Cape Verdean is coming to Dartmouth

Cape Verdean, France, Portugal, Brazil and more are coming to Dartmouth. At least, the cuisine will be when  Grill Basket Express opens in the 15 State Road plaza.

“I think there’s no better legacy than impacting other people and inspiring and motivating and transforming this world,” said Ellie Paris, the brains and recipes behind the new Grill Basket Express. “So this is what I’m hoping to do with the restaurant and everything that I’ve been doing.”

Paris started Grill Basket Express World Social Kitchen and Bake House because she wanted to open a casual bakery and cultural kitchen where people could get globally and locally inspired food. 

“What a great way to be a bridge connector between those communities and surrounding communities and bringing both food, globally and locally inspired food, that represents the people of our communities,” said Paris.

She wants the restaurant to be a place where families can connect with each other and learn about the cultural history of the Dartmouth and New Bedford area. She hopes the food will “...inspire, educate and connect.”

“I want people to go there and have, perhaps, their first Cape Verdean meal or Portuguese meal,” Paris said. “We also want to be doing a lot around the world, daily specials from places that people perhaps never heard of or never even thought about trying their food.”

Paris is an award-winning entrepreneur, winning the 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year from the Metro South Chamber for her Social Bookstore and Ice Cream Cafe located in Brockton. 

She started her entrepreneurial career back at UMass Dartmouth, when she was getting her graduate degree in Business Administration. While the idea for a social kitchen like this began then, a number of projects came first. 

Her first business was a tee-shirt business that started almost by accident. For a trip she was overseeing as a faculty advisor, she created a shirt with the help of her graphic design friend. The shirt was posted on social media, and she received many orders. 

“As a PhD student, as any graduate student, I was struggling financially and I was at some point struggling with access to food,” Paris said, “So coming back to help fight this is really a special moment for me.”

She later opened her bookstore, the Social Bookstore and Ice Cream Cafe. The goal is to foster literacy and support economic capability, through “one book, one community.” 

Paris is now a professor of Business and Management at Wheaton College. She recently moved to New Bedford to be in the area, and to open her restaurant. 

All the recipes used in the restaurant are her own, coming from the dishes and recipes she learned while traveling the world when she was growing up. 

Paris was born in Portugal, to a mother who was a professional chef, and moved to Switzerland when she was seven. She says because of this she was raised in both Switzerland and France. 

“I started cooking when I was seven, and I wanted to be a chef like my mom, and of course she told me no because long weekends, long hours, and I was really good in school. She [wanted me to] ensure my education first before I even adventured into anything food,” said Paris, “But this is a meaningful initiative.”

Paris wants her food to be locally connected and accessible, and she plans to connect with local farms to source her ingredients.

She has two kids, one of whom is a picky eater. She wants to ensure they get authentic and good food, and that is partly behind her inspiration for the restaurant. 

“I’m looking to increase access to real, fresh, and boldly flavorful high-quality food that are definitely world and locally inspired,” she said. 

The restaurant should be opening at the end of February, but she has no set date yet.