A new Mediterranean bar and restaurant is headed for a downtown Grand Rapids storefront that has churned through two previous tenants in as many years. The Grand Rapids City Commission approved a development-district liquor license request from Miro LLC on Tuesday, clearing a path for Miro Mediterranean to move into the ground floor of the Marriott Residence Inn at 10 Ionia Ave. NW.
A Storefront With a Rocky Recent History
The space near Van Andel Arena has sat largely empty since The Foolery, a Detroit-style pizza spot, closed its doors there in July 2025, according to MLive.com. Before that, Wahlburgers occupied the storefront until it closed in August 2023. The storefront includes an outdoor seating area, and the new venture is expected to bring a full bar and kitchen along with utility-system upgrades, per a memo from Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. cited in the report.
Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. oversees the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority, which approved the liquor license request before it moved to the City Commission. Melvin Eledge Jr., the organization's director of operations, told the DDA at an Oct. 14 meeting that Miro Mediterranean is associated with the ownership group behind Café de Miro, a Mediterranean restaurant currently operating in the city's Downtown Market.
Expansion, Not Relocation, Official Says
Eledge said he believes the new venture represents an expansion for Café de Miro rather than a sign that the restaurant is leaving the Downtown Market. He described the Residence Inn space as a different concept the ownership group is looking to start, separate from the existing Café de Miro operation. Café de Miro also operates a location in Breton Village, and the brand's website lists addresses on Breton Road SE and Ionia Avenue SW in Grand Rapids.
City documents reviewed for the license request did not include the restaurant's eventual name, a proposed menu, an anticipated opening date or the total project investment, and a representative for Miro Mediterranean LLC could not be reached for comment, the report notes. The liquor license request will now be forwarded to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission for further consideration, a step required for development-district licenses under state and city rules.
How Development-District Licenses Work
Under Grand Rapids' City Commission Policy 300-08, City Commission approval is required for all redevelopment liquor licenses in the city's development districts, a policy first enacted in 2007 and revised in 2016, according to the City of Grand Rapids. Applicants must also submit a state On-Premises Retailer License & Permit Application along with a New On-Premises Redevelopment or Developmental District License Questionnaire, per guidance from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The framework for issuing these public on-premises licenses within redevelopment project areas is set out in Michigan Compiled Law Section 436.1521a, according to the Michigan Legislature.
The Miro Mediterranean announcement arrives amid what one 2026 industry report described as a year of dramatic shifts in Grand Rapids' restaurant scene, with new concepts opening even as other businesses closed or struggled in a difficult market, according to Crain's Grand Rapids Business. Downtown storefronts cycling through tenants is not new to the area: Garden District opened in February 2025 at 55 Monroe Center St. NW in the former home of Monsoon, while Twisted Tap Distillery took over the space vacated by Wise Men Distillery in the McKay Tower that same spring after Wise Men closed amid pandemic-related financial strain, the station's earlier report found. SILVA, a large restaurant and event venue, also opened in the Monroe North neighborhood around the same time.
For now, the next step for Miro Mediterranean rests with state regulators. Once the Michigan Liquor Control Commission takes up the forwarded request, the project could move closer to filling in the remaining blanks, including what exactly will be on the menu and when the doors might open.
