Oak Cliff Closure
Venerable Dallas restaurant Tillman's in Bishop Arts to close for good
UPDATE 12-16-2019: Tillman's will close for good on New Year's Day. According to a release, owner Jeffrey Kollinger did not lightly approach the decision to shutter the location. “We have worked with our landlord, Jim Lake Companies, and after much discussion, we’ve decided not to continue our lease here in Bishop Arts,” he says in a statement. But meanwhile, FREE S'MORES. The restaurant will host a special prix fixe menu for New Year’s Eve and will give one free s'mores per table from December 24-31.
----------
UPDATE 12-10-2019: Tillman's is open for business as usual.
----------
A longtime North Oak Cliff restaurant has been locked out by the landlord: Tillman's Bishop Arts, which has been doing Southern food on West 7th Street since 1992, is sporting a letter on its front door from landlord Jim Lake Companies stating that the landlord has taken possession of the premises as of December 9.
Current operator Jeffrey Kollinger has owned the restaurant since 2016. A spokesperson for the landlord said that the disposition of the restaurant was unresolved, but Kollinger says it was all a mistake.
"It's just a confusion in a payment and it's all going to be fixed in the morning, we'll be right back in business," he says.
Tillman's Facebook page was still posting on December 8 about Sunday brunch. The restaurant is usually closed on Mondays.
Tillman's first opened in 1992 as Tillman's Corner, from husband-and-wife Ricky and Sara Tillman, who established the restaurant's reputation as a warm and inviting place with comfort food and Texas tradition.
Kollinger and his brother Ross Kollinger, of Carrollton-based Spice of Life Catering and Innovative Hospitality Group (IHG), purchased Tillman's from Dallas-based event planner Todd Fiscus who'd partnered with Sara after Ricky Tillman died.
Fiscus helped oversee a name change to Tillman's Roadhouse and a major redesign in the space and the menu, including chicken-fried rib eye and table-side s'mores.
According to a representative from IHG, Ross Kollinger is no longer involved.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Kollinger has been busy: He's part of a group opening a new cocktail-forward bar with bites called Dallas Proper, going into the old Mister Rich space at 2918 Henderson Ave., which is scheduled to open on December 31.
Kollinger was also recently appointed to update the restaurants at the Statler Dallas hotel, including expanding the menu at Fine China.
He's also partnered with Mehrdad Moayedi, who renovated the Statler, to re-open Primo's on McKinney Avenue.
