In a renovated 19th Century building across the street from the Kalamazoo River is downtown
Saugatuck's newest restaurant. Named for the park it overlooks,
Wicks Park Bar & Grille at 449 Water Street is a family-owned eatery offering family dining and bar amenities.
Christopher Pierce, along with his wife Christine and in-laws Patrick and Pam Murphy, opened the restaurant early this summer, escaping a slowing real estate career in Florida.
"I decided to get out of the cold real estate market of southern Florida and get into the cold weather of Michigan," Pierce says. But all joking aside, he says the restaurant has had a fantastic, successful summer.
The Pierces and Murphys renovated what was formerly The Boathouse restaurant with the intention of making it a family-friendly place. It needed some major work, so they replaced the roof, added French doors to the front and overhauled the interior. The result is a restaurant with a bright dining room and a cozy bar space.
The non-smoking eatery seats 120 people and can accommodate large gatherings. Musicians perform live on Friday and Saturday nights.
The restaurant serves American cuisine with fresh ingredients, Pierce says. The blackened mahi-mahi tacos are a popular specialty. The business taps local suppliers for regional specialties such as fresh-roasted coffee from
Uncommon Grounds in Saugatuck and tasty breads from
deBoer Bakkerij in Holland.
"We’ve been welcomed into the town," Pierce says of the lakeshore community. "We offer something that's new in Saugatuck."
Source: Christopher Pierce, Wicks Park Bar & Grille
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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