NWI Business Ins and Outs: Butterfingers, French restaurant, oyster bar, Azucar Ice Cream and Parlor Doughnuts opening; Steak and Shake and Zel's Roast Beef closed (2024)

Butterfingers, the popular and long-running dessert and delicatessen shop, is bringing favorites like chicken salad, cake and quiche to Crown Point.

The deli and sweet shop with locations in Munster and Highland is opening in the Bee & Me Local Market in Crown Point.

"I wanted to bring the café experience to the boutique so people could shop and dine," Bee & Me owner Bre Stover said. "Butterfingers is so iconic, I was happy to give them a café in the front so people can dine with them."

Butterfingers drew a line out the door when it first opened last week in the boutique in a white house with green shutters at213 N. Main St. But the city shut down the operation over permitting.

City spokeswoman Mary Freda-Flores said the city was working with Butterfingers to finalize its plumbing permit, which is ready. The permit can be issued as soon as an outstanding balance is paid, she said.

Butterfingers should reopen sometime this week, as soon as Wednesday, Stover said.

Bee & Me, which was originally in Griffith, sells school spirit wear, town gear, boutique items and health and beauty products. It carries lines from local health pioneer Karyn Calabrese, who's appeared on Oprah and Steve Harvey's shows.

"We are so happy to have her products and her guest speaking at our market," Stover said.

Bee & Me started selling Butterfingers' packaged food at the store, which evolved into them opening a full-blown café. Customers can get the full range of Butterfingers' salads and desserts, including ham salad, croissants, cheesecakes and chocolate mousse cakes.

"I'm from Griffith so I was always a Butterfingers fan. Everyone loves their chicken salad," Stover said. "They always wanted to be in Crown Point. A lot of people here lived up there and moved south to Crown Point or Lowell. They want to be able to go without making a daytrip of it.

Customers also can get coffee and bottle beverages they can enjoy while they're shopping.

"There's the same menu of salads and desserts. They just bring it over from their other stores," she said. "They have a lot of loyal customers from the last 30 years."

Butterfingers will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, call 219-781-6850.

Coming soon

Parlor Doughnuts, the artisan coffee and doughnut shop known for combining the cake and yeast styles into a layered donut, is slated to open its third Region location on June 22 in the former Cousins Subs in Crown Point.

The Evansville-based chain will open its 11th location in Indiana at 10537 Broadway.

Darrick Hayden foundedParlor Doughnuts in 2019 after visiting doughnut and coffee shops around the country while touring with his son's rock band. It's expanded to 48 locations in 13 states, opening in Valparaiso in 2022 and Munster last year.

“Our existing Northwest Indiana locations continue to draw customers from across the Region,” said franchisee Wes Barnes. “Since opening Valpo two years ago, the Crown Point community has been asking for a more convenient location, and we finally found the perfect space to make that happen quickly.”

He and his wifeMarissa Barnes own three other Parlor Doughnuts stores, including the two in Northwest Indiana.

“We are proud to make Northwest Indiana one of the strongest territories in the Parlor Doughnuts network as the brand grows to over 300 shops in development,” Marissa Barnes said. “We are very fortunate to have a team of incredible leaders, based in our hometown of Valparaiso, that have helped us to expand to four shops in less than two years. Our partnerships in the community with other small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, vendors, and customers alike have also made this possible, and we couldn’t be more grateful for their support.”

The shop will sell 24 flavors of the layered doughnut, including maple bacon, campfire and churro. The menu also include breakfast tacos; acai bowls; bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches; cold brews; lattes; teas and milkshakes with any doughnut flavor.

It will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Temporarily closed

Farina's Supper Club, an Italian restaurant at 3311 Pottawattomie Trail, Michigan City, temporarily closed after a fire.

Chef Joseph Farina and his wife Yvonne Farina own the supper club that specializes in classic flavors with local ingredients. The upscale establishment serves pasta, steaks, chops and salads with entrees like Nana's Gravy and Pork Chop Sinatra.

It features an extensive selection of wines both by the glass and bottle.

The Farinas referred customers to their other restaurants, the Cafe Farina Italian eatery in downtown Michigan City and the Belly Flop beach shack in Long Beach.

Coming soon

The Farinas plan to open Rocco's Tavern in downtown Michigan City.

The new concept will bring American fare with Italian influences to the former Royale with Cheese burger spot at 827 Franklin St.,Michigan City Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Clarence Hulse said. The menu will include oysters, steaks, chops and burgers.

Joe Farina, a chef who's worked at Chicago restaurants, is looking at a concept different from his other Italian eateries. It will feature more old-school Miami vibes with colorful old-world decor and classic American tavern fair.

