Closure News
Dreamy Dallas Mexican restaurant Tulum sadly closes after 6 years
Tulum, RIP.
Dallas restaurant Tulum, known for its upscale traditional Mexican food, has unfortunately closed its doors. The restaurant, which was located at the Shops of Highland Park at 4216 Oak Lawn Ave., closed in mid-May, promptly removing their signage from the building.
A statement from Local Favorite, the parent company of Tulum, which also owns El Fenix, Snuffer's Restaurant & Bar, Village Burger Bar, Meso Maya, and Taqueria La Ventana, said that "after careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to close Tulum. We appreciate the support and memories we've shared over the past six years and look forward to serving you at our other Mexican concept, MesoMaya."
Tulum opened in 2018 — in the space previously occupied by Madrina, another acclaimed restaurant — as an ode to Tulum, Mexico, which was a favorite destination for Local Favorite founder and restaurateur Mike Karns.
The menu was not specifically Mexican, although it had Mexican ingredients and inspired plates, featuring creative dishes from original chef Nico Sanchez as well as acclaimed chef Jose Meza.
It earned critical nods including making the list of Best New Restaurants in CultureMap's 2019 Tastemaker Awards as well as a best new restaurant list by Texas Monthly.
The restaurant endured the pandemic, closing for eight months, then reopening in 2020 with a new menu by chef Meza that featured upscale creations like aguachile scallops, featuring raw scallops in a coconut-lemon grass aguachile with jicama; and a vegan tartar, made from roasted beets, eggplant, dried tomato, sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and capers.
There are those who would say that Dallas, despite having grown as a city and improved its palate, will always have a hard time supporting a Mexican restaurant that tries to go beyond $9.99 enchiladas, and plenty of restaurants who've tried to do more have learned that lesson the hard way.
