A feather flag outside Gino's Surf in Harrison Township still says the place is open for business. In a photo with the Macomb Daily's October 12 report, the flag flaps in front of a venue that had already closed. A few miles south, Hook on the St. Clair Shores Nautical Mile had marketed itself as year-round, and it shut for the winter in the same two weeks.
This fall, the posted schedule and the real one have split along Jefferson Avenue. Two of the venues with the biggest views of Lake St. Clair closed before the dates on their own event calendars. For winter, plan around the kitchens that post daily hours.
Both Closed Before Their Own Halloween Parties
The Macomb Daily reported that both venues had been advertising upcoming Halloween events when they closed, which is why the closures looked sudden.
Gino's had a long road back. It sat closed for eight years before Paradise Group LLC announced a reopening. After a full overhaul, the restaurant and bar held its grand opening in September 2024, and its wide view of Lake St. Clair stayed one of its main draws. The second phase was meant to restore the banquet hall, to be called Vista Lago, and that work has still not been finished. Apex Hospitality Group had handled marketing and events for the venue. On October 8 it posted that it was ending that role "effective immediately." Gino's has also taken down its website. Apex told the paper there had been talk of closing for the winter anyway because the business is seasonal. As of mid-October, nobody had said whether Gino's will reopen.
Hook's situation is clearer. The building at 24214 Jefferson was Brownie's on the Lake for years. Hook opened there in July 2023 with a sushi-and-steak menu. In May 2026, the Macomb Daily reported that Joe Vicari Restaurant Group had taken over day-to-day management for the season while Tom Lauzon stayed on as owner. A spokesperson now says Hook will reopen in spring 2027, possibly under a new name. In mid-October, Hook's own website still showed regular weekly hours and an open reservation calendar. Go by the closure report, not the widget.
That makes two waterfront dining rooms in two weeks whose posted plans changed, and one of them still showed bookable tables online after the closure was reported.
What's Still Posting Hours on the Water
The Nautical Mile is the stretch of Jefferson between Nine Mile and 10 Mile roads, lined with restaurants, shops, outfitters and full-service marinas. Here's where the main spots stand for late October, going north up Jefferson:
- Fishbones Rhythm Kitchen, 23722 Jefferson Ave. Fishbones' locations page was updated in early October 2026. It lists an 11 a.m. opening every day, with last seating at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Of everything on this list, it has the most complete, most recently dated schedule.
- Zef's Dockside Bar + Kitchen, 24026 Jefferson Ave. Zef's site lists second-floor patio hours starting at 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday through Sunday. It doesn't give closing times or a seasonal end date. Call before you count on a winter evening there.
- Mike's on the Water, 24530 Jefferson Ave. Mike's contact page says it's open April 1 through November. It opens at 11:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and noon on Sunday, and the kitchen closes between 9 and 10 p.m. The rooftop deck, food truck and ice-cream truck are seasonal, and Mondays are listed for May through October only. Starting November 2, a Monday visit is off the table. The month after that, so is the restaurant.
Pat O'Brien's, Baffin Brewing Company and WaterMark Bar & Grille were also on the Nautical Mile's Restaurant Week list in May 2026, along with the places above. For winter hours, check each restaurant directly.
Off Jefferson, the Clinton River is another option. Octopus' Beer Garden, 152 North River Road in Mount Clemens, calls itself a waterfront beer garden. It posts weekly hours: closed Monday, 3 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. The page doesn't say whether those hours run through winter.
The Drive Is Part of the Plan
The Nautical Mile was already running with a torn-up street. In May the Macomb Daily reported that a nearly $30 million road project had put sewer pipes and heavy equipment on Jefferson for the second year in a row. The goal is fewer discharges of treated wastewater and stormwater into Lake St. Clair. Crews are installing a 60-inch relief sewer under the southbound curb lane from Nine Mile Road to Rio Vista. In late May, the paper put completion in the first quarter of 2027.
Donna Flaherty of the Nautical Mile Merchants Association told the Macomb Daily in May, "People have seen the construction work on TV news and think the whole street is closed." If the sewer work is still going this winter on its spring timeline, the restaurants that stay open will still be working around it.
North of Harrison Township, Macomb County's work zone listing has maintenance on the Jefferson Avenue bridge over Auvase Creek in Chesterfield Township from October 19 to 30, 2026, with one lane run by temporary signals. Rosso Highway is being rebuilt between I-94 and Jefferson through November 2027 and stays open to traffic.
The Biggest Lakefront Project Is Aimed at Memorial Day
The longer-term change on the Harrison Township shore is happening at Lake St. Clair Metropark, 31300 Metro Parkway. Huron-Clinton Metroparks has the North Marina and bathhouse under construction with a target of Memorial Day 2027. More than half a mile of accessible Daysail Trail and a renovated West Boardwalk are both expected to finish in 2027.
So the shoreline's next round of public gathering space runs on the same calendar as the restaurants. Hook, the Metropark's marina and bathhouse, and the Daysail Trail are all pointed at 2027. For a sense of what a full summer Sunday on this waterfront looks like, our Harrison Township late-summer weekend guide walks through one.
Where the Off-Season Calendar Moves
As the lakefront schedule shrinks, the dated events shift inland to parks and downtown streets. These are the events organizers have posted from now through the end of November:
- Thursday, October 22, 5 to 8 p.m. Witches Night Out, downtown Mount Clemens.
- Friday, October 23, 6 to 8 p.m. Trick or Treat on Washington Street, New Baltimore, from Alfred to Front.
- Saturday, October 24, noon to 2 p.m. Harrison Township's free Hallowpalooza at Tucker Park, 26980 Ballard Street.
- Saturday, October 24, noon to 3 p.m. The free Halloween Spooktacular, downtown Mount Clemens.
- Saturday, October 31, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Mount Clemens Farmers Market Halloween Harvest Celebration, with a pig roast, vendors and trick-or-treating.
- Friday, November 20, 5 to 9 p.m. Christmas Open House and tree lighting, downtown Mount Clemens.
- Saturday, November 21, 10 a.m. The Mount Clemens Santa Parade, per Macomb County's event listing.
- Monday, November 30, 6 to 8 p.m. New Baltimore's Christmas Tree Lighting and Drone Show at Washington and Alfred streets, next to Walter and Mary Burke Park.
Hallowpalooza and the Spooktacular overlap on Saturday, October 24, so you can do Tucker Park at noon and still reach downtown Mount Clemens before 3. Mike's on the Water should still be open that evening for dinner by the water.
Once Mike's closes for the season and Hook waits on spring, the Jefferson shoreline gets quiet. If you own on the water in Harrison Township and want to know how your property looks in today's market, Helm & Associates can help. Request your free Home Value (CMA) or talk with our Broker. We've worked this shoreline for more than twenty years.
