The award-winning Dallas restaurant ‘Petra and the Beast’ has officially closed its doors.
Over the weekend, owner Misti Norris took to social media to break the news of the closure.
“With a heavy heart, I’m announcing that the last dinner service at Petra will take place on Sunday 12/29. This decision wasn’t made lightly, and while it’s bittersweet, it’s also a moment of reflection and growth,” she wrote on Facebook on December 28.
Norris said the decision to expand the restaurant ultimately led to the closure.
“When we moved to a larger space, there were moments when I felt stuck—torn between my desire to be in the kitchen, creating and connecting and the reality of having to make compromises to the restaurant to meet the demands of a bigger audience. In doing so, Petra lost the soul that made it so special; The intimacy, the romance, and the storytelling that defined the old Petra were hard to preserve,” she continued.
Earlier this year, The Dallas Express reported that Petra and the Beast was one of just eight Dallas eateries that made the semifinal list of the prestigious James Beard Award. While the beloved institution is no longer open, Norris says her cooking days are not over.
“This isn’t the end—it’s a new beginning. I look forward to moving into a space where I can stay true to my core values as a chef and a team, one where creativity, connection, and soul come first,” she explained.
In March, Petra and the Beast participated in the Food & Wine Festival hosted at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Norris joined dozens of local chefs for the event, including other James Beard nominations.
Norris opened Petra and the Beast in 2018. It began as a popup before becoming a full-fledged restaurant in a former 1930s gas station on Haskell Ave. The year it opened, it was named one of Esquire’s 50 best new restaurants in the country.