Sunday night friends, family, and loyal customers said farewell to the well-known Fort Worth restaurant, Reata at it's Sundance Square location. After more than two decades there, the restaurant closed its doors, but it's not "goodbye," its "see you later." Reata is moving to Throckmorton Street.
“It’s a little bit bittersweet. We're only looking forward to the future. We're excited to go to the tower," said Mike Micallef, president of Reata Restaurant.
After their lease wasn't renewed in Sundance Square, the company was on the quest to look for a new building to call home. The change is bringing the Texas style restaurant back to it's original Fort Worth Roots.
The restaurant was located on Throckmorton Street, but after a tornado in 2000 destroyed the building, they moved to Sundance Square.
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"When we first came to Fort Worth in May of 1996, we were open at the top of the Bank One Tower. That's when it was still an office building. You know subsequent after the tornado, it's been converted to condominiums, and there's retail space in the bottom of the building and that's where we’ll be at," said Micallef.
It's a full circle moment for Micallef and his family, who originally opened the first Reata in Alpine, Texas.
“I think a lot of us have all moved a house move from one house to another. You know, think about this, we were 15,000 square feet of interior restaurant plus another 7,000 outdoor patios. So it's a lot of tables and chairs. You know, a lot of kitchen equipment. But we've got a great team here and I know that we'll make the transition goes smoothly," said Micallef.
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“With any space, we're going to try to use the attributes of that space to the best of our ability. It's going to be a little bit different to that element. You know, a lot of the décor you've seen, a lot of the artifacts and pictures that you see here will make their way over there," said Micallef.
THE MEMORIES
Reata has been the back drop for countless weddings, bridal parties, baby showers, anniversaries, birthdays, corporate events and just big moments in life.
"It means family, it means Fort Worth, it means Texas," said Deborah Ferguson, NBC 5 Today morning news anchor who is a Fort Worth native and happened to be at the restaurant for the final night. Like many others, her family also shares special memories of events and special occasions at the restaurant. "It's been such a focal point of Sundance Square for so long."
Micallef said he's grateful that thousands of people have involved his restaurant in their lives.
He said over the weeks he's heard endless stories from customers about what Reata means to them, including some funnier ones from friends.
"They said, 'Oh, I've had four first dates here, and I've had four last dates here.' So that's just one of the funnier stories," chuckled Micallef.
Sunday was busy as people tried to pack in their final memories, including a couple celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary.
"It's been a part of our life, birthdays, anniversaries, date night," said Marc Rhoten who was with his wife Jennifer and son Jackson on Sunday night. "I’m sorry to see that it’s leaving here but it’s going to original place in the tower, so it will be kind of nice."
"I think it's sad, they probably didn't want to move, but where ever it lands, I think it will be a success," said Skyler Mathis who attended with friends on Sunday night.
Micallef said he knows people will miss their rooftop which had magical views of Sundance Square and had a vibe of its own.
When asked what goes through his head when he looks at the property his restaurant has fed people for more than 23 years he said, "It’s just one of those things that it's worked so well for a long time, you know? And I think the thing is, is that, how do we recreate that feel going forward?"
He's confident the secret sauce will carry over to the new location.
"We close the doors tonight but are filed with immense gratitude and anticipation for what lies ahead," said Micallef during a toast in the dinning room on Sunday.
