Motown Cafes are no longer in operation (sad to say)

Recent threads on another subject brought up the question about the Motown Cafes. dvus7, carole cucumber, and alanh all were wondering
about the status of the restaurants.

First and foremost, there were only ever 3 created. The first one was in New York City; the second in Las Vegas; and the third one in Orlando, Florida. I have been to the NYC one but not the other two. They are all closed as of now. The NYC closed first, followed by the Las Vegas, and finally by the Orlando. The restaurant had a double album menu showcasing the Temptations "All the Million Sellers" on the cover. I have an identical menu from NYC and Las Vegas which were really nice. A friend went to Las Vegas and that is how I got the Las Vegas one. I had gone to Florida and was in Orlando but by the time I went there the Orlando was closed. I believe that the NYC was the biggest, followed by LV, and Orlando was the smallest. The menus from both NYC and LV are virtually identical. I do not know what the Orlando was like.

Maybe other forum members can add additional information to this thread. I would like to see it expanded. I had high hopes when the NYC place opened that they would pop up everywhere. I do know there was one planned for Detroit, but it never came to be.

I use to eat at the one here in NYC often in the 90s. It was a fun place.

I have to say that I was fortunate enough to visit all 3 of these cafes the New York cafe was the best, the las Vegas cafe was in the New York New York hotel which was also great , the one in Orlando was at Universal studios not far from the Shrek ride if I remember rightly but it had shut when I visited last in 2014.

I visited the one in NYC once. I honestly don't remember much about it except I liked the lasagna. I also have a vague memory of complaining to my friend that there was a misidentified photo and that they of all people should have known better.

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Originally Posted by dickiemint

I have to say that I was fortunate enough to visit all 3 of these cafes the New York cafe was the best, the las Vegas cafe was in the New York New York hotel which was also great , the one in Orlando was at Universal studios not far from the Shrek ride if I remember rightly but it had shut when I visited last in 2014.

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I've been to the one in Vegas, it was nice but totally different than the one that was on W. 57th in Manhattan.

I remember quickly stopping into the Orlando one during spring break back in 2007. We didn't have enough time to eat there, but I made sure my friends waited while I got a look. I do remember in their gift store there was a beautifully framed live photo of Diana, Mary and Flo that I never saw before and haven't seen since.

Wow...I thought they were all closed years ago.

I visited the one in NYC in the early to mid 90s but sadly remember very little about it. Detroit would of course be the perfect location for a Motown-themed restaurant. Are there by any chance any?

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Originally Posted by daviddesper

I visited the one in NYC in the early to mid 90s but sadly remember very little about it. Detroit would of course be the perfect location for a Motown-themed restaurant. Are there by any chance any?

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Detroit has a Hard Rock, but stayed tuned, Aretha is set to open her own dance club/restaurant downtown!

I remember a trio of girls performing a Supremes' song in the NY café. I still have my All the Million Sellers Menu plus a souvenir mug and glass from there and a souvenir glass from my trip to Las Vegas. I can't remember what I ate there though.

The NYC Motown Cafe housed a Supremes Convention before it closed. I have some pictures from that with Betty Kelly [[of the Vandellas) showing the "Vandellas" how to do the real choreography. Sorry to say but that was the only time I went there. It was two floors and the upper level was just around the perimeter so you could see the stage area below.

I did eat at the one in Orlando. It was in the Universal Walk, outside the park so you didn't have to go to the park in order to eat there. I just remember that the staff wasn't very good, the music was too loud and they played a video of various Motown artists. This only timed in at about 3 minutes and played over and over and over. My seat faced a monitor and it started to drive me crazy about half way through my meal. The food was okay, nothing special. I also noticed that a set of dresses was mis-identified as being part of TCB when, in fact, they were not in the show at all. It doesn't surprise me that they went out of business.

I do remember sitting on the upper level at the NYC location. There were some "Temps" performing below us at one point.

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Originally Posted by thommg

I also noticed that a set of dresses was mis-identified as being part of TCB when, in fact, they were not in the show at all. It doesn't surprise me that they went out of business.

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Were they authentic Supremes gowns or fakes?

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Originally Posted by bradsupremes

Were they authentic Supremes gowns or fakes?

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To be honest, bradsupremes, they could have been fake. I don't recall what they looked like but I do remember thinking I hadn't seen them before.