Gloria’s in Oak Cliff runs afoul of residents, neighboring businesses

by Avi Adelman of Barking Dogs

• Tweet
• Email
• Print
• 13 Comments

Business at Gloria's is booming, something that might be affected by Residents Parking Only zones.

Photo by Avi Adelman

It's not all happy parking in Bishop Arts. This sign was posted at the entrance to the 611 Bishop strip (Cafe Brazil, Fitness Anytime, etc.).

After years of dealing with bar owners on Lowest Greenville Avenue, BD has learned one thing: It's all about the money. The average bar owner on the strip would pay $35/square foot or more, plus insurance, plus repairs, his patrons would pay $20 or more to park, and the drinks would be expensive, unless you were a millionaire. The bar owners hated it when BD would post their TABC mixed bev sales reports. Despite the fact these were public records, they claimed it was an invasion of their privacy. One went so far as to say the posting of the reports was a declaration of war on the bars. And we can see how well they managed, eh?

Even Gloria's business neighbors in Oak Cliff are fighting to keep their parking for their customers. This photo was shot Sunday afternoon, but BD understands it has been in use for the last month.

So while BD was looking at the fight against RPO in the Bishop Arts area, a BA resident asked him to dig into the sales numbers for Gloria's Restaurant, the biggest and so far shiniest bar on the street. During the rezoning process a few years ago, the residents were promised, Gloria's won't move (a mile) up the street. Not gonna happen. Well, it did happen, and they opened up in an old firehouse (and BD will admit it's a beautiful building when he was in it last night).

Gloria's employees parking on Neely Street prompted the residents to buy an RPO for their block. Even though Gloria's now owns the medical center on the south side of the street, with plans to move their corporate office into the location and provide more employee parking, the residents were not about to wait on another promise.

BD pulled up the reports for this location of Gloria's. We are posting them without comment, but you can whistle at the numbers in the privacy of your home. Mixed bev sales reports are not confidential, and there's nothing illegal about posting them here.

This is not to say they are keeping all of their money. According to TABC administrative records, Gloria's Bishop Arts (including the old location) has paid more than $4,000 in penalties and fines - click here for the full report.

The Oak Cliff Chamber is not happy with RPO, and have appealed to City Council Member Delia Jasso to kill it off before things go Greenville on them. Let's look at how campaign contributions might make a difference, cuz you know politicians like the big numbers (source: Dallas City Secretary's office):

• Gloria's Restaurants Addison donated $500 in in-kind services to Jasso's campaign

• Bishop Street Partners (Jim Lake Co) for $2,000

• Mark Miranda [Miranda Realty] for $2,000

• Joe McElroy [SqFt Realty] for $600

• Linda Holt [SqFt Realty] for $1,000

• Jim Lake [Jim Lake Co.] for $500

Pegasus News Content partner - Barking Dogs