This Friday, Niles residents will be treated to more than intricately carved ice sculptures at the Hunter Ice Festival.
From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Jim Morris, owner of Jim’s Smokin’ Cafe, will debut his new restaurant, the Paris Soda Co., at 220 E. Main St. — the location of the former Paris Soda Shop.
While Morris had originally planned to keep Jim’s Smokin’ Cafe, located at 402 Front St., he announced Tuesday that he would be closing the restaurant in February.
Morris has owned Jim’s Smokin’ Cafe in Niles since May 2014. The restaurant located featured a variety of in-house smoked barbecue.
Customers may know Morris for his barbecue, but starting Friday, customers will see a menu with more options at the Paris Soda Co.
“It is going to be an expanding, changing menu,” Morris said.
The menu changes stem from the opportunity to experiment more in a kitchen that is double the size of Morris’ kitchen at the Front Street location.
Morris’ famed barbecue dishes did make the menu cut, as well as gourmet grilled cheese and homemade soup. He will also serve a variety of oven-baked sandwiches, such as a Cuban sandwich made with pulled pork and ham and pressed with Swiss cheese, and drinks from the soda fountain.
For dessert, Morris will offer gelato served in sugar or waffle cones. The gelato is comes from Fennville, Michigan, and includes flavors of Tahitian vanilla bean, apple pie and vegan options including blueberry.
“Nobody has got gelato around here,” Morris said. “[Gelato] is a lot more pure and not full of air.”
As he opened up the restaurant’s new doors Tuesday afternoon for an exclusive tour, the restaurant looked just about ready to host the crowds expected to attend the three-day Hunter Ice Festival.
“It has been a lot of work,” Morris said. “I have gone through 3 or 4 gallons of paint.”
Morris hoped to revive some of the character of the Paris Soda Shop he enjoyed as a child, as he frequently visited the restaurant for a soda.
While offering soda fresh from the soda fountain is part of that goal, Morris has also worked to create a family-friendly restaurant where people can spend time together.
With room to seat about 40 patrons, square cafe tables and chairs may be different from the high backed booths of Morris’ childhood era, but some aspects remained the same.
Morris kept the original tiled floor, which is from the 1920s. He also kept the long red-topped bar and stools, which sits just in front of another huge benefit that drew Morris to the location — a gleaming soda jerk, which distributes carbonated water into whatever soda flavor is imagined.
“Not all jerks are bad,” Morris joked.
While Morris still has not quite found the ingredients needed for his signature flavors, he said the fountain will be in operation for the opening, offering a select number of house-made sodas, just like he experienced when he was a child.
The opening day will serve as more than a test run. Morris also hopes to hear from customers about what they want to see on the menu.
One thing Morris has already heard from customers is how eager they are to try out the new restaurant.
“Everybody has been asking ‘when is it going to be open,’” Morris said. “I have got a lot of eager people.”
Morris has planned on staffing the restaurant with two to three employees. He will plans to host an official grand opening in March.

Also opening for the Hunter Ice Festival:
Katharos Garden, a pop-up restaurant run by Chef Cynthia Gallero-Greer will offer a fine dining experience for festivalgoers at 219 N. Fourth St. Greer graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago in November and re-opened her company Katharos Catering in Niles.
Gallero-Greer’s seeks to create dishes that use only fresh and natural ingredients.
Guests can also enjoy a live music performance by The Andrew Fisher Quartet.
Katharos Garden will be open from 1 to 11 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
To make a reservation call (269) 340-0316.