Ari’s Pantry, an Italian market and grocer, is back open in downtown Dallas after a burst water line on the 20th floor of the historic Mercantile building caused the shop to unexpectedly close for six weeks.
Owner Ari Lowenstein is glad to return to his corner store and to selling pastas and sandwiches in a cheery room full of Italian goods like coffee, olive oils and tinned fish. But the cost of the closure was almost catastrophic for his small business.
“I am not going to let it kill me,” Lowenstein said. “But it feels like the objective sometimes.”
He opened Ari’s Pantry across the street from Dallas’ original Neiman Marcus in May 2025, just in time for business to slow while the weather got hot. Meanwhile, the Texas Restaurant Association sounded the alarm on months of slumping sales statewide, a bleak outlook heading into Thanksgiving.
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Ari’s Pantry displays a set of recipe cards near the front door. All or most of the ingredients are sold in the downtown Dallas store. The owner also sells gift boxes around the holidays.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
Restaurant sales across Texas in September were “especially brutal.”
Bad timing. Two days into October, the Mercantile building in downtown Dallas was evacuated due to a “massive” flood. Water and electricity were cut to the building, where Ari’s Pantry operates on the ground floor. Lowenstein attempted to keep Ari’s Pantry open, but without water, and with scaffolding blocking the front windows, he said it wasn’t safe to serve food.
The hundreds of tenants upstairs, many of whom were customers, were displaced to temporary housing or hotels. Managing company Brookfield Properties declared the building uninhabitable. A crisis relief center was set up for residents.
Lowenstein was facing a crisis of his own.
In the six weeks he was closed, Lowenstein estimates he lost $200,000 in possible revenue. Brookfield offered him the option to cancel his lease, but Lowenstein told The Dallas Morning News he chose to press on.
“We have too much invested,” he said. Plus, the shop itself was not damaged.
Owner Ari Lowenstein hands out a sample of gelato at Ari’s Pantry in downtown Dallas.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
The downtown Dallas market is his third Ari’s Pantry in North Texas but arguably the most important. The original in Oak Cliff opened in late 2023, followed by one in Trinity Groves in 2024. The downtown store is the biggest — “an essential piece,” Lowenstein said.
“I chose this location to be my big break.”
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Pasta lines the shelves at Ari’s Pantry in downtown Dallas. The owner guesses he has 100 varieties.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
For the days Ari’s Pantry was closed, Lowenstein received $46,000 in disruption insurance. A spokesperson from Brookfield said the company is “assisting in every way we can.”
But Lowenstein learned his insurance policy didn’t cover hourly employees during a catastrophic event. What’s an hourly employee to do when their employer unexpectedly cancels all shifts?
“They went and got other jobs,” Lowenstein said. “It was very upsetting.”
He persevered. Ari’s Pantry reopened Nov. 18, 2025. On Nov. 19, 2025, the cooling cases went out. That meant Lowenstein couldn’t display his house-made Italian pastas, sandwiches or cheeses, which are the heartbeat of the store. The air-conditioning wasn’t running at full blast, either.
“After sacrificing a lot to get the store open, the irony is borderline cruel,” the owner said.
Despite a series of stops and starts, the shop is fully operational today, Lowenstein said. Brookfield listened to his complaints and fixed them.
“I’m feeling hopeful,” he said.
Thankful, too. “Catering orders are even flying in for Thanksgiving.”
Owner Ari Lowenstein sells his tomato sauce inside Ari’s Pantry. He learned to cook decades ago, when he lived in Rome.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
Lowenstein doesn’t want to talk about pipes or air conditioning anymore. He wants to show off his secret-recipe tomato sauce, a dense blend that’s “so good, you could drink it,” he said.
He wants the neighbors to know that he clawed his way back in a tough restaurant economy. He’s open at the corner of Main and S. Ervay streets, selling pesto turkey sandwiches, pasta, gelato and more.
Just one request, Lowenstein said: “No more surprises.”
Ari’s Pantry is at 1800 Main St., Dallas. It reopened on Nov. 18, 2025, after a flood. The shop has two other Dallas locations, at 1307 1/2 W. Davis St. in Oak Cliff and at 3011 Gulden Lane in Trinity Groves. A fourth is expected to open in early 2026 at Cypress Waters.