A West Dallas tavern is closing, but that's not the end of the story: Sylvan Avenue Tavern, located at Sylvan Thirty at at 1888 Sylvan Ave. #F250, closed for good on November 3, after three years at the address.
The restaurant-bar opened in the complex in 2021 as a spinoff of Bryan Street Tavern, a longtime bar in East Dallas, serving pizza, beer on tap, and a laid-back atmosphere with pool tables and outdoor space.
The bar closed in August 2024, which owner Joe Hinkson attributed to issues with the landlord, but reopened at the end of the month — only to close these two months later.
"We reopened for football season, but we didn't get the boost like we hoped," Hinkson says. "It was becoming the definition of insanity."
"It's official this time," he said. "The shopping center is dying. Cooper's Meat Market is gone, Craft & Co. is gone, Shayna's is gone, and there's been nothing new since we moved in."
In a Facebook post, he stated that "the complex is dying and we've lost four other businesses prior to us making our decision to close. And now we’ve become the fifth one to leave. We've enjoyed our time there, but without support from the property owners, we had to call it a day."
Some of the nearby neighbors said that bar "trashed" the suite, leaving broken glass as well as one of the gas burners open, requiring the fire department to come out because of complaints about the smell of gas.
But Hinkson said that wasn't true. "We removed equipment," he said. "Not sure what the spray paint was. It was just residual trash. No vandalism. We left most of the furniture and the beautiful bar-top."
Hinkson's attention is on a new sibling, called Fate Village Tavern, opening in the city of Fate at 4970 East I-30,#130 — a center so new, it barely shows up on Google maps.
Fate Village is set to open in November, with a similar menu, spirit and beer selection, TVs galore, and a patio with a pet-friendly area.
"This has been in the works for about a year — we started construction back in June," he says. "We're excited about it. It's going to be a truly polished version of BST, and we will be the only bar in Fate city limits."
They're finishing up construction with includes touches like a pressed tin ceiling and shiplap on the walls, to give the new build some lived-in character.
"Adam Navan, my partner in Sylvan Avenue, moved to Fate a few years ago, and that gave us an awareness of the town's growth," Hinkson says. "We watched them build out the retail center, called Fate Village, and it was an instant success. We approached the developer and one year later, they reached out to us and we signed up."
It's bigger than Bryan Street and they've given it a huge patio.
"We are soooo close — we're just waiting on one last bit of furniture and final inspections," he says.
