Over the past few years, Ann Arborites have watched as familiar restaurants closed. Angelo’s, the Cottage Inn, Eat and Isalita are just a few that have vanished in recent times. But when I heard of the latest that will join that group, I let out a wail. “Noooo! Not The Red Hawk!”

The pub on State Street announced this week on social media that it planned to close May 3, after 33 years in business. It blamed the difficulties of the pandemic, coupled with rising food costs. “The past few years have tested us in all the ways we never anticipated, and while we’ve fought to overcome these challenges, the financial strain has become insurmountable.” There are much older restaurants in Ann Arbor, but the Red Hawk held a special place for me and my family, not only physically but emotionally.

About a year after it opened, I was home for a visit from Washington D.C., where I was then living. My late mother, Bonny Maynard, suggested that we take in a movie at the State Theater and get a bite to eat afterwards.

“We’ll go to the Red Hawk, it’s just down the street,” she said. Seeing my surprise at the mention of a new spot, she went on, “It’s non-smoking, and they have a nice menu. You’ll like it.”

Both appealed to me. At a time when restaurants still had smoking sections, the idea of a smoke free restaurant was novel and welcome, since I constantly struggled with an allergy to cigarette smoke.

The menu had a nice variety of what my family called “good, plain food” versus fancier fare at other sit down places like the Earle or Weber’s. There was always soup, an omelet, burgers, salads, sandwiches, a few entrees and the best steak fries in town.

If I was meeting her there, my mother’s question was always, “Did you check the board?” meaning the chalkboard by the host stand that listed the specials.

The Red Hawk became a kind of one-size-fits-all spot that met the varied dining preferences of my entire family.

The vegetarian choices on the menu satisfied my brother and his wife, and gave my mother a respite from the spinach lasagna that she inevitably served when they came over. I remember my nephews toddling down the wide wooden floor when they were small, initially tucking into child-sized meals, and later graduating to adult fare.

The Red Hawk was one of the first places in town that served craft beer, and there was always the ah of satisfaction from the first sip of a cold pint.

As a Knight-Wallace Fellow at Michigan during 1999-2000, I was occasionally asked to take visiting speakers to dinner, accompanied by several other fellows. We were often seated at the big round table in the front window, where our guest could look out on State Street and central campus beyond, giving them a sense of the bustle at U-M.

Through the years, I sometimes met interview subjects at the Red Hawk. Rather than sit out in the open, I favored one of the big booths down the side wall. I could tuck myself in but still get a view of the restaurant and watch for my guest or anyone I knew who might come down the aisle.

One Red Hawk regular is Ken Fischer, the retired director of the University Musical Society. He told me that he used the Red Hawk as a way station between his office and Hill Auditorium, filling time before his concert duties, or sometimes having a solitary lunch.

On an early visit, Fischer noticed a menu item named for the Michigan Theater. He asked if one could be named for UMS, and the Red Hawk obliged with the Burton Tower.

The Burton Tower turned into a useful fundraiser for the musical society. Fischer says the organization received a couple of thousand dollars a year in food credit, which he used for feeding visiting artists, donors and prospective contributors. All he had to do was sign the check.

“It was a beautiful relationship,’ he said.

The Red Hawk was generous in other ways, too. WEMU General Manager Molly Motherwell told me the restaurant frequently supplied food for the station’s on air fund drives. On Reddit, news of the Red Hawk’s demise brought a variety of responses, ranging from sadness of people who ate their weekly, to others declaring the food was ordinary and that the menu was dated.

Parking, too, was a challenge; my brother remembers having to drop off my mum and his family and then hunt for a spot. It didn’t help that State Street has undergone several construction projects through the years.

The local restaurant scene boasts many more choices now than when the Red Hawk opened, especially when it comes to international cuisines such as Korean, Japanese, Thai and Middle Eastern. I suspect that the arrival of Knight’s on Liberty probably lured away some diners who would have otherwise chosen the Red Hawk.

But restaurants aren’t simply doors and walls and windows. They’re memories of food, family gatherings and atmosphere. Soon, another piece of our mental Ann Arbor map will be gone, and with it, we will feel blue.