Onion smashed sliders and a stainless-steel lunch counter make a pretty strong case for putting your lunch plans on hold. Add a small white building, and the whole setup feels wonderfully out of step with today’s oversized burger restaurants.
At this Michigan counter, burgers share the menu with coney dogs, homemade chili, and chocolate shakes. I like how those choices give you plenty to consider without pulling attention away from the main attraction.
The restaurant still operates as a family business, and its connection to the 1950s goes deeper than its appearance. That makes the nostalgic setting more interesting than a room decorated to suggest another decade.
You can sit at the counter or choose carryout, depending on how your day unfolds. The real decision is which burger deserves the first bite, and what belongs beside it.
Let The Onion Sliders Lead Your Order
Lunch has a clear starting point at Bates’ Burgers: the onion smashed sliders featured at this Michigan burger counter. They connect the headline’s promise to an actual menu choice, rather than nostalgia alone.
Start with the hamburger if you want to keep your first order focused on the restaurant’s signature direction. A cheeseburger offers another straightforward option without moving far from that starting point.
Ask what comes on your burger before requesting changes, especially if onions are a concern for your group. Clear instructions help you choose a meal that fits your preferences instead of guessing from the name.
I like the idea of giving the main attraction room to introduce itself before adding several other menu items. You can always consider sides after deciding which burger sounds most appealing.
A slider order also gives you a reason to think about appetite rather than ordering by habit. Ask staff for guidance instead of assuming a fixed number will suit everyone at the counter.
The appeal here is specific: onion burgers, a traditional counter, and a business with roots in another decade. Let that combination guide your first visit, then make the order entirely your own.
Claim A Counter Seat For The Full Throwback Mood
A stainless-steel counter can carry more atmosphere than a room full of carefully chosen retro decorations. At Bates’ Burgers, that counter is part of the dining experience, not merely a background for photographs.
The restaurant offers traditional counter dining inside its small building, keeping the setting close to the burger-counter idea. Choose to eat inside when the setting matters as much as taking your meal along.
Because the space is compact, think about your group before making a sit-down meal the whole plan. Carryout provides another option when gathering everyone at a counter would be less convenient.
Look at the stainless-steel surroundings as part of the restaurant’s character without assuming every surface has remained unchanged. A nostalgic appearance and an untouched interior are different claims, and the first is enough to appreciate.
I find the counter format especially fitting for a place built around burgers rather than an elaborate dining production. It keeps your attention on the order and the setting around it.
You don’t need to turn lunch into a history lesson to enjoy that connection. Sometimes choosing a counter seat is the simplest way to give an ordinary meal a different pace.
The 1950s Connection Has An Actual Date
February 14, 1959, gives this restaurant’s throwback appeal a firm place on the calendar. That is when the Livonia location opened, making its connection to the 1950s more than a decorating theme.
The wider Bates story began in 1955, when Noble Bates opened the original restaurant at Seven Mile and Beech Daly. Keep those two dates separate when talking about the business and this particular location.
That distinction matters because a longstanding restaurant can have several chapters, each tied to a different address. Here, the Five Mile location has its own beginning within the larger family story.
I like that the opening date falls on Valentine’s Day, an easy detail to remember without inventing a celebration. A burger counter and a memorable calendar date make a cheerful historical pairing.
While you eat, consider how the restaurant’s original purpose still matches what brings you through the door. Burgers remain central, even as customers can also choose breakfast and other familiar counter meals.
There’s no need to claim that every detail stayed frozen in time to appreciate the continuity. The real history already gives the nostalgic setting something stronger than a collection of old-looking decorations.
Cheese And Doubles Give You Another Route
Your burger decision doesn’t end with the basic hamburger, which is useful when everyone orders a little differently. The menu also includes cheeseburgers, double burgers, double cheeseburgers, and chiliburgers.
Those choices let you stay within the burger theme while changing the direction of your meal. Read the available options first, then choose based on what sounds good rather than what sounds most impressive.
A double burger may suit someone seeking another patty, while a cheeseburger keeps cheese in the conversation. Ask about the exact preparation if you want to compare choices before committing to an order.
The chiliburger is worth considering when chili appeals more than keeping your order simple. Avoid assuming its toppings match another burger, since a quick question can settle the details.
For a mixed group, naming each burger clearly makes the order easier to follow from the start. Mention requested changes individually instead of hoping one instruction applies to every sandwich.
Bates’ Burgers gives you several familiar paths without requiring a complicated plan for lunch. I’d choose the variation that genuinely appeals, leaving any imaginary burger competition safely outside the door for another day entirely.
Give Fries And Homemade Chili A Fair Hearing
Even a burger-focused lunch needs a decision about what goes beside the main event. French fries, chili fries, soup, and homemade chili give you several ways to build the rest of your order.
