Uncle Uber’s in Deep Ellum closing?

ah the last time i went in it was bad and it looked like it had gone under new management. the bread was differnent and the whole place looked different.

if you directed that operation, the direction was pretty bad

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metrorhymes@reddit

I assure you nothing about the food changed. Not one thing. That was priority number one in the refresh. Same cooks. Same food. Same recipes. We didn't mess with the kitchen at all.

It was definitely stark in there. I took all the kitchy decorations down and gave it a fresh coat of paint. I installed a walk in so that we could offer draft beer and closed off the kitchen creating a galley for the servers. I removed the rotting/broken French doors on the stage facing commerce Street in favor of a garage door to open during nice weather/better security. We completely redid the bathrooms which were a total nightmare before the refresh. Not sure what was bad about any of that.

The mistake was in going to table service instead of counter service. But once we went that direction, there was no going back. It became apparent that people didn't like it but we thought the food would make up for it. It just didn't work. You live and learn. The place had a good run and the other places are thriving.

You remember the way it used to be fondly, and that's wonderful. I'm glad you have those memories of it. But underneath all of that nostalgia was a hundred year old building that was no longer suited for food and beverage operation. And without getting into all the drama of the neighborhood, let's just say it wasn't doing good before the remodel and it did even worse afterwards. I still believe that place could kill in the suburbs so look for that to happen in the next few years.

Cheers and thanks for your patronage

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AnnualNature4352@reddit

it was good, was a goto for at least 5/6 years

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metrorhymes@reddit

The last day is Monday. If you can make it by for a sammich, please do

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Pheo340@reddit

LOL at this person completely making up that there was new ownership. Don't believe everything you read on Reddit folks.

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magdog686@reddit

Bryan?

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bag_daddy@reddit

RIP to a legend

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amatterofmatter@reddit

That remodel they did was a mistake

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metrorhymes@reddit

I am the director of operations for the company that owns Uncle Uber's.

It's easy to armchair quarterback our decision to remodel but the building was in a serious state of disrepair and had we not done it, we would have closed sooner.

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amatterofmatter@reddit

Alright. So why is it closing now?

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metrorhymes@reddit

There are a lot of reasons. The place is just bleeding money. The rent is high, the building is ancient, the plumbing is bad, the electrical is worse and every time we turn around, something else catastrophic happens. These are battles I just don't want to fight anymore.

The staff is solid. The food is exactly the same as it ever was. Same Cooks, same recipes. It just wasn't enough. The neighborhood is in a weird transition now. We are one of those businesses that is still trapped in 100-year-old building and we did everything we could to update it like remodeling the bathrooms, installing a walk-in for draft beer, putting the garage door on the stage facing commerce Street etc. But again, it just wasn't enough. It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you have places like Federale, Harlowe, Stir, Hawkers etc that had six figures to spend on their build-outs. We just got left in the dust.

The biggest mistake we made was going from counter service to table service. I'll admit that. And that's on me. That was my call and it was the wrong call but to be fair, I made that change because the place wasn't making any money anyway. I was trying to lower the payroll in an attempt to grow the account. All of our other places are table service. I just figured people would adapt.

People don't adapt. I was in there today and people were still trying to order at the counter, 4 years later.

The place had a good run and it's the first restaurant we've ever had to close so we learned some valuable lessons there and certainly had some really great times there as well. Thanks for your patronage, cheers!

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Cverax23@reddit

Props for owning up to your decision making…qualities of an above par operations manager. I’m sure your next project will exceed expectations.

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justo_tx@reddit

Sorry to hear that. I moved away from East Dallas about 3 years ago, but I had so many good sammiches there over the years prior. I missed the change to table service, good to hear you are moving the staff to other properties. I've watched the fluctuations in Deep Ellum for the last 25 years, 10 years is still a good run, the food was always great. What are the other restaurants in your group? Always prefer to support local instead of conglomerates.

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metrorhymes@reddit

Harwood Tavern

Green Door Public House

Swizzle

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omar_strollin@reddit (OP)

Thanks for ten years of excellent sandwiches - if any of these places have the same fries I'm definitely in for checking them out!

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metrorhymes@reddit

We all have them. Same salt. Same process.

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justo_tx@reddit

That’s awesome man! I was one of the first to move in when the town houses along Cesar Chavez were built, 737. I’ve had many a beer and meal at Green Door. I’ll make it a point to check out Swizzle next time I’m in Deep Ellum.

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metrorhymes@reddit

Swizzle is on Lower Greenville. Thank you for your patronage, cheers!

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spacedman_spiff@reddit

What other concepts are owned by the company? Is there any plan to reopen, rebrand, or incorporate menu items elsewhere?

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omar_strollin@reddit (OP)

Just dropped in and asked the staff. This is apparently the least profitable of all the restaurants they own and they closing it down. The staff will be moved to their other businesses. RIP to a Deep Ellum classic!

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onyourleftbro@reddit

We used to go there on a weekly basis until that remodel. We gave it a coupe chances after that but it was never the same and quit going.

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Pheo340@reddit

It really sucks what Deep Ellum has turned into.

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Hal_at_the_moon@reddit

What you mean what it turned into? Deep Ellum has been garbage for the past 20 years at least. Every few years, it springs back to life, then it goes right back to hell.

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last_strip_of_bacon@reddit

Yuppie central

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NintendogsWithGuns@reddit

It’ll be replaced by another Milkshake Concepts monstrosity

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erod100@reddit

Milkshake Concepts absolutely sucks😤

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TheThreeRocketeers@reddit

So sorry to hear and will miss this place!

What is happening to Deep Ellum?? It’s slowly turning into the guy that wears a corporate branded polo shirt tucked into their pleated khakis but rides a Harley.

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omar_strollin@reddit (OP)

Our meals today were the same as it always was - consistently solid. Going to miss those fries and habanero ranch.

Thanks for the last decade of good vibes and food.

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omar_strollin@reddit (OP)

Just dropped in and asked the staff. This is apparently the least profitable of all the restaurants they own and they’re closing it down. The staff will be moved to their other businesses. RIP to a Deep Ellum classic!

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