Gold Cash Gold restaurant to close up shop in Corktown next month

After around five years of service, well-known Corktown restaurant Gold Cash Gold plans to close permanently in a few weeks. 

The last day is expected to be Feb. 2, building co-owner Phillip Cooley confirmed to The Detroit News. They plan to sell the restaurant business to new owners while retaining ownership of the building. 

"Brunch has been our strongest, so we're going to go out with a couple of brunches back-to-back and see what happens next," said Cooley of the final weekend of service. 

Besides an influx of competition, Cooley said another reason for the closing is that the lives of the people in the ownership group have changed over the years, with growing families, retirements and other business ventures among the several owners of the building. This includes Cooley, his brother Ron Cooley and their parents along with Toby Barlow and Liz Boone and Brian and April Boyle. 

"All the owners are just swamped," said Cooley. "The staff is awesome and (chef) Brendon (Edwards) is awesome, but at the end of the day there's only so much work we can put in and losses we can tolerate. We just decided with the current market it wasn't the right time for us. It was definitely better five years ago, financially, that is." 

He said he thinks the restaurant's concept was stronger with chef Edwards, who was brought on in 2016, but the "financial reality of more seats, less butts definitely makes it tougher." 

The farm-to-table restaurant is located in a former pawn shop on Michigan Avenue on the same block as Cooley's Slow's Bar BQ and the Sugar House cocktail lounge, arguably the two most-hyped Detroit destinations by national media.  

But it appears Gold Cash Gold won't be empty for long. Cooley said there's been a lot of activity and interest from potential buyers and it "looks promising."

"We think there are other operators out there that can make it work," said Cooley. "We'd like to find one that can do that and we'll get out of the way."  

Gold Cash Gold's founding chef Josh Stockton received positive reviews and tons of buzz when it opened in 2014, including a glowing three-star review from former Detroit News restaurant critic Molly Abraham. She called the then-hot spot "very appealing" and "refreshingly original," pointing to Stockton's menu featuring buttermilk pie and pig's head pierogi. 

Edwards, formerly of Standby restaurant in the Belt in downtown Detroit, evolved the menu over the past few years, and shined a light on local purveyors, even listing their food partners like Detroit Mushroom Company and Fisheye Farms on the one-page menu. 

Gold Cash Gold is at 2100 Michigan in Detroit. Until it closes, Edwards and his team will serve dinner Tuesday through Sunday and weekend brunch Saturday through Sunday. Call (313) 242-0770 or visit goldcashgolddetroit.com. 

mbaetens@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @melodybaetens