Bishop Arts District staples Chan Thai and Pho 88 are temporarily closed while their new space on West Davis is under construction.
Chan Thai first opened in the Bishop Arts District over 20 years ago, and for years it was the only Asian restaurant in Oak Cliff, other than American Chinese. They added Pho 88 around eight years ago.
The owners’ son, Alex Baez, was quoted in The Guardian in September: “My parents were not given an extension on their lease at the restaurant, so we are moving.”
Baez also told the newspaper that he grew up nearby in apartments that have since been torn down and replaced with high-cost housing.
Chan Thai and Pho 88 are not moving far. Their new restaurant is under construction at 436 W. Davis, and it also has frontage on West Seventh, next door to La Paisanita taquería.
The West Seventh side of the new Chan Thai and Pho 88.
The old Chan Thai space, owned by legacy Bishop Arts developer Jim Lake Cos., is getting a new concept from the owners of Oddfellows and Reveler’s Hall.
Jason Roberts and Amy Cowan, who also own a coffee roaster, an outdoors boutique and a short-term rental apartment in Bishop Arts, plan to open a brewpub and bakery in the former Chan Thai, at 317 W. Seventh, which shares a wall with Oddfellows.
Their new concept, Jackuvall, will brew its own beer and produce breads for their other businesses. It’s also planned as a deli that will serve house-made bagels, Roberts says.
Roberts and Cowan, who also opened a restaurant in New Orleans in October, are purchasing a four-barrel brewpub system, and they’ll also move their coffee-roasting operation to this space, with plans for increased production, Roberts says.
Walk-up windows and a dining patio under construction at the new Chan Thai and Pho 88 on West Davis.
The new Chan Thai and Pho 88 could open on West Davis as soon as February, according to Instagram posts.
