Joe Muer, legendary restaurateur, dies at the age of 88
When Joe Muer received a call from a fellow restaurant owner offering to reopen his family’s seafood restaurant, long after the famous Joe Muer’s Seafood in Detroit had already closed, he was horrified.
“He said, ‘Are you crazy? I’m 75 years old,'” said Joe Vicari, president and CEO of the Joe Vicari Restaurant Group, who called Muer after opening Adiamo Riverfront in the seven-tower Renaissance Center. Representatives from General Motors Corp. had asked him what other restaurant might do well in the building overlooking Detroit’s waterfront.
After some persuasion, Mr. Muer decided to sell Vicari the restaurant name and signature recipes that were on the menu for nearly 70 years at the restaurant his grandfather opened in Gratiot near Eastern Market and which closed in 1998. In 2011, Mr. Muer helped Vicari revive Joe Muer Seafood at RenCen, which has since expanded to a location in Bloomfield Hills in 2017 and a location in Nashville in 2023.
Joseph W. Muer Jr. died in his sleep on Sunday, August 11, 2024, according to an online obituary and friends. He was 88 years old.
“When we opened the restaurant in 2011, Joe was like a rock star,” Vicari said. “When he came into the restaurant, people wanted to talk to him, touch him. You would hear stories of people who would go to his restaurant every day for 20 years for lunch or for special occasions, anniversaries or birthdays, and not just for a few years, but for 40 or 50 years. It was incredible to hear people talk about him so fondly.”
Many people remembered his legacy and the legendary restaurant.
“A Detroit restaurant icon,” Robert Pliska, president of SPERRY, posted a photo of himself and Mr. Muer on X. “It is very sad that a long-time Detroit restaurant owner known for the legendary Joe Muer restaurants has passed away. May he rest in peace. Thank you for the many memories!”
“Joe was an iconic restaurant owner in Detroit who was known not only in the community but throughout the Midwest,” Vicari added. “His restaurant was the restaurant of choice for the automotive industry for many years in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, and people came from all over to experience Joe Muer.”
The original Joe Muer Seafood opened in 1929 under Joseph F. Muer I, a cigar producer who opened a seven-seat oyster bar at Gratiot and Vernor that grew over the years under his son and grandson until it closed in 1998.
The menu included dishes like crab-stuffed flounder and shrimp, which Ilene served after dinner began with bean relish.
Mr. Muer began working at the restaurant as a teenager, opening oysters and busing tables after school. His brother, Chuck Muer, joined him.
Joe continued to operate the restaurant in Detroit while Chuck opened a chain of restaurants outside of Detroit. Chuck, his wife Betty, and two friends died at sea in 1993 when their 40-foot sailboat was caught in a storm in the Bermuda Triangle.
Mr. Muer is survived by his wife of 53 years, Jane Sielaff Muer; his children, Joseph W. III, Molly Ann Baran and Hans Thomas; his grandchildren, Hans Dennis Baran, Christopher Joseph Baran and Corbin Edward Baran; his great-granddaughter, Rollin Claire Baran; and his great-grandson, Beau Edward Baran.
A private ceremony in Mr. Muer’s honor will be held at a later date, said Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home in Chelsea, which is handling arrangements.
