME TO POUR.” I DONT KNOW OUT OF FIVE