Coronavirus News

Restaurant at Dallas' Klyde Warren Park closes with reboot to come

Savor Gastropub at Klyde Warren Park in Dallas

One presumes that the glass walls will not go away.

Photo courtesy of Savor Gastropub

The flagship restaurant at Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas has been felled by the coronavirus: Savor, an upscale gastropub that opened in 2013, has been shuttered, and will be replaced in 2021 by a concept still to be decided.

Kit Sawers, president of Klyde Warren Park, confirms that Savor and Relish, its companion burger stand, will close on August 23.

"Like so many resturants around the country, they're closing due to the economic impact of COVID-19," she says.

John Muse, a member of the Woodall Rogers Park Foundation, created Savor in partnership with chef John Coleman, formerly of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dallas. Muse also oversees the park's pavilion.

When Savor opened in 2013, we called it "a chrome-and-glass stunner" whose outer shell made of glass guaranteed floor-to-ceiling views of the park. The food & beverage program featured shareable dishes and wines on tap. Favorite dishes included deviled eggs and flatbreads.

While the park has been a hit, restaurants have not. Lark on the Park, the first restaurant to open near the park, closed in 2018, with owner Shannon Wynne stating that "nobody knew what to expect from Park visitors" when they opened in 2013. He replaced it with Miriam, a Mexican restaurant, in 2019.

Savor was a tenant at KWP, and part of its revenue is earmarked to help support the park's operation which relies on events, sponsorships, and the food operators onsite, which also include the food trucks that park there every day.

"It's really critical for the park to have a restaurant partner that generates funding," Sawers says.

Prior to the coronavirus, Savor appointed a new chef: Luke Rogers, young (under-30) and with a good buzz; he was just announced as a contestant for the annual Iron Fork cooking competition.

Sawers says they're using the opportunity to rethink the concept and have hired a restaurant broker to help figure it out. They'll consider national and local operators, she says, but they'll definitely go for something more casual.

"Over the years, we've heard feedback that visitors would love a place where they feel comfortable coming in T-shirts from the park and being able to walk right in," she says.

In the interm, they'll use the space as a rental venue.

"When Savor first opened, we all took a risk, and now people are attached to the park and have strong opinions," Sawers says. "We're eager to turn this over to guests and ask them what they want there."

parks downtown closings

Coffee News

New Dallas coffee shop opens with good coffee — and great hair

Common Good

Common Good coffee and good vibes

A new coffee shop with some serious styling has opened near downtown Dallas: Called Common Good, it's located at 1619 N. Hall St., right off Ross Avenue, in what was previously a retail outlet for Rakkasan Tea Company, who left the space in mid-2024.

Common Good is more than just a coffee shop – it's a coffee shop-hair salon from Christopher Bermudez, a stylist who previously owned Ellum Salon in Deep Ellum which he sold in 2022. Their motto: "Good coffee, good hair, good vibes."

Bermudez was born in Mexico City and moved to Dallas when he was one year old but remained close to his culture and often travels to Mexico City, where he found the inspiration behind this new concept.

"I was inspired by the multiuse spaces in my hometown of Mexico City: coffee shops that turn into a nightclub or tequila tasting rooms in the evening. Great vibe is what we are going for," he says.

The coffee shop is in the front, while the hair salon is in the back, divided by a large glass. The salon has eight stylists, including Bermudez.

The shop also features all-vinyl jam tables where guest DJs play music most weekends, creating a cool atmosphere. The décor resembles listening rooms that are popular in South Korea, with custom-made wooden walls and modern furniture.

Good vibes at Common Good Coffee and hair salonCommon Good

Heading the coffee operation is Jesse Nava, who recently worked at Xaman Coffee in Oak Cliff, and they're partnered with Lemma Coffee for beans and barista training. The shop offers a small but solid menu, with espresso and coffee classics, plus some specialty drinks including pistachio matcha, cardamon rose latte, espresso freddo, and a Mexican mocha.

“We want to stay consistent with a small menu — we want to get it right, then eventually add to it," Bermudez says.

They plan to add food, as well, working with a local bakery still to be decided for muffins, croissants, kolaches, cookies, and bagels.

They're open Tuesday-Saturday from 7 am-7 pm, with shorter hours Sunday and Monday, from 7 am-2 pm, since the salon portion is closed those days.

They've witnessed a big demand for coffee, since the center they're in had coffee history: The storefront on the corner at 1623 Hall St. was once Method Coffee, then Fiction Coffee, which closed at the end of 2023. (It's now home to Black Swan Saloon, the resuscitated bar from acclaimed mixologist Gabe Sanchez.)

They see themselves as a neighborhood coffee shop, where residents of the multiple apartment complexes around can become regulars. They are dog-friendly, serving pup cups.

"I always believed that if you have a good product people will come," Bermudez says.

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