Ellen’s Southern Kitchen plans to reopen in downtown Dallas in September, two years after its owners closed the restaurant. The photo shows patrons dining at Ellen’s Southern Kitchen in Dallas’s West End.
Sonya Hebert-Schwartz/Dallas Morning News
Ellen’s Southern Kitchen plans to reopen in downtown Dallas in September, two years after its owners closed the restaurant amid financial problems tied to an expansion that never happened.
The breakfast and brunch restaurant will return to 1790 N. Record St., where it operated for more than a decade before closing in 2024.
Joe Groves, who co-owns Ellen’s, said returning to the restaurant has been the goal the past two years.
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“If we can get our Ellen’s back,” Groves said, “it will feel like we’re home again.”
Ellen’s opened in 2012 and is named after Groves’ mother. The restaurant became a popular breakfast spot for downtown residents, workers and tourists. At one point, the company had about 200 employees, Groves said, and throughout its history, it has served more than 2 million customers.
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In 2021, the owners began planning to open more Ellen’s restaurants in D-FW. They signed leases, hired architects and contractors and started construction at several locations.
The plan fell apart in late 2023 when the investor financing the expansion suspended funding after encountering problems beyond their control, the Ellen’s owners said in a public letter posted on Facebook. By then, the company had already committed to leases and construction projects.
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A second investor agreed to provide financing, which Groves and his partners expected to receive within about 90 days. In the meantime, they used revenue from the downtown restaurant to cover some of the costs from the expansion and asked their landlord for more time to pay rent.
They couldn’t reach an agreement with the landlord, and Ellen’s closed its downtown restaurant. The second financing deal later fell through.
Four landlords, two general contractors and several vendors subsequently sued businesses associated with Ellen’s. Some landlords sought payment for leases of up to 10 years for restaurants that never opened, Groves said.
“It was millions and millions of dollars that we were sued for,” he said. “It was just overwhelming.”
Most of those lawsuits have since been settled, Groves said, although one remains pending. Ellen’s also still owes about $500,000 to vendors and former employees.
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The owners said they considered bankruptcy but decided against it because they wanted a chance to eventually pay the people and businesses they owe.
Groves said he understands why some people have criticized the decision to spend money reopening Ellen’s while those debts remain.
“I can’t resent anyone for feeling upset with us or angry or betrayed. I mean, I get it. I totally get it,” he said. “We’re not running. We’re just trying to do what we can to get it right.”
He said reopening the downtown restaurant is part of the plan to repay those debts.
“Ellen’s downtown was popular. It made money,” Groves said. “And that’s the way we’re gonna pay these people back.”
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Back to downtown
The chance to return came in April, when the building changed owners. Groves said the new landlord offered Ellen’s a lease and is helping pay for some of the work needed to reopen the restaurant.
Owen Hannay, CEO of Five Smooth Stones, the company that bought the building, said Ellen’s return is important for the West End because it will revitalize the area.
“The very first call I made when we bought the building a few months ago was to Joe, because I wanted to see if we could get him to reopen,” Hannay said. “And it was a very short conversation because he wanted to reopen as well.”
His company offered Groves favorable lease terms and is helping him with the renovation and the purchase of equipment so that the restaurant can open as soon as possible.
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“They got into some trouble. … I trust them implicitly, and I think he’s going to do great,” Hannay said about helping Groves and his partners. “We’ve owned buildings in the West End. The first one I bought was in 2000, so for a quarter of a century, we’ve owned buildings down there, and Ellen’s was just an anchor, and it was really disappointing when it went away. So I’m happy to do everything I can to get it back.”
The space had been mostly untouched since Ellen’s left. Groves initially thought renovations would take about 45 days, but the work grew as they found problems with equipment and systems that had gone without maintenance for two years.
Crews have repaired the kitchen and plumbing and replaced the air-conditioning system. The remaining work is mostly cosmetic, including new paint, surfaces and upholstery.
Groves said regular customers will still recognize the restaurant.
“It’s going to look like the old Ellen’s,” he said. “It’s just going to look like a new Ellen’s, an old Ellen’s that somebody took a vacuum cleaner to.”
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The menu will remain largely the same. Groves is also considering bringing back dinner, which Ellen’s stopped serving after the pandemic as fewer office workers were coming downtown.
One thing the owners aren’t considering is another expansion.
“There’s no room for expansion until we get back to zero,” Groves said.
It is a different approach from the one Ellen’s had before its financial problems. In a letter explaining the closure and plans to reopen, the owners put it this way: “There was a time when we thought success meant opening more restaurants. Today, success means opening one front door every morning.”
Ellen’s Southern Kitchen will reopen at 1790 N. Record St., Dallas. ellens.com.