Without much warning, some of our favorite restaurants and bars closed in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Thankfully, a few others are relocating instead of closing for good. Here’s your latest list:
Already closed
Luna’s Tortillas y Hacienda restaurant in Dallas closed on Halloween. The Luna family has been making tortillas for 97 years in Dallas and serving restaurant food for 13. While the restaurant didn’t survive a few years of shaky sales, the tortilla factory will remain: “There’s no way I’m going to let this die out two years from hitting 100 years,” says owner and patriarch Fernando Luna.
Anvil Pub in Deep Ellum made a swift close on Halloween. With just a few hours’ notice, the owners invited fans out for one last evening for pub food and beers. The bar was beloved for its irreverent brunch and vegan menu.
Cosmic Cafe, one of Dallas’ best-known vegetarian restaurants, closed after service on Oct. 17, 2021. Building owner Praveen Sachdev says the restaurant will now become a “silent space” for yoga and meditation, where he says “there won’t be a focus on money.”
Go Fish Poke closed in Plano. The company has one other restaurant that’s still open, in Preston Center in Dallas.
Lada, an enchilada shop started by a fine-dining chef, has closed in Far North Dallas. Originating chef Michael Ehlert left in summer 2021 and Lada lasted just a few months longer. The restaurant was less than a year old and is part of a new development at Hillcrest and Arapaho that some have called a “mini Klyde Warren Park.”
Closing soon
Val’s Cheesecakes is closing one of its two dessert shops in Dallas. The original retail store, on Maple Avenue next to Grapevine Bar, will close Nov. 21, 2021, on owner Val Jean-Bart’s birthday.
Snowbaby, a shaved ice shop in Lakewood Dallas, closes Nov. 21, 2021. Owner Chrissy Kuo loved making healthful desserts for the neighborhood, but she says she needs a break from the strains of running a small business.
Bavarian Grill in Plano is serving its last jägerschnitzel at the current restaurant the day before Thanksgiving. Owner Jürgen Mahneke is moving his German restaurant a half a mile away, to a former Golden Corral that he purchased. Bavarian Grill had been open in its original spot on West Parker Road in Plano for 28 years.
Fred’s Texas Cafe in Fort Worth will close Dec. 31, 2021 after 43 years. A new Fred’s burger joint is expected to open in spring 2022. The new restaurant isn’t a replacement, exactly, because it’s 7 miles away. But it’s good to see the long-time Fort Worth restaurant live on in a new neighborhood.
Ten Bells Tavern in Oak Cliff is packing up by Jan. 31, 2022. The land will become an apartment complex. Owner Meri Dahlke has found a new home, just one block over, on West 8th Street, where she plans to open Ten Bells 2.0 in 2022. The fish and chips, the cats and all the other colorful things we love about Ten Bells are moving to the new place, too.
Temporary closure
Alexandre’s, a gay bar in Dallas, has been closed since Oct. 27, 2021 because of a fire outside the bar, Eater reports. The bar will reopen soon — and the Instagram page is keeping regulars updated.
Original story written Nov. 5, 2021. Updated Nov. 11, 2021, with news of Val’s Cheesecakes closing.
