[Metromode] Dino's: Feeding Fans and School Kids Alike

Festive lights at Dino's in Ferndale.

Dino's Lounge is a Ferndale staple. Opened in September 2002, Dino's is the kind of place that has gained a loyal local following not for its gimmicky appeal or trendiness, but just for being a friendly neighborhood place offering good food and fun times, the kind of place that gained popularity not through vigorous advertising but by word of mouth. Owner Dean ("Dino") Bach is well-known as much for his involvement in the community as for his jovial sense of humor.

Dino's regularly hosts various fundraisers and community events, while Bach himself has been involved with the Michigan AIDS Coalition, Ferndale Youth Assistance, and currently serves on the boards of the Ferndale DDA and the Ace Academy Charter School in Highland Park, a strict discipline academy for incarcerated males ages 12-20.

His latest venture is something of an outgrowth of all of the work he has been doing through Dino's over the past decade. Bach recently purchased the old VFW Hall next to the Valentine distillery on Vester Street in Ferndale which he is converting to a large-scale three-shift catering kitchen and banquet facility through which they will cater healthy lunches for several area schools as well as expand their highly in-demand catering services. All of which came about by accident and circumstance.

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