The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Taking over The Parrot
Some things to change, others to stay
By Sue G. Collins, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2007
The new owner of the Drowsy Parrot is painting and plastering, adding bakery items from Benny's Bakery and Say Cheese Cheesecakes, bringing in live entertainers and offering a wireless Internet connection.
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One thing Scott Buster will not change, however, is the overall decor and ambience that has made the downtown Saline coffee and sandwich shop so popular over the years.
"The Parrot is an institution. It's got real personality," said Buster, who has decades of food service and management experience and has family ties to Saline.
"Plus, the coffee is excellent and the baristas really know their stuff."
Buster understands the importance of good help, top customer service and quality products. He grew up helping his father's business, Buster's Food Mart in Ann Arbor, later running it for seven years until the early 1980s.
Buster then owned a pizza parlor with his brother for five years before joining Bennigan's restaurant, where he worked at the management level in three states.
"I was the trouble shooter, the guy they brought in to solve problems when things were rough," he said over coffee recently.
Buster now works in the building industry as a project manager, making time to renovate and grow the Drowsy Parrot.
Buster and his wife, Wanda, have two sons, Steven and Mark, who both attend Eastern Michigan University. Buster's mother, Lois, and his sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Jim Eschelbach, live in Saline and have helped tremendously with the new venture, he said.
They already have plastered some crumbling walls, painted the formerly dingy ceiling and upstairs dining area, and intend to replace lighting to brighten the cafe.
Buster also plans to add soup and sandwich special and wants to beef up the menu with a French dip, Caesar salad and other heartier items.
"Don't worry, though, we'll still serve the Queen of Hearts' quiche," Buster said, referring to the favorite dish created by the former owner of the Drowsy Parrot, Terry Morrow, who moved her Queen of Hearts bakery from Saline to Cross Street in Ypsilanti last year.
Terry and Tim Morrow owned the Parrot since 1999, selling it recently to Buster.
"We want to keep the old-time flavor and make it a great place for families," Buster said.
Local favorites ginger ale and Washtenaw Dairy Ice Cream will be on hand for floats, sundaes and sodas, he promised.
One change that already has happened is the discontinuation of open mic night.
"I'm going to keep things orderly here," said Buster, who plans to bring in local musicians on Thursday and Saturday evenings and possibly offer family shows with children's entertainers on Saturdays.
"I really want to have fun with it because if I'm having a good time, then customers will be having a good time and that's what it's all about."
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