The latest in a string of restaurant closures, Royal Oak's Bistro 82 to shutter Jan. 25

If there were any lingering doubts about the condition of Royal Oak's dining scene, news of yet another restaurant casualty should dispel them.

Bistro 82, the contemporary French-inspired restaurant occupying the corner of 4th & Lafayette, will close at the end of service January 25.

"While the decision to close Bistro was difficult, it was well-contemplated, measured and the right move at the right time for AFB Hospitality Group," said owner Aaron F. Belen in an emailed statement. "With the success of The Morrie restaurants in both Royal Oak and Birmingham, it made sense for our team to focus on expanding that concept, with plans for additional locations in the works."

Opened in February 2014, the upscale Bistro 82 was Belen's first foray into the restaurant industry. One of the more ambitious dining options in the more casual and bar-forward downtown of Royal Oak, Bistro's kitchen was led by Executive Chef Derik Watson, a well-respected local chef with an impressive resume, and a crack front-of-house hospitality team.

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The restaurant proved an early critical success, with former Free Press Restaurant Critic Sylvia Rector heaping praise and naming it to the Freep's annual Best New Restaurant List. It also won the Free Press' People's Choice Award for Best New Restaurant that year. In 2017, Hour Detroit magazine bestowed its Restaurant of the Year award to Bistro 82.

But in the intervening years, much of the region's buzzy dining developments moved away from suburbs like Royal Oak to the downtown core. Amid a wave of disruptive developments in Royal Oak's own downtown in recent years, many restaurants have closed. Beirut Palace, Andiamo, Bean & Leaf Cafe, Taco Bell Cantina, Qdoba and the flagship location of Bd's Mongolian, among others, have all called it quits since 2018. Many have been replaced by newcomers, but the turnover rate in the heart of Royal Oak's entertainment district has been exceedingly high in recent years, even in an industry known for it. Along with a number of larger multi-story developments, the business turnover has effectively reshaped the downtown streetscape in just a few short years.

In 2016, Belen followed Bistro 82 up with the more casual, roadhouse-style restaurant The Morrie nearby on Main Street. He added a second Birmingham location of The Morrie just this summer and has plans to open more around the region.

Watson, who has been with the hospitality group since day one, also left the company as of the first of the year, though he hasn't announced his next step.

A real estate developer by day, Belen owns the building that houses Bistro 82 and the upstairs SCL nightclub. SCL will remain open on weekends and the ground floor that houses the restaurant will be available to rent for private events.

In his statement, Belen also urged anyone with a Bistro 82 gift card to use it in the next few weeks. They'll no longer be valid after January 25.

[Note: This story was updated to clarify that many of the closings have been replaced with new restaurants.]

Send your dining tips to Free Press Restaurant Critic Mark Kurlyandchik at 313-222-5026 or mkurlyandc@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKurlyandchik and Instagram @curlyhandshake. Read more restaurant news and reviews and sign up for our Food and Dining newsletter.