When Russell Birk opened Maya\u2019s Modern Mediterranean in East Dallas in 2017, it was his first restaurant venture. His small business defied the odds and survived its first year. Then, it defied the odds again and survived the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
After seven and a half years, though, Maya\u2019s Modern Mediterranean has met its match in this economy, Birk said. Due to an unrelenting nosedive in sales, his restaurant will close Dec. 23. <\/p>\n
The closure of Maya\u2019s Modern Mediterranean in Casa Linda Plaza comes two months after the closure of Be Home Soon in the same shopping center. That restaurant also shuttered due to declining sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a small business owner with a family and obligations, I just can\u2019t make it work,\u201d Birk said. \u201cMy sense is it\u2019s more the economy than it is anything else. All the sudden over the last year, it\u2019s just been a steady decline and nothing I\u2019ve done has worked. I keep waiting for sales to return to normal but they just aren\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n
Independent restaurants like his are vulnerable, he said. With minuscule margins, they are sitting ducks in challenging economic environments. <\/p>\n
Russel Birk, owner of Maya’s Modern Mediterranean, and his family.<\/p>\n
Russel Birk<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can handle a downturn, but we can\u2019t handle a downturn that lasts this long,\u201d Birk said, \u201cor at least I can\u2019t. I won\u2019t speak for everyone else. High-end restaurants are still doing really well but a lot of restaurants like mine are struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
The closure is especially tough, he said, because the restaurant, which is down the street from where he lives, has been a family effort. It is named after his daughter, and all of his kids have helped out behind the scenes and behind the cash register over the years. <\/p>\n
The drop in restaurant sales has been widespread across Texas over the past year, according to data from the Texas Restaurant Association, which recently sounded the alarm on the viability of the state\u2019s restaurants. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect storm honestly,\u201d the association\u2019s president and CEO Emily Williams Knight told The Dallas Morning News last month. \u201cYou have a fatigued consumer and a fatigued restaurant owner.\u201d <\/p>\n
Birk, who left a finance career to get into the restaurant business, opened a second Maya\u2019s location nine months ago in Dallas\u2019 Hillcrest Village. That restaurant\u2019s sales are increasing and it will remain open, he said. <\/p>\n
He attributes part of the success at that location to a smaller footprint than the one in Casa Linda, which has 125 seats. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of seats for a fast-casual restaurant and it never filled up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To anyone in the process of opening a restaurant in this economy, Birk\u2019s advice is this: \u201cWhatever you think you need, double it. People just don\u2019t build up enough working capital to stay open. Both of my restaurants opened under-capitalized and that\u2019s hard to survive in that first year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Casa Linda location of Maya\u2019s will offer specials like 50% off beer and wine as it prepares to permanently close, Birk said. It will also have Booker T. Washington jazz students perform on the patio on Dec. 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s Modern Mediterranean will close Dec. 23 at 9540 Garland Road, Ste. C362, Dallas. The location at Hillcrest Village will remain open. mayasmediterranean.com.<\/p>\n
The closure of Maya’s Modern Mediterranean is a sad reminder of the challenges faced by small businesses, especially in the restaurant industry. The decline in sales and the inability to recover have forced the restaurant to close its doors, leaving a void in the community. However, the Hillcrest Village location will remain open, and the owner’s advice to new restaurant owners serves as a reminder of the importance of careful planning and sufficient capital.<\/p>\n
A: The restaurant is closing due to a decline in sales and the inability to recover from the economic downturn.<\/p>\n
A: The Hillcrest Village location will remain open, as its sales are increasing.<\/p>\n
A: The owner advises new restaurant owners to double their estimated needs and to build up sufficient working capital to stay open, especially in the first year.<\/p>\n
A: The Casa Linda location will offer specials like 50% off beer and wine, and will have Booker T. Washington jazz students perform on the patio on Dec. 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maya’s Modern Mediterranean Closure When Russell Birk opened Maya\u2019s Modern Mediterranean in East Dallas in 2017, it was his first restaurant venture. His small business defied the odds and survived its first year. Then, it defied the odds again and survived the COVID-19 pandemic. After seven and a half years, though, Maya\u2019s Modern Mediterranean has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":18564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dining"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/FXGJHJ6WG5C7FCL5GZFLXUV7CM.jpg?auth=a22bdf13faeaa3865607762fc18696c2ec05b0dcd8522527e8f7eadfb7c8e77a&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&focal=1543,1905","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18565,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18562\/revisions\/18565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}