Grand Rapids has a new spot to build your own Mongolian stir-fry bowl, and it's moved into a building that's seen its share of turnover on the city's southeast side. Joe's Yummy Bowl is now open at 4061 28th St. SE, serving customizable stir-fry bowls alongside sushi, ramen, and Korean fried chicken.
The restaurant occupies a space that previously housed Buddy's Pizza, and Carrabba's Italian Grill before that, according to 97.9 WGRD. The building had been sitting empty since Buddy's closed, per the same report, leaving a noticeable gap in that stretch of 28th Street until Joe's Yummy Bowl moved in.
The concept is simple: diners choose a base of white rice, brown rice, fried rice, or noodles, then pick from proteins including chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, squid, crab, or tofu. From there, sauces like hibachi, teriyaki, curry, garlic parsley, or Szechuan round out the bowl before it's cooked and brought directly to the table.
More Than Just Stir-Fry
Beyond the build-your-own bowls, Joe's Yummy Bowl also runs a full sushi menu with classic and signature rolls, the station's report notes, along with ramen, poke bowls, and Korean fried chicken. Appetizers on the menu include crab rangoons, shrimp tempura, and coconut shrimp. The restaurant's own site describes a menu that stretches from Mongolian stir-fry and fresh sushi rolls to “comforting bowls of ramen and crispy Korean-style chicken,” according to Joe's Yummy Bowl.
On pricing, a single bowl runs $13.99 at lunch and $16.99 at dinner, per the same WGRD account. Diners can upgrade to an all-you-can-eat option for an extra $4, and every meal — regardless of which option is chosen — comes with unlimited access to the dessert bar.
A Second Home For The Flint-Born Concept
Joe's Yummy Bowl is new to West Michigan dining, with its original location in Flint. It opened there in December 2025, moving into a building formerly occupied by Flint's old BD's Mongolian BBQ, the outlet reports.
That lineage ties back to a restaurant Grand Rapids diners haven't had in years. BD's Mongolian BBQ on 28th Street in Grand Rapids had been closed since 2017, a gap the WGRD piece calls wild to think about now that a new Mongolian concept has filled the void. When the 28th Street BD's closed for good, it shut its doors on Monday, May 15, 2017. A sign at the shuttered restaurant thanked customers for 19 years of business, according to WOOD TV8, which reported the closed location sat at 2619 28th Street SE — a separate address from where Joe's Yummy Bowl has now opened.
