EAST LANSING — The owners of a Jackson restaurant known for its colorful interior, smash burgers, ice cream sundaes and “crazy” shakes will open a second location in East Lansing later this year.
Robert and Yvette Wilkie said the December opening of RJ’s Burgers & Ice Cream Co. in a plaza at 1399 E. Grand River Ave., next to Grand Traverse Pie Company, should correspond with what would have been their late son’s 14th birthday.
The restaurant grew out of the pain of losing Robert Wilkie Jr. less than two weeks after he was born in 2011. The Wilkies’ business helped them with their grief, and grew from a home-based bakery to a successful brick-and-mortar restaurant, they said.
Their devastating loss led them to a new purpose, and the East Lansing location’s opening on Dec. 9 will be a celebration of their son’s memory, Yvette Wilkie said.
“We like to say with our story, maybe God sent us through our trials from pain to purpose, to inspire other people,” she said. “When something painful in your life happens, you can use that.”
From bakery to storefront
The Wilkies opened RJ’s Burgers & Ice Cream Co.’s current location at 135 E. Michigan Ave. in Jackson about four years ago. The business has evolved over the last 14 years, but started with a birthday cake Yvette made just a few months after her son’s death for her daughter Jaylah’s fourth birthday.
“She asked me to make her this Barbie cake, and I did,” Yvette said. “That was the first thing that had brought me any spark of life, making this cake.”
The cake was a success, and family and friends started requesting she bake for them.
“Long story short, we ended up starting a licensed bakery from our house,” Yvette said. “We grew and ended up opening our first storefront on what would have been our son’s third birthday.”
The current evolution of the business on East Michigan Avenue, which blends burgers, hoagies and ice cream creations, opened on what would have been Robert Junior’s 10th birthday.
Desserts include ice cream sundaes, nachos (made with waffle cone chips), “crazy shakes” piled high with toppings, sprinkles, candy and whipped cream, and hand-dipped scoops featuring Michigan-based Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream.
Robert said expanding the business to include a full menu was an easy transition for the couple.
“I’ve always really enjoyed being around food and just in the kitchen itself,” he said. “It just started to take off and we just kind of rolled with it and kept growing.”
The restaurant has been featured on PBS’s “Under the Radar Michigan” and, in 2023, was recognized as one of Michigan’s best small businesses by the Michigan Small Business Development Center.
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The East Lansing location will open in a 3,030-square-foot storefront that was previously filled by about half of a Rite Aid pharmacy. The store closed over a year ago, said Carson Patten of Martin Commercial Properties, which represented the building’s landlord in the Wilkie’s lease.
The decision to come to East Lansing is “God led,” Yvette Wilkie said. “We felt like that was our next step. We’ve had offers from different towns that have tried to solicit us to come there, Grand Rapids or Ann Arbor, but we just felt like East Lansing was the next place we wanted to be.”
The restaurant will offer seating for approximately 70 people and the space will feature a party section available for rental. The business is expected to employ 10 to 15 people.
Learn more about RJ’s Burgers & Ice Cream Co. online at www.rjsburgersandicecreamco.com. Follow the business on Facebook at “RJ’s Burgers & Ice Cream Co.”
Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ .
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Jackson burger and ice cream restaurant expanding to East Lansing. When RJ’s will open
Reporting by Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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