Furnace Street Distillery Expands “The Sidecar Bar” Into Frankfort
In Volume XI Issue 8, published June 30, 2022, we featured a Q&A with Brian Paavola (60), who grew up in Frankfort and graduated from Frankfort High School in 1984, then went on to receive his Master of Business Administration degree from Western Michigan University. Paavola’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to pursue work in many different fields, both in Michigan and across the country, with Furnace Street Distillery in Elberta being his latest—and most local—venture.
Initially, the distillery took two and a half years to come to fruition—and now, four years later, the business is getting set to expand via a collaboration with other local business owners just across the bay, in Frankfort.
In 2019, Paavola acquired the building formerly known as the Trick Dog Gallery & Cafe—located on the namesake of Furnace Street in Elberta—and renovations took place from 2020 until late 2021. In October 2021, the last distilling license was obtained, and distillation began on the very same day.
The distillery officially opened to the public in June 2022, with a line of custom craft cocktails made from Furnace Street’s own vodka, rum, premium gin, blended bourbon, and a line of liqueurs.
Since that time, Furnace Street Distillery has won numerous national and international awards, and they continue to use as many local ingredients as possible, such as honey from Sleeping Bear Farms of Beulah and jams from We Bee Jammin of Bear Lake; additionally, the vodka, gins, and liqueurs are made exclusively from Michigan-grown corn. In addition to buying cocktails from the seasonal tasting room, some of the distillery’s products can be purchased in bottles at local grocery stores.
For the past four summers, patrons at the tasting room in Elberta have been able to enjoy live music just down the hill at the outdoor Elberta amphitheater during the free “Jammin’ Mondays on Betsie Bay,” as well as obtain culinary delights from a food truck in the Furnace Street Distillery parking lot—first it was Hearth and Hops from 2022 to 2024, followed by Goody’s Lobster Shack.*
This helped to get the wheels turning as to what could be next.
One day, two of Furnace Street’s distillers—Scott Kubit (58) and his son, Cam (26)—were at the Menus on Main food truck lot on the east side of downtown Frankfort, located behind Coastline Cycles* and adjacent to the Betsie Valley Trail.
“We were getting tacos from Shannon Rosum [of Off The Hook Tacos*], and he told us how Scott Bradley, who owns the property, was looking to create an event space with alcoholic drinks,” Scott Kubit says. “We thought it was a great idea, so we talked to Brian [Paavola] and got to work.”
Back in April 2025, the Frankfort City Council had voted to approve a “social district,” a designated zone where it is legal to purchase “to-go” alcoholic drinks from a participating bar/restaurant and walk with it down the street—originally, Frankfort’s social district ran along Main Street from the Frankfort Beach to 8th Street, but the Furnace Street Distillery-Menus on Main mash-up lobbied for the district to be expanded down to 11th Street in January 2026.
At this point, Furnace Street Distillery bought a shipping container in March, and the Kubits built it out as a bar, adding a deck onto it.
So very soon, you will be able to buy a frozen margarita to compliment your tacos, and many other combinations—the plan is to have a drink to pair with every food truck: Upriver’s wood-fired pizzas, Southern Synthesis’ southern specialties, Stall BBQ’s brisket and pulled pork, Lake Bowl’s açaí and smoothies, and whatever new food trucks might be added to the property in the future.
Called The Sidecar Bar, this “container bar” will serve exclusively Furnace Street Distillery’s liquors in the form of mixed drinks, cocktails, and yes, even slushies—different than what you can get at the tasting room in Elberta and at price points that fit in with the food-truck community they have joined.
The Sidecar Bar is only the second outdoor “container bar” in the state of Michigan.
“We’re the second one that has been approved for an operation like this,” Scott Kubit says. “The only other container-bar operation is in Grand Rapids at the new music venue… Typically, for a tasting room, there is an indoor service area—there is no indoors for us, just the attached deck.”
Kubit continues:
“We are right now focused on our opening night event, which is Friday, June 26, but then, following that, Menus on Main will have music every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday throughout the summer. Our hope is that the community comes down and supports the food trucks, supports Furnace Street Distillery, supports The Sidecar Bar, and takes advantage of the great open space that was created by Shannon Rosum and Scott Bradley”
Furnace Street Distillery—open Thursdays through Mondays seasonally, from Memorial Day through Labor Day—is located at 1121 Furnace Street in Elberta. The Sidecar Bar will be located at Menus on Main at 1048 Main Street in Frankfort. Learn more at FurnaceStreetDistillery.com online. Follow “Furnace Street Distillery” on Facebook or @FurnaceStreetDistillery on Instagram for updated information.
