New Chef-Driven Tasting Menu Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge Open in Downtown Grand Rapids

Trust restaurant offers a 7-course, monthly changing menu in an intimate setting, with a connected cocktail bar next door called Tellers Lounge.

Apr. 10, 2026 at 7:25pm

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A brightly colored, high-contrast silkscreen print of a single, iconic cocktail glass or plate of food, repeated in a tight grid pattern in the style of Andy Warhol, conceptually representing the new dining and drinking experience at Trust and Tellers Lounge in downtown Grand Rapids.The new Trust restaurant and Tellers Lounge in downtown Grand Rapids offer an intimate, upscale dining and cocktail experience that adds a unique culinary option to the city's growing food scene.East Grand Rapids Today

Downtown Grand Rapids has a new dining experience with the opening of Trust, a 24-seat tasting menu restaurant featuring a 7-course, monthly changing menu created by Chef Trimell Hawkins. The restaurant is located in a 2,000-square-foot space with an open kitchen design, and reservations are required. Next door is Tellers Lounge, a craft cocktail bar with a historic feel that complements the dining experience at Trust.

Why it matters

The opening of Trust and Tellers Lounge brings a unique, upscale dining and cocktail experience to downtown Grand Rapids, providing residents and visitors with a new chef-driven tasting menu option and a complementary craft cocktail lounge. This adds to the growing culinary scene in the city, which has seen an influx of new restaurants in recent years.

The details

Trust is the vision of Chef Trimell Hawkins, who grew up cooking with his grandmother in Chicago and has built an extensive resume in local Grand Rapids kitchens. The 7-course tasting menu at Trust changes monthly and blends classical French technique with Southern tradition, offering dishes that put a modern, upscale twist on comforting childhood favorites. The $100 per person tasting menu experience is designed to be an intimate, storytelling journey through the ingredients. Next door, Tellers Lounge offers craft cocktails in a historic setting, with a menu of more than 50 rotating cocktails made with house-made ingredients and a focus on technique. While separate businesses, Trust and Tellers Lounge are designed to complement each other, allowing guests to move between the full tasting menu experience and a more casual cocktail setting.

  • Trust restaurant and Tellers Lounge just opened in downtown Grand Rapids in April 2026.
  • The 7-course tasting menu at Trust changes monthly.

The players

Trimell Hawkins

The chef and owner of Trust restaurant, who grew up cooking with his grandmother in Chicago and has built an extensive resume in local Grand Rapids kitchens, including roles at Black Heron, Forty Acres Soul Kitchen, Gravity Taphouse and Grill, and Portico at the Canopy by Hilton.

Trust

A new 24-seat tasting menu restaurant in downtown Grand Rapids, offering a 7-course, monthly changing menu that blends classical French technique with Southern tradition.

Tellers Lounge

A craft cocktail bar next door to Trust restaurant, with a historic feel and a menu of more than 50 rotating cocktails made with house-made ingredients and a focus on technique.

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The takeaway

The opening of Trust and Tellers Lounge in downtown Grand Rapids provides residents and visitors with a unique, upscale dining and cocktail experience that adds to the city's growing culinary scene. The intimate, chef-driven tasting menu at Trust, combined with the complementary craft cocktail offerings at Tellers Lounge, offer a new and compelling dining and drinking option in the heart of the city.