After only four months of operation, the East Dallas bar and restaurant has closed. El Chingon announced the closure in a social media post. The restaurant cited an ongoing regulatory dispute with the City of Dallas as the reason for the closure.
El Chingon Closes Dallas Location
The high-energy Mexican restaurant, bar, and nightlife destination situated in the heart of the East Dallas neighborhood permanently closed its doors. The restaurant served Mexican street food, craft cocktails, and other drinks.
In an Instagram post, the restaurant’s team announced that El Chingon, located at 3404 Ross Avenue in Dallas, Texas, served its final meal on Sunday, September 6.
Reflecting on its journey in the city, the team wrote, “We took a blighted property, invested millions of dollars into bringing it back to life, created jobs, and built a space unlike anything that had stood there before.”
According to CultureMap Dallas, the restaurant location opened on May 1. The restaurant was founded to “give Dallas the best, most Chingón experience we possibly could,” said the team.
While the Dallas location has completely shuttered, two other locations in San Diego and Fort Worth will remain open.
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Reason Behind the Closure
In its closure announcement the team wrote, “Unfortunately, almost from the beginning, operating that vision became a constant fight with the city.”
The team said the restaurant faced repeated code compliance visits, citations, and ongoing challenges to our Certificate of Occupancy and restaurant use.
The team also added that they tried hard to work with city officials and the neighborhood. The team said it hired consultants and attorneys and met with elected officials, but the scrutiny intensified.
The team admitted, “Eventually, there comes a point where fighting City Hall becomes a bigger part of running the business than serving the people who came through our doors.”
In the post, the restaurant team specifically mentioned that they had no problem with the Dallas community.
Thanking the community, the team added, “You are the reason we fought as long as we did, and we cannot thank our guests, our incredible Dallas team, our partners, and everyone who supported us enough.”
Although the El Chingon chapter in Dallas was short-lived, it made a lasting impression on the dining community.
