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Hate to see a good restaurant go. And RM12:20 is definitely a good restaurant. But something about the owner's attitude was alway "off" to me. From letting families know that they weren't really welcome (bold strategy in Lake Highlands) to this goodbye (what deep pocketed restaurants are taking over? Jakes?)...it is just off.

RM12:20 wasn't in our normal rotation, but bummer nevertheless.

I blame taco joint. I love me some taco joint.

I had to temper it just a little at the beginning. Think it did the trick.

I love RM 12:20. My wife and I ate there almost weekly. Sad to see it go.

Seems strange. She put out a distress call some time last year. The neighborhood / community came calling (according to their bartender). Flooded them with reservations. Then a few months later, they announce this. I'm thinking there is more to this story. Landlord lease negotiations. Hours of operations restricting their revenue. Something. It was always popular it seemed.

was that formerly the fish place?

I think that call just kept them afloat for a few months. They lost all of their long time wait staff during that period as well.

Never eaten there, but seems like a marketing plan. Fork in the road in Arlington has made a similar post 3 times the last year and then each time the following week had crazy lines out the door and, "oh the community saved us." What a crock. Now I do believe fork in the road has since actually closed for good this time.

mAgnoliAg said:

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Never eaten there, but seems like a marketing plan. Fork in the road in Arlington has made a similar post 3 times the last year and then each time the following week had crazy lines out the door and, "oh the community saved us." What a crock. Now I do believe fork in the road has since actually closed for good this time.

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No one thinks these pleas are a good idea and no one does this unless they are desperate.

mAgnoliAg said:

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Never eaten there, but seems like a marketing plan. Fork in the road in Arlington has made a similar post 3 times the last year and then each time the following week had crazy lines out the door and, "oh the community saved us." What a crock. Now I do believe fork in the road has since actually closed for good this time.

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That place was good but man they didn't do a great job running it.

exactly how it came across to me as well.....

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Owner:

We're closing because you people are too stupid know what tastes good and / or support local businesses.

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100%. I'm sure there's a place for her restaurant in this city, but lake highlands isn't the right spot. She wants to be a date night spot with no kids, but complains when she only gets crowds Friday and Saturday nights.

There are plenty of local businesses in that area that are doing well.

Just look at the shopping center

Vector: Good/Great product, fair price, fun atmosphere....doing good
The Cedar + Vine Chinese place: weak product, high price, no atmosphere...closed
Taco Joint: fair product, good price, accommodating atmosphere...doing fine

The "we don't welcome kids" was a huge turnoff for me when they opened. Plus Dallas has so many great restaurants that we don't have a designated date place.

Pretty much. My wife and I went twice. Coming from Lakewood it's not far but the second time with their price point we could go to much better places. And we did.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Owner:

We're closing because you people are too stupid know what tastes good and / or support local businesses.

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Never heard of the place. Certainly never ate there (I rarely even drive through the LH area). However, the link mentioned 4 things that led to the downfall:

-- covid
-- competition
-- lack of weekday traffic
-- economy

Which of those 4 do you think is self inflicted? Judging by your post here, it seems you either don't buy the 4 reasons or you think one or more is their own fault.

-- covid: Completely valid. Huge stressor for lots of small businesses. But has been over in Dallas for around a year.
-- competition: Are there lots of good places in a 5 mile radius? Yes. But I don't buy the "deep pocket corporate" argument.
-- lack of weekday traffic: Ok, but self inflicted.
-- economy: Not as sure about this one.

91AggieLawyer said:

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Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Owner:

We're closing because you people are too stupid know what tastes good and / or support local businesses.

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Never heard of the place. Certainly never ate there (I rarely even drive through the LH area). However, the link mentioned 4 things that led to the downfall:

-- covid
-- competition
-- lack of weekday traffic
-- economy

Which of those 4 do you think is self inflicted? Judging by your post here, it seems you either don't buy the 4 reasons or you think one or more is their own fault.

