Bill Cones Owned Many Restaurants, but Brandywine Was Special

It was in 1978 when the Brandywine restaurant was built and opened at 2125 Horton Road, just south of Jackson. It was just one of the many eateries opened by Bill Cones throughout the city of Jackson.

According to an article on MLive, a newspaper column called ‘Dining Out’ stated Brandywine Pub & Food "opened without announcement and from the first night there have been waiting lines. Bill says he has been astounded by Brandywine's reception. But he shouldn't have been. Such is the Cones magic.”

Magic, indeed. With other restaurants managed by Cones such as Point East (a/k/a Bill Cones Fine Food & Cocktails), Gilbert’s Steakhouse, and W.C.’s, he seemed to have a magic touch...and it didn’t take long for word of the Brandywine to get around.

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Soon, it became the latest “in” place to go for an upper-class dinner. EVERYone wanted to go where ‘all their friends were going and talking about’.....and that was the Brandywine.

Cones sold Brandywine just two years later to Bob & Lois Peterson, who ran the restaurant for almost twenty years. In 2001, new owners took over and it was newly dubbed ‘Knight's Steakhouse & Grill’. It was just one of a few other Knight’s that were in Ann Arbor.

While Knight’s has a good reputation and is still going strong, I will always remember that structure as ‘Brandywine’ and the excitement it caused for the brief time it was open.