By Brian VanOchten
The Holland Sentinel
HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — A simple sign in the front window of Frank’s Restaurant in the middle of downtown Zeeland tells the story of a timeless treasure: 90 years, four generations, one great burger.
It just doesn’t get a whole lot better.
Or does it?
Frank’s still serves up what many consider some of the best hamburgers in the area in a classic diner atmosphere at the same storefront location where it first opened in 1924.
It also is preparing to serve up a bonus banquet and rental space adjacent to its current restaurant, according to The Holland Sentinel ( http://bit.ly/1oY5tSD ).
The storefront just to the east of Frank’s Restaurant, which had been unoccupied since last fall when a local jeweler moved out, has been remodeled to help celebrate its 90th anniversary.
It cost more than $100,000 to transform the 1,600-square-foot space into the dream location where general manager Shane Hammer plans to open up a delicatessen in early August.
“We always toyed with expanding the space and updating it,” Hammer said. “I think it turned out great. I wanted to keep that retro feel, but also make it modern. Frank’s will always be Frank’s. It worked out well that we could keep everything here and make the other side better.”
The newly re-imagined space has gotten the blessing of Hammer’s grandmother.
“It looks great,” said Pat Dionise, who took over ownership of Frank’s, along with her husband, Frank Dionise Jr., in 1960. “For years and years, people kept saying, ‘Why don’t you expand next door?’
“It was his idea,” she said of her grandson’s grand plan. “He’s young. He can do it.”
To achieve the modern-retro look of the new space, Hammer, the fourth generation of family ownership, rolled up his own sleeves and went to work on peeling away five layers of wall coverings.
He stripped away two layers of drywall, a layer of wood paneling, a layer of corrugated steel and a layer of tongue-and-groove paneling that “must’ve been popular in the ‘70s,” he said with a laugh. It further required chipping off plaster that had been slathered onto the original brick.
“We took off five layers and filled up two 40-yard dumpsters,” Hammer said. “We did a lot of work.”
The remodeling project is all but completed.
Hammer, who designed the new space, consulted with Gen1 Architectural Group on structural issues and turned to Ruffner Construction to handle the buildout.
