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It is with great sadness that we announce the closing of Burger Wars champion Uptown Bar & Grill. Having moved out of the area this past summer, I was not aware of the loss. Does anyone know details? Other than the fact that the parking absolutely sucked, the place always seemed to be relatively full, and was consistently packed at lunchtime.

Uptown Bar & Grill to be remodeled as sandwich-centric venue
Uptown Bar & Grill will relaunch as The Hemingway this October.

Steven R. Thompson
Associate Editor-
Dallas Business Journal

Uptown Bar & Grill is getting a makeover this fall.

The McKinney Avenue venue will be transformed into The Hemingway, a restaurant with “man vs. food-type sandwiches,” said Ken Kuczwaj, director of operations for Dallas-based ECB Enterprises Inc., which owns Uptown Bar & Grill.

The company plans to remodel the entire restaurant, starting construction at the end of August.

“It’s really going to be a pretty restaurant when it is done,” said Kuczwaj, who also oversees all of ECB’s restaurants, including Bailey’s Prime Plus and Patrizio’s locations. Kuczwaj and corporate chef Ryan Carbery have been developing the menu.

“We looked at different sandwiches that really blew us away and we put our own twist on them,” Kuczwaj said. “No one is going to come away from The Hemingway and say, ‘That was sort of a boring, down-the-middle menu.’"

Uptown Bar & Grill has lost its traction, said Kuczwaj.

“Quite frankly, it’s a dive,” Kuczwaj said. “Compared to Sfuzzi next door, the numbers that they do compared to what the Uptown Bar does, there is something totally wrong with the equation.”

The Hemingway is projected to open the first week in October.

Discussed on page 144 of the Burger Wars thread