Uptown News

Uptown Dallas' beloved neighborhood bar The Loon finds new home

The drinks are strong, just the way we like them.

Photo by Trevor Korbin

One of Uptown Dallas' oldest watering holes is moving to a sweet new location. The Loon, which has been hanging around McKinney Avenue for more than 25 years, will move from its current address at 3403 McKinney Ave. to a larger space.

Fortunately, the new space is hardly a block away: It'll open in a building at 3028 N. Hall St., just behind Breadwinners, that was most recently occupied by Mimi's Pizza.

Linda Criswell, who has owned the bar since 2017, says she hopes to have it open in December.

"The building we were is an old house built in the 1920s, but we got an opportunity for a larger space with cheaper rent, and great parking that includes 40 spots in the garage," Criswell says. "To have that much parking is a big deal in that neighborhood."

The location was previously broken into three separate storefronts and has been home to numerous businesses in the past decade.

"The space will now be more cohesive," she says. "We're taking down a wall and they're letting us put tables outside, and there are trees there which make it shady and pleasant."

"We'll have our Italian food for sure, and our strong drinks, which is what we're known for," she says. "We're adding beer on tap. That's a big thing, we never had that at the old space. That's what people ask when they come in: 'What do you have on tap?'"

The Loon has had an eventful history. Cliff Gonzalez bought the bar from a widow who passed away in 1992 and changed the name to The Loon. It was a treasure in Uptown with cheap drinks, a laid-back atmosphere, and a family vibe with regulars that's rare in the gentrified neighborhood.

In 2014, it was shuttered when the strip mall it had been in was razed to build a CVS, but then re-opened, initially under the name Cliff's Bar & Grill before re-adopting the Loon as the name.

Criswell, who has an entrepreneurial background and also worked in real estate, bought the bar from Gonzalez after he retired.

"I was a regular," she says. "I always liked what it is, and what it stands for, with all of the regulars that give it that neighborhood feel. I bought it because I wanted to carry the name on."

uptown

Joie de vivre

New Bishop Arts bistro brings French elan to historic Oak Cliff home

Photo courtesy of Trapèze/Peter Novotny

Trapèze is serving French fare in a laid-back bohemian yet deeply thought-out atmosphere.

Transforming historic Oak Cliff homes into dining destinations is an art, and a duo known for their Deep Ellum hot spots has a new work on display: Trapèze, a French bohemian bar and bistro, that has quietly opened at 240 W. 8th St. in a repurposed bungalow on the west end of the Bishop Arts District.

Owners Peter Novotny and Dan Murry, who operate Ruins on Commerce and Armoury D.E. on Elm Street, told CultureMap in February that they envisioned Trapèze as “an old-fashioned bohemian artist’s enclave.”

Now in the soft opening phase eight months later, they say, by "drawing inspiration from the old French bohemian bars and cabarets,” they've accomplished their goal of creating "a place where people can enjoy a great meal and drinks, listen to some music, and just lose track of time a little.”

Trapèze has been welcoming guests discreetly the last couple weekends, as they complete a few finishing touches both to the building — they are excited about the near-complete patio — and to the food: “We have a limited but very solid menu available now, and should have the full menu, brunch and all, ready very soon,” Novotny says.

A grand opening date is still in the works.

Novotny has said that inspiration for Trapèze came from Oak Cliff’s historical French influence. Bishop Arts once was home to the French utopian community La Reunion, which settled in the mid 1800s. The neighborhood pays homage to these roots at its annual Bastille on Bishop celebration.

“We’re trying to do a tribute to the French history of Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts, and our goal is to capture the things we love about regional French cuisine and culture,” Novotny said earlier this year.

trapeze Designed by local artists at Decotron, the front-porch sign at Trapèze offers a taste of what's inside. Photo courtesy Trapèze/Peter Novotny

Novotny and Murry hired New York-bred chef Jeremy Spector to direct Trapèze’s culinary program. He’s worked in famous kitchens such as Balthazar and Gramercy Tavern and has owned and operated restaurants in NYC. The owners have told CultureMap that Spector's menu represents different regions of France, along with flavors inspired by France’s once-vast colonial empire, including Moroccan cuisine.

The bar menu is full of classic French and New Orleans-esque cocktails made with French spirits and liqueurs like absinthe and chartreuse; an extensive list of cognacs; French Caribbean-rooted Rhum Agricoles (or Agricole rums), and French and “French-adjacent” cider and beer.

The house that is now a restaurant underwent a massive revamp, which lasted months due in part to weather-related delays. To make matters more challenging, Trapeze is located in a conservation district, which means construction had to be done in a specific way that would preserve the home’s original look.

“It’s basically a complete renovation,” Novotny says. “They had to rebuild the entire structure. The whole exterior is all new.”

The new sign out front reads Bien Mangé, Bien Bu, which translates roughly to good food, good drink. Made by the sculptural artists at Decotron, an Elm Street-based signage fabrication company, it creates curb appeal and offers a preview of the attention to detail, whimsy, fine craftsmanship, and French flavor found inside.

Hours have been slightly fluid. At this time Trapèze is open 4 pm-"late" Wednesday-Thursday and 4 pm-2 am Friday-Sunday. Updated days and hours will be posted on Instagram along with information about live music performers, they say.

bar food drink craft cocktails french food live music bishop arts restaurants