Gourmet Italian market closes downtown Dallas location

On Wednesday, July 15, Ari’s Pantry announced that it is closing its downtown Dallas location. Effective immediately.

The niche Italian grocery, deli, and cafe opened in downtown Dallas just last spring. Ari’s started as a small store in Oak Cliff where you can buy all the ingredients for a full Italian meal. They even have recipe cards if you don’t know what to make, plus the owner sells jars of his own red sauce.

Owner Ari Lowenstein expanded the concept to Trinity Groves, where he inherited a kitchen space, allowing him to offer ready-made meals. The downtown space was the third in the lineup and a perfect deli, offering quick grab-and-go lunches (Italian sandwiches on fresh focaccia), snacks (gelato), coffee, and full meals to take home for dinner. Shelves were stocked with imports like pasta, tinned fish and wine.

We can’t have nice things

While Chick-fil-A a couple of blocks over is thriving with cars clogging the street as food delivery drivers just abandon their cars to grab to-go meals, downtown has lost a from-scratch, well-appointed store. Social media calls it like it sees it.

“What a tremendous loss for downtown Dallas! This little store was such a gift to downtown and the fact that Ari pays his employees well above minimum wage is a testament to the type of Class Act business he runs. We need more Ari’s (the grocery & the man) in the world.”

— producerkaylamc

“Downtown taking hit after hit”

— ericaeatstexas

“We can’t having nothing.”

— shugaannspyce

Zactly.

The original store along Davis Street in Bishop Arts and the store at Coppell at Cypress Waters are both still open (and hopefully thriving). Although it appears the store at Trinity Groves is also closed.

We reached out to Ari’s for more information. If we hear back, we’ll update.