Originally Published June 27.
Staff Reports

It had been called an icon and a landmark during the last 50 years.

But since June 30, all that remains of The Embers Restaurant is the memories.

As the doors to the Embers, 1217 S. Mission St., closed for the last time, the impact it has had on generations of people fully became realized.

Owner Jeff Tuma said the realization of what the Embers meant to people did not really sink in until the announcement to close it was made.

“I didn’t think about until afterwards – I started hearing people calling it an icon,” he said. “When I hear people say ‘Mount Pleasant will never be the same,’ it’s amazing and it’s humbling.”

In 1958, the first customer told founder and former owner Clarence Tuma, Jeff’s father, exactly what he thought of the experience.

“I still remember exactly what he said,” Clarence said. “He told me ‘You have created simple elegance.’ It’s something we’ve strived for ever since, and I’m proud that my son was able to carry on that tradition.”

Jeff became owner of the Embers in 1987.

But fine dining has become a thing of the past, Jeff said. He said people go out to eat out – they do not have time to dine out.

There was a new concept in the works to revitalize the Embers, Jeff said.

“It would have been unlike anything in town, but it wouldn’t have been the Embers,” he said.

The Embers is what it is and the most important thing is to preserve the memory, Jeff said.

“We’re going out on high side,” he said. “Like Michael Jordan (the first time he retired).”

Many memories

Clarence said it had been 49 years of wonderful memories – good and bad.

He said one of the most memorable moments was when Jimmy Carter’s wife came to visit for the National Special Olympics.

Carter’s wife approached him and asked him for the recipe for the famous peas and peanuts. Clarence declined, even after she mentioned her husband would be President soon, he said.

“Never heard of Jimmy Carter,” Clarence said. “I told her, ‘If he becomes President, let me know and I’ll send you the recipe.’”

He got that call a couple of years later.

For Jeff, the high point was meeting the woman he would later ask to marry him.

“I met my wife – she was working there while I was, too,” he said.

Both Clarence and Jeff agree the most memorable thing was the people.

Jeff said they have made lasting relationships with people from all over.

“The owner of the M Den, the main supplier of University of Michigan clothing, got choked up the last time he saw me,” he said.

Clarence said he received letters from all 50 states when the one-pound pork chop debuted.

“People came from as far as Utah and Arizona just to see and eat our pork chop,” he said.

The letters and stories came in from all over the country with stories about engagements, weddings and grandparents bringing their grandchildren to the restaurant they visited as children.

A great staff

The hardest goodbyes were to the staff, Jeff said.

“We’ve built very close relations for over 40 years,” he said.

Former employees have been flying in from California, Florida and Colorado just to have one last meal where they used to work, Jeff said.

“I can’t say it enough – the people who work here are truly unique,” Clarence said.

He estimated at least 4,000 CMU graduates have worked their way through college at the Embers.

“It’s very humbling to be told by people they never would have made it through college without working at the Embers,” he said.

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