Greenville Avenue Closure
Quirky Greenville Avenue bar The Vagabond turns out the lights
It's been said that you can't go back and in the case of the Vagabond, a Greenville Avenue bar with a nostalgic bent, that would seem to be correct: It is now closed.
The bar, which opened in January 2014, closed over the weekend. Stewart Jameson, who served as general manager until he left in April, says that the place had its ups and downs but was a great concept.
"It was great to work at such a small place with good food and music," he says. "But parking was a bit of an issue, and then the building was old and rundown. We had one thing after another falling from the ceiling. We had to re-do everything in that place."
The closure is a departure from the otherwise endless prosperity that Greenville Avenue is enjoying, with one of the most robust bar and restaurant scenes in Dallas.
The Vagabond opened in January 2014 in the former J. Pepe's space, which was home decades ago to an original Vagabond. Owner John Kenyon was a Greenville Avenue fixture who owned such '80s and '90s venues as Fish Dance and Red Jacket.
For this revival, his menu devised by Jameson consisted of burgers, three salads including a Caesar, and starters such as pork wings and duck-fat steak fries, plus Dallas and Texas craft beers.
It previously had a pool which it filled with sand to create a cool bocce ball court, one of its most popular features.
Kenyon, who was unavailable for comment, called on a number of celebrity friends for backup including singer-songwriters Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Terry Allen, and most oddly, sports announcer Eric Nadel, listed on the restaurant's website as the club's music director.
There were high hopes for it being a music venue, but its lineup of acts were quirky. The last performer was Wesley Geiger with The Texas Gentlemen on August 5.
Musicians who were scheduled to play during the remainder of August were told that the bar hoped to reopen under new ownership in next few months.
