Uptown Dallas: Business Openings and Closings

[PonyUp13]

Their food was not good. It’s the only one star review I’ve ever left on Yelp and everybody I talked to in the neighborhood felt the same. We have so many better options in Dallas that I think this just got walloped.

The only way that would have survived in BA could be due to the relative lack of options they have.

[lakewoodhobo]

Can the city force the owners to paint over the mural that still lingers on the building wall? The old "Cowboy versus Chinese man" motif has no business on that wall. It is literally a mural of a cowboy shooting a Chinese man. I am not Asian but even I find it offensive, tacky, and gross. Especially considering that dark chapter in our nation's history with the Chinese exclusion act and the numerous massacres of Chinese immigrants in the old west that happened 100% without any consequences for the murderers.

The mural seems like it could have been inspired by this 1894 painting titles "Not a Chinaman's Chance" by Charles M Russell. Sickening.

I stand corrected... their first rookie mistake was to assume their "humor" would be accepted in Dallas, and I agree that their clueless appropriation was awful and offensive, but the point about location and demographics is still valid. As for quality, all they had to do was hire a chef that previously worked at "X & X" on Henderson and they would've had decent food.

[Lakewood2Uptown]

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[Lakewood2Uptown]

Activity at the MAT today. Trucks hauling away stuff.

[DPatel304]

This is the first time I'm actually seeing the San Martin space, but man does it look under-whelming. So it looks like there is a small surface lot in front of it, meaning the actual restaurant space is kinda tucked away and hidden from McKinney Ave? Maybe I need to see it in person, but I'm pretty disappointed with this one, and I have a feeling it won't be around for that long.

[R1070]

It is built up right to Oak Grove. I'm hoping there's a pedestrian entrance on that side.

[Jbarn]

Hope they can get that graffiti off the front

[cowboyeagle05]

The whole redevelopment is pretty lazy and badly designed. It looks like something that will end up as a Family Dollar eventually. Mind you a really nice Family Dollar but hey in Uptown it would have to step it up from the industrial warehouse buildings they usually build everywhere else for their stores.

[mdg109]

Looks like a rec center to me. The entrance on the McKinney side is so narrow, I often walk past it without even noticing it. On Google Street View, it looks like it's meant to face Oak Grove.

[cowboyeagle05]

Community College maybe?

[Redblock]

The Gap store in West Village is having a store closing sale.

[ArtVandelay]

The Gap store in West Village is having a store closing sale.

Sad ending to another American retail juggernaut. All the growth at Gap Inc. is at Old Navy and the Factory Stores which IMHO kinda suck.

One day these guys will wake up and not make all their decisions based on sales per SF

[CTroyMathis]

Hope they can get that graffiti off the front

I was wondering what graffiti you are referring to. The old MAC blue wall is still there dividing the ugly Shell-dominated strip center and has hand-written paint on it saying what restaurant is moving in (been there about 1.5 years) and someones random ass name and phone number.

The latter part having not been there too terribly long. Of course, the overall appearance doesn't look nice and I certainly hope that wall is addressed with paint, deletion (I don't know who owns the wall), and/or a sign saying what's down that driveway that has no sidewalks. Oh, and it definitely front-doors the cemetery and has a "main entrance" there as well - ADA-compliant it appears. It's always been an odd siting even as the MAC. If the Shell plaza, MATA barn, and this site recipe come together sometime in the near future - it'll be quite a development I'm sure. In the meantime, this bakery/restaurant gets a foothold in Dallas and has time to expand (possibly failing at this site while succeeding at other locations). I don't see anything happening with this trifecta location until MATA has a solid "new" big-enough home, though; and, I don't think that is happening anytime in the next decade.

[Jbarn]

Hope they can get that graffiti off the front

I was wondering what graffiti you are referring to. The old MAC blue wall is still there dividing the ugly Shell-dominated strip center and has hand-written paint on it saying what restaurant is moving in (been there about 1.5 years) and someones random ass name and phone number.

The latter part having not been there too terribly long. Of course, the overall appearance doesn't look nice and I certainly hope that wall is addressed with paint, deletion (I don't know who owns the wall), and/or a sign saying what's down that driveway that has no sidewalks. Oh, and it definitely front-doors the cemetery and has a "main entrance" there as well - ADA-compliant it appears. It's always been an odd siting even as the MAC. If the Shell plaza, MATA barn, and this site recipe come together sometime in the near future - it'll be quite a development I'm sure. In the meantime, this bakery/restaurant gets a foothold in Dallas and has time to expand (possibly failing at this site while succeeding at other locations). I don't see anything happening with this trifecta location until MATA has a solid "new" big-enough home, though; and, I don't think that is happening anytime in the next decade.

Front of the building, next to the doors, all across the front.

[CTroyMathis]

Ok, was wondering. I don't think I saw that this past Saturday so hopefully it's gone.

https://twitter.com/CTroyMathis/status/ ... 6727848962

[Jbarn]

Ok, was wondering. I don't think I saw that this past Saturday so hopefully it's gone.

https://twitter.com/CTroyMathis/status/ ... 6727848962

The second photo in your twitter link, beside the red pickup, all the way across the front of the building.

