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A local landmark, the Doo Drop Inn, has closed. After serving delicious perch dinners and mouth-watering onion rings (among other things) to Muskegon for 71 years, the family-owned restaurant is retiring. The current owners are taking their well-deserved rest and the family’s third generation has gone outside of the restaurant business.

Our waitress on that last night was a volunteer; she’d worked at Doo Drop nine years earlier. Kelly and I were there because our wedding reception was at the Doo Drop Inn. Roger and Nancy were there because Doo Drop had been a community fixture for the working class in Muskegon; the local Democrats always had their election night party at the Doo Drop. The folks at the table next to us were there because his mother, and her mother before, had always eaten at the Doo Drop when visiting Muskegon. A long line of people, all with their own special memories, waited outside the restaurant for their last taste of the onion rings. We had read about the closing in the paper the night before and immediately knew our dinner plans were set.

Oh the onion rings. So hot, with just the right mix of sweetness to counter the onion taste. We decided the special taste came from a blend of seasonings in the batter and a well-selected onion. Our two large orders were devoured within five minutes of arriving at the table. Candie and Alex asked the waitress if their dinners came with the all-you-can-eat salad bars (the rest of our orders did); she replied, “Sure. What did you order again?” It was a night for celebrating, not get prickly about who could and couldn’t eat at the salad bar. We left satisfied, full, and each secretly hoping that someday, someone would resurrect the Doo Drop and carry on its proud tradition.

written by Kyle