New African-Fusion Restaurant Opens in Grand Rapids This Week

The owners of a popular African-fusion food truck are set to open their first brick-and-mortar restaurant this week!

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Kirel Shaw is the person behind the Street Chef Shaw food truck.

Shaw is executive chef with more than 15 year of experience in the industry. He says of the name of the business,

The name Street Chef Shaw is attributed to how I developed my skills and love for the kitchen.

The food truck serves up street tacos, quesadillas and nachos inspired by the traditional Hispanic Birria soup with a combination of Swahili and Mexican flavors. Shaw was inspired by his family's East African roots and his fiancé's Hispanic heritage.

Shaw started Street Chef Shaw as a ghost kitchen during the pandemic, giving away free meals to those who were struggling.

Shortly after, the business began cooking up food at the incubator kitchen at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market. Three years ago, they opened the food truck and eventually expanded into catering.

And now it's on to the next adventure!

The new take-out joint, Mizizi by Street Chef Shaw, is opening at at 1539 Plainfield Ave. NE this week. The site is the former home of Rinaldi's Pizza Shop, which closed in June. The new restaurant recently had its soft opening.

Shaw says he's excited to be returning to the neighborhood where he grew up, Creston, to launch his first restaurant.

Shaw tells Crain's Grand Rapids,

Us coming back into the Creston area is like coming home to where our roots are from, where we’re basing this whole business also off of (our) roots and giving back. That’s the intentionality behind all of this. (Creston) is where it was all built, for sure.

The new restaurant features an expanded menu building on the food truck’s African-inspired roots, Crain's reports.

Mizizi's grand opening is this Friday, January 5, 2024, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Owners say they'll be bringing back some fan favorite foods and will have some surprises in store as well.

Follow Street Chef Shaw on Facebook for updates!