Evenings at Mike Krueger’s two downtown East Lansing restaurants have been about more than eating dinner in the last four years.
There’s live music at The Peanut Barrel on Tuesdays and Fridays and live trivia games on Thursdays. Comedians make regular appearances at Crunchy’s.
“We’re trying to create an experience where people want to come and hang out for an hour or so and be able to interact with each other and we’re just kind of doing whatever we can to try to keep that going,” Krueger said.
Four miles away, at Henry’s Place, a pub and restaurant in Okemos, owner Henry Kwok is organizing and hosting his own dinner events. Included is a blindfolded dinner on Feb. 13-14, and an interactive murder mystery dinner scheduled for the end of the month.
Krueger and Kwok’s restaurants are examples of a trend across the region in which more full-service restaurants are turning to events – including everything from themed dinners and weekend brunches, to live music and game nights – to attract new customers and keep regulars coming back.
Their owners say COVID, social distancing and the statewide temporary shutdown of dine-in restaurant service prompted a major shift in diners’ habits. Fast-causal and to-go restaurants gained popularity, as did quick delivery services, including DoorDash and Uber Eats, they said.
In many cases, fast casual, to-go ordering and delivery services are now the norm.
Full-service restaurant sales plummet
In 2025, the state’s limited-service restaurants outpaced full-service restaurants in sales and growth, generating more than $31 billion in revenue. By comparison to full-service restaurants had $25 billion in revenue, according to the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association.
New quick-service restaurants are, by and large, outpacing sit-down establishments, Justin Winslow, MRLA president and CEO, told the Detroit Free Press in March of 2025.
“That large brewery or large cafe that you used to go to isn’t being replaced with a large brewery or cafe,” he said. “It’s being replaced with a very small footprint, quick service or fast casual place that employs far fewer people.”
Full-service restaurants have to be more than just a place to sit down and eat now, Krueger said.
“It’s a necessity these days, unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it,” he said. “We’re constantly competing with quick service restaurants, fast food, et cetera, and so we’re just trying to give people a reason to come out and to experience what we have to offer as far as food and beverages go.”
‘We open up, it’s just fun’
Restaurant owners Nina Santucci and her husband, Tony Maiale, went all in on an experience-based approach early on post-pandemic.
Their farm-to-table restaurant, Red Haven, off Hagadorn Road in Okemos, closed briefly in the summer of 2022 and then reopened later that year with a unique concept: small, themed dinners that last upwards of 2.5 hours each and require reservations. The cost ranges between $75 to $105 per person, depending on the menu.
In the three years since, the eatery has become known for its carefully crafted dinner events that include several courses inspired by everything from pop culture television shows like “Stranger Things” and “The Bear,” to international events like the Winter Olympics. Dinner services are limited to about three days a week and accommodate fewer than 40 people each.
Santucci and Maiale plan out the dinners they’ll serve in advance, paying close attention to what ingredients are in season, and work with a small staff to greet and serve guests at each one.
The pandemic, and the demands it placed on restaurants, prompted Red Haven’s shift, Santucci said.
Maintaining a full staff was difficult during the height of COVID and running a full-service restaurant amid the climate made parenting two young children harder too, she said. Maiale spent nine months washing dishes at Red Haven because the couple couldn’t hire someone to do it.
“The difficulties getting orders, the difficulties getting staffing, all of that, what it looked like for us was spending a ton of money, not making enough money, and also really struggling to balance life at home with these two really young children.”
Red Haven’s new concept, which also includes offering scheduled cooking classes, created breathing room for their family and saved the business. It also fosters creativity weekly, Santucci said.
The restaurant serves about 100 customers each week, and several of the dinners sell out.
“It’s this really small crew and we’re all super passionate about food and service,” she said. “It’s been the best decision we’ve ever made. When you get to the moment we open up, it’s just fun.”
‘It gives them a reason to come in’
Events have been a key part of operations at Summerlands Brewing Company since it opened in the spring of 2024 in Holt.
The craft beer brewery and restaurant off Cedar Street hosts regular DJ-run trivia nights, live music, fish fries and three-course dinner events.
Diners are struggling to make ends meet amid rising prices, co-owner Brian Hunt said. They’re often hesitant to give restaurants they’ve never frequented a chance. They don’t stay out as late and gravitate toward delivery or picking up to-go orders. Offering them more than dinner is an incentive that does get people in the door, he said.’
“Along those lines, what we’ve found is it creates a following of people who really enjoy those specific things, and it gives them a reason to come in and try it,” Hunt said. Those customers often become regulars, he said.
If trivia nights and summer volleyball league games at Coaches Pub and Grill in Lansing weren’t drawing in more customers, owner Matt Gillett said he and his staff wouldn’t plan them.
“We have to be more creative,” he said. “I think we’re all fighting for things to get people into the door. Those are avenues for getting them there and keeping them there.”
In many ways, customers are looking for sit-down restaurants that are becoming a third space, said Douglas Mulkey, owner of The People’s Kitchen off East Michigan Avenue in Lansing.
That requires taking a kind of “kitchen-sink approach” to hospitality, he said. “You have to be looking at all areas of opportunity.”
At the East Michigan Avenue restaurant, weekend brunch menus, themed dinners, and multi-course meals are paired with a particular wine or beer. It requires planning and isn’t right for every restaurant but it works at People’s Kitchen, Mulkey said.
“We focus on the highest quality and most inventive and creative menu that we can present to our guests,” he said.
‘Something every day of the week’
The blindfolded dinner at Henry’s Place has been an event that Kwok’s wanted to execute for years, “but I didn’t have the right staff at the time,” he said. The 90-minute dinners will be offered Valentine’s Day weekend.
“I think it’ll be unique and it’s an opportunity for daring couples,” Kwok said.
Events bring people into One North Kitchen & Bar’s East Lansing and Delta Township locations, said Scott Berman, an owner. Most notable are the live-streamed shows featuring Michigan State University coaches, including men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo and football coach Pat Fitzgerald.
During MSU’s coach shows the East Lansing location is usually packed, he said.
“We try to have something every day of the week,” Berman said. “I think we compete with any place a person is considering eating.” That includes lunch or dinner options customers have at home, he said.
When his restaurants feature music or trivia, they generally serve more customers, Krueger said. And while offering entertainment costs money, it’s worthwhile, he said.
“Trivia is expensive,” Krueger said. “Paying musicians is expensive, and so it’s sometimes hard to justify whether or not it’s actually worth it on any given night. But the bottom line is that it brings some people in, and then my staff, servers, they get to make some money. That’s the whole goal. Ultimately, that’s what it really comes down to.”
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: COVID changed dining habits. How Lansing’s sit-down restaurants are adapting
Reporting by Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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