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Foodie 411: Restaurant power outages, Mattito's and Stoneleigh P

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DallasNews.com/Food writer Sarah Blaskovich talks about how recent severe weather is affecting the restaurant business, as well as Mattito’s closing its Dallas location, and Stoneleigh P moving to a new location.

Recent severe weather has knocked out power to many North Texans, Oncor hopes to restore power by Friday or Saturday but those power outages are affecting the restaurant business in good and bad ways, plus Mattito's closed its Oak Lawn location while Stoneleigh P moving to a new Dallas location.

HOW SEVERE WEATHER HAS AFFECTED RESTAURANTS

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There have been two big swings in business this week due to the storms. The first is that some restaurants are still without power. Just like at the start of the pandemic, even a few days without business can really hurt a restaurant's bottom line. But the second swing is that, in neighborhoods where residential power was out but the power to nearby businesses was on, the restaurants saw a big boom in sales.

Tuesday night, for instance, was the day after a holiday and might generally be a low sales day. Lines were out the door at some restaurants because neighbors were looking for a safe place for dinner.

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Restaurants without power are going to have to throw away a lot of food. And they're hurting from a lack of sales. But in a big-picture sense, I'm hoping the worst is behind us. To consumers: The best thing you can do is identify your favorite neighborhood restaurant and go there for lunch or dinner.

MATTITO'S CLOSED ON DALLAS OAK LAWN AVENUE

Mattito's Tex-Mex restaurant closed on Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas this week, but two other Mattitos remain open in North Dallas and in Frisco. This story was widely shared this week because Mattito's has 32 years of history in Dallas.

t was named for the late Matt Martinez Jr., a Tex-Mex legend who also founded Matt's Rancho Martinez.

Mattito's has been in the Oak Lawn or Uptown area of Dallas for all of its 32 years, and the co-founder told me he's looking for another lease in the same neighborhood. Its last day open was Tuesday night.

STONELEIGH P HAS A NEW HOME ON LEMMON AVENUE

The Stoneleigh P, a 51-year-old Dallas staple that has served burgers and beers since the 1970s, has a new home. It moved from Dallas' Maple Avenue to Dallas' Lemmon Avenue. You'll find a lot of the comforting charm of the last space, but there's also a lot more room.

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