THE USUAL SUSPECTS | It’s a melancholy week for Bronx staffers and friends, above, but a long time coming for co-owner Jess Gilbert, left. (Arnold Wayne Jones/Dallas Voice)
After 35 years, The Bronx — the institution that basically invented the Dallas gayborhood — shuts its doors
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ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Life+Style Editor
jones@dallasvoice.com
After 35 years, The Bronx — the institution that basically invented the Dallas gayborhood — shuts its doors
Probably the first time Jess Gilbert fully realized just what The Bronx means to his customers came this Wednesday. A regular lunch customer was sitting at his usual place and Gilbert walked over to say hello.
“I’m not speaking to you!” the customer snapped. “I’m mad.”
Gilbert didn’t take it personally; he knew why the man was upset. The night before, Gilbert and his partner, Howard Jacks, quietly announced that The Bronx — which has been an institution in Dallas for 35 years, owned and operated by the two — would be closing almost immediately. After months (even years) of rumors, Gilbert and Jacks had finally sold it to the neighboring Warwick Melrose Hotel.
The end came swiftly — the Melrose wanted everything cleared out within seven days. So this Sunday, April 3, will be the final day of service for the restaurant.
The news shocked almost everyone, especially long-time employees like David Eckert, who for 16 years has been a server and helped manage the restaurant. Eckert teared up just discussing the last day.
“It’s like having a wake,” says Gilbert.
“It’s a real emotional time for us cause we’ve been there a long time,” says the director of special events, Jamie Carmen, choking back sobs.
The reach that The Bronx had on gay Dallas cannot be overstated. When Jacks and Gilbert decided to open a New York-San Francisco-style bistro on Cedar Springs in 1976, “Afternoon Delight” was the big radio hit, the Bicentennial Minute played nightly on TV and men thought bell-bottoms were pretty cool. The gayborhood also didn’t exist — at least, not like it does today.
“There were no gay bars here back then,” recalls Jacks. “Hookers hung out on the street. But we knew gays would always come into neighborhoods, tart them up and make them chic.” That’s exactly what they did.
“Really, it was a social thing,” Gilbert explains about their motivation for opening The Bronx. “We didn’t do it to make money, though it did. We planned to keep it open about 10 years.”
But The Bronx basically spawned the Crossroads; by the mid-1980s, it was the granddaddy of the neighborhood, revered as much for its friendly atmosphere (“we had really interesting music,” Gilbert brags about its early success) as for its then-cutting edge cuisine.
“Wow! I’m shocked,” says Stephan Pyles, the celebrity superchef who began working there as a line cook in the 1970s, working his way up to executive chef before starting the Southwestern movement at a string of restaurants. “I feel like I was born there — and to some degree I guess I was. To say it’s the end of an era seems like a gross understatement, but it is just that on so many levels — both personally and to the city.”
During their run, Jacks and Gilbert have played hosts to numerous celebrities, including Carol Channing, Tab Hunter, the Manhattan Transfer and Monica Lewinsky. The building itself was built in 1910 — “We weren’t here at the time, despite appearances,” jokes Gilbert — and while the Melrose has asked that all fixtures (including silverware and linens) be left in place, no one is sure what will happen to it.
“It’s soon to be rubble,” speculates Jacks, though rumors range from the restaurant staying open under new management to the lot being cleared for parking or condos.
It’s that change in the Strip that’s partially behind the decision to sell — there’s less foot-traffic than there used to be, and Jacks laments what he calls a “hardening” of the neighborhood.
“We’re getting up in years,” says Gilbert (he and Jacks were both born in 1933; they met at a party in San Francisco in 1960). “I have a mother to look after, too.” Gilbert’s mom is 93; Jacks’ died a year ago at 104.
So while the regulars may see this as an end, for Jacks and Gilbert it’s merely the third act in their story.
“Life goes on,” Jacks shrugs.
The final day at The Bronx will be Sunday, with a farewell party starting about 6 p.m. To see photos of the restaurant, go here.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 1, 2011.
This is SUPER sad….our neighborhood is going away slowly….
I think there is a missing link to the photos.
It’s sad to see the place go. The food was good and the staff was very friendly. However, the friendliness was a double edged sword. I remember plenty of times having to wait up to twenty minutes for my order to be taken, or never having my coffee-iced tea-water refilled during the entire meal, or feeling I had to try and trip someone just to get my check, etc. because my waiters were spending their time being “friendly “–literally sitting on the edge of a table and chatting up one of their regulars for up to 15 minutes at a time while ignoring the rest of the diners. Less foot traffic and hardening of the neighborhood are convenient excuses, but lax service doesn’t exactly encourage a lot of repeat business.
If you want to dine at the Bronx on Saturday evening, you better make reservations. It’s looking to be a busy night there from what I am hearing.
My partner and I shared our first date there over 5 years ago and followed up every year for our anniversary. Countless brunches and dinners, birthday parties, and cocktails chatting it up with Jess and David. The gayborhood, she is a changin’. I suspect in a few years, it’ll be unrecognizable.
