Advertisement

foodDrinks

Idle Rich Pub, a staple of Uptown Dallas' bar scene, is closing

Updated on Nov. 30 at 9:42 p.m. to include a quote from the owner.

Since Dec. 28, 2016, we knew it would happen. We just didn't know when. Monday, we received confirmation:

Idle Rich Pub, a beloved staple of the bar scene in Uptown Dallas, will close in January 2018.

In a note sent to newsletter subscribers, owner Feargal McKinney confirmed the bar's fate, thanking customers and staff for "14 great years" as a hotspot for innumerable beer-drinking holidays and sports games.

Advertisement

"We have had plenty of memorable St Patrick's Days, Texas-OU weekends and New Year's Eve celebrations," says the note, "but most of all I will miss the day to day regulars who have been supporting us for years."

Eat Drink D-FW

The latest food and drink reviews, recipes and info on the D-FW food scene.

Or with:

We caught wind of the bar's possible closure last year, after developers announced a new 18-story apartment complex to be built at the corner of McKinney and Boll Streets in Uptown -- the site where Idle Rich Pub currently stands. At the time, McKinney said "Idle Rich is going absolutely nowhere immediately." But according to Monday's statement, the bar's lease is up at the end of January and so too is the beloved bar's tenure.

Advertisement

When Idle Rich Pub opened in 2004, Uptown was a vastly different neighborhood -- "downright sleepy," McKinney said in the newsletter. Now it's one of the busiest parts of the city because of its nightlife scene, where revelers 21-and-up party until 2 a.m. on the weekends.

McKinney, who also owns Blackfriar Pub, the Old Monk and the Skellig in Dallas, insisted in his statement that the weeks until Idle Rich closes are "not a time for sadness," but rather a time to celebrate there and reminisce. (Staff members will be employed at McKinney's other bars, says the statement.)

"I give thanks every year for the wonderful support I receive from all of you year after year," McKinney said.

Advertisement

McKinney told GuideLive by phone Monday night he is not currently looking to move Idle Rich Pub, though reopening elsewhere isn't out of the realm of possibility in the future. In 2018, though, McKinney hopes to open expand the Old Monk with new locations. He's been searching for spots in Fort Worth and West Plano, he said.