Michigan diners are losing several longtime restaurants this month, and each one comes with its own kind of local heartbreak.
From a comfort food restaurant in Roseville to a nearly 50-year Big Boy in Mason and an East Lansing institution tied to generations of Michigan State University students, these closures are not just ordinary business updates. They are the kind of goodbyes that change local routines.
The latest losses follow other recent Michigan restaurant closures, including a popular Michigan restaurant that closed after more than 30 years.
This month, three more familiar names are preparing to serve their final meals.
Apple Annie’s Kitchen and Bakery in Roseville
Apple Annie’s Kitchen and Bakery in Roseville is closing June 15, 2026, after 28 years in business.
The comfort food restaurant on Gratiot Avenue, between Utica and Martin roads, has long been known for home-style cooking, homemade pies and the kind of familiar dining room where regulars become part of the restaurant’s extended family. For many customers, Apple Annie’s was not just a place to eat breakfast or lunch. It was part of a routine.
Co-owner Leonard Pagano, who opened the restaurant in 1998 with original partner Dan Rubino, said the timing felt right. “I’m going to be 65 and I am thinking the end is coming near for me, and this came along and it worked out good,” he told 94.7 WCSX. “It was a clean-out for me.” His co-owner and wife Catherine Pagano said the community response since the announcement has been overwhelming: “We weren’t just another restaurant closing; it was like the table, the family.”
The closure is also tied to a larger redevelopment plan. The Apple Annie’s property and the long-vacant Sacred Heart Catholic Church next door — closed since 2017 — are both expected to be demolished to make way for a new Sheetz gas station and convenience store. The site plan was approved by the Roseville Planning Commission in early 2025, and since Sheetz did not request variances or rezoning, no further approval was needed. The chain has said it plans to open 50 to 60 stores across southeastern Michigan over the next five to six years.
The restaurant’s employees have also been part of the story. Waitress Suzy Shafer, who has worked there for 22 years, told WXYZ that saying goodbye to her regular customers and co-workers — who she considers family — has been the hardest part. “It’s bittersweet. It really is.”
After nearly three decades, Roseville is losing one of its familiar comfort food staples.
Mason Big Boy
The Big Boy in Mason is also closing this month after nearly 50 years serving the community.
Located at 660 Cedar Street off US-127, the restaurant will serve its final meals on Thursday, June 25, 2026. Owner David Hunt, whose family has owned the location for at least 15 years, is retiring along with his son Patrick Hunt, who is co-owner. Manager Emma Slater, who has worked there for about a decade, told the Lansing State Journal that the Hunts are “ready to move on with their life and travel.”
In a remarkable echo of the Apple Annie’s situation, the Mason property is also being sold to a gas station operator. Planning documents show a gas station and convenience store will replace the longtime restaurant.
Big Boy has deep roots in Michigan, and individual locations can become local institutions even when they are part of a larger restaurant brand. For Mason, this was not just another chain restaurant. It was a place that had been around long enough for multiple generations of families to remember eating there. The Big Boy chain still has several other locations across the state, including in Lansing and Charlotte, so the brand itself is not leaving Michigan — but the Mason location’s specific run is coming to an end.
In its farewell message, the restaurant captured what those decades meant: “For generations, Mason Big Boy has been more than just a restaurant. It has been a place where neighbors became friends, families gathered after church, kids celebrated birthdays, teams came in after the big game, and countless cups of coffee were shared around the table.”
Restaurants that last close to 50 years become part of local memory. The Mason Big Boy’s closing also comes during a period when many traditional family dining restaurants are facing pressure from changing customer habits, rising costs and competition from newer fast-casual options.
For Mason, the loss is still simple: a familiar local gathering place is closing its doors.
The Coral Gables in East Lansing
The Coral Gables in East Lansing is closing June 30, 2026, after 58 years in business under one family’s two-generation ownership.
The restaurant, located at 2838 E. Grand River Avenue near Hagadorn Road, has served generations of Michigan State University students, alumni, families and East Lansing residents. Over the years, it became known as a place for Greek and American dishes, meetings, banquets, celebrations and casual meals.
In their announcement statement, co-owners Stuart Vanis, Anastasia and Grigoris Kimbouris and George Tesseris said the decision was difficult but the time had come. “To all who have considered The Gables their home away from home — a place for family gatherings, meetings, celebrations, or simply a familiar spot to find friends — we extend our deepest gratitude for your loyalty and support.”
Tesseris told WILX that he and his brother bought the restaurant 58 years ago and gradually transformed it into its current form. “As time’s changed, we’ve changed with it,” he said.
The restaurant’s history goes even deeper than its 58-year run under the Coral Gables family. The building itself dates to the 1920s and has been part of the Mid-Michigan social scene for about a century, once serving as a roadhouse and dance hall. In its earlier years, it hosted big band performers including Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and the Ink Spots. The building burned down in 1957 and was rebuilt, and by the late 1950s, the music had shifted to rock ‘n’ roll — drawing MSU students at a time when East Lansing was still a dry town.
For many MSU students and alumni, The Coral Gables was one of those places that became attached to a period of life. Co-owner Anastasia Kimbouris told WKAR that customers regularly come in and say things like, “I had my first drink here,” or “When I was in college, I met my spouse here.”
After nearly six decades under the same family, and about a century as a gathering place at the same site, The Coral Gables’ final day marks the end of a long chapter in East Lansing dining.
Michigan is losing familiar gathering places
These three closures are different, but they share the same emotional pull.
Apple Annie’s was a 28-year comfort food restaurant and bakery in Roseville being replaced by a Sheetz. Mason Big Boy was a nearly 50-year family dining staple also being replaced by a gas station. The Coral Gables was a 58-year East Lansing institution with deep ties to Michigan State University and a building that has been part of Mid-Michigan history for about a century.
Together, they show how painful restaurant closures can be when the places involved have served communities for decades. They also point to a familiar pattern: longtime restaurants on highway-adjacent properties losing out to gas station and convenience store redevelopment.
A restaurant does not have to be fancy to be beloved. It does not have to be trendy to matter. Sometimes the most meaningful places are the ones people count on without thinking about it — until they are gone.
This month, Michigan diners are saying goodbye to three restaurants that filled that role for thousands of customers.
And whether they lasted 28 years, nearly 50 years or 58 years, each one leaves behind regulars who will remember what made it feel like home.
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