Public House is shutting down after 12+ years

On February 9, it's curtains for one of the long-time spots of downtown Ferndale.

From a statement by Brian Kramer, the CEO of parent company Hometown Restaurant Group who owns the joint:

The restaurant business is very difficult right now. In my 30-plus years in the restaurant business, I’ve never experienced a tougher economy than what we are experiencing today. Add to this the high food costs, high labor costs, intense competition, the need for constant quality control, tight profit margins and endless hours of work — we just agreed the time was right to close the restaurant, take a step back, focus on our other restaurant operations and give someone else a chance to re-concept the location.

The space at 241 W. Nine Mile Road is going to become a Sidecar Slider Bar. That's a local outfit that started in Birmingham and is expanding, with locations in Farmington, Brighton, Lansing, Plymouth, Grosse Pointe, and Sterling Heights.

My two cents: I had some good memories at Public House and went to a holiday party there just a few weeks ago. But listeners of our podcast tell me service at times was mixed.