Plain fries keep the side choice straightforward, especially when you want the burger to remain the focus. Chili fries take the meal in another direction without requiring you to abandon the counter-food theme.
Homemade chili also appears as its own menu option, so it doesn’t have to arrive on fries. That gives someone in your group another choice when a burger alone isn’t their preferred lunch.
Ask which soup is available before planning around a particular variety, since the supplied menu information names soup generally. The same practical approach helps with ingredients, substitutions, and any dietary questions.
Sharing a side can make sense when your group wants to sample more than one menu category. Decide that together before ordering rather than treating someone else’s fries as an open invitation.
I appreciate a side menu that stays connected to the restaurant’s main purpose instead of wandering into unrelated territory. Here, your choices still sound right at home beside a burger and a counter seat.
A Coney Dog Keeps Everyone In The Conversation
Not everyone hears the word slider and immediately decides what to eat, and that’s perfectly fine. Hot dogs and all-beef coneys offer another reason to make Bates’ Burgers your shared lunch stop.
The all-beef description applies to the coneys in the supplied menu information, so keep that distinction clear. Ask about other ingredients if you need more detail before choosing a dog.
A coney can provide variety for someone who prefers that familiar counter choice over a hamburger. It also lets your group order differently while staying at the same restaurant.
Before requesting toppings, ask what normally comes with the item you have selected. That is more helpful than assuming every restaurant prepares a coney in exactly the same way.
For anyone managing a food allergy, discuss ingredients and preparation directly with staff before placing the order. A menu name alone cannot tell you everything about how a meal is prepared.
The practical charm is that one person can follow the slider headline while another chooses a dog. You can agree on the destination without turning lunch into a vote over whose favorite food deserves the afternoon’s attention and the final decision.
Breakfast Gives The Counter A Second Personality
Morning brings another reason to consider the restaurant, even when onion sliders aren’t on your breakfast wish list. Bates’ Burgers also serves breakfast, with choices that fit its traditional counter setting.
The breakfast menu includes biscuits and gravy, eggs with toast, hashbrowns, and bacon or sausage. Breakfast sandwiches and French toast provide other options when your appetite points in a different direction.
Choose around your morning plans rather than assuming a burger restaurant has nothing useful before lunch. A breakfast sandwich may appeal for one outing, while eggs and toast suit another.
Check the day’s opening time before making an early trip, because the schedule changes during the week. Sunday through Tuesday starts later than Wednesday through Saturday at this Livonia location.
Also confirm the breakfast cutoff when planning your visit, especially if you expect to arrive late in the morning. The posted breakfast window ends at 10:30, so timing deserves a little attention.
I like how breakfast adds another use for the same compact counter without changing the restaurant’s identity. You can save the slider order for another visit and still have a clear reason to stop here in Michigan.
Chocolate Shakes And Carryout Let You Set The Pace
A chocolate shake gives the menu another classic burger-counter choice without needing a complicated explanation. It’s available at Bates’ Burgers, making it worth considering when you decide what accompanies your meal.
Choose it because chocolate sounds appealing, not because every nostalgic lunch must follow the same script. You can enjoy the throwback setting without turning your order into a checklist of diner traditions.
The restaurant also offers carryout and online ordering for pickup, which helps when sitting inside isn’t your plan. Those options let you fit a burger stop around the rest of your day.
Special carryout pricing is available, so check which offers apply before completing your order. Don’t assume a carryout deal also applies to a meal eaten at the counter.
Confirm your pickup arrangements and any requested changes as part of ordering rather than leaving them for arrival. That keeps the plan clear without promising a particular preparation time or an immediate handoff.
I like that the choice remains yours: spend time at the counter or take your meal along. The restaurant’s character gives you a reason to linger, while pickup gives you a practical alternative when your schedule asks otherwise.
Put The Right Corner In Your Lunch Plans
The destination is straightforward once you have the correct corner and the right day in mind. Bates’ Burgers stands at Five Mile and Farmington Roads in Livonia, Michigan.
The full address is 33406 Five Mile Rd, Livonia, MI 48154, United States. Enter that location when planning your trip so the original restaurant’s history doesn’t send you toward another address.
Posted hours run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday.
Wednesday through Saturday begins at 7 a.m. and also ends at 10 p.m.
Confirm hours before a special trip, particularly around holidays or when an early breakfast is your main goal. Opening times and breakfast service need to work together for the visit you have planned.
The business remains family-owned and operated, adding another meaningful link between its past and its present. That continuity belongs alongside the opening date and counter setting when considering what makes the place distinctive.
Make your plan simple: pick your day, decide between counter dining and carryout, and consider your first burger. The 1950s connection gives lunch a backstory, but your next bite is the part you get to choose for yourself when you arrive.
