A few months ago, DFW.com reported on some changes at 7th Street Grill, the long-running downtown burger joint (second item).
Sandy Potter, the friendly woman who ran the place for years, decided to sell the place, and the new owners were ambitious about the menu and the operation, adding such exotic burgers as a wasabi burger and a Guinness Stout burger to a menu once so unpretentious that a jalapeno-jack cheese burger was the most "artisan" thing on it. There were also plans to open the longtime breakfast-and-lunch place at night -- in a corner of downtown far away from the Sundance Square action, near a couple of downtown apartment buildings but not near much else at night.
The Grill is about a block west of the DFW.com offices, and I was a regular customer there for a long time, usually just for an enormous to-go cup of iced tea but sometimes for a burger. I liked the old-schoolness of the place and especially Potter's friendliness, and although the service was still friendly after she left, her cheerfulness and good humor -- even when she was obviously stressed and slammed -- was missed.
For the past few days -- we're hearing at least since Saturday of the holiday weekend -- there's been a sign on the door saying "Closed until further notice," and things don't look good. We've tried calling -- no answer, but at least the phone is still connected. We e-mailed -- no reply. But we're hearing some things that lead us to believe that this downtown institution -- which operated as 7th Street Hamburger Co. for decades before Potter and her husband, Rex, bought it in 2003 or so -- may have seen its last days.
