HOLLAND TWP. — A new Asian fusion restaurant is now open in The Shops at Westshore.
Up Leaf Café — located at 12371 James St. in Suite 40 — is serving customers 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays during a soft opening, offering their unique take on Asian flavors plus boba smoothies, coffee and plant-based energy drinks.
More: Asian fusion coming to Holland's Shops at Westshore
Located in the former MidiCi Pizza, Up Leaf is owned by husband and wife duo Sonny Lam and Marylou Nguyen, in addition to Lam’s sister, Truc. It's the realization of an idea that formed during the pandemic, when the couple found themselves without work.
Nguyen started making and selling spring rolls. The family took over the brick-and-mortar space in November.
Over the last several months, the team has been renovating the space and developing the menu. Now, they're ready to share it with the masses.
“We're about a week and a half into our soft opening,” Nguyen said. “I want to give it probably another two weeks and then we'll schedule our grand opening.”
The menu includes build-your-own options, signature salads, rice bowls, vermicelli bowls and spring rolls. Online orders aren't accepted during the soft opening, but will be added once the eatery opens full-time.
Nguyen said, so far, the responses has been positive, with support from local residents and students studying at Grand Rapids Community College's Lakeshore Campus.
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“Every single customer we've had has been happy,” Lam said. “People have loved our flavor combinations."
Visit facebook.com/upleafcafe or upleafcafe.com to learn more.
— Contact reporter Austin Metz at ametz@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Up Leaf Café opens to customers in The Shops at Westshore