Stevensville’s St. Joseph Avenue has quickly become a fresh and hunger-inspiring food corridor. From DogSlinger at the north end, Red Coach Donuts at the south, and Watermark Brewing and Full Circle Café in between, few other new and independent food establishment concentrations like this exist in the area.
Now you can add The Squeeze to the mix.
The Squeeze is the brand-new restaurant that will open soon in the former Woodies location at 5725 St. Joseph Avenue. The owners and kitchen manager are area residents who combined have more than 40 years of experience in the food service industry.
The co-owners are Sami Schlutt and Kristen Pfledderer. Both have front-of-the-house experience – most recently at the now-closed North Shore Inn in Benton Harbor. Pfledderer said they weren’t looking to open a restaurant, but when the opportunity presented, they decided this was their chance.
“We were both in leadership role situations. Everyone came to us, we had a lot on our plate, and we did what we needed to do,” said Pfledderer. “When this (offer) was presented to us, it was like, ‘Why would we not do this for our own success?’ We’re super excited.”
“My husband and I used to come here, that’s how we knew (Woodies) was for sale,” said Schlutt. “The previous owner was awesome, but she was ready to sell. We had financial backing and we were able to get the place so we decided to do it.”
Experience aside, since the Covid pandemic, the hospitality industry has suffered a severe labor shortage. Schlutt and Pfledderer recognize the challenge but feel like they have a good reputation and an area network they can leverage to hire quality people. The first hire was John Howe, their former colleague and head chef from the North Shore Inn.
“I hope I can bring some wisdom, not just be back-of-the-house with recipes, but also a commonsense approach to how you do business. Like I learned from my parents, treat your customers well, treat your staff well, and all those things come back to benefit you in the end.”
Howe’s family operated the North Shore Inn from 1991 to 2016. He describes the menu as American fare.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” said Howe. “I know I have a reputation with burgers but believe it or not I can do more than make cheeseburgers. This will be a neat opportunity to spread my wings a little. It’s exciting for me.”
“We’re not here to compete with anyone. We don’t want to be the same as anyone else. We’re trying to be our own place,” said Schlutt. “We don’t want to take from anybody around us. Everyone knows where we come from and especially now with the three of us together, we don’t want anyone to think we’re taking from North Shore. We are just our own people, and we just want to do this for our customers and the community.”
Right now, the doors are locked and the windows papered over while the trio is working on the interior, getting everything in order for what Schlutt and Pfledderer predict will be a mid- to late-September opening.
“It’s not going to be a full remodel, it’s more of a refresh. We want to brighten the place up a little bit. We just want to make it our own. We want it to be fun.”
