Spillson's Rice Pudding

Coming to America

The story told by George Spillson, now 77, is that of his father, John Spillson, who along with four uncles, an aunt, and two cousins that left the Peloponnesian peninsula of Greece on a ship of hope bound for Ellis Island. With no promising future to be seen in Greece the family left for America and a Greek community in Massachusetts. There they worked in restaurants cleaning dishes, all the while observing the French cooks at work. Two years later they saved enough money and learned enough English to move to Michigan and open a small restaurant in Monroe. In 1918 the Custer Restaurant was opened where rice pudding was a fixture on the menu.

Second Generation

In 1956 George left the family restaurant in search of greener pastures. So what does the son of a Greek restaurant owner do? He opens his own restaurant. The Pixie Drive-In was opened in 1956 and was later renamed Spillson's Restaurant in 1975 when a larger dining room was added to seat 100 people. Rice pudding was always found on the menu. On Christmas day 1965, the Custer closed its doors for the final time, leaving only the Pixie Drive-In to carry on the rice pudding tradition, which at the time was no tradition at all, yet. In 1978 George Spillson sold his restaurant and was out of the food business for good, or so he thought.

Back in the Food Business, again

After just 2 years in business the new owners of the restaurant closed up, leaving George with no business, a beat up building, and a mountain of debt. Having no luck in the real estate field, George took back his building and did what Greeks do best, they open a food business. In 1980 George and his wife Sophia started Spillson's Coffee Service. They provided coffee service and supplies to offices, restaurants, and other businesses. The Spillson's also manufactured wholesale deli sandwiches for party stores, gas stations, boat clubs, and marinas.

Young John Spillson joins the family business

After four expensive years of college, George and Sophia hoped that their educated son would go out and put his talent to use in the business world. But what does a Greek boy do? He joins the family business. John hoped that his degree in marketing and MBA in finance would help the business expand and flourish. Things were progressing nicely for a couple of years but the business never really took off to the next level like they had hoped. However, John would soon learn the meaning of an old saying that his dad had told him many times before, that "you must always find opportunity in anything you come across." This was never truer than that fateful day in 1995.

A Strange Twist of Fate in 1995

The latest chapter in this 85-year-old story came in 1995 when, while getting a haircut, George was asked by his barber to whip up a batch of rice pudding for his wife who was ill at the time. Well, George had two problems, one, he was a restaurant man, and two, he was Greek. Which meant that he didn't know how to cook for less than 50 people. Nonetheless he agreed. George made the smallest batch he could, gave a few pounds to his barber and took the rest to one of his best sandwich customers. By the time he returned to the shop, the customer had called to explain how the rice pudding had already sold out. Could we be on to something? Rice pudding? Never. Jokingly he made another batch. That too sold quickly.

One gallon batches soon became two gallon batches which soon became… well you get the idea. So, after outgrowing two stoves and a number of large cooking pots, we took the plunge, so to speak, into a 30 gallon steam kettle. Producing over 115 pounds per batch we now needed some way to quickly dispense the hot product. Then came the automatic filling machine and second walk in cooler used only for rice pudding.

Our rice pudding was recognized nationally in "Taste of Home" magazine in the spring of 2000, and we received inquiries from as far away as Idaho. Still delivering ourselves, along with one distributor, we currently service over 60 locations in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio, including 4 grocery store chains.

Future Plans

Our future is only limited by our imagination. What was once considered a boring coney island dessert is now making its way into finer restaurants topped with fresh fruit, stuffed into canoli shells, and layered into parfait glasses with strawberry, pineapple, and raspberry toppings. Plans are already in the works for tapioca pudding, as well as internet sales through this website.