[CTroyMathis]

I definitely wasn't paying enough attention that day. Yeah, that needs to get gone.

[gbud]

http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/05-30-18-san-martin-bakery-guatemala-uptown/Dont know if this has been posted before..

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Wow Pupusas in Uptown. Now if we could get some other Latin food and maybe some Mediterranean options in there as well.

[Cbdallas]

Saw that the GAP in the West Village is closing has everything must go posters in the windows. I don't know how all of this retail space is going to get filled with the continuing shrinkage of retail business across the board. Lots of new and old space still unfilled at this point all over uptown downtown and surrounding areas.

[Kelley USA]

And remember, on the opposite end you have the Tommy Bahama space that's been vacant for quite some time...

[LongonBigD]

And remember, on the opposite end you have the Tommy Bahama space that's been vacant for quite some time...

I worry about this. There is plenty of foot traffic here. Why do they struggle to lease the empty spaces? I am worried that they will convert more space to restaurants and then all the traffic will be primarily nights and weekend. They should have put the stupid CVS over here (probably not enough 'cool' factor) and saved that corner for more dense development. I am allowed to say that - it's my CVS!

[flyswatter]

It wouldn't surprise me if West Village was being super picky on tenants/charging ridiculous rent and therefore they sit vacant.

[cowboyeagle05]

Well, considering they are one of the few developments on this scale that actually has a good balance of retail vs restaurants I trust in their leadership. Deep Ellum is trying to attract retail and so are a number of other mixed-use areas of town. A city can not survive on valet driven restaurants alone and some of these developments all they tend to lease to are restaurants mostly high end. Retail and neighborhood service is the frontier that is hard to make sexy sometimes even though its the lifeblood of a neighborhood.

Hey someone call Amazon, the Gap space if probably perfect for an Amazon Go store.

[PonyUp13]

I trust the people who run WV to do a good job with a new tenant. That’s a high visibility spot (honestly that corner is somewhat underutilized) and they could probably subdivide that space.

I think something they do well is picking a good mix of restaurants/shops at different price points as well as neighborhood service type places (I.e. Eagle Postal, dentist, nail salon).

[vman]

I would love it if Shake Shack packed up and moved to W. Village. I think the Crescent is a horrible location

[cowboyeagle05]

I would love it if Shake Shack packed up and moved to W. Village. I think the Crescent is a horrible location

Well, every time I have been there is a line out the door and the patio space is filled with families from Klyde Warren. Even in this heat. I have been surprised how well they used the space honestly. It sure makes the Crescent seem less stand-off-ish. That development is a luxury palace that normally tries to keep the commoners at bay but Shake Shack makes it feel more engaged in the neighborhood.

[vman]

I would love it if Shake Shack packed up and moved to W. Village. I think the Crescent is a horrible location

Well, every time I have been there is a line out the door and the patio space is filled with families from Klyde Warren. Even in this heat. I have been surprised how well they used the space honestly. It sure makes the Crescent seem less stand-off-ish. That development is a luxury palace that normally tries to keep the commoners at bay but Shake Shack makes it feel more engaged in the neighborhood.

I didn’t say it wasn’t busy or does a good business. I just find the location lousy. I don’t find it engaged with the surrounding neighborhood at all . It’s up and off the street, tucked into the Crescent complex. and I’ve seen people on foot walking around trying to find it. I would just rather see it bring life to the streetn than to the corner of an imposing hotel complex.

[cowboyeagle05]

Well, I disagree but that's all it is.

[CTroyMathis]

I haven't noticed if anyone mentioned it yet, but, Doc B's did open up not too long ago at McKinney & Olive Tower. Looks like they'll be open 7 days a week and also until fairly late. Their outside patio area facing Harwood wasn't 100% good to go yet as of the other day.

[cowboyeagle05]

Articles are already talking about how pricey Doc B's is. To quote the article they said how very Uptown to charge 24$ for chicken and waffles.

[deweast]

It is on the high end....but it is the best in the area. It is out of the Hillstone (Houstons) profile and Hillstone is also on the "high end" but they deliver....EVERY TIME. I have been to Doc B's twice, once for lunch and once for dinner and they delivered both times.

[cowboyeagle05]

Its also in the pricest building so I have no doubts its perfect for them. I didn't expect there to be a Jimmy John's there lol.

[DPatel304]

It is on the high end....but it is the best in the area. It is out of the Hillstone (Houstons) profile and Hillstone is also on the "high end" but they deliver....EVERY TIME. I have been to Doc B's twice, once for lunch and once for dinner and they delivered both times.

That's great to hear! If they can deliver quality with the higher prices, then I'm totally fine with it, I'll check this out when I get a chance.

[willyk]

It is on the high end....but it is the best in the area. It is out of the Hillstone (Houstons) profile and Hillstone is also on the "high end" but they deliver....EVERY TIME. I have been to Doc B's twice, once for lunch and once for dinner and they delivered both times.

