An early morning fire Thursday after last call at Gilbert's Lounge in St. Clair Shores has temporarily shut the popular bar with footnote in Detroit music history.
A kitchen fire gutted the club on Harper Avenue, just south of Nine Mile, according to Serena Maria Daniels of The Detroit News.
Flames were through the roof when fire crews rolled up about five minutes after a 911 call, she's told by a police sergeant. Four suburban fire departments responded.
There were no injuries from the fire, but the restaurant’s interior was heavily damaged. . . .
Gilbert’s Lodge, known for its rustic “Up North” decor and log cabin exterior (complete with moose antlers over the entrance), once employed Marshall Mathers as a $6.50-an-hour short-order cook as he was establishing himself as rapper Slim Shady, now known as Eminem.
The future superstar also performed there, an online bio says. He worked at Gilbert's "from the time he left high school until 1998," it adds.
Wednesday night's entertainment there was provided by the Jody Raffoul Band, based in :Leamington, Ont.
