FUNERAL HOME, bathhouse, doughnut shop, German restaurant.

A list of Paddy Lynch’s business ventures might seem at first like a jumble of unrelated things. But talk to him for a few minutes and you start to understand the common threads among his businesses. There is a through line of history, hospitality and community.

His “day job” is co-owner and funeral director at Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors in Clawson, a third-generation family-owned business.

In 2011, Lynch’s life and work took an interesting turn when he ventured south of Clawson on Woodward Avenue to the Arden Park neighborhood of Detroit, where he bought and began renovating a house. Built in 1917, the house was the longtime home of the founder of the Kresge dime store chain.

As a child his parents brought him along when they visited the Boston Edison neighborhood, which is just across Woodward Avenue from Arden Park.

“The house drew me to the area more than anything else,” says Lynch.

The purchase of his home opened the door to the adjacent neighborhood—a 5-mile stretch along Woodward and Oakland Avenues that passes through the North End to Palmer Woods. Since 2017, Lynch has purchased several historic, well- loved businesses in the area, including The Schvitz, Dutch Girl Donuts and, most recently, Dakota Inn Rathskeller. He is preserving their heritage, while subtly tweaking them to meet modern tastes.

“As a funeral director, every day I hear people’s stories,” says Lynch. “That’s the lens through which I see other places. All these businesses have such rich histories.”

Food and hospitality are key element of Lynch’s Detroit businesses. He works with a team to get the food and beverages just right.

To finance his business purchases, he at first depended on loans from friends and family. More recent purchases have been funded by traditional mortgages. He does not have partners.

Lynch’s businesses are located outside of downtown, where developers with deep pockets have poured a lot of money. This neighborhood and its businesses aren’t a “comeback” story. Their stories are of family businesses and their loyal customers who never left.

The Schvitz

Lynch’s first purchase in the area was The Schvitz. Located in the North End on Oakland Avenue, it’s the only surviving bathhouse in Detroit.

Established in 1930 in a building that dates to 1917, it served the nearby Jewish community as well as the notorious mobsters of the Purple Gang.

After moving to the area Lynch began visiting The Schvitz, which is just a mile or so from his house. Soon he was regular, enjoying its steam baths, sauna and pool.

In 2017, Lynch bought The Schvitz for $150,000, which included his own cash, as well as loans from friends, family members and one longtime Schvitz visitor. He soon began an extensive interior restoration that kept the historic charms but updated the building and equipment.

The outside of the big, gray building, nearly the only commercial building on a once crowded retail corridor, looks the same as it has for decades. He estimates he has spent close to $1 million renovating the building in the eight years he has owned it. Renovation included the Schvitz’s menu. In the 1930s, Detroiters wanted a
big steak, a giant Porterhouse, and the Schvitz made them happy.

Today the menu reflects that steak legacy, adjusted for today’s tastes. That means some smaller steaks, as well as sandwiches, salads, vegetarian choices and breakfast fare. The menu balances lighter spa-food choices, and heavier dishes described by one observer as “mid-century, Central European country club” style options.

Changing a menu is always a delicate balance. A long-time regular missed the beans-and-franks dish that used to be on
the menu.

“We told him, ‘You’re the only one who ever orders it!’” Lynch rememberswith a laugh. “Now we always keep a little on hand for him. We try to be considerate.”

The spa is open to the public and features men-only, women-only and co-ed hours. For newcomers who might be a little hesitant to take the plunge, he encourages people to come by to eat at the restaurant and take a tour.

The newest addition to The Schvitz is a recently renovated 4,000-square-foot ballroom on an upper floor. The space is being used to host special events and concerts with more programming planned.

Dutch Girl Donuts

A few miles away on a busy corner on Woodward Avenue, near Palmer Park stands Dutch Girl Donuts. This was Lynch’s second purchase in the area in 2023. Before that, it was closed for two years following the death of its third-generation owner.

Built to serve the tastes and lifestyle of an earlier time, today it is one of the few old-school doughnut shops left. Customers enter a small vestibule, order and leave with a bag or box of fluffy, sweet doughnuts.

