In less than two years, the duo behind all-vegan restaurant Rad.ish Street Food have expanded from a seasonal pop-up booth at the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market in Traverse City to two brick-and-mortar locations. Owner Lisa Moberly and her husband, executive sous chef Ryan Moberly, are preparing to open second spot Rad.ish Mexican Street Food inside the new Stone Hound Brewing Co. in Acme, plus expand their downtown Traverse City location this spring. The Ticker has an inside look at their plans, plus numerous other restaurant and retail updates from across the region.

Rad.ish
Acme residents will get a two-for-one addition to the hospitality scene this winter – a new brewery and a new vegan Mexican restaurant – when Stone Hound Brewing Co. opens its doors on Bunker Hill Road.

Rad.ish owner Lisa Moberly plans to draw on her Hispanic heritage to create the menu for her new eatery within Stone Hound, which will operate concurrently with the brewery (Stone Hound is in final inspections and expected to open within the next few weeks). “It’s a lot of hangover food: street tacos, burritos, asada fries, nachos, churros, pretzels, LA dogs, chicken burgers,” says Moberly, who adds the menu will be gluten-friendly and feature meatless proteins like vegan hot dogs and Impossible burgers. Rad.ish Mexican Street Food will operate seven days a week from 12pm-9pm, with both indoor and outdoor seating – as capacity limits allow – and curbside/to-go service. “We are looking at being open later in the summer, and having some grab-and-go options, like burritos,” Moberly says.

The restaurant is Moberly’s second brick-and-mortar location; she also runs Rad.ish Street Food inside The Coin Slot on East Front Street. This spring, when she renews her lease, she will fully take over her space to operate as a standalone business separate from The Coin Slot. The move will allow the restaurant to spread out and redecorate. The downtown location, which focuses on vegan sushi, is currently takeout-only.

Moberly says the rapid growth of Rad.ish – from pop-up booth to two brick-and-mortar locations in two years – has been the result of a “really crazy process of putting our heads down and going for it and saying yes to everything. We want to bring vegan food to a community that doesn’t really have it.” Rad.ish started as a passion project for Moberly: She calls it her “grief dream,” one formed by the tragic loss of her seven-year-old daughter Izabela in a car accident in 2016. “I was a preschool teacher before this, so when Izabela passed away, I wanted to do what I love and am passionate about. That is to make this food that comes naturally to me, and to help spread kindness," she says.

Other local openings, closings, and moves…
New burger joint Oakwood Proper Burgers officially opened its doors last week in the former Ham-Bonz space at 1108 East Eighth Street. The restaurant features locally-sourced, ground-fresh burgers with buns made by Old Mission Bakery, fresh-cut fries, and shakes made from Moomers Homemade Ice Cream. Owners Josh Gray and Leslie Bilbey experienced daily sellouts their first week, posting on social media Sunday that they sold 892 burgers and “hundreds and hundreds of pounds” of fries in six days.

Just across the street from Oakwood Proper Burgers, Pat and Lisa Karpowski are planning to open Mission Cycles in the front half of the Press on Juice building at 1125 East Eighth Street on May 1. Press on Juice will remain open on-site, but consolidate operations to the back half of the building. Mission Cycles will carry a full line of e-bikes, mountain bike brands including Niner, Diamondback, Pivot, and Intense, gravel bikes from Niner and Vaast, and kids bikes including e-bikes from Stacyc. The shop will offer full bicycle services and repairs, with plans to expand in the future to include snowboards, snowbikes from Sno-go, and other winter-related gear. Pat Karpowski has been operating Mission Cycles the last three years on Old Mission Peninsula, with a focus on building lightweight race bikes for local race teams.

Two new eateries are opening near the Super 7 at the corner of Munson Avenue and Fair Street. A franchise location of Jersey Mike’s Subs is planned to open in March at 110 Munson Avenue in the former That’sa Pizza space. The New Jersey-based restaurant chain focuses on “fresh sliced, authentic Northeast-American style sub sandwiches on fresh baked bread,” offering a variety of hot and cold subs. Around the corner, owner Brent Temple is targeting a March opening of Habibi Middle Eastern Coney at 124 Cochlin Avenue next to Super 7. Temple, a veteran of Taste of India and The Cottage Café in Traverse City, says he plans to offer Middle Eastern fare such as gyros, shawarma, Turkish kabobs, falafel wraps, Lebanese hummus and tabbouleh, and platters like Yemen Roast Chicken with sides of Persian rice, Arabic salad, and fresh pita. According to Temple, the menu will heavily feature traditional spices and sauces including harissa, cardamom, za'atar, garlic sauce, and tahini.

Maxbauer Specialty Meat Market is preparing to open a second location on the east side of Traverse City called The Butcher's Block by Maxbauer. Owners Mark and Stephanie Wilson, who could not be reached for comment, wrote in a social media post that the new business will be “landing soon” and will be located in the former Central Michigan Paper building at 425 West South Airport Road near Cherry Capital Airport. The Wilsons purchased the original Union Street Maxbauer location from long-time owner Mike Deering in 2012.

Lee and Daphne Cobb will open a new soft-serve ice cream food truck called Sugar Buzz next to Burger King on US-31 in Chums Corner this spring. The couple, who are planning an April 1 grand opening, will offer traditional ice cream items as well as menu options including cheesecake, cookie dough on a stick, homemade cookie and brownie ice cream sandwiches, and weekly rotating items, according to Lee Cobb.

The Workshop Brewing Company has purchased former escape room business Escape Routes LLC and reopened the business as Alecatraz Escape Rooms. According to Workshop, the escape room – located in the same building as the brewery – has undergone a “complete makeover” and is now taking reservations for its first experience, called The Warden’s Office. A second experience is under construction. 

Local race director and endurance athlete Joel Gaff of Endurance Evolution has launched a new company called Traverse City Run Co. The brand has an online store that will offer running products developed by Gaff and his team. “They’ll all have a little touch of northern Michigan in them, be it in function or appearance,” says Gaff. The online store has t-shirts to start, with plans to add hats, socks, and more in the months ahead. Traverse City Run Co. will also launch a team membership program in mid-2021 that will offer access to discounted and exclusive gear, input on product development, and social opportunities for members.

Finally, a handful of businesses are closing their doors in Traverse City. The Maple Clinic, located on Union Street, will close down at the end of February after more than 40 years providing mental health services downtown. “Collectively the therapists have decided to close their practices at the Maple Clinic,” the business said in a release. Two stores have also ended their runs at the Grand Traverse Mall, including H&M and Christopher & Banks. H&M said in a statement to The Ticker that “assessing and reviewing our store portfolio to adapt to changing customer behavior is something that we have done ever since we opened our first store. While physical stores will always remain important to us and something we continue to invest in, having the right stores in the right locations is vital to ensure our long-term and sustainable growth.” Christopher & Banks filed for bankruptcy in January and announced it would be closing stores nationwide, including its Traverse City location.