SOUTH BEND — The Bend Lounge and L Street Kitchen both received favorable recommendations Friday, April 17, in their applications for three-way riverfront liquor licenses from the city’s Municipal Riverfront Development District Liquor License Review Committee.
The Bend, currently operating out of the Emporium Building at 121 S. Niles Ave., is moving to 129 N. Michigan St., previously home to Cool Runnings Restaurant and Bar and Vegetable Buddies. The lounge bar provides hand-crafted cocktails where artistry meets soulful sounds and upscale ambiance, according to its website.
Moving buildings means the owners are required to obtain a new Riverfront Liquor License specific to the new location.
Owners Armar’rae and Aja Hill said the move into a bigger space will allow for larger live events and a menu expansion to include gluten-free options and paninis. Open hours are also expanding from three days a week to Tuesdays through Sundays. Despite only being open since January 2025, Armar’rae said The Bend has had no problem drawing in residents and quickly outgrew its current space.
“Even on our first day, we knew that we weren’t going to be in our location long,” Armar’rae said. “We just thought, this will just be a low-key place, but it is a community hub that has really grown within the last year.”
Armar’rae and Aja both stressed the importance of making The Bend Lounge a safe space for the local community to feel loved, and that’s something Aja said will follow to the new location.
“I’ve been to a lot of restaurants, and at the start, it’ll be one way, and years down the line, the whole mission shifted,” Aja said. “One of my main goals is for how we start, our mission of love and safe space, to be the same five years from now.”
The Lounge is also being upgraded with a 2,700-square-foot event center where, Armar’rae said, the community can have small weddings, quinceañeras and birthday parties. Customers can rent out the space as soon as the lounge opens, according to Armar’rae.
Operating with the belief of “bigger space, bigger visons,” Armar’rae said renovations have already started at the North Michigan Street location, and if the liquor license is received in time, The Bend will open at its new location by June 1.
L Street Kitchen and Punjabi Rasoi collaboration
Angad Food Service LLC now owns both L Street Kitchen and Punjabi Rasoi and operates them both out of one building with a dual-concept model. Co-owner Harpreet Kaur said L Street Kitchen serves American-style breakfast and lunch while Punjabi Rasoi serves Indian cuisine four days a week for dinner.
“It’s a different concept, but we came up with this concept so people can enjoy two different cuisines in one space,” Kaur said. “If they’re like, ‘We want to try an Indian restaurant,’ they can come and try our dinner. If they’re like, ‘I want breakfast,’ we have breakfast and brunch as well.”
The reason for acquiring a liquor license, Kaur said, is because they’re looking for ways to expand. Drinks, such as mimosas and margaritas will be sold for lunch and dinner, and customers can be on the lookout for imported Indian beers as well as domestic ones.
South Bend has given Angad Food Service LLC support and opportunities, Kaur said, since it took over L Street Kitchen that the businesses hope to use to further their success.
“We’re trying to have a license so we can kind of keep growing into it [expansion],” Kaur said. “We’ve been here for a year with Punjabi, and we’ve grown into L Street Kitchen. We would like to grow more.”
Email South Bend Tribune business reporter Jessica Velez at jvelez@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Favorable rec given for two riverfront liquor licenses in South Bend
Reporting by Jessica Velez, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
