Oak Cliff News
Dallas grilled cheese restaurant abruptly closes location in Oak Cliff
Grilled cheese sandwich with ham.
A Bishop Arts restaurant dedicated to making grilled cheese sandwiches has closed: The aptly named Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. closed its original location at 310 W. 7th St., after nearly eight years.
According to co-owner Diana Ezzell, the closure was prompted by problems with the location.
"Without going into great detail, we are sad to tell you that we had no choice but to close our Bishop Arts District location this week," she posted on Facebook. "This closure is due to the extremely adverse and dangerous conditions existing in our space. This was a difficult and unexpected decision that we made out of pure concern for the health and safety of our customers and staff. The circumstances causing us to close have nothing to do with money and are entirely beyond our control."
But a spokesperson for the landlord says that the restaurant vacated the space without notice and had been late on rent more than once in the past two years.
On September 18, the restaurant posted that it was closed for "emergency maintenance" until further notice, but never reopened.
Ezzell says the location had plumbing issues, exacerbated by vacancies left after nearby restaurants Chan Thai & Pho 88 moved out.
Dallas Grilled Cheese opened in 2015, in the early days of a then grilled cheese trend — shocking, given how incredibly easy it is to fix yourself a grilled cheese sandwich at home.
Their menu includes cheesy sandwiches such as American cheese on Texas toast and Brie on a baguette with pears and walnuts, as well as soups, salads, and a full bar with wine and craft beer.
A number of other grilled cheese restaurants that opened during that time have since closed. However, Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. survived, due to savvy location selection, plus adding specials and making menu updates to keep things feeling fresh.
They opened a spinoff at Mockingbird Station in 2018.
Ezzell says they are actively searching for a new location, and directs faithful customers, who called the closure "a loss to our community of restaurants," to Mockingbird Station, which they say will be their new anchor location. They also have two food trucks.
