Dallas’ Mac’s Bar-B-Que closing after 66 years
It will open on Mondays during regular business hours from 11 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. He said it would open on Tuesday when he had enough supplies.
DALLAS – When Billy McDonald tried to unlock the door of Mac’s Bar-B-Que at 11am on Friday, he encountered more than a dozen faces.
“I had 15 people waiting outside,” said McDonald. “When I checked my watch again, which was 11:15 am, they were all the way to the door and down around the corner to the next block.”
At 1:30 p.m., an hour before the store closed, it was sold out.
“Some people came back to the counter and said, ‘Oh, I wish I knew you were here. We’d love to try out some more. but you won’t be here anymore, “said McDonald.
The first Mac’s Bar-B-Que location opened in January 1955. In 2021, it is in its third iteration, although still in Dallas, and is still operating with the same standards and values as it was in 1955.
“It was about people wanting to be here,” said McDonald. “It’s not just a place to eat. My dad still made barbecues. My mom ran the till and I was the hand dandy bus boy, sweep them, open up, take care of the toilet man.”
Now he’s the owner. He has been the owner for 40 years and closes the 66-year-old restaurant.
“I think it’s time someone else took the reins,” said McDonald.
He means the Dallas grill industry. While the options are many, he says few have the same old-school feel to it as him. Its walls are lined with framed photos of the history of the restaurant – the history of Dallas. There’s an old-school cash register, canned sodas, and just a handful of tables.
“Everything we do here is handmade,” said McDonald. “We make the coleslaw by hand. We make the potato salad by hand. “
Like many other companies, Mac’s Bar-B-Que was hit hard by the pandemic.
“It really has been a catastrophic turnaround in my business,” said McDonald. “2020 was probably the worst fiscal year this company has had in its existence.”
However, McDonald said it wasn’t why it was closing.
“It’s time for me to have some time to myself,” said McDonald. “It is my choice that I do what I do.”
It will open on Mondays during regular business hours from 11 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. He said it would open on Tuesday when he had enough supplies.
Although it was successful for years and customers came out in droves after hearing of its plans to shut down, McDonald doubts this fast-growing city will always have a place for small counter services like his.
“It doesn’t have enough eye candy,” said McDonald. “That’s pretty clear. People say, ‘Aww, I didn’t know you were here.'”
McDonald said the city and industry are changing, and it’s hard to compete with larger companies with more eye-catching environments and more robust marketing. He said it was never his game.
When asked why he decided to close instead of handing the restaurant over to another grill lover, he said that would have been ideal.
“I think a lot of people don’t want to work that hard,” said McDonald.
Instead, he will rent the space to a tenant who wants to open a restaurant that will serve what McDonald calls “authentic Mexican food instead of Tex-Mex”.
“Everyone out there who is as little as me is struggling and trying to do their best,” said McDonald. “I like it when the small restaurants are successful.”
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