Bucket & Rope Opens, Continues Green Door Public House Legacy

One thing Dallas does well, unfortunately, is tear down old or historic buildings and replace them with something new or modern, or at its worst, ugly.

For some buildings though, heroes don't wear capes. They're architects.

Originally located at 2226 Elm St., century-old Liberty Bank was slated to be mowed down for the widening of Caesar Chavez Boulevard. Wildcat Management famously intervened, bought the building for $1 and worked with co-owner Mike Ruibal and architect Craig Melde to move the building brick by brick to its new address, where it sports the same look it had in 1899.

Further back in history, the building housed four saloons and a bank. More recently, it was home to the beloved Green Door Public House for 10 years before it closed in August 2024. Today, it's the location for chef Victor Hugo's latest creation, Bucket & Rope. 
Chef Hugo is an acclaimed local chef who started his journey between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles before moving to Dallas in 2008. He facilitated the early growth of Cheesecake Factory, managed beloved Al Biernat's for five years, was the general manager for Lombardi's Bistro 31 in Highland Park and ran his own place, Victor Hugo’s Dining & Bar, for seven years before closing its doors.

That's just the tip of the iceberg among his other accolades and experience in the food and beverage industry.

Late last year he joined forces with Mike Ruibal, who owns Ruibal's Plants of Texas just one street over, to create a gathering place for the community that felt like an extension of their homes with great food: Bucket & Rope.

The menu is New American with steak, seafood, soup, salads and pasta dishes.

Standouts are the Rope in a Bucket ($14), which are crispy calamari strips served with a lemon caper aioli and Sriracha romesco; Wagyu beef roast ($28), with cheddar grits, pickled red onions and root vegetables; and N'awlins barbecue shrimp ($18), with an apple cider vinegar-based barbecue sauce and served with a grilled baguette and lemon.
We started with the soup of the day, which was lobster bisque. Deeply flavorful broth and tender lobster meat are the prerequisites, and here they nail it. 

For our main, we were tempted by the Wagyu beef roast, but ultimately we went with the blackened Texas redfish served on a bed of creamy parmesan risotto with a side of green beans and topped with a mango habanero salsa.
When you stack your fork with all the elements, you get a nice balance of rich, fresh and savory. The fish was perfectly tender, and the risotto was creamy, nutty and had a nice al dente chew.

Also, do not fear the habanero. The salsa is not hot at all.

It's not advertise, but there's a rotating dessert menu. When we stopped in, they were serving coconut cream pie and warm pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Bucket & Rope has limited free parking next to the building and is open for brunch, lunch and dinner. There's already a group of regulars who have become well acquainted with the bar and are excited to have chef Hugo in the neighborhood. We are too.

When you open the door to walk in, be sure to look up.

Bucket & Rope, 600 S. Harwood St. Sunday – Monday and Wednesday – Thursday,  11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. –11 p.m.; closed Tuesday.