Knuckle Sandwich Co. -- or "Knuckles," as barman Eddie "Lucky" Campbell calls it -- closed on Tuesday, despite regular crowds at the Lower Greenville restaurant and bar.
So what happened? Campbell's zany idea to pair complicated cocktails with simple, good sandwiches was tougher to execute than he envisioned. Campbell is known as one of Dallas' brightest cocktail creators, and his drinks take considerable time to create. Tacking on a restaurant component -- when Campbell's background is in beverages -- was difficult, he said.
"We come from a cocktail-centric background, and we found it to be more challenging than we expected to operate a kitchen," Campbell said.
Lucky for Lucky, an eager buyer was already waiting to scoop up the restaurant that can boast location, location, location on that busy Greenville Avenue strip.
Knuckle Sandwich Co. will become Lower Greenville Taps, a neighborhood beer bar with nearly the same sandwich menu.
Campbell, who is involved with another cocktail bar called Parliament in Uptown, will not be involved in Lower Greenville Taps. However, Knuckles' chef, Chad Brown, will stay on at the new place.
"There's not going to be a ton of changes," says Alec Kemp, GM of the new restaurant and bar. The biggest changes will be a less-complicated cocktail program and the addition of eight beer taps with local brews. (The bar will also have Bud Light, Miller Lite and the like, in bottles.)
Kemp and his team's mission is to "put local wateringholes in areas that need one," he says. Lower Greenville is "an institition," he explains, and a very vibrant dining scene.
But: "A lot of it is destination dining," he explains -- people who drive to the area to eat at a specific place or hit several spots in one block. "There's not really anything for people who have moved into the Greenville area and just want to walk over and have a sandwich and a beer."
The restaurant group is looking to open several restaurant/bars with "Tap" in the name. The next will likely be at Royal Lane and Luna Road.
Lower Greenville Taps is expected to open in just a few weeks, the GM says.
h/t to Escape Hatch for breaking the news that Knuckles closed.
