Fans of Patrick’s, a steakhouse in Michigan City, will be happy to hear it’s reopened after a summer of focusing on its beachfront restaurant, Sunset Grille.

Patrick’s opened in 2015, an old-school steakhouse serving standard steakhouse fare–red meat, seafood, potatoes, salad. Friends tell me the meat was high quality. From 2023 till May of 2025, the restaurant was open for in-person dining only on Wednesdays, serving ribs to-go on Thursdays. Then in the first few months of 2025, the restaurant lost its general manager, so owner Patrick Wilkins decided to close the restaurant to in-person dining for the summer and focus on catering and Sunset Grille, looking to reopen Patrick’s in fall.

“While we were closed, we reevaluated our business and determined that we should take a new direction which I thought would better serve Michigan City,” Wilkins said in answer to questions via email.

The restaurant is now open five days a week. Customers will notice some changes, though the decor is the same and the chef, who’s been with Wilkins since 2015, still heads up the kitchen.

“First, we have opened up a section of the restaurant for family dining,” Wilkins said. “Previously, we were constantly asked if children were allowed to come in,” he said. “We listened and we think that makes sense.

“The restaurant is set up with a fireplace/wall that divides the restaurant into two sections,” Wilkins said. “The bar side remains reserved for 21 and older, while the backside will be set up to include people under the age of 21.”

There are some menu changes, as well. “We’ve eliminated some of the high-end steaks and other items and added more items that are priced to better accommodate families,” Wilkins said. “We will continue to offer our premium cuts of meat and seafood. In addition, we have added a kids’ menu and will be offering specials every night, including prime rib (Saturdays), surf and turf (Tuesdays), and seafood items (Wednesdays and Fridays).” (The entire menu is here.)

This is a soup-or-salad-comes-with sort of restaurant, where the cocktails are $7 to $10. The wine list is basic. An aged ribeye is $35, half of what you’ll pay at another steakhouse in town.

A friend who used to go to Patrick’s every Friday night returned last week after the reopening Nov. 4. She and her group enjoyed their dinner, but her husband was disappointed to find the Buffalo chicken salad gone from the menu, as is the French onion soup.

Longtime regulars will notice more burgers, fewer entrees, and on the appetizer menu, some unconventional options such as vegan meatballs, flaming saganaki, a Mexican bean dip with tortilla chips. There are no longer beers on tap.

Patrick’s is open Tuesdays through Saturdays. The bar opens at 3 pm, the dining room at 4 pm. Service runs until 8 or 9 pm.

Patrick’s Grille, 4125 S. Franklin St., Michigan City, 219-873-9401

In other Michigan City restaurant reopening news, Hokkaido, the Japanese restaurant which had been next to Mucho Mas on Franklin, has opened in its new location at 701 Washington St.