When Roger Hewitt and Dick Schubach opened their “casual but a little more upscale” pub Red Hawk in a nineteenth-century building on S. State back in 1992, the campus area “was predominantly retail,” Hewitt recalls. “We were one of the first serious food operations. There was obviously a niche in the market for a long time.”

Within its exposed brick walls, character-rich wood flooring, and high-backed booths, Red Hawk consistently served what became a loyal clientele of locals and university faculty and staff. “We had the right idea at the right place at the right time,” he says. Whether it was burgers, craft beer, or duck quesadillas, its broad menu and comfortable vibe reliably fit the bill.

But with Hewitt now “a fair amount over seventy,” they’re not up for the reinvention it would take to sustain the restaurant. Assuming enough of their thirty employees stay on board, Red Hawk will stay open through U-M’s graduation on May 3.

“I’ve been amazed how business has accelerated once we put up notice we were closing,” Hewitt says. He’s headed for retirement, while Schubach will continue running their remaining business, Revive + Replenish, a café and market serving a largely student customer base at the Zaragon Place apartments on East U.

Related: Losing Any Familiar Place Is Hard, but the Red Hawk’s Closing Cuts Deep

Hewitt, whose community service has included stints on the boards of the Downtown Development Authority and what was then called the State Street Area Association, notes that the neighborhood has fewer shops and many more quick-service eateries these days. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor became less of a dining destination for those from parts east. “Our dining took off a lot earlier than a lot of other places, and a lot of other places have copied our model,” he says. “People don’t need to come from the Detroit suburbs to go out, go downtown, and have a nice dinner.”

The Covid-19 pandemic not only disrupted sit-down businesses, but “a lot of people everywhere got used to taking carryout and having food delivery. Sales just never came back,” he says.

“At the same time, when the inflation hit right at the end of the pandemic, all our costs went up. So rising costs, falling sales. It was sort of inevitable.”

Red Hawk, 316 S. State. (734) 994–4004. Through May 3: Mon.–Thurs. 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.. Closed Sun. redhawkannarbor.com

Kanbu Sushi has closed its location in the lobby of the 777 Building on E. Eisenhower, leaving Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea as the sole hospitality vendor there, for now. Margaret Wyzlic, director of marketing & business development for the building’s owner, Oxford Companies, emails that she expects it won’t be long before the space is filled, though no one had been signed as of press time. No comment was immediately available from Kanbu, which retains its restaurant and market on E. Liberty downtown.

Dearborn-based Prime Eatery has closed in the Courtyard Shops, about a year and a half after suddenly succeeding the long-standing family business Exotic Bakeries & Syrian Cuisine (Marketplace Changes, January 2024). It had offered burgers, milkshakes, and other halal fare in a U-M-themed environment near North Campus. Another outpost, in a Livonia gas station, also came and went within the past year.

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