Demolition of Sambuca Nightclub in Uptown Dallas

Former Dallas nightclub Sambuca was bulldozed into a heap of debris at McKinney Avenue and N. Pearl Street in Uptown. Two excavators remained on the property at the Uptown Dallas intersection across from the Crescent development and the Ritz-Carlton Dallas on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. Part of Sambuca’s brick structure is slouched onto the pavement, but much of the former building has already been hauled away by Lloyd D. Nabors Demolition, the Dallas-area company that knocked down Valley View Mall, the “Leaning Tower of Dallas” and others.

Sambuca on McKinney Avenue closed in early 2018. But its memory lived on: It was a dinner-and-a-show restaurant, a model that’s rare in Dallas today.

History of Sambuca

Sambuca opened in 1991 in Deep Ellum as a jazz club and a place to spot a celebrity after a show, like when Harry Connick Jr. and Rod Stewart’s band stopped in. Models and movie producers hung out at the Elm Street haunt, too, according to The Dallas Morning News archives.

A pile of rubble, the formerly vacant Sambuca, sits in the shadow of Hotel Crescent Court on McKinney Avenue in Dallas.

Chase Hanna

Move to Uptown Dallas

The News reported the bar moved to a “much larger structure on McKinney Avenue,” in 2004. The restaurant was draped in red velvet, crystal chandeliers and gold. It was praised for its “sexy” look and covered patio with views of Pearl Street. In addition to the food, music and occasional celebrity sightings in Uptown, Sambuca was also — amusingly — the site of auditions for Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen in 2005.

Expansion and Closure

By Sambuca’s 20th birthday in 2011, founders Kim and Holly Forsythe had grown the brand to Nashville, Houston and Plano. Sambuca 360 remains open in Plano, but it appears Sambucas in other cities have closed.

Demolition and Future Plans

Before Sambuca shuttered in Uptown Dallas in 2018, the Dallas Observer reported the building had “major plumbing and foundation issues” that led to a lawsuit. Kim Forsythe, who built a 30-year dinner-theater business with Sambuca, didn’t respond to an immediate request for comment. Neither did the Trammell Crow representative listed on the city of Dallas permit for the demolition.

At McKinney Avenue and N. Pearl Street in Dallas, the former Sambuca is a pile of bricks and debris as of Oct. 19, 2025.

Chase Hanna

Other Dallas Restaurants

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