Open & Shut: Anchorage gets a Granny B’s-Mexico Lindo mashup and a new women’s clothing store, while a longtime sushi restaurant will close

Open & Shut is an ongoing series looking at the comings and goings of businesses in Southcentral Alaska. If you know of a business opening or closing in the area, send a note to reporter Alex DeMarban at alex@adn.com with “Open & Shut” in the subject line.

OPEN

Mexico Lindo Coffee Restaurant: The owner of the Mexico Lindo mini-mart on West Tudor Road opened a diner and cafe recently in the former Granny B’s Cafe next door.

Fans of Granny B’s, a longtime breakfast spot, will be happy to know that Mexico Lindo still serves the former Granny B’s menu. Also, the former owner and chef, John Gaskin, is still in the kitchen.

That means diners can still get their hearty Granny B’s fare, such as chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy and omelets, said David Guzman, who owns the Mexico Lindo businesses.

Guzman said Gaskin wanted to remain involved with the restaurant where he’d long worked, but he didn’t want to run a business anymore.

“His main thing is to have his customers happy again,” Guzman said. “He just doesn’t want the pressure. He just wants to enjoy cooking and have someone else deal with all the stress. So he’s like, ‘I’m giving that to you.’ ”

Mexico Lindo Coffee Restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. It also offers Mexican dishes, such as huevos rancheros, alongside the Granny B’s menu items, Guzman said.

Also Wednesday to Saturday, from 4 to 7 p.m., the restaurant serves Latin American dinners featuring dishes such as the pupusa, an El Salvador staple of thick tortillas stuffed with meat, cheese or beans and other fillings.

Guzman said the restaurant plans to eventually open seven days weekly. It’s located at 1201 W. Tudor Road, No. 2.

Three: Ever since Jessie Burch left Alaska to attend college around 25 years ago, she couldn’t wait to return to her hometown, Anchorage, to open her own business.

She came back in 2010 and managed an art gallery for several years. With cash she saved up from that job and help from family, she finally got opened her business early this month, a women’s clothing and decor shop in Midtown Anchorage. It’s named after her favorite number, she said.

“It’s super scary but it’s also great,” she said of operating her own business. “It’s just fun to get here in the morning, put my key in door, and see people come in and be excited.”

Three adds to the options for women’s fashion in Anchorage, Burch said.

The store is meant to have something for every shopper. There are denim jeans, sweater vests and colorful blouses and dresses. But some items are a little harder to find in Anchorage, such as long hoodies and harem pants from Bulgaria, slippers from Morocco and hand-loomed Turkish towels.

“I’m trying to have a little more bohemian, international feel,” she said.

Three also sells jewelry, including some made locally; beauty products from Hawaii; and candles, among other items.

The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. It’s located in the Olympic Center at 701 W. 36th Ave., Suite A7.

Buzzwinkle’s Bazaar: This Alaskan-themed gift shop in downtown Anchorage sells locally made items like jewelry and quilts, fur items such as gloves and hats, and wares made by blacksmiths such as candleholders, knives and axes.

Buzzwinkle, located in the Hotel Captain Cook, sells products on consignment from about 15 artists and craft-makers, said owner Elaina Haupt.

The store is named after the late bull moose that for years was a seasonal celebrity in downtown Anchorage, known for getting drunk off fermented apples. Most famously, Buzzwinkle, as locals called it, apparently ate the apples in 2007 and wandered the streets trailing entangled Christmas lights from its antlers.

“Since we’re downtown, and we don’t take ourselves too seriously, we thought that’d be the perfect name,” Haupt said.

The store launched in late February. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. but longer for events like First Fridays.

It’s located in Suite Q in the hotel at 939 W. Fifth Ave., in the spot that for many years was home to Rosita’s Boutique.

Captain Cook Art Co-op: About 10 artists own this co-op in the Hotel Captain Cook in Suite P. They sell items such as photography, jewelry, stone knives, oil paintings, stickers, pottery and stippling ink pen art.

The store held its grand opening early this month.

Dawn Walsh, the owner of the ShuzyQ women’s shoe shop, sold shoes in the spot last year. But she figured it’d be a better fit for a co-op, so she found several artists who wanted to join.

“It’s member owned and operated, so all the artists take turns working there,” she said.

Some of the artists also create their work on site. Some plan to offer classes in the future for activities such as painting or making jewelry, she said.

The store is open Thursday to Saturday from 4-8 p.m., but hours will be expanded this summer. Artists are also available by appointment at captaincookartco@gmail.com.

Alaska Brisket Co: This monthly pop-up restaurant launched for one day late last month selling wood-fired barbecue brisket, ribs, pulled pork and homemade sausage out of the re:MADE store in South Anchorage.

It will be back for another day in late May, said owner Tait Johnson.

Johnson said the Alaska Brisket debut also marked the return of the chef’s program at Anchorage re:MADE, which is a nonprofit operation that’s part small-business incubator, at 13500 Old Seward Highway.

Bakers and chefs essentially reserve the commercial kitchen one day a week to sell their product with an eye on eventually opening their own business.

Tait and wife Kaitlyn Johnson are managing the chef’s program, which halted last fall. Patti Buist, re:MADE founder, said she put the chef’s program on hold while she focused on running the store in Anchorage, and in Florida and Michigan, where she has also opened the nonprofits.

In the past, re:MADE chefs have sold tacos, soul food, gluten-free products and a variety of other items, for dining on site or take-home. Jason Anderson, selling hearty grilled cheese sandwiches from the Melt food truck, is one former chef who has worked at re:Made, Buist said.

In addition to Alaska Brisket Co., the chef’s program will add new restaurants and bakers starting in May, Buist said.

Marie-Kreez: This locally owned shop in the Dimond Center mall sells French macarons, eclairs, cream puffs and a variety of Filipino breads, said its owner Marie-Cris Bautista.

The store also sells coconut salad, a Filipino dish that combines coconut and other foods, and cake in a cup with cake bread and goodies like purple yams or mangos, Bautista said.

The store is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.

“We sell out quick,” Bautista said.

The mall announced the opening last month in a Facebook post. Marie-Kreez is on the ground level of the mall, next to LensCrafters.

SHUT

Peter’s Sushi Spot: After weathering 20 years of business in Anchorage, a fire and two location changes, Peter’s Sushi Spot at 3020 Minnesota Drive is closing April 29.

The beloved neighborhood sushi joint, owned by Peter Park, initially operated out of a small location on Fairbanks Street before moving to B Street in Midtown, until that restaurant site was destroyed by a fire in 2008. Peter’s Sushi Spot reopened at the Minnesota location in 2011.

The closure was announced in a sign posted in the entryway of the restaurant.

“It has been our honor to serve you, your families and friends,” the sign said. “We thank you for all of your patronage throughout these wonderful years.”

The last day of dinner service will be April 29, from 4 to 10 p.m.

Daily News reporter Annie Berman contributed.

[Open & Shut: Anchorage gets a seafood boil restaurant, a pet grooming shop and an Irish pub on St. Patrick’s Day, while a new eatery opens in Girdwood]