11/02/2026
TLDR : goodbye, friends
Sometimes life takes you in unexpected directions. Right now is one of those times for us.
HenriettaHaus started in our house in Wyandotte back in 2002 when Amy started roasting coffee and we would sell bags of freshly roasted coffee to friends and family and on weekends at any farmer’s market that would have us. We had a dream of starting our own little cafe, a place where people could come get espresso drinks, good cocktails, the great b**rs of the world, and a small selection of well made food.
In 2011, the Rust Belt Market opened in Ferndale and we were able to set up shop there. We started with a folding table, selling bags of beans and brewed coffee from a French press. By the time we left the Rust Belt in 2014, we were selling coffee and liege style waffles from our bar that Amy had frankensteined together from a bunch of antique pump organs and other beautiful wood, a precursor of what our place in Hamtramck would ultimately become.
All the while we were looking for a place to call home. We had been searching for six years until we found our place in Hamtramck in 2013. A century-old butcher shop right on Joseph Campau.
Neither of us had any real restaurant experience to speak of. But we shared a dream. And we had a strong work ethic instilled in us by both sets of our parents. And we had our life savings.
So we went for it.
We built this place into something that we think is magical. We’ve hosted wedding parties, first birthday parties, seventy-fifth birthday parties and everything in between. We’ve made a lot of friends along this journey and we’ve learned a lot. We’ve had people from all over the world come through, artists, musicians, and even a film maker documenting their journey as they sailed across the ocean. We got the opportunity once to feed the Dead Milkmen, one of our all-time favorite bands. And Sean Astin, star of some of our favorite movies, ate here once and told us that the place was “rad”.
It has been a surreal experience. Sometimes when we’re doing prep one of us will say to the other “can you believe that we made this place??”
We built the place we dreamed about. We manifested our imagination. We’ve always strived to make the best version of whatever it is we’re serving, be it pizza, coffee, salads, cocktails, pastries. We’ve always strived to be a place unlike any place you’ve been before. And maybe we succeeded in that. It’s not for us to judge.
All that to say that we hope you come in during the next few months because we will be shutting down operations after the new year.
The truth is that there isn’t any one particular reason. There are a lot of reasons but not an overarching one. It’s just time for us to move on to the next chapter of our lives, whatever that may hold.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Wise words from a man just trying to skip school but wise words indeed.
So it’s time for us to stop and look around. We did the thing and it’s time to do whatever comes next. Come see us over the next few months, we will be shutting down in the new year. We cannot thank our employees enough for all of their hard work and dedication that helped make this place into the magical experience we hope you remember forever.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who came in and fell in love with this thing we made. We hope you made memories here that you will hold for the rest of your life. We hope that we’ve inspired you to do the thing, even if it seems far fetched.
Chase it.