The menu is expected to include shrimp co*cktail, deviled eggs, saganaki, trip crostini, Shrimp Louie, French onion soup, steak frites, a Wagyu burger, a smash burger, a Cuban sandwich, fish and chips, a Wagyu beef filet, Skirt Steak Velasco and miso glazed salmon.

It will be right next door to their Cafe Farina, which focuses on more traditional Italian fare.

Coming soon

The Heron will serve French cuisine at522 Franklin St. in Michigan City.

"It will fill a market niche unavailable within 40 miles," Hulse said. "It will have escargot and other adventurous items."

The menu will include escargot de bourgogne, foie gras pate, steak tartare, leek and asparagus terine, frisse salad, smoked salmon, crispy pork belly, steak frites, mussels, cassoulet, beef bourguignonand a roast half chicken with thyme, lemon and garlic similar to what Julie Child would have prepared. It offers large, medium and small plates, as well as a cheese plate and desserts like creme brulee and a bittersweet chocolate tart.

Open

Azucar Ice Cream gives off major summery beach vibes in downtown Crown Point, with beach balls hanging from the ceiling, a colorful ice cream mural and neon ice cream cones.

The ice cream shop opened by Bulldog Park last year and recently took over a much larger space in the former Crown Point Toys and Collectibles spot at105 N. Main St. after the toy store relocated. Azucar makes its own ice cream in-house.

"It's homemade ice cream from one of my aunts who owns 18 of them in Mexico," owner Julian Bravo said.

He would fly there as a kid to visit family and stop by his aunt's ice cream shop, Baty.

"That's the only place we could find her," he said. "We'd always go visit her and eat some ice cream."

Bravo was a union construction worker who got his commercial driver's license. He decided to open an ice cream parlor after his aunt gave him her recipes and his wife pointed out there was no similar ice cream spot in Crown Point.

Azucar Ice Cream offers more than 40 flavors of ice cream, as well as sorbet, yogurt and fruit cups. Flavors include mango, strawberry, watermelon, lime, pineapple, cucumber and kiwi. It frequently changes flavors and turns some of the ice cream into popsicles with flavors like cheesecake, butter pecan, chocolate and rice pudding. It currently has more than 45 flavors of popsicles.

"We have tons of different flavors. We like to change it up," he said. "This is homemade ice cream. We make it by hand. We don't use powder or a blend. You're getting real fruit if you're eating sorbet and real cream, good quality cream."

It also sells snacks like homemade potato chips, churros and Doritos Locos. It also slices up fresh fruit for fruit cups, serves Aqua Fresca and makes popsicles for dogs with ingredients like banana, strawberry and peanut butter.

"That's what dogs can eat," he said.

It currently seats about 16 people. It's looking to add more seating, including outdoor seats.

"We started off really small," he said. "We're saving up to buy more seats. Whatever we can find and buy, we just buy it."

Azucar Ice Cream is looking to expand to another location.

"We don't know exactly where yet. It could be Lowell, Valpo, Munster, Schererville or Dyer," he said. "We're still debating, wherever the people take us."

Azucar Ice Cream is open from 1-9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

For more information, call 219-308-0506 or find the business on Facebook or Instagram.

Closed

Steak and Shake closed its Michigan City diner.

The Indianapolis-based chain, which was one of the film critic Roger Ebert's favorite restaurants, shuttered its restaurant at 5809 Franklin St.

Steak and Shake, which is known for its steakburgers, chili and milkshakes, still has locations in Schererville, Merrillville and Portage.

The vintage 1950s-style diner closed both its Portage and Michigan City restaurants in 2019 as it looked for new franchisees to take them over. They reopened in 2021 with ordering kiosks.

Closed

Zel's Roast Beef is closed for good in Schererville.

A Region institution for more than a half century, the local chain started out in East Chicago, where it served oversized roast beef and corned beef sandwiches to slake the appetites of hard-working steelworkers. It long occupied part of the One Stop Food Mart and Mobile Gas Station at7889 W. Lincoln Hwy.

But Hobart-based Luke acquired the gas station, closed it down for renovations and does not plan to bring the Zel's back when it reopens, Schererville Town Manager Jim Gorman said.

"The Luke Family of Brands has taken over this property and will turn it into a Luke gas station," he said. "The Zel’s part will be turned into a convenience store like most gas stations."

Zel's, which once had two Schererville locations, still has restaurants in East Chicago, Hammond and Crown Point.

Consolidated

After branching out to open Richie’s Corner Deli in downtown Whiting, Buzzin' BBQ closed its original location on 119th Street and moved in with Richie's.

Both Richie's and Buzzin' BBQ now share the space at 1423 119th St. in Whiting.

Pitmaster Antonio “Buzz” Cisneros, a Texas native who's been cooking barbecue since he was 15 years old, left his union job to open the brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2022. It's known for its brisket, pulled pork, pork belly, pork ribs and smoked wings.