When we’re visiting relatives in Livonia, I like to use it as an opportunity to visit an old favorite of mine, Bates Hamburgers. You see, in one of those odd sort of time capsule manners, the Detroit area still has a strong presence of locally-owned hamburger joints, a good number of them selling “sliders”. Yeah, those sliders, the small hamburgers cooked over onions and served on small greasy buns. Yeah, those. While in most of the country the few proper sliders (vs just small sandwiches with that name) come from either White Castle (northern latitudes) or Krystal (southern latitudes), but in Detroit, various independent operators and small chains are still the reigning kings of classic sliders. Bates Hamburgers is one of my favorites, and I try to visit it every time I’m in town. I last reviewed Bates back in… wow, 2006, in one of the oldest reviews here on Offbeat Eats (yes, I’ve been doing this for over 20 years now…), and I figured that this, time, camera and French fry-craving nieces in tow, that we’d head on over to Bates for lunch and do one of Offbeat Eats’ patented “Health Check” re-visits.
Bates has been on this major street corner in Livonia, at the intersection of Five Mile and Farmington Road, for over 60 years, and the basic building hasn’t really changed that much at all. Like almost every Detroit-area slider joint, it’s a shiny white-paneled building meant to evoke the memory of the original White Castles that these local stores and small chains (like many of Detroit’s slider joints, there are multiple locations for Bates, the other is up in Farmington Hills) were all imitating in style. Despite the age of the building, aside from a few signs on the back fading, they’ve maintained the place nicely, and it is still neat and clean despite the age of the place.
Walking inside (for dine-in service: if getting food to-go Bates has a separate foyer on the back side of the building for the takeout window), very, very little has changed since my last visit in 2016, or for that matter, since the review way back in 2006. A few minor rearrangements of equipment, and new-ish point of sale system replacing the earlier old-fashioned cash register (and at some point, picking up the ability to use credit cards, when this used to be a cash-only establishment), and a few more signs have shown up. And, for this visit, the Christmas decor was still in full swing. But really, it’s almost eerily the exact same experience as my very first visit back in, oh, ’92 or so. Indeed, the menu is the biggest change. Not in the actual menu changing (as far as I can tell, the list of items is identical to my ’06 visit), but the inexorable march of inflation has hit the prices. A single cheeseburger in 2006 cost $1.20, and now it costs $2.49 (and I expect, with the retirement of the penny, for that price to soon go up to $2.50 at least), but really, over those 19 years, that’s an average inflation rate of 3.9%, which isn’t too shabby, especially considering the significant cost pressures of the last few years. In any case, I still found myself ordering a trio of cheeseburgers and a small side of chili fries.
After a bit of a wait due to a surge of online orders (also a change since yesteryear…) my trio of cheeseburgers was delivered. And, just like 2006, these are some of the best sliders I’ve ever had. These aren’t your typical White Castle or Krystal sliders, these are more substantial, with noticeably better buns (I noticed on this trip that double burgers get sesame seed buns, vs the plain buns of the singles), a really good sear on the burger patties, a bit more meat, and some very good and fresh fried onions. This is every bit as good as 2006, they’ve got consistency down pat at Bates, even over the decades. These are pretty much perfect sliders.
And the chili cheese fries? Still exactly how I remember them. The fries themselves (a favorite of the nieces) remain the same crinkle-cut fries, nicely fried in clean oil, and delivered with a good crisp. The chili s a thicker, meatier chili with a lot of cumin, and it works well with the fries.
So, how is Bates doing? While a lot has changed in Detroit, and there’s been more than a little change in Livonia, this particular corner of Livonia remains unchanged, and Bates remains in perfect health, cranking out excellent sliders and fries for over 60 years. It’s always worth a visit, even if you smell like onions the rest of the day.
