Jordan Beck | Daily Press Clockwise, from top, Hugh Theut, Mark Ammel, Maia Roll, and Laura Palmgren of Bobaloon’s Cafe are pictured behind the restaurant’s front counter. Ammel, who owns Bobaloon’s, said the restaurant’s distinctive menu has played a major role in its continued success.

Editor’s note: The Daily Press features a profile of an area business each week. This week’s featured business is Bobaloon’s Cafe in Escanaba.

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By Jordan Beck

jbeck@dailypress.net

ESCANABA — Local restaurant Bobaloon’s Cafe offers a distinctive menu featuring a wide variety of dishes, owner Mark Ammel said — a fact that has played a major role in the business’ continued success.

While the restaurant opened in the late ’90s, Ammel’s family took control of Bobaloon’s shortly after it was established.

“My family purchased Bobaloon’s in November of 2004,” Ammel said.

At this time, Ammel’s older brother and cousin co-owned the restaurant. In the spring of 2006, however, his brother left.

“My cousin left in 2007, and I stayed,” Ammel said. He has been running the restaurant ever since.

Ammel said the restaurant business is not an easy one.

“Everybody knows how to eat lunch,” he said.

Because of this, he has worked to offer a unique, but accessible menu at Bobaloon’s.

“The key is to find the balance between … making food that you want to make or enjoy making, but remembering to let the clientele make it their own,” he said.

When Bobaloon’s first opened, Ammel said its menu emphasized “Chicago-style street food” such as hot dogs, Italian beef, Italian sausage, gyros, and pizza. While many of these items are still on the restaurant’s menu, its focus has shifted over the years.

“It’s expanded a little bit to include some … things that are a little more Mediterranean, slightly,” Ammel said. The restaurant now offers foods such as falafel, shawarma, and hummus.

According to Ammel, potential new additions to his menu are first sold as limited-time special items.

“Eventually, some of those specials become staple menu items,” he said.

Ammel also uses as many fresh ingredients as he can at Bobaloon’s. He makes his own pastrami and roasts his own pork, Italian beef, and corned beef.

In addition to the restaurant’s menu, Ammel said the atmosphere at Bobaloon’s is an important part of its appeal.

“It’s a fun, easy place to be,” he said.

Over the years, Bobaloon’s has attracted a dedicated following.

“We have a lot of repeat or regular customers, as well as a healthy mix of tourists and first-timers,” Ammel said.

In the future, Ammel said he hopes to keep doing what he has been doing at Bobaloon’s.

“Our goal is to continue to offer a diverse, intriguing menu inside while (carrying) out our mission of sustainable community growth through both on-site events … and our involvement with various non-profit organizations within the community,” he said. These organizations include the Bonifas Arts Center and the United Way of Delta County.