Hot Joy, the kitschy Asian-fusion restaurant in Uptown, has closed after three months of business. The Dallas Observer first reported that the two year pop-up shuttered for good.
“We thought it would be a good fit,” says Jack Gibbons, president of Front Burner Restaurants. “We played and put resources behind it, but it just didn’t work.” The restaurant group opened the Dallas location of the San Antonio-based restaurant in July. Since then, business has been slow. The closure comes less than a week after the Observer published a scathing review that harangued the restaurant for perceived cultural appropriation. I asked Gibbons if closing had anything to do with the alt-weekly’s piece and his response was straightforward: “No.”
“We had a lot of fun, it’s a really good team,” says Gibbons. He says each employee has been offered a job at other Front Burner concepts, including mega-talented bar manager, Andrew Stofko. “[He’s] going to be at Whiskey Cake or Ida Claire. I’ll miss his frozen Zombies, actually.”
“We have the building for two years and then it’s going to be torn down,” he says. “The space has so much flexibility. It used to be a Texas Land & Cattle.” The restaurant group plans on turning the space into another pop-up, but in the meantime will be using it to host private holiday events in.
Sure, not all of the menu items at Hot Joy were hits. But there’s something to be said about the sticky crab fat-caramel wings and boozy tiki cocktails. Hope is not lost, though, for those who find themselves craving the popular chicken starter, as the recipe can be found on Bon Appétit—and hey, there’s always San Antonio.
As for Stofko’s exotic elixirs: “I’m sure we’ll throw some tiki parties,” says Gibbons.
