Looking back on those early days, it's easy to see the Moth's owner and career restauranteur, Shannon Wynne, was a true trendsetter.
Earlier this year, Meddlesome Moth announced it would close permanently at the end of May, citing rising costs of many kinds. We sat down with Wynne, near the building's memorable stained-glass windows depicting Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, to discuss the decision.
“When Whole Foods starts propagating itself, everyone has access to good beer,” Wynne says of the rise in popularity of craft beer. “Every bar in town started having 100 beers on tap, so the market itself squeezed out that niche and made it very common.”
Not to discount the Moth’s tasty menu (the wagyu pastrami is a favorite) or its unique chef specials written in chalk, but its calling card was always the beer selection. It’s largely hailed as a trailblazer in the Dallas food scene, focusing on small local and obscure beer brands. Currently, the menu has dozens of canned, bottled and tap beer options sourced from all over the world. To this day, Wynne takes pride in not buying from any major brands like Anheuser-Busch or Molson Coors.
“If it’s nasty common beer, we don’t sell it,” Wynne says with a smile.
It was a winning formula for over a decade, but steady rent increases from building owners forced Wynne’s hand.
“We wanted to not be too pricey and be a neighborhood restaurant,” he says. “The guys that own the Design District, I don’t know what rate they borrowed their money. I don’t know what kind of return they’re looking for, but it didn’t fit into our plan for staying here.”
Despite the closure, Wynne’s workload remains high. In addition to managing his restaurants—he also owns Rodeo Goat and The Flying Fish—Wynne is designing a new gangster-esque bar concept in Houston. As for Meddlesome Moth, the final day will be Thursday, May 20.
Wynne says a few farewell parties will be held before then, and that those stained glass windows will be sold in a private Heritage Auction sale and are valued between $300,000 and $500,000.
Final Hoorahs
From April 20-26, the Moth will celebrate its 15th anniversary with rare beer tapping and three local brewery happy hours from 4-7 p.m., with the brewery owners on-site. Here's the line-up: Monday, April 21 - Celestial Beerworks
Wednesday, April 23 - Manhattan Project Beer Co.
Friday, April 26 - Peticolas Brewing Company
On Saturday, May 17, Moth will host a Bon Voyage Brunch from 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. Yacht attire is suggested, and a menu of chef specials will be served. The restaurant recommends making a reservation on OpenTable.
“It’s had a 15-year run,” Wynne says. “It’s been very well received, it has a loyal following. We’re just gonna let it go the way of the dodo bird.”
