The Meridian Room Closes. RIP

http://www.TheMeridianRoom.com

Gone are the green fairies.

Gone is the Scza. The cheese plates. The great beers. Scarioke. The best club sandwich in Dallas. The Guinness Steak Sandwich. The portabello mushroom fries. The half-priced food on Wednesdays. The echos of laughter with friends. The dark corners to disappear in to.

After a 7-year run, as so many area businesses have done, The Meridian Room has closed their doors. A moment of silence please.

A long time favorite of Dallas Opera peeps, we headed over there last night to catch up and have a few cocktails only to find ourselves looking at stacked chairs, a somber staff collecting up their personal items, taking pictures and having a few last minutes together within the confines of, what has been, one of two places in the fair park area in which it was worth investing time and hard-earned cash. The other is Amsterdam bar around the corner. God bless Mike Sheel for keeping his doors open. It was quiet in there. Quiet. As in you could hear the faint refrains from the back hallway of the Galaga/Ms. Packman game. So sad.

We, Alexander & I, had a moment with the owner of Meridian Room inquiring as to what happened. The soft-spoken response was simply that, having had Libertine [bar] open on Greenville for nearly 2 years successfully, they had decided to "move their interest there fully."

But right at the beginning of the Fair? When they would have been packed nightly? Doesn't seem to make sense to me. But then crying over spilt milk doesn't either--even if it's some of the best milk this area has seen in a long while. I think DART killed her. Meridian was to drink and song (karaoke) what Hungree's deli was, for so long, to food. Who can forget their "Cubano" sandwich? And, just like Hungree's died before her time was right--so has The Divine Miss M.

If you have a particular memory to share, comment back and leave it for others to see and remember.

One of my favorite, albeit shocking, memories that comes to mind is during Thursday night Scarioke. I had just finished singing some Bon Jovi, it was about midnight, the place was packed. As I muddled my way back to all the opera peeps I heard the next song start up--"I've got big balls" by AC/DC. I turned, thinking to myself, "yeah I love this song" only to see who was singing it....Naked Bruce, in all his glory, with his beer standing on his belly. good times.

Transcendental grade for The Meridean Room's 7-year itch: 7/7 chakras

Also see article in D Magazine's frontburner