Sign Of The Beefcarver Closes After 70 Years In Royal Oak

News recently broke that, after 70 years of operating, the Sign of the Beefcarver would be closing its original and last remaining restaurant in Royal Oak, and sadly, I think it was time.

Unfortunately, me expressing that their food quality has gone down significantly got me banned from their Facebook, but I can’t say I’m too surprised. The one thing they may not understand is that this restaurant holds special memories for me, growing up and going there with my family many times.

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They took to their social media page to announce that they were closing, mainly because of what they blame on high prices, the COVID-19 shutdown, and other issues like beef prices.

But for the last year and a half, I’ve been talking about going there and getting another meal. I told Friends who had never been there before how awesome it is, and there’s no other place like it. When we finally made the trip to the east side of the state to get some for dinner, there were people I went with who took one look at their food and didn’t order a thing.

I, on the other hand, went in and got what I usually got, and it was absolutely depressing. The roast beef was good, but the au jus was bland; the mashed potatoes had the consistency of rehydrated, powdered potatoes, with absolutely no seasoning, butter, or milk used; the vegetables were also incredibly bland and watery; the mac was bland and old; and sadly everything tasted as it came from frozen.

I’ve said this multiple times, especially in the case of Clara's On the River closing: there is no reason such a unique concept should ever have to close down and be defeated by a national chain.

Again, I have to pose the question: Why is it that national chains are succeeding while original and unique restaurants continue to close down?

It all comes down to quality at the end of the day. After that last meal at Sign of the Beefcarver, I had to be honest and say that the food was disgusting, and I was shocked that they were still open, serving the quality of food that they did.

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This isn’t complaining for the sake of complaining; this restaurant holds very special memories for me. But it’s very clear that the quality has gone down exponentially over the last few decades, and potential returning clientele may have been chased away by their food quality.

Because after that last meal, I verbally said I’m never going back there again and how disappointing the return was. This is coming from somebody who loves this place.

Just imagine what other people are saying. Now that they have announced their closing, hundreds of thousands of people are making their way into the restaurant in the hopes that maybe it can make some sort of impact, and I could only hope they receive better quality food than I received a few months ago.

It is sad that they are closing, but as long as owners undercut food quality, I feel sadly that these closings will continue. RIP to one of the best restaurants of all time.