Jason Roberts
Audio By Carbonatix
After The Free Man Lounge revealed that it’s taking hits from every direction (construction, crime and new city rules), other venues are being affected by Dallas Code Compliance’s restriction that they can no longer charge a door cover.
Jason Roberts, owner of Revelers Hall jazz bar, shares the same sentiments when The Free Man Lounge posted on Facebook, asking for support from the city to keep their business going.
On Oct. 9, The Free Man Lounge shared a lengthy Facebook post outlining its struggles to maintain the business amid ongoing construction in Deep Ellum. The City of Dallas made matters worse with a fatal blow: “No More Cover Charge. In a baffling decision, the City of Dallas recently arranged a meeting to inform us that we can no longer charge a cover fee,” the post from The Free Man read.
Roberts, who reposted a WFAA article on the Deep Ellum restaurant asking for help, wrote, “We’re in the exact same boat at Revelers Hall.”
“The city of Dallas’ Nightime Task Force suddenly came in over the past few weeks and have been extremely heavy handed out of nowhere. We presumed they existed to help grow and support nightime [sic] business, but immediately told us to remove our Music Fee…which is how we pay the bands and have done so for over half a decade,” he wrote.
Roberts also said they were instructed to close their doors at all times for concerns of noise violations.
“Apparently, a rule exists saying restaurants aren’t allowed to charge an additional fee. Unfortunately, a 1,300 sq ft room with a max capacity of 65 cannot make enough food and drinks to pay artists what they deserve. Anyone who knows restaurants, knows that we operate on very thin margins and a single bad month in sales can completely shutdown [sic] a space,” he wrote.
He then shared how much the music fee benefits Revelers Hall and the bands they book to play there. “For us, that Music Fee brings in a little over $20,000 a month, which goes to the talent. With that gone, we simply can’t afford to continue doing live music,” he wrote.
It’s a gutting blow to hear that Revelers Hall, a place that captures the essence of New Orleans with live jazz in Bishop Arts, could possibly face harder times to come.
“We’re talking with our council member and city officials now, but just giving everyone a heads up that this is effecting [sic] several venues right now, and we’re not seeing any rapid response from the city on helping us overcome the issue. And if it’s not resolved in short order, we won’t be able to keep Revelers Hall open,” he wrote.
In a follow-up Facebook post, The Free Man Lounge said changing its permit to commercial amusement use would be impossible, negatively affecting its taxes and liquor license.
“We opted, for now, to just not do a cover in hopes that increased business would make up the difference. There has definitely been an increase in food and drink sales. But those come at a cost, so as of now, we are only adding about one to two thousand dollars a week to our losses. It’s not as bad as we thought it would be,” the post reads. “With another increase in awareness of the no cover policy and people showing up it may actually work in our favor, especially during this downturn.”
A video posted on their Facebook showed a packed room with patrons enjoying live music, backing up the bar’s claim that this is the best place to see “live music every night of the week.”
“The construction, yes it sucks, and yes it’s hurting us really bad, and yes the City and our Landlords have done literally nothing to help. But yet, we persevere. And we will continue to.”
