Greenville Ave News
Revered Dallas restaurant The Grape on Greenville Avenue is closing
UPDATE 9/11/2019: The Grape is no longer taking dinner reservations between now and their closing date. For those who don't have a reservation, they will have limited first-come first-serve walk-in opportunities.
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One of Dallas' most revered restaurants is closing. According to a release, The Grape, which has been on Greenville Avenue since 1972, will close on October 10.
Owners Brian and Courtney Luscher say they are closing down the restaurant "with bittersweet and very mixed emotions."
"We came to the crossroads of our lease renewal and after all of these years, we decided as a family that we are heading out on a different path and yet another amazing Luscher family adventure," the couple says in a statement.
The Luschers have operated the Lower Greenville institution since 2007 when they bought it from the original owners Kathy McDaniel and Charlotte Parker, for whom they'd worked for a number of years.
McDaniel and Parker first opened the restaurant in 1972; they also still own the building.
The restaurant has earned numerous awards and accolades, and been a romantic destination, "hosting marriage proposals too numerous to count," the release says.
Though always known for its chef-driven food and ever-changing menu, The Grape got a big bump in 2009 when Texas Monthly proclaimed its burger, then served only at Sunday brunch, to be the best burger in Texas.
The response was nearly overwhelming, with the restaurant experiencing the kind of rabid lines we've come to accept as normal but that were unusual back in those pre-social media days.
"I remember the first Sunday after the magazine came out, I peeked out through the blinds and all I could see was faces," Courtney says. "We were not ready, and it was a deluge."
During the time they owned the restaurant, Brian Luscher also opened Luscher's Red Hots, a restaurant in Deep Ellum with Chicago-style sandwiches including his own house-made hot dogs. The restaurant closed in December 2016.
"Brian always looks for opportunities to fulfill his passion, he's also the reason I got into wines, and now I have all this knowledge," Courtney says. "Sometimes you need a change of scenery."
In a statement, Brian calls The Grape a fantastic journey, saying, "As I look towards future endeavors, I am so fortunate to look back on the the fantastic journey that The Grape has taken me on over the past 15 or so years. It was always a kitchen that felt like home to me. And as far as the restaurant goes, well, they just don’t make joints like that anymore. I’ll miss the ol' gal."
