Heard On The Street

Food related businesses seem to popping up all over recently, in the town of Tecumseh! We start with the owner of two local Mediterranean restaurants who is launching a new bakery featuring Lebanese delicacies. Manoushii Lebanese Bakery is expected to open by the beginning of March at 1614 Lesperance Road, where Eddy Hammoud operates Tabouli by Eddy’s (EddysRestaurants.ca). “I’ve always wanted to open a Lebanese-style bakery, but starting a new business from scratch during COVID is difficult, so for now we’re going to work out of my existing Tecumseh restaurant,” explains Hammoud. The bakery features mostly breakfast dishes, including hummus with beef tips, an Arab-style pizza with fresh dough and toppings such as cheese, vegetables and zaatar, a mix of spices, along with spinach pies and spinach and cheese pies. For now, orders can be made online at: Manoushii.ca with delivery through Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes and DoorDash. Eventually, Hammoud hopes to have curbside pickup available and plans to open the bakery for breakfast on weekends, once COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed. If the bakery proves successful he might eventually move it into its own space. Hammoud also owns Eddy’s Mediterranean Bistro at 420 Tecumseh Road East and Convenient Perfection Mobile Detailing (ConvenientPerfection.ca).

The latest in a series of sushi restaurants to open in Tecumseh, joining Niko Sushi, 10 Amy Croft Drive (also at Devonshire Mall) and Salt Sushi, 25 Amy Croft Drive, is Genki Sushi Noodle. Situated in the St. Clair Beach Shopping Centre, 13504 Tecumseh Road East, Genki’s new home is in a space previously occupied by Baskin Robbins (which relocated to 1655 Manning Road in summer 2020). Sue Yong, a spokeswoman for the Genki owners, says they decided to move from 1584 Huron Church Road (operating as Genki Sushi) as they needed a smaller space because their dining room had been forced to close due to COVID-19 restrictions. For now, the restaurant is offering curbside pickup and the owners are in the process of hiring their own driver so they can start offering their own delivery services. For more information on menu items, visit: GenkiSushi.ca.

The restaurant scene continues to grow with the addition of East Valley Pizza, 25 Amy Croft Drive (Facebook.com/eastvalleypizza) in Tecumseh. The pizzeria features a variety of specialty pizzas, pastas, chicken parmesan, lasagna, chicken wings, chicken Thai bites, salads and desserts. And a few doors down at 18 Amy Croft Drive, Hamoudi’s Shawarma has opened a second location offering a variety of shawarmas, shish kababs, shish tawook, shish kafta, burgers, tabouli, hummus, soups and salads. Get further details on the new location on: Facebook.com/hamoudisshawarmalakeshore. Hamoudi’s original restaurant can be found at 3392 Dougall Avenue in Windsor.

The Junction Box Ristorante, Pizzeria, Bar has opened at 13039 Tecumseh Road East in a location previously occupied by El Guaco, a Mexican restaurant. The new Tecumseh eatery serves pizza, wings, burgers, fish, wraps, chicken bites, chicken strips, salads and a variety of sides including onion rings, mozzarella sticks, fries and potato wedges. There are plenty of family specials offered with some great deals too! The restaurant features chic brickwork, a large mural along one wall, and a comfortable patio on warm summer evenings. See their menu online at: JunctionBox.org.

But wait, there’s more exciting pizza news! The region’s eighth Oven 360 pizza restaurant has opened at 12000 Tecumseh Road East, Unit #5, also in Tecumseh. Company founder Remo Tortola says the restaurants survived the pandemic largely because their business model relied heavily on pickup and delivery and not on inside dining. “We have limited dining spaces in all the restaurants, so not being able to serve customers inside wasn’t a huge problem,” he adds. “It’s called fast-casual and while we’re happy to have people dine inside, it wasn’t crucial.” Two restaurants — 1349 Grand Marais Road West, Unit #107 and 6505 Malden Road in LaSalle — are corporately owned. The rest are franchises, including the new one in Tecumseh; 3873 Walker Road, Unit #106; 1226 County Road 22, Unit #103 in Emeryville; 24 Seacliff Drive East in Leamington; 346 St. Clair Street in Chatham and 505 Christina Street North in Sarnia. Learn more about this successful business operation at: Oven360.com.

Construction is expected to begin this spring on two new 71 unit apartment buildings, recently approved by Tecumseh Town Council for the intersection of Tecumseh Road East and Southfield Drive. Guelph-based Skyline Real Estate Holdings (SkyDev.ca) is developing the properties at 11873 Tecumseh Road East and 11917 Tecumseh Road East. The “Southfield Green” project includes amenities such as trails, green space, outdoor barbecue areas and more. The project qualified for a $100,000 rebate under the town’s Development Charges Rebate Program. There will be access to the apartment buildings from both Tecumseh Road and Southfield. Occupancy is slated for 2022.

Elsewhere on the dining scene, Cocktail Fruittela, a new shop featuring fruit cocktails, gelato, waffles, crepes, milk shakes, fresh fruit slices and Lebanese-based ice cream treats, is scheduled to open in mid-March at 3041 Dougall Avenue in Windsor. “It’s all non-alcoholic and fresh,” explains owner Nabil Naja. “There’s nothing like it in Windsor right now and I think people are going to like the fresh fruit and ice cream choices.” Naja, who was born in Lebanon, hopes to bring the flavours of his home country to Windsor with this venture. “It’s the first of its kind and I’m very excited about the opening,” he adds. The restaurant is currently being renovated in preparation for opening. Find their page on Facebook by searching “Cocktail Fruittela.”