Jim’s Tiffany Place opened in 1914 originally as the Lansing Cafe at 203 South Washington Ave. During the intervening years it moved around the corner to 116 East Michigan Ave. (1937) where it would serve scrumptious Greek food for 56 years.

During those years the restaurant grew first by adding a bar with a separate entrance called Jim’s Bar (1949) which became Jim’s Lounge and then Jim’s Tiffany Place. The restaurant was founded by James Vlahakis, a Greek immigrant, and later was operated by his son Ange Vlahakis. It closed in 1993 and was torn down in 1995. It once housed one of the largest Tiffany-style lamp collections in the world. It was the place to be seen in Lansing and hundreds of politicians held court there over the years.

In 1993, a Lansing State Journal article called Jim’s “an oasis of continuity and tradition.” Ange was a 1945 graduate of Sexton High School and a 1951 graduate of Michigan State College in hospitality. He was a founding member of the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum. After Ange retired from the restaurant industry, he became involved in the MSU School of Hospitality.