Lack of parking, ‘surprise’ new requirements for liquor licensing delayed opening of Thai restaurant, forced other shops to close before they could ever open
Danny Sikora
DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
The number of seats in a restaurant is usually limited by the fire marshal. But in Oak Lawn, that limit is set by parking regulations, according to Thairrific owner Danny Sikora.
Although he acquired the space formerly occupied by Hungdingers about five months ago, Sikora did not receive his final certificate of occupancy until this week. Most of the delays, he said, were city-related.
But Sikora’s schedule isn’t the only casualty. City regulations requiring restaurants and bars to provide more parking spaces than retail stores has resulted in at least two other problems for businesses on Cedar Springs Road.
When Zen Clipz closed, Buli owner Scott Whittall tried to rent the space and turn it into a nighttime cabaret-style venue. Parking issues forced him to scuttle those plans.
And building had already begun on a coffee shop on Throckmorton Street between Macho Nacho and Thairrific when lack of parking put the kibosh on those plans as well.
Sikora said he was approved for a restaurant with 78 seats, even though the space could comfortably seat more.
“The city is not taking into account how pedestrian-heavy this neighborhood is,” he said.
Parking, however, was not the only delay in opening his new business.
“The city has a surprise new requirement before they’ll complete their portion of the TABC packet,” he said.
Sikora said he had to submit to the city a new architectural rendering of his space and a map of all property within 300 feet of his business. But Sikora said that since this regulation is new, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission didn’t know about it — and neither did Dallas City Councilwoman Angela Hunt.
And in the office charged with enforcing this new regulation, no one agreed on what was required.
One city worker told him that it meant 300 feet from the edge of the property. Another said it was 300 feet from his space and a third told him to measure 300 feet from his front door.
The renderings have to be completed within 10 days of submission. After a week’s delay in the city office and being turned down once because of a disagreement of what the regulation meant, one city employee approved the plans and sent the city’s portion of the packet off to TABC, without a day to spare in the 10-day rule.
In addition, the new regulation cost Sikora $1,200, plus a $100 fee to the city to certify that the plans were correct. Another day’s delay would have cost him another $1,200 for a new set of plans.
And by delaying his application until Sept. 3, the city cost him more money, because TABC licenses increased in price on
Sikora said that he thought it was foolish, especially since alcohol has been approved for this location numerous times over the last 15 years.
Once the certificate of occupancy was issued, Sikora said, he could then order the things he wanted for the restaurant that he didn’t need for the inspections.
“We weren’t doing what next-door did,” he said, referring to the coffee shop. He said they sunk $30,000 into the space before learning that the city was not going to approve an operating permit.
For the restaurant’s sign, Sikora said he had hoped his partner’s sister, an artist, could paint it directly on the building. But that didn’t work because the non-retractable awning was in the way.
Sikora said he considered taking down the awning to paint the sign, but then he learned that a city ordinance required a hefty fee for putting an awning back up.
So instead, the artist ended up having to paint the sign on a sheet of plastic. Then hanging the sign required a permitting process that included submitting drawings, a list of items used to construct the sign and an explanation of how the sign would be hung. A professional sign company with a cherry-picker to reach over the awning had to be hired to hang it.
Other delays included a roof leak that Sikora said was not obvious through the exceptionally dry summer and other problems with some of the equipment that was purchased from the previous owner that have been fixed.
Sikora invested in the restaurant earlier this year. Family-run Thairrific has been in business for about 11 years in an old shopping center on Forest Lane at Webb Chapel Road. Sikora said he’d been a regular customer for most of that time. Then the restaurant’s owner/chef said he wanted to cook and wasn’t interested in the business aspect of the restaurant anymore, and he asked Sikora if he wanted to become a business partner.
The two then discovered that much of their business at the North Dallas location was actually coming from Oak Lawn, so they decided to move to the new location, closer to their customers.
Sikora also has a small investment in Aston’s Bakery, another family-run business, located on Lover’s Lane near the Tollway.
Next to the cash register in the new Thairrific location, he installed a bakery counter and plans to offer a limited number of items from the Aston’s.
Sikora said that what sets his restaurant apart from other Thai places is that there are no steam tables.
“Everything’s made-to-order,” he said. “Soup? It’s not coming out of a soup tureen.”
The soup stock is made, but everything in the soup will be added when ordered.
“It’s healthy cooking,” he said. “Few fried items.”
And after five months, Thairrific may be open soon. When? Well, things are on order. But Sikora’s still just not sure on the date.
…………………….
Two Corks ribbon cutting set
North Texas LGBT Chamber of Commerce members John Ley and Elwyn Hull will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new winery, Two Corks and a Bottle, on Tuesday, Nov. 1 from 5:30 p.m.
to 7 p.m. The store is located on the north side of The Quadrangle on Routh at Lacliede streets.
There will be door prizes and happy hour pricing.
American Airlines expanding Curbside Check-In
FORT WORTH — Officials with American Airlines recently announced that the airline is expanding its Curbside Check-In service to give customers traveling internationally the opportunity to check their bags with the skycap — making their trip through the airport as smooth as possible.
For more information about the expanded Curbside Check-in service, go online to
aa.com/curbside.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition October 28, 2011.
I have always heard that the city of Dallas is not always easy to deal with, I wish Thairrific the best of luck.
We are in the worst recession in decades, and any form of business investment and jobs creation is badly needed, regardless of who is doing it and where. So Mr. Sikora decides to jump in, take the risk and try to become a reputable business owner, and look at how he is treated! His ordeal would make anyone think twice about opening a business in this city.
Our wonderful city council needs to quit hanging out at the Arboretum on retreat and rewrite these ridiculous parking regulations.
They constantly whine that they want Dallas to be a “World Class City” then do everything possible to prevent that from happening.
The inner city could be full of vibrant shops and restaurants, generating tax revenue, and people in dense neighborhoods could leave their cars at home and walk.
Build sidewalks, install streetlights, and add a few more signaled intersections on Lemmon.
Cedar Springs, Oak Lawn, Maple could all be packed with businesses, and that would also help drive down the crime.
Doesn’t the image of a vibrant dense city the council preaches about contradict their strict enforecement of these parking codes? Oak Lawn is VERY walkable. Most people who frequent those businesses WALK just like I do.