Longtime Okemos restaurant has closed for good, owner says
MERIDIAN TWP. — Stillwater Grill, a longtime restaurant in Okemos, has closed after 24 years in business.
The 6,000-square-foot, 175-seat restaurant's last day was Sunday, said Kevin Gudejko, president and CEO of Mainstreet Ventures Restaurant Group, which owns the business.
Deciding to close the restaurant, at 3544 Meridian Crossings, was a hard decision, Gudejko said, but it struggled to regain the business it had before the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have to assess each of these restaurants on an individual basis, and some of them that were more dependent on lunch business, and certainly Okemos was one of those, have just really struggled to return to any kind of pre-pandemic sales," he said.
The restaurant's lease expires this month. "So that created a deadline," Gudejko said. "We had to make some decisions."
Gudejko said the ownership group waited to close the restaurant until after Michigan State University's commencement ceremonies, which took place over the weekend.
"People make reservations, months and months in advance to celebrate that," he said. "In order to fulfill our commitments to our guests, as well as really to our staff, I didn't want to negatively impact those special occasions for people who have been coming into Lansing for years and years."
Stillwater Grill served a menu that included appetizers such as calamari and bruschetta, sandwiches, pastas, chicken, and a variety of seafood and steaks.
The restaurant's staff of about 18 people was notified about the closure Monday morning, Gudejko said.
The Ann Arbor-based company owns 10 other restaurants in Michigan, including a Stillwater Grill location in Brighton. They also own restaurants in Ohio and Florida.
Gudejko said ownership will pay out any time off owed to staff and will offer jobs to any employee interested in a position at one of their existing restaurants.
"We'll do everything we can to offer jobs to the individuals that want them," he said.
Stillwater Grill opened in Okemos in June 2000. Mainstreet Ventures Restaurant Group has owned the Okemos location since 2014.
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Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ .
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Stillwater Grill closing after 24 years in Okemos
