Uptown Shutdown
Londoner Uptown shuts down, sending regulars to Greenville Avenue
The Londoner Uptown, tucked away in a leafy enclave on Thomas Street for five years, shut down on July 28. The closure was confirmed by a spokesperson from the Frisco location.
"They're closed for good," he said. "The rent got raised a considerable amount, and they didn't want to pay it and just decided it was best to close."
The pub's final post on Facebook appeared on closing day, and it was heavily into denial: "The Londoner Uptown will be closed today due to some maintenance issues," it said, virtually lying through its teeth. "For those soccer fans, the Greenville location will be showing the game. We apologize for the inconvenience!!"
Like the other four Londoners in Frisco, Addison, Allen and the newest on Greenville Avenue, the Uptown Londoner was big on soccer, screening matches nearly every day in a classic pub-like atmosphere. The opening of the Greenville Avenue branch in December 2012 was a big deal because it took over the site of the old Greenville Avenue Bar & Grill, which burned in a fire in March 2010.
According to the spokesman, Greenville Avenue will serve as the new official Dallas Londoner headquarters. "It's been split up between Uptown and Greenville Avenue, so now it'll be consolidated at the Greenville Avenue branch," he said.
Meanwhile, pub fans in Uptown are left with little in the way of pub options, with only the Idle Rich Pub, Renfields Corner, the Ginger Man, Blackfriar Pub, Uptown Pub and British Beverage Co. in a one-square-mile area to meet their pub needs. It's a crisis.