At 8 pm on a Friday, bartenders assemble cocktails behind multiple marble bars: pink cotton candy-topped coupes, tiered Patrón frozen margarita trees, bottles of Pierre Ferrand dry Curacao to be poured and set aflame tableside. A DJ will arrive soon. But for the moment, sequined and starched diners pause between bites of juicy fried lobster tail and ultra tender jerk lamb chops to sing along to a saxophone-heavy cover band.
It’s all a standard scene at Kevin Kelley’s Kitchen + Kocktails, which opened in downtown Dallas in August 2020. Even though the 174-seat capacity had to be cut in half to adhere to the state’s safety standards, the pandemic didn’t stifle the restaurant from being completely booked out for the first six months. On occasion, celebrities join the mix, such as former Dallas Cowboys Dez Bryant and Ezekiel Elliott, musicians 50 Cent and Kirk Franklin, actress Vivica A. Fox, and Ryan Garcia, one of the world’s top lightweight boxers. Yet, aside from a viral twerking incident that occurred three months after it opened, Kitchen + Kocktails has received little attention from the media.
In the days after what came to be known as #TwerkGate, Kelley was interviewed by morning-show host Rickey Smiley and TMZ to explain his stance, after a group of women were asked to refrain from twerking. In the video of the incident that went viral, which ended up making it onto The Wendy Williams Show and The D.L. Hughley Show, Kelley made clear that gyrating one’s buttocks wasn’t fitting behavior for his restaurant, and he advised those who wished to twerk to visit nearby nightclubs instead. The since-deleted tweet that first introduced the footage, which garnered millions of views in a week, called Kelley’s rant “restaurant suicide.”
Kitchen + Kocktails sold $648,726 of liquor in the month of March.
“I was worried in the beginning,” Kelley says. “That Monday, I said, ‘Oh man, I’ve blown it with this business.’ … But what happened is that the people who want to dine in a nice place and enjoy good food, they all rallied around me, and they stood tall and gave me a phenomenal amount of support.”
Nearly three years later, sales data show Kitchen + Kocktails is one of Dallas’ top-grossing restaurants. According to TABS Report, an alcohol sales tracker that uses data from the state comptroller, Kitchen + Kocktails sold $648,726 of liquor in the month of March. That’s more than swanky newcomers Carbone and The Mexican, as well as standard bearers such as Javier’s and Al Biernat’s. Another data company, Texas Bar Report, shows that, by nearly midyear, Kitchen + Kocktails’ alcohol sales already totaled more than $6 million, making it the top seller of liquor out of all Dallas restaurants. Kelley says that if the numbers stay on track, the restaurant is set to earn eight figures this year.
With those kinds of numbers, it’s natural the concept is growing—another outpost launched in Chicago in 2021 and a third opened in Washington, D.C., in June—especially when the comfort food is as good as the drinks. Cocktails such as Key Lime Pie and Rum Punch Plus+ lean sweet but turn out to be welcome pacifiers for fiery jerk chicken noodle soup and Nashville hot fried chicken. The latter is just one of six types of fried chicken served here, all of which are serious contenders for the best in town. So, too, are the extra thick and juicy fried green tomatoes, which even outdo the ones served at Roots Southern Table and Restaurant Beatrice.
Because of plates like those, as well as dishes such as his candied yams and smoked turkey-studded collard greens, Kelley says he stands behind his claim that he’s serving the best comfort food in the nation. But Kitchen + Kocktails is not a chef-driven concept. A self-described “restaurant student of the world,” he came up with the vast majority of the menu himself. After having lived in Frankfurt, Barcelona, and Paris for a number of years, it’s been “easy to fall in love with food, to fall in love with food culture,” he says. “That’s what’s led me to this point.”
In addition to Kitchen + Kocktails, he’s the owner of the historic Hart Building that houses the restaurant. Built in 1888, it’s where Hart Furniture resided for 77 years; older guests have told Kelley that, at one time, it was the only furniture store in Dallas that sold to Black people. Kelley also owns Club Vivo, the Latin nightclub behind the restaurant, as well as the property next to the Majestic Theatre on the same block, where his personal injury law firm is located on the third floor.
But Kitchen + Kocktails is the star of his portfolio. The restaurateur and attorney believes it is backed by customers because it provides an upscale environment for enjoying comfort food in a central location. He says he often receives messages of encouragement on Instagram from some of the 200,000 people who dine in his restaurant every year, expressing their pride and appreciation for what he has been able to create.
“I’m glad to be the vessel that can make them feel proud,” Kelley says. “And I’m definitely glad to be able to serve them.”
This story originally appeared in the October issue of D Magazine with the headline, “He Beat the Internet.” Write to [email protected].