Why would the Melrose want the forks and napkins? That’s just weird.
Montemalone–most high end hotels (like the Warwick Melrose) are also in the food and beverage business. They probably have good use for the restaurant supplies.
So sad! You will be greatly missed! Best of luck to you!
I had to read this a couple of times to be sure it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. I’m just shocked. This was our favorite Sunday brunch spot. Seeing David week after week was like seeing a member of our family. I just hope that whatever the Melrose plan’s to do with it that it fit’s into the character of the neighborhood. I cringe to think of a chain restaurant like Chili’s ending up in the space.
I’m saddened by this. Losing a cornerstone of the community is hard. I understand why they sold out, but how badly does the Melrose need parking? A lot, I suppose. I’ll wear black when the Bronx is flattened, like so much of the past of the gayborhood has been.
In March, 1978, went to The Bronx on a date. A drunk non-gay man would not leave our table thinking that without a man we must not be having fun. Jess Gilbert saw the issue, came to our table and escorted the man away. I’ve been a fan of Jess’ and The Bronx ever since. Many of the team members I consider friends over the years. To Jess and The Bronx Team, I wish you all the best energies and much properity in the future. Thank you for everything you gave to me and the Dallas GLBT community! Much love, Deb
Perhaps an article with photos of Cedar Springs is needed to remind us of the street’s gay culture beginning in the mid 1970’s.
Most of all I’d like to read an article about long gone, gay social places on the street like the Crossroads Market, DGA office, the drug store and soda fountain, Arresta store, Lobo Book store, Mary Thumb grocery store and clubs like Swamp Trash, 4001, Big Daddy’s, Oak Lawn Transfer, Magnolia and Old Plantation.
In 1977 I moved to Dallas from Chicago. The first Sunday I was here my Dallas friends took me here for brunch. They talked about the wonderful ice tea and wonderful food. They were right. Any time I had out of town friends, I would take them there. Very, very sad. Nothing last forever, but some how I thought the Bronx would. A great loss to the strip. Good luck to everyone.
Wish Jess and Howard the best of luck . I am sure they will come up with something new to mesmerize us and entertain us. I remember in the early nineties when Oak Lawn was falling apart and Spats was the answer… I will miss the food but more I will miss the Bronx
We were Bronx regulars over the past 5+ years and had our “regular ” stools down the far end of the bar. We always loved the food, great homemade soups and “family” atmosphere. We are originally from Boston and refer to The Bronx as “the gay Cheers.” We just moved to Florida, but we will miss our friends at The Bronx tremendously. With the still-awful economy, we hope the employees all become employed soon — and we think Jess and Howard should reward those long-term employees with a severance to help tide them over, just in case !!
Please SOMEONE create a new hangout for the regulars — we need someplace to go to when we visit.
This makes me sad. I wish I was in town to attend the “wake”. My life was forever changed by the love, compassion and care of all the folks at The Bronx. The tender care of each escort to our table, the love of each plate of food and the attentive customer service will sorely be missed. To Jess, David and the rest of the crew – there will be an empty hole in the heart of the gay community with The Bronx gone. But, I wish you all the best and send you positive love and energy for your next big thing.
The Melrose needs more meeting space…they have tented or lipstick renovated everything they can in their building, but they still have terrible columns in the ballroom. Queue the bulldozers. They should have draq queens run the bulldozers and turn it into a charity benefit for RCD. Just a thought…
Only good memories and good food,we injoyed going there for all 35 yrs. We will dearly miss THE BRONX and
Iam really sad to hear there gone,But thank you for staying in business and making C.S. a wonderful to place to dine and drink…
How very sad! The “Gayborhood” is being subsumed by interests which are not at all really nice to the GLBT community.
I , along with many others, were forced to vacate our homes when the “Anthony” (on Reagan) were forced to vacate when CJ Moore, the owner, sold out to a couple of hetero preppies, who “remodeled” and then jacked the rents up 250%.
Imagine, paying $850.00 month , should I want to stay, from 450.00 a month (ABP.
Well, okay, there are some of you , who shrug your shoulders — hmmm, –who cares?
You should: Oak Lawn, for GLBT people, used to be such a wonderful and comfortable and affordable place to live. From what I have been reading, in the Dallas Voice, for the five years, it is not.
I moved back to Iowa, in 2003 due to an “aging parent problem,“ — so I sympathize with the owner of the Bronx. Through The Voice, on line, I’ve followed the decline, decay, and the disintegration of a really nice place to live.
Wishing you , as the Chinese say, “interesting times”!
\
ou soulless people so really deserve it!
The Bronx was an oasis for gay community leaders in the 1970s and 80s. It was dark and cool and comfortable. The atmosphere was relaxed, the music soothing, and the food satisfying. The people who built a movement always felt at home at The Bronx. Bill and Terry, Phil, Don, Alan, Steve, Dick, Karen, Tim, William, Howie, Gary…….