Business & Tech

2 Village Restaurants Applying for Beer, Wine Licenses

The City of Grosse Pointe council will decide this month whether to issue licenses to sell beer and wine to two Village restaurants.

The has had an additional license for beer and wine to dole out to interested restaurants for years, but none had applied. Now two restaurants are applying, City Manager Pete Dame said, and if the council so decides, both would be able to receive the permits.

Side Street Diner, the former Clairepointe Restaurant, and a future restaurant, Green Zone Pizza, are slated to present their request to council Feb. 14. Both are or will be located in the Village. 

Dame described the applications as exciting, explaining that it means businesses are wanting to invest and provide more service to their clients. 

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Green Zone Pizza has a lease in the Kercheval Place building, more commonly referred to as the old Jacobson's building, and is working with the city planner to establish restaurant designs, Dame said. 

The location is behind women's clothing store, facing Notre Dame Street. A "coming soon" sign greets passersby in the otherwise vacant window. 

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The plan is to be an over-the-counter pizza restaurant featuring organic ingredients with beer and wine availability. The restaurant will seat about 25 people, Dame said.

"I think it's very exciting to have a new restaurant in the Village," Dame said. "It could actually create a few more" visits to other businesses. "They might drop by and buy something."

Side Street Diner co-owner Sheila Taylor said they've received requests for beer and wine since taking over the former Clairpointe. The inside was remodeled and the menu was changed, she said, explaining the license to serve beer and wine is the next step.

If they receive approval from council, Taylor said the restaurant will likely extend its hours. She believes having the license will help pump up the dinner crowd, she said. 

The city receives a certain number of licenses it's allowed to grant, and for decades that number has been four, yet the fourth license has remained unused for at least six years, Dame said. A few years ago, a downtown development authority was developed for the Village, which allows additional licenses to be issued, Dame said. 

The license allows the businesses to serve beer and wine only, not hard liquor, Dame said. 

Receiving two applications is exciting for the City, Dame said, because it shows these businesses want to invest in the community and it could help attract more people to the Village. 

The addition of Green Zone Pizza is also pleasing considering the economic climate, Dame said. Looking at the broader picture, it leaves only one vacant storefront on the first floor of the Kercheval Place building, said Dame, who has enjoyed watching the development fill in.

"It's exciting to see that last piece of the puzzle fall into place," he said. "To show that Grosse Pointe is a lively place to live, to shop and to eat."


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