Curt Catallo Explains History of Clarkston Union Restaurant

It's an iconic restaurant in Clarkston - and we asked owner Curt Catallo about the history of this building.

Transcript

00:00All right, so here we are inside the Clarkston Union as I pan around.

00:04This beautiful church, an amazing place.

00:07Kurt Katalo, how are you, sir?

00:09So far so good. Thanks for coming.

00:11Tell us the history of the Union. I've always wanted to know.

00:14It is a joint that was obviously built as a church back in the 1840s,

00:19and it was always a church until the congregation built a new one.

00:22And we came around in 1995 and said, you know, if you guys are moving out,

00:27we'd be interested in moving in and making this a restaurant because we didn't know any better.

00:31So how long did it take you to convert it to a restaurant?

00:35Well, we did it Amish style. It was like very much a friends and family kind of build-out.

00:39So it took a long time. It took a couple years, and we just kind of, we knew what we wanted to be.

00:45We wanted it just to be this broad-shouldered American comfort food with a twist,

00:49and we stuck to that, and we opened in 1996, and we've been chugging along ever since.

00:55And I remember when I would come in here when it first really started,

00:59this was always shooting cool in the basement, and Kid Rock was here pretty much every day.

01:03Yeah, we have a lot of customers who wanted to be treated like rock stars,

01:08and a rock star wanted to be treated like a customer.

01:11And we just, we had fun with it.

01:12It just, you know, the crew that's been here from the get-go,

01:16some are still working here right now.

01:18I mean, they were here when we started, and really, they're the ones who make the place what it is.

01:22And since we're here in Clarkston, too, and so many union joints, and you started here,

01:26I remember the cafe. That's how far back you and I go, Kirk.

01:29The Clarkston Cafe, yeah, that was, we thought we were on to something to do, fine dining in Clarkston.

01:33We did it the year that, you know, Chrysler and GM declared bankruptcy, so it wasn't a great idea.

01:39But the wood shop was born out of those ashes, and we're really lucky for it.

01:43So, in Clarkston, we have the union, union general next door.

01:48We have bunkhouse down the street.

01:50We have honcho, and then, of course, the wood shop.

01:52So, we're, it's part of the union joints family, and it's still our home right here.

01:56Well, we love it here. We love this, and this is just an amazing building.

01:59Thank you, Kirk.

01:59Thanks for coming.

02:00Thanks for coming.