PORTAGE, MI — Viva! Fajita owners Dave and Tiffany Thompson hope to open their new Portage restaurant to the masses following the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.
Some members of the community; however, have already begun to get a taste of what’s in store at the area’s newest Southwest grill and margarita bar as the Thompsons and their staff launched a soft opening and began serving guests on a reservation-only basis, beginning Thursday, June 16.
The restaurant, located in the space formerly occupied by Bravo! Restaurant and Café, at 5402 Portage Road, will specialize in Las Vegas-inspired cuisine, which equates to fun and personable service, a few gambling themes, margaritas made to order and fajitas lit on fire table-side.
Related: Bravo! Restaurant and Café closes after 33 years serving Kalamazoo area
After 33 years in business, Bravo! closed its doors in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, announcing two months later it would not be reopening. The Thompsons, at the time, were in the midst of operating their first entrepreneurial venture, simply known as Viva!, 20 miles to the south in Mendon.
“We want to be accessible to everybody,” Tiffany Thompson said. “Especially, at this building, a lot of people are used to Bravo!, which was a really nice, upscale place. We want to be a little more everyday, family friendly kind of place that in the evenings kinds of switches into this that fun Vegas bar scene.”
The Thompsons, who spent 12 years working in the Las Vegas restaurant scene before moving to Mendon in 2018, closed Viva! in February to move north and take over the Bravo! space, allowing chef Dave Thompson to move into what he calls “a true chef-designed, dream kitchen.”
Related: Viva! Fajita bringing Vegas-inspired cuisine to Portage
With minor variations, everything that was on the Mendon menu, such as the shrimp and filet mignon fajitas, an extensive selection of burritos and deep-fried ice cream will be available in Portage, Dave Thompson said.
New items are also being slowly introduced to the menu and proteins such as Portobello mushrooms and scallops, as well as grilled vegetables are now available, he said.
Like their Mendon restaurant, everything will also be scratch-made, from the salsa to the bean dip, and all meals will come with a cup of sopa de fideo, a traditional, tomato-based Mexican noodle soup.
Portion sizes are also nothing to scoff at.
“We pride ourselves on being a two-meal restaurant,” Tiffany Thompson joked. “Every meal comes with a box.”
Dave Thompson said being a Michigan native, it wasn’t until he moved west that he fell in love with the style of food he now prepares. The family now wants to spread their love for it with the rest of the community.
“We’re just a small family trying to do what we love,” he said. “That’s the main thing I want people to know. We love our employees. We love doing this.”
So far, so good. To date, the reservation book has been full every day, Tiffany Thompson said.
And while the married couple is eager to open all the way up, they want to make sure their staff is fully-trained before going completely live, they both added.
Moving into a much larger space in a bigger city has allowed them to increase their staff from a half dozen full-time employees to about 45 part- and full-time employees, Dave Thompson said. They brought their entire staff with them from the Mendon location, but the majority of those at Viva! Fajita are new, he said.
“The first day, we had to work out some serious kinks, but since then it’s been going really well,” Dave Thompson said. “The staff we have has been amazing. They’ve jumped right on the floor and and have been able to handle their stuff. We wouldn’t be here without them being as awesome as they are. And those who are here seem to already really care about our business a lot.”
The restaurant is still rounding out its staff and hiring cooks at $16-18 per hour, dishwashers at $11-13 per hour and servers at $7 per hour plus tips.
Viva! Fajita will continue to serve dinner on a reservation-only basis from 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday until the restaurant has a firm grand opening date. Reservations will be accepted between the hours of 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. throughout the continuation of the soft opening. Call 269-366-4574 to reserve a table.
For more information, visit vivaportage.com or follow the restaurant on Facebook.
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