There are few places in Grand Rapids where a group of people can walk in hungry and completely disagree about what they want to eat — and somehow everybody still wins.
That’s the beauty of the Downtown Market.
Think of it as the city’s food court, if the city’s food court happened to be filled with local entrepreneurs, specialty food makers, full-blown restaurants and concepts you probably wouldn’t find anywhere else under the same roof.
You want Thai? There’s that. Sushi? Yep. A sandwich? Obviously. Something vegan? Absolutely. Something sweet? Take your pick. And soon, there will be another option to add to the mix, as GR Taco Shop prepares to open in the Market Hall this fall.
The new Mexican food concept comes from Ashley Cano, co-owner of El Toro Bravo, the Wyoming restaurant that has been serving the community for the past decade. At GR Taco Shop, Cano will bring some of her family’s recipes downtown, with a menu built around tacos, burritos, tortas and other traditional Mexican dishes.
It’s a fitting addition to a place that has spent more than a decade making a habit of bringing different tastes and different kinds of food businesses together.
The Downtown Market isn’t simply a collection of restaurants. Since opening in 2013, it has become a gathering place built around food — one that combines a 20-plus-merchant Market Hall with food entrepreneurship, public events, specialty food businesses and even an incubator kitchen. More than 7 million people have visited the Market since it opened, according to the organization.
That mix is part of what makes a stop at the Market feel a little different from simply choosing a restaurant.
You might be there with someone craving curry, someone looking for a burger and someone who has already decided dessert is happening regardless of what anyone else orders. You can scatter in different directions, order what sounds good and meet back at the same table.
For a city whose food scene has grown increasingly diverse, that’s no small thing.
And the Market’s role goes beyond giving diners options. It has also become a place where food businesses can test an idea, build a following and figure out what comes next.
That’s particularly apparent in the transition happening now.
GR Taco Shop will move into the space currently occupied by Tacos El Cuñado, which will leave the Market at the end of August after 13 years as one of its original merchants.
Thirteen years is a pretty good run. But in some ways, the fact that Tacos El Cuñado is moving on is exactly what the Downtown Market was built to make possible.
The Market’s mission has long included strengthening Grand Rapids’ local food economy by giving entrepreneurs a place to develop their concepts and gain the experience necessary to build sustainable businesses. Sometimes that means growing within the Market. Sometimes it means growing beyond it.
When that happens, there’s an empty space waiting for someone else to take a shot.
And that’s where GR Taco Shop comes in.
“We are grateful for all Mario and the Tacos El Cuñado team have contributed during their time at the Downtown Market, and we wish them continued success,” said Fritz. “Growth is essential to a thriving food economy, and as local businesses advance to their next chapter, new opportunities are created for other small businesses and food entrepreneurs to build something of their own.”
It’s a pretty neat cycle: a local restaurant gets 13 years to establish itself in a downtown setting, eventually moves into its next chapter, and another local food entrepreneur gets a turn.
Meanwhile, the rest of us get another place to eat.
GR Taco Shop is expected to open this fall, adding another family-run Mexican food concept to a Market Hall that already serves as something of a culinary snapshot of Grand Rapids.
And perhaps that’s the real trick the Downtown Market has pulled off.
It has created a place where food businesses can grow, diners can explore and nobody at the table has to agree on what sounds good.
For a city that likes to eat, that’s a pretty good thing to have.
