{"id":132122,"date":"2026-01-21T17:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T17:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/132122\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T17:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T17:12:09","slug":"as-hot-chicken-restaurant-closes-in-east-dallas-owner-said-its-a-huge-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/132122\/","title":{"rendered":"As hot chicken restaurant closes in East Dallas, owner said it\u2019s a \u2018huge relief\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

After five years serving Southern food in Dallas\u2019 Lakewood neighborhood<\/a>, Palmer\u2019s Hot Chicken will close at Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road and move to a delivery, catering and food truck business.<\/p>\n

The news may come as a surprise for Dallasites who watched owner Palmer Fortune and his hot chicken shop featured on Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives<\/a> with Guy Fieri in 2024. It\u2019s the second DDD-featured restaurant in Dallas<\/a> to announce its closure within a week; Rye on Greenville Avenue will also close soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Palmer\u2019s is known for its hot chicken sandwiches and pimento cheese grits. The Lakewood restaurant was a family-friendly spot in Hillside Village, with a covered, turfed patio and games for kids.<\/p>\n

The owner told The Dallas Morning News his East Dallas restaurant was not profitable \u2014 but that selling hot chicken in other ways in Dallas could be.<\/p>\n

Restaurant News<\/p>\n

Get the scoop on the latest openings, closings, and where and what to eat and drink.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad, but it\u2019s a huge relief for us,\u201d Fortune said.<\/p>\n

\"Palmer's<\/p>\n

Palmer’s Hot Chicken opened in Dallas mid-pandemic, in fall 2020.<\/p>\n

Kathy Tran<\/p>\n

Within a few days after the restaurant closure, Palmer\u2019s Hot Chicken\u2019s menu is expected to become available via DoorDash and Uber Eats delivery. Fortune and his team will move to a ghost kitchen in Garland, where they will make the same recipes, without the dining room attached.<\/p>\n

Palmer\u2019s will also continue its corporate and event-based catering, which Fortune said comprised a significant part of the business. <\/p>\n

It will continue to book the food truck, which is serving hot chicken right now at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo<\/a>. The truck is regularly parked at Southern Methodist University sporting events.<\/p>\n

\"Hot<\/p>\n

Hot Chick-in-Pancake Poppers were our No. 1 bite at the State Fair of Texas in 2024.<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Later this year, Palmer\u2019s will sell its Nashville hot chicken at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the State Fair of Texas. In 2024, Palmer\u2019s team served The News’ favorite Big Tex Choice Awards finalist<\/a>: a snack of shredded hot chicken and pimento cheese, dipped in pancake batter and fried. Fortune said his team will be entering the famous contest again<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n

Fortune said he is grateful to get out of the restaurant business. And, he thanked Lakewood neighbors for being supportive.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just got signals from a higher power,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s last day open will depend on the winter weather this weekend<\/a>, Fortune said. He hopes to sell his last hot chicken sandwiches and street tacos on Jan. 25, 2026, but fans might want to stop in earlier in case icy or snowy conditions<\/a> move the closure up a day or two.<\/p>\n

Palmer\u2019s Hot Chicken is at 6465 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas. It\u2019s expected to serve food until Jan. 25, 2026, weather permitting, then switch to third-party delivery, catering and events such as the State Fair of Texas.<\/p>\n

Staff writer Tommy Magelssen contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After five years serving Southern food in Dallas\u2019 Lakewood neighborhood, Palmer\u2019s Hot Chicken will close at Mockingbird Lane…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,5474,918,320,1282,1623,354,5473,368],"class_list":["post-132122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-east-dallas","tag-economy","tag-food-and-drink","tag-garland","tag-restaurant-news","tag-restaurants","tag-southern-food","tag-state-fair-of-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}