*Editor’s Note: The Betsie Current featured Mark Hallett of Goody’s Lobster Shack first in a Q&A in July 2022 and then in one of these “story updates” in May 2024 after he opened Goody’s Market; in addition to the Shack located at Furnace Street, the Shack window is still operating from the market at 515 Main Street. We also featured a Q&A with Ethan Przekaza and Meg Doby first in July 2016 and then in an update when they opened Coastline Cycles in May 2022. Lastly, we featured a Q&A with Shannon and Sarah Rosum of Off The Hook Tacos in August 2022. Find all of these in our online archives.
The Cabbage Shed Expands with “The Patch” in Frankfort
From its 1867 roots as a general store and post office to becoming a literal warehouse during the 1930s for cabbage to the 1970s, when the building became a flea market downstairs and apartments upstairs, it was not until August 31, 1985, that The Cabbage Shed became the icon as we all now know it—a family-friendly restaurant and bar, with indoor and outdoor seating on Betsie Bay, as well as a venue for musical acts.
Being so culturally relevant to the fabric of Benzie County, we have written about it on several occasions: we first ran an essay back in 2006 on the many local couples who “found love” at The Shed.
Then, after three decades of rocking out music from the stage and borscht from the kitchen, original owner Jim Clapp—who had been running The Shed with his daughter, Becky Hunt—decided to retire and sell in late 2015, so we ran an ode to its history.
The following spring, in May 2016, we ran a Q&A with Clapp on how he spent his first winter as a retiree. We also wrote about “Cabbage Shed 2.0” at this time, profiling the new owners, Colleen and T.J. Hudson, who had been summering in Elberta for two decades prior, as well as their daughter, Elizabeth “Beth” (Hudson) Roethler (45) and her husband, Tony (47), who notably had held their wedding reception at The Shed in July 2011. (We also wrote about two separate home births—first in July 2019 and then again in September 2021—in one of the apartments above The Cabbage Shed, which was quickly becoming a Cabbage Patch, of sorts… but that is getting ahead of ourselves.)
The Hudsons did some necessary renovations but tried to keep the vibes of The Shed the same, though it became seasonal in 2017. Ultimately, the Roethlers purchased The Shed from the Hudsons in 2023, and it continues to be a popular Benzie County destination for both food and music from mid-April to late October.
But in mid-May 2026—a decade after transitioning into their roles at The Shed—the Roethlers have now expanded into downtown Frankfort with The Patch, an offshoot that will serve quick, healthy to-go salads, wraps, and bowls during lunch hours.
“Our driving force behind The Patch was about families,” says Beth Roethler, who is not just a business owner but also an educator at Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools (FEAS). “Families like ours that are busy, have a lot going on, and want to have healthy options that can be eaten on the go and together. Our daughters are busy with softball, dance, musicals, school, but whether we are running to the beach for the day, or taking kids to practices, having food that is quick, full of flavor, and fresh makes a difference.”
She says that many of The Patch recipes come from favorites made in the Roethler home.
“Our family loves all the amazing things that Frankfort and Elberta have to offer, from the beaches to the trails to our library and parks,” she explains. “We just wanted another lunch option for when you are out living and loving your life here.”
The Patch’s salads, wraps, and bowls have everything from vegetarian options to gluten-free, in addition to favorites like chicken, pork carnitas, and flank steak. Additionally, patrons can purchase extras like avocado toast, lemon hummus, chips, cookies, and yes, even The Shed’s famous borscht soup, along with another “soup of the day.”
The Cabbage Shed, located at 198 Frankfort Avenue in Elberta, is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4-9 p.m. and Fridays through Sundays from 12-9 p.m. Learn more at CabbageShed.com online. Follow “Cabbage Shed” on Facebook or @CabbageShed on Instagram.
The Patch, located on 4th Street, just behind The Corner Toy Store at 401 Main Street in downtown Frankfort, is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Learn more at ThePatchMI.com online.
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