The Union and Cityscape to close permanently

A staple of downtown Kalamazoo has announced it is closing effective immediately. The Union Cabaret and Grille has served food, drinks, and live music on the Kalamazoo Mall for 18 years.

Along with the Union, the Cityscape Events center is closing as well. Cityscape is the Union’s banquet hall.

The restaurant and event center are owned by Millennium Restaurant Group, which owns a number of other restaurants in the area. They pointed to the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for the closure.

“The major premise of the Union was impossible to do with 50% seating capacity and the general dynamics of crowds right now — especially when you had bands,” said founding partner Bob Lewis in an interview with MLive. “What’s missing at the Union is exactly what the concept was predicated on.”

The restaurant had more than 20 employees who are being offered positions at other Millennium Group restaurants.

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