Frankie's in Lewisville closes Friday; new downtown Dallas bar expected to open in May

"When God gives you lemons, find somebody with vodka and throw a party." Or at least that's what Bill Katz, co-owner of the Frankie's Sports Bar in Lewisville, keeps telling himself. He is abruptly closing his bar and restaurant in Lewisville on Friday. The building will be demolished

so a ramp can be added to Interstate-35E

.

Katz has known about the impending ramp for years, and he also knew the closure of his bar was going to be last-minute. Crews had told him they'd give him 30 days to move out. And now's the time.

Katz was

already working on opening a new Frankie's in downtown Dallas on Main Street

, however. That bar aims to reel in some of the crowd it attracted when Frankie's was once located on McKinney Avenue in Uptown. It was a favorite of many.

Some of the staff from the Lewisville bar will move to the downtown Dallas location when it opens, Katz says. Tentative opening is mid-May.

For fans of his Lewisville bar, Friday's the big send-off day. It's bittersweet for Katz: "We were the only real mom and pop place up there that wasn't a chain," he says. "That's what a lot of people liked about us."

Katz also operates a Frankie's in Fort Worth's Sundance Square.

Frankie's in Lewisville: 2516 S Stemmons Fwy.