No, The Porch on Henderson Avenue has not reopened yet. It’s one of five Headington Companies restaurants in Dallas that remains closed during the COVID-19 pandemic — and it’s a restaurant that Dallas Morning News readers keep asking about.
The Headington portfolio includes the Joule hotel and more than 10 restaurants, coffee shops and bars in Dallas. After closing its dining rooms in mid-March, Headington execs reopened restaurant CBD Provisions and refocused on grab ’n go spot Commissary and coffee shop Weekend.
Now, the staff will slowly reopen some of Headington’s other restaurants, says Jeny Bania, senior vice president of PR and brand marketing for Headington Companies. Downtown Dallas is up first.
“While all of our concepts are affected by mandates around COVID-19, we are watching demand closely and focusing our efforts on the downtown experience,” Bania says in a statement. “The Joule Hotel has remained open throughout these trying times and continues to be the heart of Headington Companies and Main Street.”
Queso Beso reopens Friday, Aug. 21. It will have a limited menu of chips and queso, tacos, nachos, carne asada fries, margaritas and beers. The patio is open Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 11 p.m. only; the dining room remains closed.
Update on Aug. 26, 2020: Queso Beso is now open on Thursdays, too.
Headington is among the hundreds of restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth hit by a sharp downturn in revenue during the pandemic. A swath of Headington staffers were laid off in mid-March. One former Mirador employee talked to The Dallas Morning News about the mental health issues servers are facing during the pandemic.
According to information obtained by The Dallas Morning News, Headington Companies received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) grants of between $1 million and $2 million. Our data doesn’t show how or where the money was used.
The Headington dining rooms and bars that remain closed are: Mirador, located inside Forty Five Ten retail store (which Headington owns and operates); Americano and Midnight Rambler, both at the Joule in downtown Dallas; Sassetta and Wheelhouse in the Dallas Design District; and The Porch on Henderson Avenue.
Mirador is available as a special event space.
Commissary, a bakery and market open on Main Street in Dallas, recently started selling some of Sassetta’s food such as a meatball sub, a chopped salad and a large slice of lasagna. Commissary is also selling meal kits so customers can make Sassetta’s bolognese or spaghetti and meatballs at home.
Meal kits are one of the ways restaurateurs have been able to entice diners to buy cook-at-home food from a restaurant instead of purchasing those ingredients at a grocery store.
A Headington-run cafe named No Aloha, located inside Forty Five Ten, has permanently closed.
Tango Room, a new spot that will be located in the Design District where FT33 used to be, is on hold. At the beginning of 2020, we called it one of the most exciting restaurants opening in Dallas this year.
Bania says the company is starting to add back amenities at its downtown Dallas properties. On Saturdays, the company hosts an outdoor fitness class at The Eye, the iconic Tony Tasset sculpture in downtown Dallas. The events end with a glass of frosé.
The company also recently opened the fifth-floor rooftop terrace at the Joule. It’s an outdoor space with sightlines to The Eye, where diners can eat the full menu from CBD Provisions on Fridays and Saturdays only. CBD Provisions’ food is also being served on Americano’s patio while Americano remains closed. CBD announced in late July that it would be bringing back a signature item, the pig’s head carnitas.
“While we must stay agile in the weeks and months ahead, we are using this time to consolidate, cross-utilize, and be creative about what hospitality means today,” Bania says.
