Post #388172 by Limbo Lizard on Thu, Jun 19, 2008 2:23 PM

On 2007-04-04 19:18, CallDon wrote:

*On 2007-04-04 06:47, Kenike wrote:*The [Dallas Don the Beachcomber's] restaurant was opened in 1974 and closed in 1982, a short but not surprising run, and was located at 8380 Meadow Road at Greenville...

... any idea as to why it closed?

Funny, small world. The post from the Dallas History message board, quoted earlier by Humu, was actually mine! Had no idea at the time "donspiano" (aka CallDon) was a TC'er.

As to why Don's closed, my theory is, a couple of things: 1) Generally intense competition in the restaurant business, at that time and place, and, 2) an outdated menu that no longer delivered on the implied promise of an exotic dining experience.
Dallas first allowed restaurants to sell "liquor by the drink" in 1972, and not just anywhere - only in areas designated "wet", by choice of voters. This started a big restaurant boom that first centered along a stretch of Greenville Ave. Don's was built, just off Greenville, in the first years of the boom. I remember it was common to first drive to Greenville Ave., then decide where to eat, as you browsed the restaurants. New Yorkers may roll their eyes, but his was a new experience for us Dallasites. Lots of money went into building lots of very impressive restaurants along there, in the mid-70's. Competition was fierce, but there was a lot of new money to be made, now that you could sell drinks, along with food. I remember restaurants so popular that they had 1 or 2-hour (or, 2 to 3 cocktail) waits for a table , for a couple years. Then they'd tank, as people moved on to something newer. Thing was, even with only a couple of great years, the investors made big money. So, there was a lot of turnover among even initially successful restaurants.
Towards the late 70's and early 80's, other parts of Dallas developed "restaurant rows", and the intensity of business along Greenville fell off.
Don's was successful for several years, then rapidly tapered off - the same pattern as many great, but long-gone theme restaurants in that area. (TGI Friday's and Chili's, both with their original locations along Greenville, figured out a formula for longevity. Was it, Don't let your menu get old?) I remember Don's was busy in '75, still pretty busy in '77, but by '79, you nearly had the place to yourself, on some nights.
I don't think it fizzled because of any particularly anti-tiki vibe - not in Dallas. I think many people thought it looked and felt "cool" till the end. I think it would have hung on longer, but for the food - the once "exotic", but now very plain and mundane Cantonese-type fare. New Chinese restaurants opened, during this time (also serving tiki-style drinks), and hotter/spicier Hunan and Szechuan food really caught on. Most of the traditional Cantonese-style restaurants, some decades old, went out of business. If Don's would have added spicier Chinese, Indian and Thai-influenced dishes, it would have been "new" - leading-edge exotic - again. It would have again fit the decor, which said, "Get ready for something foreign, mysterious, exotic and even a little dangerous". Maybe sweet and sour chicken and a fried banana dessert was exciting for Grandpa, but it wasn't doing the job, anymore. Heck, I loved the place, but toward the end, I treated it as a bar, not a restaurant. A bar that closed too early (in more ways than one).
In Dallas, in a very competitive restaurant market, Don's died of boredom with the food, not with the concept. My opinion, anyway.

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2008-06-19 14:31 ]