Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe Demolished for Second Location of This Popular East Lansing Restaurant

One of East Lansing's truly unique establishments is officially gone, razed to the ground to make room for another chain restaurant.

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe closed its doors for good toward the end of 2021. Since then, the property just east of US-127 along Lake Lansing Road has mostly sat untouched. Until recently, when demolition of the old restaurant wrapped up.

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It was once an incredibly popular East Lansing venue, especially on Michigan State football and basketball game days. Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe was rife with MSU memorabilia and historical artifacts, from championship trophies and banners to a life-sized bobblehead of Michigan State basketball legend Mateen Cleaves.

But like so many other restaurants in the Lansing area and around the nation, Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe couldn't withstand the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

So What's Coming?

Construction at the site is already under way of a 2,400-square-foot restaurant and 4,200-square-foot medical office space, according to The State News. The new restaurant will be a Chipotle, which already has a location in East Lansing (downtown along Grand River Avenue).

The new development, forecast to cost between $5 and $6 million, was expected to have completed construction by the end of 2022, FOX 47 previously reported. But, based on the progress or lack thereof at the site, that appears to be unrealistically ambitious.

The medical space will be occupied by an urgent care office, according to FOX 47.

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe had been operating since the mid-2000s, when it opened in the space at 1601 W. Lake Lansing Road that had previously been occupied by a Damon's Grill.