“Allora” in Italian is a connector word indicating there’s more to come.
Restaurant owners Betsey and Dick Devos anticipate the name symbolizes the guest experience.
“That they’ll make connections, they’ll tell stories, they’ll share great experiences.”
Located at 201 Monroe Avenue Northwest, Chef Luke VerHulst is offering Italian coastal flavors.
Historically, the restaurant business is competitive.
So far in 2025, at least eight Grand Rapids bar/restaurants have closed.
But Richard App, Retail Retention & Attraction Specialist for the city of Grand Rapids, says in the last two years, for every downtown business that closed, 2.1 have opened.
“We talk about the planes that crash not the ones that land safely. It’s fair: we lost a couple significant restaurants during that time, but we’ve also opened some great ones too.”
App says restaurant owners operate on a small margin, facing higher food prices and wages, earned sick time and competition from delivery services.
However, many are thriving by finding a unique niche or offering experiences for patrons.
” Just in this fiscal year since July 1, we’ve opened well over a dozen and a half restaurant around the city. The restaurants that are always keeping it fresh and doing innovation, those are the ones that are going to continue to be serving our community.”
