Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy’s will close at its longtime Dallas home at McKinney Avenue and Knox Street and move to Greenville Avenue in East Dallas.
The move from one spot to another is expected to take place in April 2025, said Travis Hudson, vice president of operations for Chuy’s. The McKinney Avenue restaurant will continue selling enchiladas and burritos until then.
Chuy’s will open again at 1520 Greenville Avenue, the former site of Desert Racer, a restaurant known for its massive patio and generous parking lot.
“We really want to be open before Cinco de Mayo [in 2025],” Hudson said. He called the American-made holiday “like Super Bowl” for a Tex-Mex restaurant such as Chuy’s.
Hudson and his team had been looking for a new home in the city for Chuy’s for more than a year after Dallas developer Trammell Crow Co., along with BDT & MSD Partners, signed a long-term ground lease for a handful of addresses at the southeast corner of Knox Street and McKinney Avenue.
Just blocks away, the pair, along with joint venture partners The Retail Connection and Highland Park Village Associates, are in the midst of transforming 4 acres backing up to the Katy Trail into a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development.
Trammell Crow and BDT & MSD Partners didn’t have further details to share about potential development plans at this time.
“We knew, at some point, they were going vertical,” Hudson said. “We just didn’t know when.”
Chuy’s has been on that famed Dallas corner since 1993. Chuy’s first opened in Dallas’ West End in 1987, then moved to McKinney Avenue just under six years later.
The Dallas restaurant was but the third Chuy’s in existence, after the company was founded in 1982 in Austin.
The Elvis memorabilia that is now part of the decor at more than 100 Chuy’s across the country was a pivotal part of the Dallas restaurant. As history goes, customers would bring in Elvis gifts at Chuy’s first few locations. Some of that donated decor celebrating the king of rock ‘n’ roll will move to East Dallas, Hudson said; McKinney Avenue’s Elvis “shrine” is iconic to the brand.
Rather than lament the loss of a more-than-30-year restaurant in Dallas, Hudson said they’re excited about the new beginning in East Dallas.
“It’s been a long process for us to find the right Dallas location,” he said. “I feel like the old Desert Racer is the perfect spot for us.”
The East Dallas patio will be significantly larger than the few outdoor tables flanking McKinney Avenue at the current location.
He notes that existing employees will be offered jobs in 2025 on Greenville Avenue.
Chuy’s menu will remain the same, as it does at all locations. Best-sellers include the Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom chicken enchiladas and the “Big As Yo’ Face” steak burritos.
For now, the parent company is focused on opening the 102nd Chuy’s in Hudson Oaks, west of Fort Worth, on Aug. 27.
Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Yard House, among others, announced in July plans to acquire Chuy’s for $605 million. The deal is expected to close later this year.
Chuy’s will continue selling Tex-Mex at 4544 McKinney Ave., Dallas, until April 2025. Chuy’s is expected to move to 1520 Greenville Ave., Dallas, in April 2025, when the McKinney-and-Knox restaurant will close.
Anna Butler contributed to this story.
