The owner of Opa! Grill & Taproom is launching a second restaurant – a retro burger joint – next week in his space in Grand Traverse Crossing, new eateries are coming to Elk Rapids and Acme, and more businesses are on the move in The Ticker’s latest look at restaurant and retail news.

Dancing Donkey Burgers
Owner Paul Barbas of Opa! Grill & Taproom (pictured) has a food craving for something he thinks is missing in Traverse City: a retro-style burger that harkens back to joints in Detroit featuring cheap, quality food and old-school, flat-top cooking. “In the fifties, you had these simple burgers around where it was just mustard, ketchup, grilled onions, pickles, and an option to add cheese,” he says. “It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s something I missed.”

Barbas will bring that burger to Traverse City early next week when he launches Dancing Donkey Burgers. The eatery will be co-located inside Opa! Grill & Taproom – which will remain fully open and operational – with orders taken online and either picked up curbside or delivered locally through DinnerBell. In addition to burgers, the restaurant will offer French fries (with an optional beer cheese topping), Northwoods sodas, root beer floats, and cream puff desserts with homemade filling.

Barbas says pricing will be a key focus of Dancing Donkey Burgers; he wants to move away from the trend of gourmet $12-$15 burgers and offer an inexpensive alternative. “We are counting on the fact we will work off of volume…you can get a six-pack of burgers for $12,” he says. “It’s a simple paper bag, wrap the burgers in paper, put the fries in the bag, get your napkins and out you go.” Barbas says the burgers will be somewhere in size between a slider and a normal restaurant-sized burger.

While the emphasis is on to-go orders, Barbas plans to put up a tent in his parking lot this summer that will offer outdoor seating for both Opa! and Dancing Donkey Burgers. Because Opa! has a liquor license, customers will be able to order a beer or other alcoholic beverage and enjoy it outside along with their burgers. Despite growing competition in the market – including the newly opened Bergstrom’s Burgers and Oakwood Proper Burgers – Barbas believes there’s enough business to go around. “We wanted to go a different way to be respectful of them and offer a different option,” he says.

Jac’s Parlor
A new food and ice cream space is opening in Elk Rapids this spring, taking over the Cone Corral space at 115 Ames Street. Jaclyn Reynolds and Scott Newman-Bale plan to launch Jac’s Parlor on April 14, focusing on “ice cream and pizzeria food including pizzas, calzones, breadsticks, wings, and toasted subs” in a family-friendly environment, according to the couple. Cone Corral owners Joe and Linda Watt will continue operating that business until March 31, when they will close their doors in Elk Rapids and focus on running their Cone Corral location in Rapids City.

Reynolds and Newman-Bale have been operating the burger truck at Short’s Brewing Company in Elk Rapids and say they will continue to run the truck this summer while also operating Jac’s Parlor. 

Tiki Pineapple Expands To Acme
After opening its first Traverse City location last summer on South Garfield Avenue, Michigan ice cream chain and eatery Tiki Pineapple is planning to expand to the east side of the city. The company is putting the finishing touches on a second location at 5750 US-31 across from Bayside Park in Acme. Tiki Pineapple specializes in “a taste of the tropics” food menu with options including fresh wraps, hot sandwiches, jerk chicken, rice and beans, homemade Hawaiian chili, coconut cream pie, and smoothies. The company also serves Dole Whip ice cream, including dairy-free, low-fat, gluten-free, vegan, and cholesterol-free options.

Tiki Pineapple is targeting a March 26 grand opening date for the Acme location.

In other restaurant and retail news…
More food options are coming to downtown Traverse City this spring. Food trucks Samurai Skewers and Archie’s Food Truck will return to The Coin Slot lot on East Front Street for the season, kicking off operations on April 15. Inside the Coin Slot building, a new brick-and-mortar restaurant will join year-round vegan restaurant Rad.ish Street Food for a total of four food establishments on-site. Archie’s Food Truck owner Jon Petrie is targeting an early May opening of Gemini Sandwich Co., which will serve grilled panini sandwiches, wraps, a handful of other cold dishes, and ice cream and smoothies. Coin Slot owner Scott Pierson says he also plans to add an outdoor bar this summer. Petrie says the businesses are jointly working to make the Coin Slot lot a “destination” for downtown TC visitors.

Around the corner, West Bay Handmade owners Cat O’Connor and Brad Richardson are planning to open a second, smaller store within their East Front Street space called Ambush Apothecary. The candle company will “feature our entire apothecary collection as well as clothing, accessories, and other lifestyle goods,” says O’Connor. The duo are targeting a mid-April opening and also working on recruiting another tenant for an over-the-counter space in the store, such as a florist or baked goods/coffee seller.

M.E. Men’s Emporium owner Mike Curths is planning to launch a sister store to his Eighth Street shop with his wife called W.E. Women’s Emporium. The store, which will be located next door to M.E. Men’s Emporium in the former Blossom Shop space at 1023 East Eighth Street, will feature vintage and retro attire, home goods, jewelry, accessories, vintage and contemporary furniture, art, music, and other collectibles. The store is planned to open April 6.

Finally, Garden Goods in Traverse City is under new ownership. Long-time owners Julie and Gordy Sovereign, who are retiring, sold the store located at 3510 North US-31 South in February to Cory and Elise Holman. Both families have ties to Old Mission Peninsula, with the Holmans running Cory’s Pumpkin Patch on Center Road. The Holmans said in a Facebook post that they were “thrilled” to be taking over Garden Goods and also plan to keep operating Cory’s Pumpkin Patch during the fall season.