As an Eastern Michigan University student, Joel Hamami couldn’t find what he really wanted to eat. So, when he graduated, he focused on his vision: creating a restaurant in his hometown that serves fast-casual burritos to hungry college students. Coupling that vision with his experience, he’d been working in restaurants since he was 16. Hamami opened STUFD, at 505 Cross St., in 2014.
Q: How did you get started? Why here? Why burritos?
A: Opening a restaurant was something I wanted to do as a student, so I made it happen. Before COVID, we were open really late: 3 a.m. burritos were part of the culture. There wasn’t much late-night food nearby, so people would drive out to Taco Bell. I saw an opportunity to keep people close with something affordable and within walking distance from places like Tom’s Party Store…