AVALON PARK— A new kind of bar will soon be opening on the South Side.
But instead of liquor, this one will offer patrons 50 different brands of cereal and over 20 toppings, including pop rock candy, chocolate chips and gummy bears.
Chatham resident Mark Walker, of “Oooh Wee Sweet Tea,” came up with the concept.
Walker began selling his tea, a fruit-flavored, sugarless drink sweetened with honey, out of the Harold’s Chicken on 87th Street and Lafayette Avenue. Over the last two years, he had set up tea stands in other locations.
Last month, he launched the Oooh Wee Sweet Tea Restaurant, 1225 E. 87th St. with a soft opening on May 6 and a grand opening scheduled for July 2.
Part of that restaurant's menu is cereal.
“I wanted to step outside the box and do something unique,” Walker explained, adding that if there’s a cereal someone wants and he doesn't have it, he’ll get it.
Toppings range from candy to fruit. Walker, who is also a beekeeper, also has fresh honey from 16 hives he maintains across the city.
People can come in for hot and cold cereal, choose two toppings and one of eight types of milk before sitting at a table — or one of the restaurant's thrones.
Yes, a throne.
Walker bought several thrones from overseas along with decorative sofas.
Mark Walker wanted South Siders "to eat like kings and queens." DNAinfo/Andrea V. Watson]
“I just wanted to give people something in our neighborhood that you wouldn't necessarily see on the South Side of Chicago,” Walker said. “We want to open up your horizon to sit down and eat like kings and queens whether it be a bowl of cereal or shrimp and grits.”
There are 50 different cereals and 20 different toppings. [DNAinfo/Andrea V. Watson]
Cereal is $4.50 a bowl. Other options include Honey Jerk Chicken Tips, Collard Green Egg Rolls, Pot Roast Nachos and fried biscuits. Breakfast foods includes Snicker French Toast and shrimp and grits.
Walker said he's bringing jobs to a community that needs them: he's already hired nine people, many young people who needed summer employment.
There is an outside dining option with a large parking lot next door. The restaurant is available for rent for private events for $150 an hour.
