New Restaurant to Serve Recipes From Closed Grand Rapids’ Eateries

Mr. Fables "Mr. Fabulous" Burger is coming back from the dead! Also - bocce ball! Yes, there is A LOT going on with a new Grand Rapids restaurant.

Get our free mobile app

Mark Secchia, son of late Grand Rapids businessman, Peter Secchia, is the man behind the project.

Crain's Grand Rapids reports that Secchia has purchased the former Riverfront Fitness Center located at 975 Ottawa Ave. NW. Plans for The Rec Room include a bar, restaurant, five bocce ball courts, event space, and a parking deck.

As far as the menu at The Rec Room, Secchia tells Crain's Grand Rapids,

The restaurant will focus on American comfort food more or less, and we’ll try to put five to seven throwback items on the menu from previous restaurants from the area that are no longer around. There are at least eight restaurants that anyone over 40 will remember and (menu) items they had like cheese bread from Charley’s Crab, a Mr. Fabulous Burger from Mr. Fables — all these brands from back in the day that had interesting things going on. We want to bring that back a little bit.

What an awesome idea!

Any items from restaurants that are closed that you hope The Rec Room with recreate? Maybe something from the gallery below?

Man, so many closed before my time, I'll be excited to try these classics for the first time!

There will be live entertainment at The Rec Room too.

In terms of when it will open, Crain's Grand Rapids reports that construction will begin this December and the goal is to open The Rec Room at some point in 2024.