Sydney Coley-Berglund, the daughter of the late Harry Coley, founder of Wild About Harry’s, announced the beloved Knox Street hot dog and frozen custard spot’s impending closure on Instagram on Monday night.
“I had to post,” she says. “I didn’t want people to walk up and the door to be locked.”
A post shared by Dallas, Tx (@wildaboutharrysdallas) on
“We had an issue with the landlord, but don’t want to throw them under the bus. They’re redoing the building and can’t keep us because of limited parking.”
City code requires a restaurant to have a certain number of parking spaces for its square footage, a requirement that was never strongly enforced at Wild About Harry’s, Coley-Berglund says. That changed as the new landlord began work on the building.
“We’re a restaurant and so there’s not enough parking spaces,” Coley-Berglund says. “We’ve gone 22 years without a problem. The city looked over it. Now, the city is trying to make things right. I found out about all of this after my dad died. My mother and I went down to the city but there was nothing we could do.”
The business was left to her mother, Lana, when Harry passed away in 2014.
“We received a 30-day notice and our last day of business will be May 12.” They need to be out by May 15 and will use the following days to clear the space, Coley-Berglund says.
“We’re actively looking for spaces. We have a few ideas but nothing concrete. I don’t want to miss the summer business. But I don’t see how that’s realistic, unless a similar restaurant closed and we could take their space…I have 15 employees, half are teenagers and the other half have been here for more than 10 years. I’m not into starting from the ground up. I need them. They know our business. They’re family, just like our customers are.”
But amidst the shakeup, Coley-Berglund remains hopeful.
“I believe what’s happening is God’s will. I will be good with whatever happens. We’ll find another spot.”
In the meantime, head over to Knox Street, scoop some custard, and say goodbye.
