Madrina, the Mexican-French fusion restaurant at the Shops at Highland Park, closed today, according to a statement from Misery Loves Company, the restaurant group that also owns Proof + Pantry:
It saddens us to announce as of today (Wednesday, 1.4.17), Madrina has officially closed its doors. We gave it our all and are truly honored for the accolades garnered since we opened. Madrina means “godmother” in Spanish, and it was always our goal to create a place where people could come together and where ‘everyone feels like family.’ We took people out of their comfort zones a bit, and we’re incredibly proud of the experience we created for our guests. Thank you to everyone who joined us over the past year and a half. It’s been an incredible ride, and we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who joined us for it.
Word began to spread today via social media, where staff started hunting for new jobs after the layoffs.
The closure was abrupt, the server said. "They gave us our paycheck and told us good luck and happy New Years, basically," he wrote on Facebook.
Madrina opened in 2015 and made a name for itself with solid food and a great happy hour, but apparently it wasn't immune to the current struggles in the Dallas restaurant industry. Along with the recent closures of Luscher's Red Hots, On the Lamb, Resto Gastro Bistro, Cow Tipping Creamery, C'Viche, Remedy and Clark Food and Wine, Good 2 Go Taco closed today and Vickery Park closed last weekend.
While it's not uncommon to see an increase in restaurant closings as the year draws to a close, this is without a doubt a major spate of closings that could be a sign of more bad news to come. In August, we posed the question: Is Dallas building a restaurant bubble? Suddenly we're not the only ones asking that question — and it makes us wonder just how bad it's about to get.