Dallas’ Bon Appetit Restaurant Woes

Fort Worth seafood restaurant La Onda, named one of the best new restaurants of 2022 by Bon Appetit, has closed. The menu featured rotating fish, oysters, and caviar specials based on weekly supplies, according to a Dallas Morning News article. They say,

“Seven months after Bon Appetit named it one of the 50 best new restaurants in the country in 2022, Fort Worth restaurant La Onda has closed.

Victor and Misty Villarreal opened the seafood restaurant in a small house on Race Street in June 2021 and caught the attention of local and national media for their dry-aged fish and “whimsical approach to things that swim,” as Bon Appetit called it.

The menu changed constantly with rotating fish, oysters and caviar specials depending on what their suppliers caught that week. Former Dallas Morning News restaurant columnist Brian Reinhart said the Villarreals were sparking a “seafood revolution” with their smart, boundary-pushing culinary approach.”

Athletes fear the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, but could Bon Appetit have a similar effect on Dallas restaurants? Trompo, once listed as one of the best, closed multiple times, yet its owner persists, according to a Dallas Observer article. In it they say, 

“In the sports world, the cover of Sports Illustrated is feared by some athletes. There’s a noted pattern of flopping after gracing the cover. There’s an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to it.

Could Bon Appetit have a similar effect on the Dallas restaurant world?

Our first example comes from 2016, when the small taqueria Trompo on Singleton Boulevard was added to the magazine’s list of the 50 best new restaurants in the U.S. The West Dallas spot has since closed — four times to be exact. Currently, owner Luis Olvera is giving a fifth location a run on Jefferson Avenue. Perhaps he’s a glutton for punishment.”

After being featured on Bon Appetit’s best restaurants list in 2022, the Villarreals experienced a surge in business. However, they recently announced the closure of their restaurant without providing details on the reason.