Cloud 9 Cereal Bar Planned for North Avenue

A new cereal bar is set to open on the north side, serving Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms and a heaping spoonful of childhood nostalgia.

Cloud 9 Cereal Bar will be a 90s-themed restaurant at 3341 W. North Ave. in the Walnut Hill neighborhood. Owner Kristina Rucker said she plans to have the restaurant open by the fall.

The first-time business owner’s goal is to make customers feel like kids again, she said, but without the rules.

“When you’re a kid, your parents only give you that one choice of sugar cereal,” she said. “But now you can pick whatever you want. Both cereals in one bowl or whatever the case may be.”

Guests at Cloud 9 can choose from a list of cereal favorites that can be blended into shakes, used to flavor waffle batter, top pancakes or to eat straight up with a choice of regular or dairy-free milk. Also on the menu: fried Oreos and Poptarts with ice cream.

The menu will be relatively small to start, but Rucker said she hopes to collaborate with customers to expand the options as the business grows.

For its 90s theme, Rucker said she envisions the space with colorful, retro decor including cereal mascots on the walls, vintage cereal boxes and cartoon characters like Rugrats and Tom and Jerry. In line with the restaurant’s name, she would suspend clouds from the ceiling to hang over the tables.

“I want it to be a place where people can feel comfortable, and it may remind them of their childhood,” she said. “Some people didn’t have good childhoods, so I’m just doing it because I want to put a smile on people’s faces.”

She said she also hopes that the business will become a welcoming space for families in the neighborhood as well as youth from the Boys & Girls Club across the street.

The 23-year-old entrepreneur is also a certified nursing assistant and is in the process of completing her surgical technician certification. Rucker has worked full time, and often overtime, on top of planning the business.

The process hasn’t been easy, and since she leased the space in 2020 she has seen other businesses that appeared to be progressing faster, she said, leaving her feeling discouraged.

“I’m not gonna lie, I felt like a failure,” she said, adding that the realization that social media doesn’t always tell the whole story helped to boost her morale.

“What I was going through was real life,” she said. “I’m thankful for all the experiences that I went through with this business, because it shows that being an entrepreneur is not easy. It takes a lot of dedication.”

Cloud 9 would open in the 550-square-foot space that was formerly North Avenue Community Development Corporation offices. The restaurant would be one of several businesses, including FanciG Beauty Bar and Boost Mobile, located in the first-floor retail space beneath the Columbia Square Apartments.

Once open, the hours would be Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m., according to the food dealer license application for the business.

Cloud 9 has a Facebook page for updates and information.