High-Profile Closings Hit the Dallas Bar Scene Hard: Two Drinking Institutions are Shuttering for Good

In the nearly 14 years since it opened, Idle Rich Pub has become an Uptown institution. The McKinney Ave. watering hole is a perennial hotspot, but its days are numbered. Owner Feargal McKinney recently publicly revealed that the bar will shutter for good at the end of its lease in January.

The news of the bar’s closure had been a long time coming. Plans for a high-rise development at the address were laid out last December, but it was unclear when construction would actually begin. At the time, McKinney told GuideLive that “The earliest would be early 2018,” and that “We may get the opportunity to stay well beyond that.”

However, it looks like Idle Rich Pub’s tenure is coming to an end sooner than later. “Unfortunately, our lease expires at the end of January 2018, and our final day of business will be sometime in January,” McKinney wrote in a statement.

The owner assures patrons that the pub will be open during its normal hours until then, and that it will still host a Christmas beer tasting.

Employees of Idle Rich, some of which have apparently been there since that opening day 14 years ago, will be relocated to its sister pubs, which include The Old Monk and The Black Friar Pub.

McKinney plans on giving the pub a proper goodbye in the coming weeks.

“Not sure if you can have a wake for a pub, but we will try when the time comes,” he wrote.

In other sad pub news, Sherlock’s Pub abruptly shuttered its Arlington location earlier this month. The bar, modeled after Sherlock Holmes’ study, was an icon of Arlington’s Lincoln Square for almost 15 years. Sherlock’s Baker St. Pub frequently played host to local musicians, karaoke nights and more.

The chain of pubs previously closed another Dallas location in 2016. The Sherlock bar outposts in Addison, Austin and Houston are the only ones remaining.