Michael Matsos

Michael C. Matsos (born November 8, 1918 in New Bedford, Massachusetts; died January 13, 2012 in Birmingham) was the co-founder of Michael's and long-time owner of the Golden Rule Bar-B-Q chain. He also operated Emil's Cantina, Rossi's and La Paree during his career as a restauranteur.

Matsos was the son of Greek immigrants and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He came to Alabama shortly after the Great Depression to enroll in the University of Alabama School of Commerce. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and then continued to serve as a traffic controller at Atlanta Municipal Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.

After his discharge, Matsos settled in Birmingham and purchased La Paree next door to the Tutwiler Hotel. He sold his share in that restaurant to partner Bill Demoes and then opened his namesake steakhouse in the Holiday Inn on Bessemer Super Highway in 1953. Other hotel locations followed in Huntsville and Madison. In 1958 he opened "Michael's Sirloin Room" on 20th Street South in midtown Birmingham where it became a landmark anchor for "The Strip" across from the Parliament House hotel. He brought in Connie Kanakis as a partner.

In 1970 Matsos took over the small Golden Rule chain from Jabo and Ellene Williams Stone on a 20-year royalty agreement, and was also one of the investors in the Hyatt House hotel at the BJCC.

Matsos, a one-time cancer survivor, died in 2012. He was survived by his wife, June, and two children, Charles and Michele.

References

• Evans, Amy (October 3, 2006) "Michael Matsos, Golden Rule Bar-B-Q" oral history interview. Southern BBQ Trail. Southern Foodways Alliance
• Williams, Roy L. (January 13, 2012) "Birmingham restaurant operator Michael Matsos dies at 93." Birmingham News

External links

• Michael Matsos interview on youtube.com