Blue Goose Cantina on Greenville Avenue will close after dinner on March 19, 2023 after selling margaritas, queso and enchiladas in Dallas for 39 years.
The company has grown to six other locations in Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Highland Village, Grapevine and Fort Worth, with another expected to open in late March 2023 in Grand Prairie.
The original restaurant, which opened in 1984 with a tropical Tex-Mex vibe, is closing because of a lease dispute, according to a press release.
The aging building was owned by the Fred Reisberg family trust and has been sold, the company says.
In this 2010 file photo, Jennifer Bermea, left, and Tissy Greene work at Blue Goose.
In this 2010 file photo, Jennifer Bermea, left, and Tissy Greene work at Blue Goose.(Jason Janik/Special Contributor / 10003198A)
Bob Peterson and Scott Holyfield’s Mexican cafe
was the subject of several restaurant reviews from The Dallas Morning News over the years. It was a loud place, they all seemed to say, but the hand-made tortillas and the flavorful tortilla soup were winners.
“Whether you pull up a brightly colored straw-seat chair inside, settle in at the bar for a little tube and brew or savor nachos at the premium al fresco tables lining two sides of the restaurant, Blue Goose in its odd way encourages lingering,” a critic wrote in 1993. “Even with the noise. Even with the grime. Maybe because it is so good. Maybe because when the light and traffic are just right, you’d swear the strips of asphalt outside really are sand.”
Some of that noise and grime will be on full display on March 11, 2023, the date of the annual Dallas St. Patrick’s Parade down Greenville Avenue. It’s the busiest day of the year for most of the bars and restaurants on that block, and it’s sentimental that Blue Goose will close just over a week later.
On March 2, 2010, Dallas Fire-Rescue firefighters attempted to control the flames as fire…
On March 2, 2010, Dallas Fire-Rescue firefighters attempted to control the flames as fire sweeps through the attached buildings — all bars and restaurants — on Lower Greenville. The Blue Goose was not part of the fire. (Jim Mahoney)
The restaurant was lucky in 2010, when a fire swarmed neighboring restaurants Terilli’s, Greenville Avenue Bar & Grill and the Hurricane Bar. Blue Goose was unharmed.
A statement says that, with the closure, employees at the original Blue Goose can work at other Blue Goose restaurants or at the family’s other restaurant group Aw Shucks, if they choose to.
CEO Nick Peterson, son of the co-founder, hints at the “possibility of a new Greenville Avenue area location in Dallas,” but no more details were available yet.
Blue Goose Cantina is at 2905 Greenville Ave., Dallas. It’s expected to stay open through dinner service on March 19, 2023.
