By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – One of Bloomington-Normal oldest restaurants will be undergoing an ownership change – and an expanded menu to add what’s not presently offered in the Twin Cities. .

Local realtor Jimmy Mapugay is part of a group that’s taking over the Grand Cafe in downtown Bloomington with plans to add some Filipino dishes to go with the restaurant’s Chinese-American fare.

“Me being from the Philippines, I look around here there is no Filipino restaurant here and there’s a growing Filipino community here,” Mupugay said “We do potlucks. I was thinking, maybe this is the right time to do this.”

Bloomington mayor and liquor commissioner Tari Renner is recommending the city council approve the restaurant’s request for a liquor license.

These (customers), they don’t want to drink a lot, but when they have dinner they want to have to have wine or a beer,” Mapugay said.

The city council will take up the measure on March 13. The bar has been closed previously.

Mapugay plans to temporarily close the restaurant for some remodeling this spring.

The Grand Cafe opened in 1921. Its previous owners had announced plans to close late year but decided to stay open after seeing a surge in business.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].