Both locations of Real Food Café have been sold to a local restaurant group.
Husband-wife co-owners and co-founders Frank and Renee Amodeo sold their longtime restaurants, Real Food Café at 2419 Eastern Ave. SE in Grand Rapids and 3514 Plainfield Ave. NE in Grand Rapids Township, to Jeff Lobdell, owner of Restaurant Partners, according to a Nov. 17 Facebook post by Lobdell.
The Amodeos told Grand Rapids Magazine they were ready to move “move on to the next chapter.”
“We … found comfort in Lobdell and his company, as they have a good reputation for taking care of staff and guests in their other transitions that we have seen,” the couple said. “We can’t thank our staff and guests enough for all of their support over the years and the wonderful memories we have all made together.”
The Amodeos founded Real Food Café in 2000 with the first location in Grand Rapids’ Alger Heights neighborhood on Eastern Avenue SE. They then added the second location on Northland Drive in 2006, which moved to Plainfield Avenue NE in 2016.
“The Real Food Café locations are award-winning breakfast and lunch eateries (that) are some of the very best breakfast places in all of West Michigan,” Lobdell said. “Real Food Café is operated by loyal, longtime staff members who work together as a team to serve their patrons and community. There are a lot of great similarities of these local treasures that can be compared to many of our local favorites and award-winning places.
“Together, our 4GR8Food brands and these wonderful establishments will continue to serve our communities and provide hospitality, nourishment and safe gathering places for the neighborhoods we all operate in.”
Restaurant Partners owns and operates five independent locations in Traverse City and 13 independent locations in the Grand Rapids area. Its brands are listed on the company website, 4gr8food.com.
Lobdell said in the comments on another post Restaurant Partners will update the café’s point-of-sale system to allow for credit card payments. The restaurants long were known for operating on a cash-only basis.
More information about Real Food Café and its history is at realfoodcafe.com/about-us.
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