Old Friends Continue Coffee Tradition at Oakwood Common Bistro

Joe Migliore and John Kelleman, residents of the Oakwood Common retirement community in Dearborn, call themselves ROMEO, the name most often associated with Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.”

Migliore, a former Allen Park resident and retired administrator with Allen Park Public Schools, recently shared the duo's story of ROMEO, while drinking coffee in the Oakwood Common Bistro café.

When Migliore retired in 1986, he and a buddy started meeting twice weekly for breakfast and coffee.  Other men from their church at Allen Park Presbyterian started to join them.

“We needed a name and ROMEO was it,” said Migliore.  “It stands for ‘Retired Old Men Eating Out’.”

For several years, the group met at Flamingo, a local restaurant.  Migliore added, “That’s because they served a big piece of ham.  We had 10 guys, and we’d go in and rearrange the furniture even if some only ordered coffee.”

Kelleman joined the group in 1988, following his retirement from AT&T as a district manager.     

Eventually, the ROMEOs moved to a local McDonalds and started meeting daily, taking advantage of the senior cup of coffee and free refills. 

Then Kelleman and three other ROMEOs started up a seasonal ROMEO group in Scottsdale, Ariz., where all had purchased condos.  Kelleman said, “Our wives were glad to get rid of us.”

Migliore and Kelleman recently reunited at Oakwood Common where both are new residents.  Now they take their morning cup of coffee in the Bistro café. 

“It’s good coffee, and the refills are free,” added Kelleman, who enjoys the convenience.  “We don’t have to drive anywhere and it’s within easy walking distance of our apartments. On a scale of one to 10, this scores a 10.”

 When asked what they talk about over coffee, both quickly answer “politics.”  If there’s one thing they agree about it’s that their wives are still happy to get rid of them.  They’re not the Romeos of Shakespeare days—simply Retired Old Men Eating Out.