A Dallas dining institution that has been serving up fried chicken for more than three decades is closing its doors at the end of the week, but on Monday, a line wrapped around Rudy’s Chicken in Oak Cliff, as customers traveled from near and far for one last taste, saying the closure will leave a hole in the community.
Betty Nelson always has her go-to order, “Usually I get a three-piece dark.” She said she still remembers her first visit
“The guy who I was dating at the time that later became my husband brought me by here, and I loved it,” said Nelson.
For decades, she’s been coming back.
“They have some of the best chicken, in my opinion, in the world,” Nelson said. ‘It’s really heavily seasoned, and that’s why I like it.”
Now, a sign on the window says the restaurant will close for good this Saturday.Â
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Many customers said they had to come here one last time — and they didn’t mind the wait.
“I think the most I ever waited was an hour and a half,” George Zasire said.
On Monday, Zasire doubled that.
There were quite a lot of new customers as well, like Sunshine.Â
“I saw it on social media, and the lines were crazy,” she said. “I have never been here before, and I was the last one in line. This is the last ticket.”
Rudy’s employees said the owner is in his 80s and sick, so he needs to sell the restaurant. They expect more details soon and say that while online chatter suggests rappers BigXThaPlug and Rick Ross may be interested in buying Rudy’s, they haven’t been contacted.
Nelson just hopes it ends up in the right hands. For her, this is more than fried chicken; it’s a taste of home.
“This is a Dallas institution,” she said. “It’s really going to be missed.”
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