The Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, TechTown Detroit, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan celebrated the Thursday opening of the Mission Café, located within Wayne Metro’s Welcome Center at 7310 Woodward Ave. in Midtown Detroit.
“The Mission Café was created in alignment with our agency’s mission to empower people and communities to be healthy and strong,” says Louis Piszker, CEO of Wayne Metro. “Here, local entrepreneurs will be provided with the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive while providing a true flavor of the city.”
The Mission Café is located within Wayne Metro’s 5,131-square-foot Welcome Center, which debuted late last year as part of a $1.1 million renovation initiative.
It is open to the public Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Café restauranteurs and vendors located at the site include:
- Faust Haus Roasting Co. — Based in Detroit’s historic Eastern Market, Faust is a black-owned coffee roasting company, founded by Derek English, specializing in high-quality coffees from across the African diaspora.
- GreenHouse Soups and Chili — Known as “The Lady in the Greenhouse,” Jane Bate founded GreenHouse serving hand-crafted, gluten free, vegan, and delicious options.
- Heauxlistic Juice Bar — Owned by Monique Davis, Heauxlistic offers cold-pressed raw juice, smoothies, and unique, nutritious foods.
- J&T’s Kitchen — Owned and operated by Juan and Tabatha Ramos, J&T’s Kitchen provides authentic Mexican and American fare, including breakfast and lunch in large servings at affordable prices.
- Livy’s Sweet Rolls — Myra Thomas is the owner of Livy’s Sweet Rolls LLC. Specializing in gourmet cinnamon rolls, all their products are made from scratch with premium grade ingredients.
- Paradise Street Eats —Owners Srinath Kalmadi “Ziggy” and Ali Wazne along with brand ambassador Alina Alam, teamed up to create Paradise Street Eats, a fully operational mobile restaurant combining traditional south Indian heritage with Mediterranean and modern Indian flavors.
The restaurant industry is among the hardest to break into with the lowest profit margins. The Mission Café works to create a community where people can gather to eat and support one another.
“TechTown is excited to partner with Wayne Metro to activate the café under our SHOP Detroit program, where TechTown alumni and clients take steps towards scaling their business with hands-on support from our team,” says Christianne Malone, assistant vice president for Economic Development at Wayne State University and chief program officer of TechTown Detroit.
“The Mission Café serves as the perfect platform for entrepreneurs to not only build community, but to hone their skills and earn revenue, which are all key to growing their business.”
