Do it. Do it. Do the hustle in downtown Collingwood.
The Hustle Grab and Go is Collingwood's newest eatery, a quick-serve breakfast and lunch spot at 65 Simcoe St., unit 2.
Named after the top hit of summer 1975, The Hustle by Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony, the restaurant has a retro-disco decor theme.
When you enter the restaurant, there's wide, colourful striping on the walls and three disco balls hanging from the roof. The name hustle is also a nod to the quick-style service.
At the right of the entrance is the glass-door refrigerator with ready-made sandwiches, salads, charcuterie boxes and snacks like chia cups and cold beverages.
On the left is the main counter with fresh-baked muffins, squares, energy balls and the pay station. The Hustle is serving Muskoka drip coffee and Blue Mountain Tea.
"You can grab a sandwich or a salad, pay and out you go in a couple of minutes," said owner Cassie MacKell. MacKell is the co-owner of Low Down, a cocktail bar and restaurant, also at 65 Simcoe Street, unit 5. So, the song-inspired Hustle name also reflects her side hustle.
"I like the concept of a grab-and-go breakfast and lunch spot for people who are busy. Maybe they need to pick up lunch on their way to work or they just have 15 minutes to grab lunch fast and get back to work. That was the inspiration for it," MacKell said.
But she also wants to elevate the food quality beyond drive-thru with her own personal recipes.
“I was inspired by that but wanted to elevate it so that the food is made fresh and it’s super flavourful and gets people excited about lunch,” she said.
Sandwiches include curry chicken, egg salad and chickpea made with a sweet curry sauce, granny smith apples, almonds, fennel and lettuce.
"Everyone mentions the crunch of the apples," said employee April Woodcock.
There's also smoked turkey, black forest ham and cucumber sandwiches. All the sandwiches are served on Cobs sourdough bread.
Salads include Thai chop, zesty dill kale, Moroccan lentil and beet and apple. Sandwiches and salads are made fresh throughout the day, nothing is day-old.
Even though the restaurant is small, the floor space is kept open so that it is wheelchair and stroller accessible. Light wall colours and big windows let natural light stream in.
For people who want to dine in, there is bar seating. A patio will be set up out front in good weather. Catering will be offered very soon.
The Hustle Grab and Go is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information visit the website: thehustlecollingwood.ca or call 248-882-4266.
