Patty's Diner

Patty's opened in 1965 across the street from what was then the Cadillac assembly plant. The plant closed in 1987. Patty's stayed open. Three generations of UAW workers ate breakfast at that counter; so did the kids who took those jobs after their parents got laid off, and the kids those kids never got to have because Detroit changed.

Patty died in 2019. Her daughter Helen has been running it since. Helen is 64 and told us last month that the building's owner — not Helen — is selling to a developer who wants to put 14 condos on the lot. The diner closes February 28th unless someone else can afford the building.

We can. 1,500 of us pledging $200 average gets us in the door with a community LLC, and Helen keeps cooking.