Kruse & Muer Roadhouse

801 S Lapeer Rd., Lake Orion
Both COVID-19 and construction surrounding the Lake Orion outpost of Kruse & Muer are among the reasons for the Roadhouse’s closure, according to an email sent by the restaurant group in October. While other locations will remain open, the Lake Orion location was sold to a former Kruse & Muer team member and his wife with plans to relocate their restaurant in Port Huron to the befallen Roadhouse space.
Photo via Google Maps

Briggs Detroit

519 E. Jefferson, Detroit
This Detroit sports bar staple closed quietly this year. Known for their inclusive programming (they hosted screenings of RuPaul’s Drag Race, as well as live sporting events) and, well, beer, Briggs’ former digs will reopen as a seafood restaurant, Sloppy Crab, in 2021.
Photo via Briggs Detroit/Facebook

Carrie Lee’s Lake Garden

7890 Highland Rd., Waterford Twp.
Chinese food spot Carrie Lee’s Lake Garden decided to shut the doors on its Waterford Township. Fear not, as the Lake Orion Location will remain open.
Photo via Google Maps

J.B.’s Smokehouse

225 S. Canton Center Rd., Canton, MI
After closing temporarily in April, this popular barbeque spot in Canton closed its doors permanently due to pandemic related financial strain.
Photo via Google Maps

Tijuana’s Mexican Kitchen

18950 Ford Rd., Detroit
After 10 years at its Detroit location, Tijuana's Mexican Kitchen closed its doors citing financial strain and a vulnerable industry, according to an October Facebook post. However, owners committed to focusing resources to keep their Lincoln Park location up and running, as well as their taco truck.
Photo via Google Maps

Sugarbeet Bakery

5151 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor
Due to the ongoing pandemic and financial struggle Sugarbeet Bakery shuttered in October.
Photo via Sugarbeet Bakery/Facebook

Wolfgang Puck Steak

1777 Third Ave., Detroit
After eight years within the MGM Grand Detroit casino and hotel, the steakhouse helmed by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck exited the downtown casino due to COVID-19-related closures in October. It was reported that a new steakhouse D.Prime has taken over the space. This is one of several steakhouses Puck has closed in the last year across the country.
Photo via Google Maps

PoCai

1232 Packard St., Ann Arbor
Goodbye poke and acai bowls, hellow chicken wings. The former health food spot specailzing in poke and acai bowls, PoCai closed in November to make way for Sidebiscuit, a casual chicken spot.
Photo via Pocai/Facebook

Brujo Tacos and Tapas

474 Peterboro St., Detroit
The closure of the Brujo Tacos and Tapas Detroit Shipping Co. food stall in October made way for Halal Street food, which opened in November.
Photo via Brujo Tacos and Tapas/Facebook

Magnet

4842 Grand River Ave., Detroit
In August, less than a year after it opened its doors in Detroit's Core City neighborhood, one of the city's most anticipated restaurants known for its wood-fired Mediterranean-inspired fare and "tipless" pay structure closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Top Young Hospitality, the group that operates Magnet, as well as Corktown's Thai-inspired hot spot Takoi, is also dissolving. The dissolution will leave sole ownership of Takoi to chef Brad Greenhill, while investor and developer Philip Kafka plans to step away from the restaurant industry temporarily, though he said he would like to open a “less chef-driven” Tel Aviv-inspired street food-style concept in the former Magnet space sometime in the future.
Photo by Chris Miele

Browndog Barlor

33314 Grand River Ave., Farmington
Touted as Michigan’s first “barlor” — that’s combination bar-ice cream parlor — Browndog Barlor closed its Farmington citing financial concerns as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. “Although this was a difficult decision, we feel that this is a necessary step to allow us to consolidate resources and keep the Browndog brand financially viable during these trying times,” owners said on Facebook in October. Browndog’s Northville location remains open.
Photo via GoogleMaps

Major Magic’s All-Star Pizza Revue

34770 Groesbeck Hwy., Clinton Twp
Major Magic and the Rock n' Roll Rebellion are no more. Of course, we're referring to the choppy animatronic band and namesake of Major Magic's, the beloved family-focused midwest pizza and entertainment chain. In February, after the years-long restoration of the animatronic band members and original games, Major Magic's re-opened its doors, marking the kitschy pizza arcade's return to southeast Michigan, not too far from its last Michigan location on Gratiot Avenue, which opened in 1982 and shuttered in the early 2000s. The permanent closure came in November after new statewide restrictions were enforced. Owners took to Facebook to announce not only the pizza arcade’s closure but that they would be selling off the games and robotics during an open house.
Photo via Spark’s Pinball Museum and Arcade/Facebook

Town Hall Caffé

19201 Grand River Ave., Detroit
Owner Lindsey Marr made the decision to close her Grandmont-Rosedale-located Town Hall Caffé in October. Though the pandemic played a part in her decision, as did a landlord dispute, in which the landlord would not allow Marr to temporarily close through the holidays, in an emotional post made on Instagram revealed her mother’s late-stage cancer diagnosis which was also a factor.
Photo via GoogleMaps

Detroit Institute of Bagels

1236 Michigan Ave., Detroit
In September, Detroit Institute of Bagels announced its closure and the sale of everything, including the restaurant's Corktown building, down to the equipment upon which delicious boil-and-bake bagels were made. After seven years at its Corktown spot, DIB owner Ben Newman put the entire 3,400-square-foot corner building at 1236 Michigan Ave. on the market for close to $1.6 million due to COVID-19 and so that he can focus his time on family. The property, which is still listed, poses an option to potential buyers to purchase the business and its equipment for an additional $600,000. Ideally, Newman would like for the entire package to go to another bagel business.
Photo via O’Connor Real Estate

Craft Work

8047 Agnes St., Detroit
After six years in Detroit’s West Village, American restaurant and cocktail bar Craft Work cited financial woes when it announced its closing in February, which means no more Le Big Mac burger. Le Sigh.
Photo via Craft Work/Facebook

Fort Street Galley

160 W. Fort St., Detroit
Just a little more than a year after opening, Detroit’s Fort Street Galley food hall closed abruptly in February. When it opened in 2018, Fort Street Galley described itself as a "restaurant accelerator" with a non-traditional model. Instead of just charging its vendors rent, it took 30 percent of each restaurant's revenue in exchange for covering business expenses beyond food and labor. But the writing appeared to be on the wall, with some vendors shuttering before their year-long lease was up for not hitting their sales goals, like sandwich shop Allenby and sushi shop Pursue. The Pittsburgh-based company also closed its Cleveland outpost, and its Chicago location closed last fall.
Courtesy photo by Katie Laskowska

Gold Cash Gold

2100 Michigan Ave., Detroit
Gold Cash Gold closed in February after five years of occupying a former pawn shop in Corktown. According to its owners, the restaurant struggled with maintaining steady business and cited a lack of foot traffic as one of the reasons businesses began to take a dive.
Photo via Gold Cash Gold/Facebook

Andiamo (Sterling Heights)

14425 Lakeside Circle, Sterling Heights
Opened in 2004 along Hall Road in front of Lakeside Mall, the Sterling Heights Andiamo location announced that it would close its doors after Father’s Day. The restaurant group sold the location with plans to demolish the building to erect Portillo’s, a Chicago-based hot dog and hamburger chain.
Photo via Google Maps/Street View