The History of Bray's (as I remember it)

    Gordon and Roy Bray started their first hamburger stand in 1950. After an extensive investigation of all business opportunities available at the time, Gordon said to Roy "Man, I'm tired of being broke, we got a bunch of those little rugrats at home to feed, Why don't we find somewhere we can try and sell Coffee, Donuts and Hamburgers like they do downtown at whatchamacallit's restaurant." So they did.

1950's Menu and Help us Solve the Mystery

    They found a cute little, falling down, beat up farmhouse, way out in the sticks (Corner of Ford Rd. and Inkster in Garden City, Michigan), worked their tails off fixing it up as much as their nonexistent budget allowed. Furnished it with a counter and 10 stools, a Grill, a Coffee Urn, a really cool Wurlitzer Juke Box, and a Cigarette Machine. With Gordon working 12 hours a day, Roy the other 12, the brothers started selling their 15 cent hamburgers, 7 cent coffee and 6 cent donuts.

    Well, after a couple years, things started going pretty well, but Roy got real tired of the biz and took a job as a draftsman for a tool design company. Gordon did not know the first thing about drafting, so he stayed with the business, and found out he must be doing something right because a bunch of people started coming in and buying those delicious hamburgers with the grilled onions.

    A couple more years and Gordon had people coming to him and saying "Hey Gordie, why don't you let me build you a couple of those little buildings and you can sell a bunch more of your delicious Burgers". So he did.

    Gordie was happy. Eight stores selling a lot of hamburgers all over Metro Detroit. Then one day in 1974 he told himself, "Ah, what the heck, I'm 60 years old, I think I'll call it quits and take up golf".
    Each of the kids (John, Marc, and Phil) bought a store (great terms) and the rest were sold to other individuals. Marc and Phil ran their stores for about 15 years and John (that's me) stayed in the business. My store, on Ford Rd. near Wayne Rd. in Westland, Michigan, was still serving a whole bunch of happy guests, but we needed a new building. So we built a new building next door and tore the old one down. We kept all the things that made us successful. The friendly customer counter and stools. The grill line that the customer can watch.. Of course we kept the Delicious Burgers with grilled onions, the Big Cut Frys and Thick Chocolate Shakes. We even added some booths to enjoy a quality morning breakfast. We have a whole lot of fun!

Stop in, and check us out and say, "Hi John Bray".