That's great to hear! If they can deliver quality with the higher prices, then I'm totally fine with it, I'll check this out when I get a chance.

With all of the high end office space there is a place for “expense account dining” in Uptown. This niche is valuable, but also small and fickle. The larger and more dependable market are the residents of Uptown. Restaraunts that ignore the people who live nearby do so at their peril.

[cowboyeagle05]

At least it's not another steakhouse. I mean they already have Del Frisco's but still worst case scenario it would have been an "a new take on steakhouse" chef driven blah blah blah.

[flyswatter]

Parley is closed or changing how they’re doing things. It’s been dead the past few weeks, something I was so used to seeing that I didn’t think that it might have closed. I looked inside this morning and contractors are all over inside working on it and all the patio furniture is gone or piled up in a corner. Hopefully they’re going back to the quieter bar so&sos used to be.

[cowboyeagle05]

Closing in the patio so they could hide the nightclub like activity was the first sign it was doomed. They turned what was a restaurant bar into a full-on nightclub and I would rather see lunch spot there than another nightclub. Notice much of the nightclub like places along here have closed except for the newbie Theory down the street. It will be interesting to see how these spaces shape out. More stabs at bad clubs or eventually retooled into retail space, office or restaurant bar space.

[R1070]

The old Idle Rich building is supposed to be a Theory type business if I remember correctly. And the space being built out across the street will be quite interesting. I think we will see the crowds pick back up along McKinney. That whole development where Jakes and Trophy Room are needs to be bulldozed and redeveloped. It's just awful and the sidewalk there is not adequate.

[cowboyeagle05]

The Idle Rich space has been scraped down to the foundation and paper thin exterior walls. Whatever they are doing means they are rebuilding everything in that building, every system etc. So the tower must be dead if they are spending this much money on refinishing out space.

I personally would like to see Uptown Jakes stay in some form. Its one of the few regular places to eat that isn't a huge chain and I love Jakes burgers personally. Its also good to see space for neighborhood service and other smaller office tenants that are leasing in that building. All the new stuff tends to lease to just pricey restaurants/bar/clubs and we are left with almost no neighborhood service retail. The thing that makes a neighborhood work for its inhabitants particularly when we are encouraging walking is dry cleaners, donut shops, hair salons, nail salons etc. We have to make sure new developments somehow leave room for those things too.

[mcrdal15]

That whole development where Jakes and Trophy Room are needs to be bulldozed and redeveloped. It's just awful and the sidewalk there is not adequate.

I don't think Trophy Room's building can be demolished. If I'm not mistaken, the building has a historical plaque on it. Same thing with the building that used to house McKinney Ave. Tavern. Bowen House is another example. What could possibly be done is to downsize the front patio of Trophy Room, which would allow for wider sidewalks. Avanti's next door should get rid of that parking lot out front and replace it with a patio.

[R1070]

That would be abig improvement and the building where the Den was needs to be torn down and redeveloped with the surface lot.

[lakewoodhobo]

West Village makeover: Gap exits, and new shops including Sephora move in
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... r-makeover

The Gap was an original tenant of West Village when it was built in 2001. It's expected to close in July and then construction will begin on the 11,000-square -foot space, said Julius Pickenpack, spokesman for the district.

About 5,500 square feet has been leased by Sephora and the remaining space will be carved up for more shops along McKinney, he said. There's additional space between Starbucks and ShopSeptember that is also being reconfigured and leased, but Pickenpack said he can't reveal those details yet as leases haven't been signed.

[DallasMan]

The Trophy Room building does appear to be an old home, but (unfortunately), I don't think it has any kind of historic protection.

[Matt777]

Sad to see one of the original tenants go (Gap) but that's just the reality of their brand right now. On a positive note, it will be good to see 3-4 new tenants replace Gap instead of one large one. More variety will be a good thing. More clothing options would be much appreciated.

[jrd1964]

Knox Street Pub is closing in November. It's been open for around 30 years (per the article and website).

https://www.guidelive.com/bars-and-cock ... losing-sad

[R1070]

What are the doing with the retail space on McKinney kind of across from this where Quatrine furniture was? It's fenced off and totally gutted.

[LongonBigD]

There is a sign at former Quatrine space. I can’t remember exactly what it says but either Lilly & (girls name) or (girls name) & Lilly. Have to look again.

Forty-Five Ten Home leaving at end of July.

Glad to hear Knox Street Pub is leaving on his own terms and not driven out by gentrification. Although how much longer can that corner strip center last? This center is right across the alley from Alliance’s forthcoming new apt bldg.

[LongonBigD]

There is a sign at former Quatrine space. I can’t remember exactly what it says but either Lilly & (girls name) or (girls name) & Lilly. Have to look again.

Forty-Five Ten Home leaving at end of July.

Glad to hear Knox Street Pub is leaving on his own terms and not driven out by gentrification. Although how much longer can that corner strip center last? This center is right across the alley from Alliance’s forthcoming new apt bldg.

Serena and Lily. Furniture and soft goods. Serenaandlily.com

[R1070]

Nice!

I wish we hadn't lost BoConcept. loved that store.