GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — Tucked away in small, calm downtown Grand Haven is a shop with a wild attitude.
Bad Habit moved into its new location on Washington Avenue between 2nd and 3rd streets earlier this year after spending just a few months at its original location on South Beacon Boulevard. The address has changed but the menu is still full of some of the most extreme and unique items found in West Michigan.
From milkshakes topped with full cupcakes, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Nutty Buddy Bars to sundaes pilled high with Oreos, whipped cream and chocolate syrup, Bad Habit has all of the calorie-dense desserts your heart desires.
Bonnie Brown, one of the co-owners, said the idea for the shop was sparked by a trip to Las Vegas after the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully for those in Grand Haven, it didn’t stay in Vegas.
“Some friends said, ‘There’s this new, sort of pop-up that opened up that this woman is doing these extreme shakes and she’ll deliver,” Brown said. “She brought them to the restaurant and I thought, ‘This is amazing and we need these in Michigan.'”
Brown got with her fellow co-owner, John Zervas, and began the groundwork for what is now Bad Habit. Many of the items they serve come from Brown, who Zervas said is the tastemaker in the partnership.
“She’s the brains behind the whole menu and developing what’s on the menu and what goes with what,” Zervas said. “Her sweet tooth is much sweeter than mine.”
Brown has used her own preferences and experience to create some of Bad Habit’s most popular creations. The Potty Mouth, which is a lemon-cake-focused shake, was created after Brown’s birthday party and an unfortunate accident that destroyed her lemon cheesecake. When life gave Brown lemon cheesecake pieces, she made a lemon cheesecake shake.
“I thought it would be really good blended into a shake,” Brown said. “So that’s how we started with that one.”
“The Insomniac,” Brown’s new favorite, is tiramisu-inspired. “The Slacker,” the shop’s most popular, has all things peanut butter and chocolate.
What Brown and Zervas think is the most unique menu item is the bubble waffles. They are a new item to Bad Habit and are derived from the popular Asian street food. They can be customized to be either sweet or savory. Bad Habit is one of the only places in the entire state where you can find one.
“The variety of different things that you could do with it, we liked,” Brown said. “We liked that it wasn’t a sandwich. There’s probably four sandwich places that we can count off the top of my head on Washington and why compete with that? They’re doing great and their sandwiches are amazing, but we don’t need to add to that.”
The bubble waffles set Bad Habit apart from other spots in Grand Haven, as did its new expanded menu that includes hot food like wings and charcuterie boards it has dubbed “adult lunchables.”
Bad Habit is also working on another extreme take on its extreme shakes.
“From day one we have had having a liquor license on our agenda,” Brown said. “So that would probably be our first long-term goal. To be able to do that and be able to offer some boozy shakes for adults in the evenings. I think that would be another unique thing that isn’t offered at other places.”
Bad Habit is open year-round from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
