Coast Global Seafood to Close on December 20

Posted on December 13th, 2010 10:34am by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Closings, Food Crime, hold on to your effin hat, Restaurant News

No more swordfish after December 20.

Oh no, say it isn’t so! Coast Global Seafood, the lovely restaurant designed by Paul Draper in the Shops at Legacy, will close its beautiful doors on December 20. Proprietor Richard (Nicola’s) Gussoni cites the “struggling economy and anticipated demand sources that did not materialize.”

This is so weird to me. Why do all of the places on the south side so many places in the Shops at Legacy do so well? I mean there is an hour-wait at Seasons 52? Isn’t Wyland’s Ocean Blue going in somewhere around there? Perhaps the promise of a hotel that never materialized behind the fabulous fountain is the reason. Sad. I hate to say it but this month could be full of closures.

19 comments

  1. Actually, Seasons 52 is on the north side. I hear that Capitol Grill is moving in next door to Seasons 52. So there’s still plenty of hope for the north side.

    @ 10:49 am on December 13, 2010

  2. Make that: Capital Grille

    @ 10:51 am on December 13, 2010

  3. I went to Coast twice. The first time, the food and service were both so bad that they gave us a free dinner on our next visit. The second time we went, the food and service were both terrible. We asked the waiter how the hummus was and he said, “I think it’s kinda gross”. Seriously. Hard to stay in business with wait staff like that. The fact that it is well hidden in Legacy probably didn’t help much.

    @ 10:55 am on December 13, 2010

  4. Wyland’s is going in at the Shops at Willow Bend in the old Mercury Grill spot. The kiss of death….California Pizza Kitchen and NM’s Mariposa and the NM cafe are the only restaurants that have stayed open since that mall opened. Even half the food court has turned over.

    Steve is right, you’d never know Coast was there if you weren’t looking specifically for it.

    @ 11:19 am on December 13, 2010

  5. Wyland’s Ocean Blue is going in at Shops of Willow Bend in the old Mercury/Mustang Grill spot.

    @ 11:20 am on December 13, 2010

  6. They can blame the economy all they want. I went once about a year ago, and never went back. The service was amateur, and the food not any better.

    @ 11:24 am on December 13, 2010

  7. Why is their a one hour wait at Seasons 52 ? It’s just Chilis, but with the calories counted for you. Nicolas is the only place on the strip that you are sure to get a good meal and good service every time.

    @ 11:26 am on December 13, 2010

  8. @Darren: There is a one hour wait at Seasons 52 because people are lemmings. I have to disagree with you on Nicola’s though…not a fan.

    @ 12:19 pm on December 13, 2010

  9. @TLS : The food, the service or both ? I must admit it the food was better when Salvatore was chef, but we have always had good service. Where would YOU say was best place to eat at SAL if all you were in the mood for was a “well cooked meal and good service” ?

    @ 12:31 pm on December 13, 2010

  10. @Darren: Not a fan of the food.

    My favorites at SAL are Fireside Pies, Cru, and Cafe Istanbul.

    @ 1:37 pm on December 13, 2010

  11. I think the reason it’s closing is right in the first paragraph of the article: “…the lovely restaurant designed by Paul Draper…”

    Too many new restaurant endeavors are over-focusing on style and design and buzzworthiness, and not enough on food and service.

    And yes, Seasons 52 is thriving…but it’s also new. Let’s give it a year (is that too much for DFW standards?) before declaring it a success.

    @ 3:03 pm on December 13, 2010

  12. Wyland’s will fail. He’s an artist with money who wants a gallery that you can eat at, hence Ocean Blue. Plus, he doesn’t want good people, he wants ‘attractive’ people.

    Maybe he should call it ‘Ocean Boobs’

    http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/fbh/2098076349.html

    @ 3:14 pm on December 13, 2010

  13. I think EVERY town needs an “Ocean Boobs” restaurant (laughs)

    @ 4:25 pm on December 13, 2010

  14. @Stacey L. Agreed.
    But also, the problem with “beautiful” restaurants is they have to be accessible and attractive to beautiful people and that means really ugly rent. The only people making money in the restaurant business right now are landlords and leasing agents. Designers maybe too if they get paid.

    @ 5:01 pm on December 13, 2010

  15. @old & in the way

    Amen. And the taxmen, Mssrs. State, Federal and Local.

    @ 9:24 pm on December 13, 2010

  16. @old and in the way. You got that right!

    @ 7:16 am on December 14, 2010

  17. @Stacy L – Actually, I would like to speak in defense of Paul Draper, he designed our restaurant 13 years ago and did wonders with an extremely tight budget. Extremely tight. Yes his fee was slightly more expensive than other designers, but his work was by far more comprehensive than other plans. and utilized much of what was already there.

    Coast was in a bad location in my opinion, on the back (North) side facing open fields, hardly the “mini city” feel that the complex was developing in it’s center area. It also came in late to an area that is heavily saturated with other food places. Pile on top an overall 20-30% decrease in diners over the last 3 years, and, well, kiss of death for some.

    My concolences, and I think Nancy is correct, more restaurants will be making some hard choices after the busy December. If they can self-fund themselves until business picks up again, they’ll be fine. Otherwise they have to look at selling off ownership to raise capital, or close because they can’t generate enough to operate. There is no bank money available. None. Period. (Thank you Dad for teaching me it’s not what you make, it’s what you save.)

    But in a way it’s a normal business cycle, the growth of restaurants over the last 10 years has been enormous. Most intersections in North Dallas have doubled the number of eating places on their corners. South Dallas has seen the explosion of Bishop Arts. Same with Legacy and the Tollway stretching over to 121. At some point the market becomes oversaturated with restaurants.

    @ 8:06 am on December 14, 2010

  18. An expensive restaurant, whether it is due to design finish-out or rent as well as all the other elements that go together to create an upscale restaurant, also put it at risk if it does not deliver on it’s promise.

    I have been lucky enough to be able to design restaurants at all levels of the market, and I am proud of the work I have done. But there is a real shift in restaurants today and it reflects much more what I have wanted to see the dining scene in Dallas be for many years.

    The restaurants today that are succeeding are much more food and chef driven, they are smaller in scale, far less pretentious and often located in neighborhood areas.

    They offer great food that makes a personal statement, service that is welcoming and effective, and the right balance of energy to be lively but comfortable.

    Dining out is an experience of the senses. The right combination of great food, atmosphere and service delivering true value verses the cost is a winning formula – both for the restaurateur and for the dining public.

    I find the dinging scene today invigorating. Dallas is developing it’s own unique dinging statement far beyond the chains or the few, very talented chefs it has been known for up till now.

    @ 6:43 pm on December 14, 2010

  19. I heared Tim Mac-a-ninny is opening a Dish up in the coast spot.

    @ 8:16 pm on December 14, 2010