Royal Oak's Bistro 82 to close this month

Jan 6, 2020 at 11:57 am

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Photo by Vaughn Gurganian

Aaron Belan.

Downtown Royal Oak staple Bistro 82 will be closing its doors on Jan. 25.

The upscale French-inspired eatery, located at Fourth Street and Lafayette Avenue and headed by executive chef Derik Watson, opened in February 2014 — so it will be closing just a few weeks shy of its sixth anniversary. Last year, the restaurant offered a special to diners in honor of its anniversary, shortly after updating both its interior and menu.

"The standards are high, and they are strenuously maintained, for a simply sublime experience," MT previously reported a few months after Bistro 82 opened. "From its interior design, to the preparation and presentation of the food and drinks, to the uniforms of the service staff, Bistro 82 is a paean to the ability of visual simplicity to conceal culinary complexity."

The restaurant, which has won several awards including Restaurant of the Year in 2017 by Hour Detroit and Best Restaurant in Oakland County by Metro Times readers, is owned by real estate developer Aaron F. Belen of AFB Hospitality Group. Belan, a Bloomfield Hills resident and Cranbrook graduate, previously told MT that the restaurant became a destination spot for restaurant patrons because it filled a gap in Oakland County dining options.

"A lot of people who come to Bistro 82 wouldn't otherwise come to Royal Oak," he previously told MT.

This closure follows many others in Royal Oak, including Andiamo, Bean & Leaf Cafe, Beruit Palace, Qdoba, and Taco Bell Cantina, as well as the recent closure of Bd's Mongolian Grill.

Bistro 82's space will be available for rent for private events, while the SCL nightclub upstairs will continue to operate on the weekends, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Belan also owns the Morrie, a roadhouse-style restaurant concept; there are Morrie locations operating in Royal Oak and Birmingham, with plans for further expansion.

"We want to go beyond what anyone's doing on Main Street from a culinary perspective," Belen told MT ahead of the opening of the Morrie's Royal Oak location. "We're going for any and everybody who wants great value and service."

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