My GR Week
The cure for local FOMO.
This Week's Main Event
Beer City Open Pickleball Championship
What: A five day pro and competitive pickleball tournament under the Major League Pickleball banner, with spectator friendly courts, vendors, and food trucks on site.
When: Tuesday July 7 through Saturday July 11. Spectator days ramp up through the weekend, with the biggest crowds expected Friday and Saturday.
Where: Belknap Park, 30 Coldbrook St NE.
Why: Grand Rapids is becoming a real stop on the pro pickleball circuit, and this is the closest most of us will get to courtside seats without flying somewhere. Bring a chair, it is outdoors and free to watch from the perimeter.
How: Check the Major League Pickleball site for the daily match schedule and any ticketed premium seating. General spectating is free.
Community Spotlight
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks: Community Tree Plantings
What: Volunteer driven tree planting events happening across multiple GR neighborhoods this week, part of the city's push toward 40 percent tree canopy coverage.
When: July 8 from 6 to 8pm, July 10 from 10am to 12pm, and July 11 from 10am to 12pm. Each date is a separate session in a different neighborhood.
Where: Locations rotate by date and are listed on the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks events page.
Why: This is the kind of event that does not need a ticket, a budget, or a plan. Show up, plant a tree, meet your neighbors. It is free, it is outside, and it leaves something behind that outlasts the week.
Who: Open to all ages and experience levels, no gardening background needed.
How: RSVP through the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks website to get the exact location and any tools you should bring.
New in the Neighborhood
Kobold's Kitchen
The old Fat Boy Burgers space on Plainfield Ave sat empty for a while after the diner closed in February 2025, ending a 73 year run in Creston. What is in there now could not be more different, and somehow it still feels like it belongs.
Kobold's Kitchen is a board game café, the kind of place where you order a smash burger or a banh mi, then pick from a library of over 800 tabletop games while you eat. Staff called "gametenders" will help you choose something if the wall of boxes is overwhelming, and there is a membership option that lets you take games home for two week stretches.
Owner Theodore Geiger spent eight months on renovations, and the building still functions the way it always did, as a shared table for the neighborhood. The menu leans global, with hand pies rotating through different cultural traditions and a full espresso and boba bar alongside the breakfast classics that made the old diner a fixture.
Kobold's Kitchen is open daily at 2450 Plainfield Ave NE. Sunday and Monday hours run 9am to 2pm, Tuesday through Thursday 7am to 9pm, and Friday and Saturday 7am to 11pm.
CITY GAMES + MY GR WEEK CHALLENGE
This week's CG challenge: Visit Kobold's Kitchen and play a game with a stranger at the shared table. Snap a photo for 2000 pts. Find the challenge in the MY GR WEEK collection at citygames.co
No FOMO List
West Michigan Whitecaps home games at LMCU Ballpark, daily July 7 through 12 against the Lake County Captains and Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Stabbing Westward live at The Pyramid Scheme, July 10.
WMMG Mid West Groove Jazz Festival, July 11, Grand Rapids.
Downtown Market Sunday vendor day, July 7, market hall open with food and drink.
Open Mic Night at RÁK Thai, July 8 from 5 to 8pm, hosted by Milo & Co.
That is the week. Go do something before it disappears.