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Because I can read and it comes across as a self righteous and condescending barb thrown by a bitter woman.

This is the court of public opinion, not everything needs lawyering.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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91AggieLawyer said:

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Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Owner:

We're closing because you people are too stupid know what tastes good and / or support local businesses.

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Never heard of the place. Certainly never ate there (I rarely even drive through the LH area). However, the link mentioned 4 things that led to the downfall:

-- covid
-- competition
-- lack of weekday traffic
-- economy

Which of those 4 do you think is self inflicted? Judging by your post here, it seems you either don't buy the 4 reasons or you think one or more is their own fault.

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Because I can read and it comes across as a self righteous and condescending barb thrown by a bitter woman.

This is the court of public opinion, not everything needs lawyering.

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That's fine, but the key word there is opinion. I read the release and as someone who's objective, it doesn't come across that way at all. I don't know what lawyering has to do with anything here. I merely asked a question.

I'm wondering why you're so worked up about it. Do they owe you money or something?

91AggieLawyer said:

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Ol_Ag_02 said:

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91AggieLawyer said:

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Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Owner:

We're closing because you people are too stupid know what tastes good and / or support local businesses.

---

Never heard of the place. Certainly never ate there (I rarely even drive through the LH area). However, the link mentioned 4 things that led to the downfall:

-- covid
-- competition
-- lack of weekday traffic
-- economy

Which of those 4 do you think is self inflicted? Judging by your post here, it seems you either don't buy the 4 reasons or you think one or more is their own fault.

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Because I can read and it comes across as a self righteous and condescending barb thrown by a bitter woman.

This is the court of public opinion, not everything needs lawyering.

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That's fine, but the key word there is opinion. I read the release and as someone who's objective, it doesn't come across that way at all. I don't know what lawyering has to do with anything here. I merely asked a question.

I'm wondering why you're so worked up about it. Do they owe you money or something?

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Not sure making one post before you mentioned it qualifies as worked up. I also read the release as someone who's objective and came to a completely different opinion than you did.

Literally never eaten there and have never heard of the place before. I commented on the thread because I go out of my way to support local restaurants, I rarely eat them while local and do my best to avoid them when traveling.

What I can't tolerate is business owners that seem to have a disdain for their very own customers. Hence my opinion of what I read.

Edit. Okay I made two posts.

I think you are reading a lot into her statement.

I tend to be a little easier on someone who poured their life into their business for four years and is watching it slip away.

We went once. It was fine. Vibe was kinda weird. No big loss but we live in Lakewood so going out that direction doesn't really make sense for us anyway.

I do think Covid hit at the worst time for them as they were just starting to pick up steam/publicity as an off the beaten path destination restaurant when things shut down. But like other have said, if you open a higher-end non-family friendly restaurant in the middle of Familyville, that's what you're going to get - busy weekends, slow weekdays. No one is getting a sitter to go to your place on a Wednesday and theres not enough empty nesters/DINKS in the area to keep you busy.

Word on the street is the owner has all kinds of personal red flags. Not surprising it went this way as those red flags tend to manifest in a business.

But all of the restaurants that handle families absolutely crush it in East Dallas.

Sad, I only went once, it was wonderful. But I never went back because they started requiring a credit card to make a reservation. I don't care for that concept.

annieag91 said:

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Sad, I only went once, it was wonderful. But I never went back because they started requiring a credit card to make a reservation. I don't care for that concept.

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Really? I have never had to give a card.

They went to an online only model that required a card because they would charge you $20/seat if you no showed.

Only Went a few times .Went there tonight and it was good, hate to see it go.

Don't know anything about the Owner but everyone we spoke to seem to have good things to say
About the place.

Went tonight across the parking lot to SoCo Bistro. Much more friendly feel and wasn't as cramped a dining space. Sorry to see Romans leave but that local might not have been ideal.