Larry Goldstein\u2019s 50-year journey of bagels, business and Detroit pride.<\/p>\n
Larry Goldstein hasn\u2019t lived in Detroit since the early 1970s, but he\u2019s still a subscriber and avid reader of the Detroit Jewish News.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a good newspaper,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cThey have great stories and columns, and it\u2019s a thick paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goldstein, now 77 and living in Dallas, Texas, grew up delivering newspapers, shoveling snow, washing cars and working as a deli busboy in Oak Park. The son of accountant Herb Goldstein and homemaker Dell Goldstein, he became a bar mitzvah at Beth Aaron, at 18000 Wyoming, in 1962.<\/p>\n
He graduated from Oak Park High School in 1967 and earned an associate\u2019s degree in hotel and restaurant management from Oakland Community College.<\/p>\n
In 1968, Goldstein saved up his newspaper delivery money to purchase tickets for himself and his mother, a loyal Detroit Tigers fan, to see Detroit defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 World Series.<\/p>\n
A month later, by chance, Goldstein and his mother found themselves giving Tigers star pitch Mickey Lolich a ride to his office.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom was so excited that she called every one of her friends when she got home,\u201d Goldstein said.<\/p>\n
By the age of 21, Goldstein had opened a Mr. C\u2019s Coney Island in Madison Heights. The price of coffee was 15 cents, and Goldstein was there for four years.<\/p>\n
He left to work for the late Barry Greenblatt of Barry\u2019s Bagels in Toledo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know how to make a bagel, and Barry didn\u2019t know that much about running a deli,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cSo, we taught each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pull Quote<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day, I\u2019m making boxed lunches, and the next day, I\u2019m making a beef tenderloin dinner. \u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Larry Goldstein<\/p>\n
Barry\u2019s Bagels has since expanded to have multiple locations throughout Ohio and Michigan.<\/p>\n
With a strong desire to open his own deli and bagel spot, Goldstein decided to take a leap of faith by moving to Dallas. He and his wife, Susan, a retired teacher, had only been married for a few months when they moved to Dallas in 1976.<\/p>\n
Fifty years ago, Goldstein started Bagelstein\u2019s, which he described as a \u201cJewish McDonald\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
He owned the restaurant for 22 years. Upon selling it, he headed north to Toledo for three years to help Greenblatt with Barry\u2019s Bagels.<\/p>\n
In 2001, he opened Catering By Larry in Dallas and is still going strong with it.<\/p>\n
Goldstein, a father of two and grandfather of five, was a Dallas Cowboys season ticket holder, but he still loves the Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, the Lions and University of Michigan, of which his wife is a graduate.<\/p>\n
He hopes to continue his catering business as long as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day, I\u2019m making boxed lunches, and the next day, I\u2019m making a beef tenderloin dinner,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cWe do weddings; we have a full staff of bartenders and servers. We can do everything from a drop-off box lunch to a fine dinner. I\u2019m very proud to be Jewish. I don\u2019t hold it back. I wear a chai around my neck \u2014 people see it, I let them know.\u201d<\/p>\n
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