KENT COUNTY, Michigan — For the past year, Papa Chops Eatery has been catering to a unique crowd – people with celiac disease. None of the menu items contain gluten. In fact, the owner Aaron Muller did not even allow gluten products inside the building during the construction process. It was that attention to detail and a variety of comfort foods that has people driving from all over just to grab a bite.
“When I found out I had celiac, food was something that didn't represent fun,” Muller said. “It became a chore, and so when I started designing this, one of the key things was ‘how do we bring back fun to food to people that have lost the ability to eat normal?’”
His solution – offer fan favorites that are not commonly available to people who are gluten intolerant. His menu now includes things like a breaded chicken sandwich, pizza, mozzarella sticks, fried pickles, and one of his best sellers – hand-battered onion rings. Muller said he sacrificed everything to make his gluten free dreams a reality, including selling his house and car. But his efforts paid off, and in June of 2022, Papa Chops opened its doors in Grand Rapids.
Now, people from all over travel to the eatery just to grab a bite—people like Cassandra Weller, who's been celiac for 15 years.
“I actually live in Lansing, but we made the trip out today so that I could have some gluten-free onion rings,” Weller said. “It's easier to find food than it used to be, but it's still a little more difficult. You go to restaurants, you don't necessarily know if what you're eating is contaminated, if it's safe, if there's going to be options for you to eat when you get there. So finding a restaurant that has everything, and it's all gluten free…yeah, it's worth the trip from Lansing.”
While folks like Weller are willing to drive nearly an hour for lunch, others have made Papa Chops a regular spot, like Sarah VanTassell, whose daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease two years ago.
“We don't really venture out anywhere else. For the most part, we look for places that are dedicated gluten free, and they're kind of few and far between. When we travel, we'll find some here and there. But this by far is the only place we’ve found that serves this type of menu, just a lot of the variety,” VanTassell said. “And whenever we celebrate anything and want to go out to eat, this is where we come. We bring our family with us who don't have celiac disease, and they all enjoy it too.”
“As Americans, we can go to any corner and get food,” Muller said. “However, if you're gluten intolerant, celiac, any of that, you just lost 90% of your convenience.”
Most restaurants these days have at least a few gluten free options, but they’re not always prepared in a gluten-free environment, which can be dangerous for people like Shane Wymer, who was diagnosed with celiac disease last year.
“When I go to restaurants, I have to be like ‘is that gluten free? Was it prepared without cross contamination?’ Here, I don't have to worry about that,” Wymer said. “I would have to say this is my number one restaurant in town right now just because of the fact that I can order anything. I don't have to worry about feeling sick or feeling tired.”
“One of the ultimate goals of this is to not only educate but hopefully somewhat reform the food industry and the way it thinks about gluten free, because it shouldn't be an afterthought,” Muller said. “Food shouldn't be a chore. It shouldn't be this negotiation that you have to make. ‘Is it worth it? Is it not?’ It should just be ‘get up there, go grab whatever you want, and enjoy it.’”
Papa Chops is celebrating one year in business this Saturday starting at 6 p.m. Muller said he’ll have gluten-free corn dogs, cake from Kind Crumbs and raffle drawings. The eatery is located at 2222 28th Street SE in Grand Rapids.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.