Locked out by the landlord after nearly 23 years in North Dallas, lll Forks steakhouse quickly relocated to Frisco this week.
Open since 1998, the original III Forks closed on Sept. 9 when thunderstorms caused mechanical issues in the building. The owners of the steakhouse — which now has locations in Austin, Chicago and Florida — say they were in a deadlock with the landlord after six months of negotiations that started in March, when COVID-19 began wreaking havoc on the restaurant industry.
Bill Watson, vice president of marketing for Consolidated Restaurant Operations, the Dallas-based company that operates III Forks, says the company and the landlord “couldn’t come up with a mutually acceptable plan to go forward.”
Watson says III Forks had decided against renewing the lease for the building, which has been owned by Dallas Stake Investments since 2019.
“You have to be very optimistic to be in the restaurant business right now,” says Watson, before adding that the industry is in the worst shape he has seen in his 40-year career. “It is perhaps the most hard-hit sector of the U.S. economy today.”
III Forks quickly took the place of Silver Fox in Frisco, another steakhouse owned by CRO in a Frisco building that was recently remodeled. It was renamed as III Forks on Sept. 15. With 7,000 square feet and a capacity of 250, the new III Forks is less than a quarter of the old building’s size. But Watson says this a good thing.
“We are quickly coming to the conclusion that large footprint restaurants are going to be very difficult to sustain in the new normal,” Watson says.
Now located at 1303 Legacy Drive, III Forks is currently operating the dining room at 50% capacity. The restaurant is in the process of contacting guests with existing reservations.
