On US-12, the season is printed on the homepage. Redamak's says it is open eight months a year, "March 1st to October," and lists this year's closing date as "TBD." Some time this fall the burger counter that has been feeding US-12 since 1975 locks up until spring. Directly across the road, in the building that used to be a Buffalo Bill's, Rio's Mexican Grill is heading into its first cold season with indoor seating.
The two buildings face each other, but the rest of New Buffalo's off-season dining sits a short walk west. Of the places with posted hours that run most of the week, nearly all are on Whittaker Street or a block off it.
Why the Burger Counter on US-12 Runs on a Ten-Month Calendar
Redamak's explains its winter closing in its own FAQ. The break lets staff spend time with family while the building and its mechanicals get cleaned, maintained, repaired or replaced, and preparation for the next season starts around February 1.
The restaurant also gives a second reason. Its FAQ says winter service is unlikely "mainly because we hold only a 10-month resort liquor license," and that while it could technically stay open through November and December, it would have to close in January and February. That explains why the best-known restaurant in town reads like a summer business on paper. Its calendar comes from the license it holds as much as from the weather.
The closing date is still listed as TBD, so the safest plan for a last burger is to check Redamak's site before driving over.
Across the Street, Rio's Has Its First Winter Indoors
For 26 years, Rio's served tacos from a small stand in New Buffalo. As Dunes Diva reported in March, the family closed that stand after March 11 and opened a larger counter-service restaurant with indoor seating on March 14 at 603 E. Buffalo St., about a mile from the original stand.
According to that report, the menu stays close to the original Rio's, with weekend specials such as posole and aguas frescas on offer. The new room has no liquor yet, though co-owner Marysol Rios, daughter of the founders, told Dunes Diva that might come once the family settles into the space. The family also told Dunes Diva it plans to reopen the original stand on the south end of town early next year with an entirely different menu. Rio's has also run a drive-through on Franklin Street in Michigan City since 2002.
Rio's has never spent a winter at 603 E. Buffalo, so its cold-weather hours are still unknown. Its seats are the newest variable on a stretch of US-12 that has historically gone quiet once Redamak's closes.
The Week-Long Schedules Are on Whittaker
Walk west to downtown and the posted schedules get longer. Here are the hours each business lists on its own website or booking page, as of mid-October 2026. None of them has announced a separate schedule for winter 2026–27, so confirm before you go, especially around the holidays.
| Place | Address | Posted hours |
|---|---|---|
| Beer Church Brewing | 24 S. Whittaker St. | Open every day. Mon–Thu 10 a.m.–10 p.m., weekends 8 a.m.–midnight |
| PostBoy | 207 N. Whittaker St. | Booking page showed 11 a.m.–10 p.m. for Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026 |
| Hummingbird Lounge | 9 S. Barton St. | Mon–Fri 5 p.m.–sunset, Sat–Sun 1 p.m.–sunset |
| Skip's Restaurant & Catering | 16710 Lakeshore Rd. | Tue–Thu 5–9 p.m., Fri–Sat 5–9:30 p.m., Sun 5–9 p.m., closed Mon |
| Ghost Isle Brewery | 17684 US-12 | Thu 4–9 p.m., Fri–Sat noon–9 p.m., Sun noon–7 p.m., closed Mon–Wed |
Beer Church is the only one in the group that posts "open every day," with breakfast and brunch served until 2 p.m. Its wood-fired Neapolitan pizza comes from a team that, according to the brewery, trained under Roberto and Giorgia Caporuscio of Kesté in New York. For a Tuesday night in February, it has the widest posted schedule in town.
PostBoy is two blocks north on Whittaker and calls its cooking chef-driven and seasonal, with global flavors seen through a local lens.
Hummingbird Lounge sits on Barton Street, close to where Buffalo and Whittaker meet. In September, WNDU featured its fall game-day menu, which includes chicken, tomato caprese and beef tenderloin skewers plus a monthly tomato martini, and identified Ben Smock as co-owner. The lounge's site says it is booking holiday parties and corporate events for November and December. Its hours run until sunset, and sunset comes earlier every week from now until late December.
Last Winter's Closures Show Where the Gaps Were
Last winter's closures show what changes once January arrives. Dunes Diva's January 2, 2026 roundup listed Skip's as closed for the first two weeks of January, Ghost Isle as closed through spring, and Redamak's as closed until spring. The same roundup named Hummingbird, The Historian, PostBoy and LongStory as open all winter.
That list describes last winter, and each business sets its own calendar year to year. Even so, it fits the pattern. The two US-12 spots on the map, Redamak's and Ghost Isle, both closed for an extended stretch last winter. Downtown, PostBoy and Hummingbird stayed open. Skip's, out on Lakeshore Road, took a short break in early January.
Ghost Isle currently posts Thursday through Sunday hours and says it hosts live music year-round. It has not announced a winter closure for this season. Skip's, a steakhouse known for hand-carved steaks and prime rib, posts dinner six nights a week. If either one repeats last year's schedule, the first half of January is when the downtown spots carry the weeknights on their own.
A Short Drive Adds Two More Year-Round Tables
Two restaurants from last winter's open-all-winter list are outside New Buffalo but close enough for a weeknight dinner.
The Historian Lounge, 12856 Red Arrow Highway in Sawyer. Owner Michael Faltum serves contemporary food with global influences and offers more than 35 wines by the glass. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m. and the lounge stays open until midnight.
LongStory Wine Bar & Restaurant, 8 Maple Street in Three Oaks. It posts Thursday 5–9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5–10 p.m., and Sunday 5–9 p.m. Last January's roundup noted that it had a new chef.
Both are Thursday-through-weekend options more than Monday ones. Neither posts Monday hours, so Beer Church is the clearest Monday dinner in or near New Buffalo, with Hummingbird listing weekday hours from 5 p.m. until sunset.
The Late-Fall Calendar at Silver Creek
Some off-season evenings start or end at Four Winds New Buffalo. The New Buffalo events calendar lists these shows at the Silver Creek Event Center:
- Wheel of Fortune LIVE!: Saturday, October 31, 2026, at 9 p.m. Eastern, and Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 2 p.m. Eastern
- Rick Springfield: Saturday, November 21, 2026, at 9 p.m. Eastern
- Cirque Musica Holiday Wonderland: Saturday, December 12, 2026, at 8 p.m.
The calendar notes that details can change and suggests checking with the venue. For a 9 p.m. show on a Saturday in November, Skip's posted Saturday hours of 5 to 9:30 p.m. and Beer Church's weekend hours running to midnight both fit an early dinner. That evening runs along Whittaker Street and Lakeshore Road while Redamak's waits for March 1.
Every winter we see the same thing. New Buffalo stays a full-time town, but a different set of doors stays open. If you're weighing a home you'll use well past Labor Day, Jackson Matson can walk you through how the off-season looks block by block, from Whittaker Street out to the lake. Let's Connect.
