5 Restaurant Chains That Closed Michigan Locations in 2026
You wouldn’t expect to find a locked door at a Denny’s that had operated 24 hours a day.
But that’s exactly what WOOD-TV’s crew found at the Grand Rapids restaurant’s parking lot on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Here are the restaurant chains that closed Michigan locations in 2026.
1. Smokey Bones
Smokey Bones’ last Michigan restaurant, in the Lansing area, was found closed on April 28, 2026.
WITL reported that employees arrived that Tuesday to find a note on the door saying the restaurant was permanently closed.
The closing came allegedly without any warning to staff.
Local people have since been sharing links to job openings at their workplaces to support the former staff.
Two of its last three Michigan restaurants, in Grand Rapids and Utica, had already closed in September 2025.
The day before, on Monday, April 27, the chain’s website had posted a closing message after 27 years in business.
Nationwide, Smokey Bones announced it was closing all of its U.S. locations, effective April 27.
If you had counted on the Lansing-area restaurant, this was a full shutdown, not a one-state exit.
2. Bahama Breeze
Bahama Breeze’s Livonia restaurant, at 19600 Haggerty Road, was permanently closed as of March 16, 2026.
Darden had set April 5 for closings, nearly three weeks later.
Livonia had outlasted the Troy restaurant, which closed in 2025 as one of 15 Bahama Breeze closures.
In February 2026, Darden announced it would permanently close 14 locations nationwide and convert the remaining 14 to another Darden brand.
That covered all 28 restaurants the chain had left, and Michigan wasn’t getting a conversion.
Darden has described the brand as no longer a strategic priority, and it said it would try to place employees at its other restaurants.
3. Fazoli’s
Fazoli’s had closure signs up at its Walker and Muskegon restaurants on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.
The signs read, “This location is now closed,” followed by a thank-you to customers.
The signs listed the Fazoli’s restaurants in Battle Creek, Lansing and Jackson.
If you’re counting what’s left, four Fazoli’s were still open in Michigan as of February 2026.
Monroe was the fourth.
The Walker restaurant was at 2521 Alpine Ave. NW.
Muskegon’s was at 1780 E. Sherman Blvd.
The Parent Companies Behind Two Closing Chains
FAT Brands, which has owned Fazoli’s since 2021, was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy by January 2026.
Smokey Bones belonged to Twin Hospitality Group, which FAT Brands spun off in January 2025 after buying the chain in 2023.
In September 2025, Twin Hospitality said it was closing 15 underperforming Smokey Bones restaurants and had identified 19 restaurants to convert to Twin Peaks.
Twin Hospitality followed with a similar bankruptcy filing.
4. BD’s Mongolian Grill
At its peak, BD’s Mongolian Grill had 10 Michigan restaurants.
The last one, at 42089 Ford Road in Canton Township, closed on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
WKFR reported on Feb. 11 that no BD’s were left in Michigan, and that the chain still ran restaurants in Ohio, Missouri and Kansas.
BD’s served Asian-fusion dishes and stir-fry bowls that diners assembled themselves.
5. Big Boy
Big Boy closed its Cedar Street restaurant in Mason on June 25, 2026, after 50-plus years in business.
The owners, a father and son, were selling the property as the father prepared to retire, FOX 47 reported.
So this was one restaurant’s sale, not a chain-wide closing.
The owners had hoped another restaurant operator would buy the property, but only gas station companies expressed interest.
The owners said they wanted to celebrate with customers before closing.
A gas station is planned.
Denny’s in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo
Denny’s lost two West Michigan restaurants in early 2026, one in Grand Rapids and one in Kalamazoo.
The Grand Rapids restaurant, at 3127 Plainfield Ave. near I-96, was built in 1981.
A WOOD-TV crew found its parking lot empty and its door locked on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
That restaurant had operated 24 hours a day.
The Kalamazoo restaurant, at 3817 Cork St. near I-94, was built in 1979, and its property sold on Jan. 16 for $1.6 million.
It closed without any prior notice to the public, WKFR reported on Jan. 30.
The closings came after Denny’s had shut about 150 restaurants nationwide over two years, and a group of investors had completed a $620 million acquisition of the chain in January.
Denny’s website listed 10 Michigan restaurants at the time, including Battle Creek, Kentwood, Marshall and Wyoming.
By July 2026, a Culver’s with a two-lane drive-thru had been proposed for the vacant Grand Rapids site, with about 60 jobs and a hearing set for Aug. 13.
Psst! How much do you know about Michigan’s food and restaurant history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Michigan Food Trivia
Answer these questions on Michigan-born food brands and Michigan food history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Domino’s began as a small pizza shop in Ypsilanti. In 1961, one brother traded his half of the shop to the other. What did he get in return?
Wendy's Closings Without 2026 Dates
Wendy's said in November 2025 that it would close about 200 to 350 of its roughly 6,000 U.S. restaurants, with closures continuing through 2026.
A year earlier, it had announced plans to close 140 restaurants.
The company said the affected restaurants were underperforming, and it released no list of which ones would close.
Kalamazoo's 9th Street Wendy's closed Dec. 30, 2025.
That date is in 2025, so it isn't counted among the 2026 closings above.
Wendy's restaurants in Birch Run and Bridgeport Township also closed without warning, according to a May 2026 report that credits MLive.
That report gave no closing dates for the two restaurants, and it said Wendy's hadn't announced which locations are slated to close.
12 Things That Make Michiganders Different From Everyone Else in the Midwest
Michiganders stand out from the rest of the Midwest in more ways than a map can show.
From the mitten to the Upper Peninsula, here's what sets them apart.
12 Things That Make Michiganders Different From Everyone Else in the Midwest
4 Heating Bill Help Programs Michiganders Can Apply for Before Winter
The cold season is nearly here, and heating bills come with it.
Here's where Michiganders can turn for help paying them, and how to apply.
4 Heating Bill Help Programs Michiganders Can Apply for Before Winter
