New Watusi Restaurant Brings Scratch-Made Eats to Grand Rapids

The Grand Rapids restaurant scene is on a serious roll. We recently filled you in on Our Brewing Company moving into the former Woosah space and Los Potrillos bringing new energy to the old One Trick Pony spot.

Continuing that trend of local favorites reinventing familiar addresses, another closed neighborhood staple is getting a second life in Northeast Grand Rapids.

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New, Scratch-Made Kitchen Coming to Creston

Watusi is setting up shop at 1220 College Ave NE near Carrier Street in the Creston neighborhood, taking over the former Mai's Thai building.

Owners Sarah Andro and Delie Minnema have been busy renovating the space in anticipation of their official launch next month. In the meantime, they have been hosting pop-ups to test out creative concept dishes and introduce their bold flavors to the neighbors.

What's on the Watusi Menu?

While Watusi leans heavily into scratch-made Southern food, their rotating menu keeps things adventurous. Social media previews reveal unique creations like an oxtail sandwich topped with fried plantains and mango-banana slaw, a signature turkey knuckle sandwich with blueberry BBQ sauce and cheddar, and the PBDT (Peanut Butter Delie Time), a grilled PB&J packed with peanut butter, housemade jam, cream cheese and crushed Doritos.

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Watusi also serves up plantain chicken sliders, smoky BBQ brats, burgers, a smothered baked potato, and wings or ribs tossed in sweet-and-spicy glazes like peach jalapeño or hot honey. You can round out your meal with classic sides like buttered sweet corn, collard greens, red beans and rice, or mushroom onion rice.

To top it all off, they are baking up homemade seasonal desserts like blueberry crumble and strawberry crunch cake.

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Beyond the weekday lineup, the duo is planning to make weekends extra special. According to WOOD TV 8, the owners plan to feature a dedicated "Soul Food Sunday" every week.

As Minnema told WOOD TV 8, the goal is to serve up comforting, scratch-made food that brings people together while keeping quality high and prices accessible for the neighborhood.

The wait is almost over!

Watusi Grand Opening

Watusi is scheduled for its official grand opening on August 2. In the meantime, make sure to give them a follow on Facebook to stay in the loop on upcoming pop-up dates and daily menu updates!