LANSING — The Lansing-area food scene welcomed a mix of new chain and locally owned eateries in 2023 that included more than two dozen restaurants, bars and coffee shops.
Franchise ice cream spot Baskin-Robbins and chain restaurant Olive Garden both opened locations in Delta Township, while Michigan-based Mediterranean eatery Pita Way established locations in both East Lansing and DeWitt.
Small business owners brought new dining options to the tri-county area, too.
Okemos resident Khalid Mahmood and his family opened Noosh Afghan Cuisine, the area’s first Afghan restaurant in a plaza in Delta Township. And Michigan State University students Louis Azor and Ben Pikus brought late-night hot dog creations to campus, opening University Weiner off East Grand River Avenue.
Lansing welcomed Italian steakhouse Toscana to the $260 million Red Cedar development off Michigan Avenue and, after “House Biggby,” closed its doors at 120 W. Ottawa St. in the city’s downtown, former employee Trisha Kosloski reopened the space as The Hob Nob, a coffee shop with an emphasis on serving Michigan roasters.
Here’s a look at four new restaurants that have opened in the last six months worth a visit during the holiday season. They serve authentic Mexican dishes, soul food, steak and bourbon, and diner classics made with creative twists, among other dishes.
Arms & Embers Grill, Grand Ledge
At Arms & Embers Grill, the menu should look familiar. It includes breakfast standbys like pancakes and omelets, along with lunch staples like burgers and sandwiches. Head chef Zhaawosh Bardy said the way each dish is made sets it apart.
“The best way I would describe it is that we have some grill, diner classics, but with creative culinary twists,” he said. “Then we also have some more adventurous options for the foodies or Epicureans.”
The restaurant, 219 N. Bridge St. in Grand Ledge, serves a “PBJ” smash burger with fresh jalapenos, peanut butter, candied peppered bacon, grape jelly, chipotle sauce and cheddar cheese. Another dish with a twist is the pineapple upside-down pancakes with caramelized pineapples, topped with vanilla sweet cream and warm cinnamon butter.
Arms & Embers opened in May, but the eatery’s menu got a complete overhaul in October when Jordan Rivas took over as owner.
He’s worked in restaurants for 13 years and always wanted to have his own.
“All I’ve done is work in the restaurant industry,” he said. “It’s something that I’m passionate about and I want to make sure that everyone has a great experience.”
The goal at Arms & Embers, which seats about 80 people and offers a full bar with wine and craft beer, is to “provide everyone with scratch-made food, unique drinks and quality customer service,” Rivas said.
The eatery hasn’t done much advertising, he said, but word-of-mouth has helped the business build a customer base.
Dishes range in price from about $15 to $20. Visit them online at www.armsembers.com and visit them on Facebook at Arms & Embers Grill.
Comfort Zone Cigar Lounge & Bistro, Lansing
Before Re’Shane and Steven Lonzo opened The Comfort Zone Cigar Lounge & Bistro in the former Leo’s Outpost, 600 S. Pennsylvania Ave., they took note of design elements they loved at a handful of restaurants and cigar lounges they’ve visited over the years.
Those spaces inspired the vibe at The Comfort Zone Cigar Lounge & Bistro, a 4,230-square-foot business where cigars are welcome in both the restaurant and lounge spaces. The lounge and bistro sells cigars and includes a lounge for smoking, a restaurant and bar, and space for live music and entertainment.
The bistro opened in October and has been well-received locally and by out-of-towners, Re’Shane Lonzo said.
“It’s a very laid-back environment,” she said. “It’s very comfortable. It’s a space where you can come as a complete stranger and sit at the bar and not leave as a stranger.”
Dishes on the menu are meant to pair well with certain bourbons, as well as cigars offered at the lounge and bistro. The menu includes steaks, flatbreads, scallops, sea bass, salmon and a smoked chicken pasta dish, among other things.
“We actually smoke that sauce in-house and so it has a really good, smoky flavor to it,” Re’Shane Lonzo said.
“One of the things that we wanted to focus on, being a small business and understanding that space, was sustainability for other small businesses,” she said. Because of that focus, the lounge and bistro uses as many ingredients as it can from local companies and serves desserts from Lansing-based Mr. Leslie’s Cheesecakes.
Dishes range in price from $8 to $100. Visit them on Facebook at The Comfort Zone Cigar Lounge & Bistro.
El Molino Mexican Restaurant, Windsor Township
Joaquin Santos learned how to cook by watching his grandmother make Mexican dishes in their kitchen.
“I lost my mother at 7,” Santos said. “She passed away and I stayed with my grandma.”
The tastes and smells of every dish she created left an impression on him, and inspired the menu at El Molino Mexican Restaurant. He opened the 4,000-square-foot eatery in the former Don’s Windmill Truck Stop, 7262 Lansing Road outside Dimondale, in September.
“Everything my grandma made was delicious,” Santos said. He aims for the same at his restaurant.
The menu includes such things as Mexican breakfast plates and street tacos, burritos and enchiladas, as well as quesadillas, taco salads and varieties of tres leches.
“We try to please everybody, and most of the stuff we serve here is authentic Mexican,” Santos said.
Dishes range in price from $8 to 17. Visit them on Facebook at El Molino Mexican Restaurant.
The Goat Marketplace and Bistro, Delta Township
Dustie Morrell says offering diversity is the goal behind the menu at The Goat Marketplace and Bistro, 5262 W. Saginaw Hwy.
“In the morning, we have brunch that features omelets cast in a waffle iron, which is very odd but it works and it’s delicious,” he said. “For lunch, we offer soul food-inspired cuisine with a little bit of French technique.”
The restaurant, a blending of Morrell’s creations and the menu from Guyton’s Heirloom Cuisine, an eatery that’s had a home at the Lansing Mall for six years, debuted in November inside the mall in a 2,300-square-foot space that was previously home to Chipotle Mexican Grill. The dishes are a fusion of Morrell’s and Taurian Guyton’s approaches to food.
The menu includes waffles made with cornbread, tater-tots or garlic bread served with different toppings, as well as an Angus olive burger, southern-style chili and sriracha miso, among other things.
The space is decorated with vintage furniture and aims to be familiar and comfortable, Morrell said.
“I always say every time I go into the restaurant I feel like I’m at my grandmother’s house,” he said. “We have old, vintage furniture, vintage artists on our walls. It’s a motif of rustic but contemporary.”
Dishes range in price from $8.99 to $18.99. Visit them online at www.thegoatrestaurants.com or on Facebook at The Goat Marketplace and Bistro.
Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X, @GrecoatLSJ .
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Source : Lansing State Journal
