By: Deborah Johnson Wood
After several ups, downs, and a complete stop, the Red Ball Jet Café has bounced back to life. The $500,000 renovation of the 1903 Creston landmark, once an Old Kent Bank branch and later a Grand Rapids Public Library branch, is scheduled to open mid-May.
"It's something old and something new," said owner Greg Gilmore of The Gilmore Collection. "It's got a little retro feel to it. There's an old shoe company named Red Ball Jets, and their jingle was 'Run a little faster. Jump a little higher.' That's the motto for our coffee."
The café will be primarily a coffeehouse and breakfast venue, but will also offer patrons the option of having a draft beer or glass of wine with their lunch or dinner. Wood-fired breakfast pizza, traditional pizza, soups, salads, and pasta dishes are on the menu.
The décor is a blend of high-tech 21st Century attractions—flat screen TVs and wireless Internet access—and period elements, like the sixteen-foot-high pressed tin ceilings and a wood-fired oven. Two safes from the restaurant's bank branch days are still in the building; one has been converted to a storage area, the other into a sauté station.
The café will seat 45 inside. Gilmore hopes to serve another 45 customers outside on the 22-foot sidewalk along Coit Avenue. He has submitted an application to the City of Grand Rapids for an encroachment permit to use the sidewalk. If approved, Gilmore plans to furnish the patio area with ornamental planters and tables with market umbrellas.
Source: Gregory S. Gilmore, The Gilmore Collection
Deborah Johnson Wood is the Development News Editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be reached at [email protected].
Related Articles
Red Ball Jet Cafe Lands in Creston
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.