After less than eight months in business, the Bandit Tavern & Hideaway in Royal Oak is calling it quits.

“Dear Friends, we have officially closed our doors,” the business posted to Facebook on Monday. “Thank you for letting us be a part of the Royal Oak community. We’ll miss you.”

The restaurant at the corner of Fifth and Main streets joined others within the Mission Restaurant Group when it opened last fall, replacing the former Jolly Pumpkin, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Mission President David Ritchie blamed the abrupt closure following business on Sunday on unfavorable “market conditions.”

“We are proud to have served the Royal Oak community for two decades, employed thousands of people, introduced 11 unique restaurant concepts, and made lifelong friends,” Ritchie said in a statement cited by WXYZ.

“Unfortunately, current market conditions have forced us to focus our attention and resources in other areas,” the statement read. “We are working with staff to place as many people as possible at other locations within our group. We sincerely appreciate the support we received over the years and will miss operating in Royal Oak.”

Other brands in the group include North Peak Brewing Co., Grizzly Peak Brewing Co., Avalon Café and Bakery, Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery, and the Jolly Pumpkin, the Royal Oak Tribune reports.

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The demise of the short-lived, southern-inspired Bandit Tavern illustrates the struggles that continue to plague Michigan’s restaurant industry in the wake of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s pandemic edicts that put many out of business.

“We are in the bottom third of all states – Michigan is – in terms of the restaurant industry workforce growth since the pandemic. So, we are slow to recover,” Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association CEO Justin Winslow told WJRT last month, pointing to inflation as a major factor.

“It is what is driving the challenge for restaurant operators right now, it is what is pushing them to the brink of whether they can or will keep their locations open,” he said.

A MRLA survey of more than 200 Michigan restaurants released in mid-June found a staggering 59% reported having fewer customers than a year ago, while 40% are not profitable, 55% do not have adequate staffing, and only 25% experienced sales growth over the last year.

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That data illustrates that “restaurants are a little too expensive for some people and they’re going less often,” Winsow told WXMI.

Other data from the survey showed nearly 60% of restaurants are reducing hours, 89% have faced commodity inflation of more than 5% over the last year, 75% of profitable restaurants are less profitable than last year, and 70% of owners believe the operating environment will get worse over the next 12 months.

The MRLA expects the situation could, however, turn into a death spiral if efforts to increase the state’s minimum wage are successful.

“Michigan’s hospitality industry … awaits the result of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that could increase the state’s minimum wage to about $14 per hour and eliminate the tip credit” for servers and bartenders, according to the MRLA survey.

Two-thirds of restaurants surveyed plan to lay off employees, mostly tipped workers, if plaintiffs prevail in increasing the minimum wage of tipped workers, resulting in an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 jobs lost.

One in five full-service restaurants will simply close for good, while 94% would raise prices by an average of 25% if the Supreme Court eliminates the tip credit that allows employers to pay a lower wage for tipped employees, according to the survey.

“If an adverse ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court later this summer requires the elimination of the tip credit, and industry on the edge will plunge headfirst into the abyss,” Winslow said. “The Michigan legislature is in a position to implement a reasonable solution to prevent such a catastrophe, but we all need Democrats and Republicans to quickly work together in common cause.

“The alternative is a pandemic-level of restaurant closure and job loss, which will decimate Michigan’s second largest employer, wreaking havoc on Michigan’s overall economy,” he said.

John Sellek, publicist for the advocacy group Save MI Tips, told the Midland Daily News a survey from the MRLA found 83% of bartenders and servers want to maintain the current system, which allows them to earn much more than minimum wage with tips factored in.

“They feel their customers know the system is special,” Sellek said. “They’re holding the servers or bartenders to a higher standard of service, and when they deliver that kind of service, then they’re getting rewarded for it.”