Steve’s Ranch has served Jackson dignitaries, social clubs for 45 years
The family restaurant has represented downtown Jackson for 45 years, regularly serving some of the city's most important residents.
JACKSON, MI — It was an icy, snowy day in mid-December 1978 when the Odeh family first stopped in the parking lot at 311 W. Louis Glick Highway.
Fay Odeh — along with her husband Steve and six children — had just moved to Waterloo Township from the Detroit suburbs.
In a time before Google, the Odehs had paused their tour of Jackson to look at a map when they noticed they were parked in front of a Lum’s restaurant. The eatery, part of the now-defunct franchise, had recently shut its doors, and the “For sale/lease” sign caught their eyes.
“It was like it was predestined - like it was meant for us,” Odeh, 81, said. “We were both working and (Steve) was interested in the restaurant business. It just worked out that the restaurant was up for lease.”
The building reopened May 6, 1980, as Steve’s Ranch, and the family restaurant has stood as a staple of the Jackson community for the past four decades.
Its calm atmosphere makes Steve’s Ranch a frequent meeting place for local groups like the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, Odeh said.
This is part of the reason Jackson Mayor Daniel Mahoney recently honored Odeh with a “key to the city” during his 2025 State of the City Address.
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Mahoney said Odeh and her restaurant have stood the test of time.
“There are so many dignitaries, important people and social clubs that have breakfast, lunch or dinner at Steve’s Ranch,” Mahoney said to Odeh during his address. “I wanted to make sure I recognized you and give you your flowers for the way that you contribute to this city.”
Linda Furgason has been coming to Steve’s Ranch since it opened 45 years ago. Furgason, 80, is co-president of the Jackson chapter of the League of Women Voters, along with several other groups and social clubs.
No matter what group she’s representing, Furgason almost always recommends Steve’s Ranch as a meeting place.
“It’s always been welcoming and accommodating,” Furgason said of Steve’s Ranch. “Also, the food is excellent — the desserts are out of this world. (Odeh) and her husband both have been fine, upstanding members of the community.”
Odeh takes pride in making everything from scratch, from her restaurant’s specialty steaks and prime ribs to homemade desserts.
“Everybody eats the food and they say ‘Oh my God, that’s just like what my mother makes’ or like their grandmother used to make,” Odeh said. “It’s something that they relate to, something authentic and original.”
Odeh said she has always liked to cook, finding it to be relaxing and enjoyable. She said she started baking at 6 years old, and has always dreamed of owning her own restaurant.
Steve Odeh was an “outdoor man” who was fascinated with western-style living and cowboy imagery, his wife recalls. These interests inspired not just the theme of their restaurant, but also the Odehs’ move to Jackson County to build their own ranch on a 40-acre parcel in rural Waterloo Township.
The restaurant’s salad bar is made in the image of a covered wagon, handmade with help from the local Amish community, Odeh said.
Steve’s Ranch is the couple’s second business. They previously ran Steve’s Restaurant, a small diner serving breakfast and lunch in downtown Farmington, from 1965 to 1970.
Between her two stints as a restaurateur, Odeh studied psychology at Wayne State University, graduating in 1978.
Since Steve died in 2004, his family has followed his death-bed wish to keep the business going.
“It was the hardest thing for me to deal with. I didn’t think I was going to make it for many years after he left us,” Odeh said. “But the community was very supportive. I had a great deal of help from all of the customers.”
Though she doesn’t don the 10-gallon variety of headwear her late husband liked to sport, Odeh wears many hats as a restaurant owner. She visits the establishment almost daily, sometimes helping out as a hostess, waitress, cook and cashier when the need arises.
Odeh met her husband in 1963 in her hometown of Ramallah, Palestine. Steve Odeh had been visiting family after attending school in the United States.
“Somehow I spotted him from the crowd, and it just happened that he saw me too,” Odeh said. “It was just love at first sight. We ended up getting married, and I came here with him.”
The couple has eight kids, all of whom attended the University of Michigan before venturing into the fields of medicine and law.
Odeh said Jackson has been completely accepting of her family, fulfilling the lifelong dream she’s had of owning a restaurant and receiving love and recognition from the community she serves.
“When you see all the important people of the community come in and have breakfast, and everybody’s happy to be here and happy to see you - that’s when you are happy, and you know you’re one of them and they accept you as a good neighbor and a good member of the community,” Odeh said. “That is what creates the satisfaction inside your heart if you are in the food industry: happy people. If people are happy, you are happy.”
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