After getting walloped by the pandemic, the restaurant industry remains in a crazy churn, a contradictory mix of optimistic openings and lingering closures.
Most of the closures on this list are still pandemic-related. It’s a tragedy that some of these Dallas restaurants managed to cling on through the horror of 2020, but were unable to pick up the pieces.
Here’s a list of restaurants that closed in Dallas in 2021:
Anju. Uptown restaurant-bar doing Asian food closed but it was to make way for a concept with Mexican food called Tequila Delicious, serving street tacos, Mexican food, and margaritas.
Anvil Pub. Authentic, laid-back bar in Deep Ellum closed on October 31 after more than a decade due primarily to the pandemic, leading to unpaid rent and landlord issues.
Braindead Brewing. Pioneering Deep Ellum brewpub closed on November 28 after nearly seven years, due primarily to the pandemic, leading to unpaid rent and landlord issues.
Burguesa Burger. The Mexican twist on a burger joint from Jeff Sinelli closed both of its remaining locations in downtown Dallas and Oak Cliff in 2021; Sinelli’s newest concept is Birdguesa, which does chicken tenders.
Cantina Laredo. Mexican restaurant at Preston and Royal initially closed after getting hit by the October 2019 tornado. They remodeled, then reopened in January 2020, but closed a year later.
Carlo’s Bakery. Celebrity bakery from Buddy Valastro of TLC’s Cake Boss fame closed its Preston Center location; a spokesperson said it wasn’t doing well. A Frisco location closed in 2019.
Cosmic Cafe. Longtime vegetarian restaurant in Dallas closed in October after serving unpretentious vegetarian food at 2912 Oak Lawn Ave. for more than 25 years.
Cultivar Coffee Roasting Co. Roaster closed its Oak Cliff location in late February, due to the pandemic and lease issues; it had been there five years.
Del Frisco’s Grille. Once-hopping location at 3232 McKinney Ave. in Uptown Dallas closed rather unexpectedly, to be replaced by Mi Cocina, which left the West Village after nearly 20 years. The problem was not Del Frisco’s Grille, which still has locations in Southlake, Plano, and Fort Worth.
Eureka. The Dallas location of this California concept featuring great food and craft beer did not survive the pandemic, and closed after nearly seven years. One Texas location remains on 6th Street in Austin.
Ginger Man. Craft beer chain shrunk majorly, with closures in Dallas and Houston, including Uptown Dallas. At one point, this chain had locations in Austin, Boston, and New York, but is now down to one in Las Colinas.
Godiva. Luxury chocolatier shuttered all 128 of its brick-and-mortar outlets, due to the pandemic and a shift away from retail shopping. That included three in the DFW area, all located in malls, all closed in March including North Park Center in Dallas, Stonebriar in Frisco, and Hulen Mall in Fort Worth.
Go Fish Poke. Poke concept closed its location in Plano at 8245 Preston Rd. It had been open since 2018. The original location in Dallas’ Preston Center at 6030 Luther Ln., which owner Tony Lin opened in 2017, is still open.
Healthy Hippie Cafe. Sweet vegetarian …….
Source: https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/12-27-21-restaurant-closures-pandemic