Dallas, TX
East Dallas restaurant ‘fought the good fight,’ but closed
East Dallas restaurant BarNone, a neighborhood spot owned by a Dallas couple, closes at the end of the night on Aug. 13, 2024.
Owners Jennifer Rhode Dickerson and Todd Dickerson wrote in a heartfelt Facebook post in mid-August 2024 that the restaurant is selling off all its drinks at “very deep discounts” and closing.
BarNone opened about 9 months into the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, months later than the owners preferred. They spent $30,000 on an air filtration system, a common purchase for restaurateurs during the pandemic.
“While planning BarNone, we thought of everything,” they wrote, “the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, the music, the service we wanted to provide. … Everything except a global pandemic.”
“We fought the good fight and we held on for nearly four years,” the post said.
The Dickersons said on Aug. 12, 2024, that the restaurant has been busy. They’re grateful but sad.
“This is hard,” Jennifer said. “We love this community.”
When the restaurant opened in December 2020, the couple said it was their dream for more than a decade. Todd had been perfecting recipes for dishes like clams casino, pasta with Sunday gravy, and what he called “man’s greatest food,” sandwiches.
“Sandwiches are easy and casual, and that’s what I want this place to be,” he said in 2020.
Todd was formerly the managing partner at Angry Dog in Deep Ellum. He was also one of the founders of Dallas Grilled Cheese. Jennifer works at Bud’s Fresh-Cut Produce, her family’s Dallas-based business.
Over the years, BarNone was a hidden gem for restaurant deals — rare, with inflation. Cheeseburgers from 3-8 p.m. on Tuesdays cost $7.75. Lunch specials on Fridays were $5.95.
The Dickersons added live music and large “patio pitchers,” efforts to lure in neighbors and keep them coming back.
“It has been an honor serving the community we love,” they wrote.
BarNone is at 718 N. Buckner Blvd., Dallas. It closes at 11:55 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2024.