Lynch’s family has been customers at Dutch Girl Donuts since the 1970s. At the time, his mom attended Marygrove College, which was only a few miles away. After a date, his dad would drop her off and swing by Dutch Girl for a few treats on the way home. Later they continued the tradition with their children. Trips downtown for a ball game would often include a stop at Dutch Girl Donuts, says Lynch.

The shop’s closing left a hole in the neighborhood.

“Dutch Girl is a place that draws people from all over the Detroit area, but many of our customers live nearby. It’s a place people like to walk over to. Some get a coffee on their way to the bus stop,” says Lynch. The Woodward and Seven Mile intersection has four bus stops.

Affordability was an important consideration.

“We were never going to become $5 doughnut covered with Oreos an cereal,” says Lynch. “We’re a classic mid-20th-century kind of place.”

Changes to Dutch Girl fall under the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” category. Some equipment and furniture were replaced.
The doughnut recipes remained consistent. The most popular flavor is the tried-and-true perfect glazed doughnut.

They offer 20 varieties of doughnut at a cost of $2 each, or a dozen for $18. The coffee did get an upgrade. A custom blend is now made for the shop by the Becharas Brothers coffee company of Highland Park. Retail packages of the coffee will be available beginning in the fall.

The Dakota Inn

Lynch’s latest business venture is the Dakota Inn, just down Woodward on John R Street. He bought the iconic German restaurant earlier this year. Les Molnar, consulting culinary director, and Jarred Gild, beverage, hospitality and creative director, are heading up the restaurant’s revamping.

It was operated continuously as the Dakota Inn for 92 years by the Kurz family before its sale to Lynch.

“The Dakota was built for the customer of 1933, so our staff and our customers have to acclimate ourselves to it rather than the other way around,” says Gild.

Molnar shares an example.

“There wasn’t a deep fryer in every kitchen back then,” says Molnar. “All our schnitzel is fried in a 100-year-old cast-iron Dutch oven, just like at your grandma’s house.”

The restoration of the building and a few adjacent properties is an ongoing, gradual process. The first focus was on necessary system upgrades, while maintaining the look and feel of the main dining room. Guests will see that its 1930s-era dark wood, hand-painted murals, signature dishes and live music tradition have been preserved.

The goal was to keep the main dining room as “traditionally Dakota Inn as possible,” while expanding the offerings in the previously underused basement rathskeller and backyard biergarten, says Molnar. These two areas are now back in operation after small refreshes. Plans also include renovating two adjacent storefronts for retail and creating a short-term vacation rental space in a vacant apartment over the restaurant.

Visitors to the main dining room can still get the German-American-style food served there for decades. They may also spot some new menu choices.

“I’m following the flavors, not necessarily the dish,” says Molnar.

That includes ingredients like a higher-quality Gouda or Gruyere cheese. Or, the use of braised oxtail and short ribs, rather than marinated eye round for the sauerbraten.

The menu changes periodically. Plans are to regularly include dishes that reflect the cooking culture of areas of Germany other than Bavaria, as well as other Central European countries.

That broad view extends to the expanded beverage program. More than 100 German beers and 200 German or Austrian wines are available. During the year, more than 500 wines will rotate through as choices, including natural wines.

“It’s a Holy Roman Empire wine program,” Gild said jokingly. “We have wines from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Northern Italy, far Eastern France, Switzerland—anywhere they are speaking a little German.”

Gild loves sharing new wine choices from the region.

“Germany has a colder climate, so its wines have a bit more acid and a lighter structure than a hotter climate like Spain or Southern Italy,” says Gild.

The basement rathskeller and outdoor biergarten are also enjoying new lives, with a neighborhood-bar-like feeling. The rathskeller offers snacks and access to all the wines and beers offered upstairs. The biergarten features, naturally, great beer and casual foods like soft pretzels, sausages and cold salads.

Paddy Lynch is proud to be a part of the continuation of businesses in his neighborhood. He recognizes that some people only see the risks involved.

“I see these businesses from a different angle,” says Lynch. “It has less to do with risk and more to do with the fact that they’ve survived for so long through so much struggle. I look at them and know
they have really powerful foundations.”

Sharon Morton is a feature and business writer working in Metro Detroit.