When Gary Post embarked on the $2 million renovation of downtown Muskegon’s historic Russell Block, he had a different vision for the building at 360 W. Western Avenue. However, as the new artisan pizza joint Rebel Pies prepares to join ranks with microbrewery
Unruly Brewing and the slow-pour coffee shop
Drip Drop Drink this weekend, he says the change in direction isn’t a bad thing.
When Post set up Russell Block Market, Inc. as a nonprofit, tax-exempt entity to create and
oversee a market concept he outlined a few years ago, he says the nonprofit board took their portion of the building in a different direction, introducing Unruly Brewing Co.
"Now the brewery has served as a catalyst for other businesses including
Rebel Pies," he says. "All in all it has been a great thing and they have brought a whole new demographic downtown."
Though Rebel Pies won’t officially open until the end of the summer, co-owners Mark Gongalski, his brother Matt Gongalski, and Addison Eilers hope to make even more fans during an unveiling event for the Rebel Pies brand. The event is designed to coincide with
Muskegon’s Bike Time motorcycle event July 17-20.
Mark Gongalski says the Bike Time event typically draws in more than 100,000 people and around 65,000 bikes to the city’s downtown, where Rebel Pies will borrow Unruly Brewing’s outdoor beer garden space for the event, "a prime location for cooking on a slew of outdoor grills and smokers," Gongalski says, until interior renovations are completed later this summer.
The menu for the event includes four different styles of pizzas by the slice, smoked chicken wings and drumsticks, cast iron Dutch oven desserts, and the roasting of a 250-lb pig -- which was raised entirely on Unruly Brewing Company's spent grain.
Writer: Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Unruly Brewing
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