For six and a half years, the sounds of brass bands have wafted out of Revelers Hall’s front doors and onto the streets of Bishop Arts.
But recently, the owners of the popular restaurant and bar said that the city of Dallas is asking them to stop charging a music cover fee and keep the door shut during performances.
“We were just blindsided that we were even in violation of a code. We were not aware that the restaurant status prohibits us from collecting a cover charge or a music fee,” said Revelers co-owner Amy Wallace Cowan. “And so we were just kind of like, ‘Oh wow. OK.’”
When asked why code enforcement is taking action now, a spokesperson for the city said the Night Entertainment Team is part of a special unit within the code compliance department that was established a little over a year ago. The group addresses things like noise violations, and zoning infractions with the goal of keeping neighborhoods safe and livable.
Based on its current permitting, the restaurant is not allowed to collect a cover charge for music. Another restaurant and music hotspot, The Free Man in Deep Ellum, has also been asked to stop charging a cover.
To charge a music cover, Revelers Hall and The Free Man would need to be reclassified from restaurants to what is called a “commercial amusement (inside) use.”
Right now, that type of business isn’t permitted in Bishop Arts as it is currently zoned.
The cover charge allows the venue to pay artists a living wage and contributes to the vibrancy of the neighborhood, Wallace Cowan said.
“Revelers is under 1500 square feet. It generates an incredible amount of money considering its footprint,” she explained. “But it does not generate enough money to absorb the about $300,000 a year that we pay out to musicians and artists without that music fee on there.”
For now, the venue is trying to make due without the fee. They have honored all of their bookings so far, but will drop from 13 bands a week to 12 a week in November.
“Restaurants in general, bars in general have very tight margins. They operate on pennies and nickels, not dollars,” Wallace Cowan said.
Wallace Cowan and business partner Jason Roberts own other businesses in the area including the restaurants Oddfellows and Trades Delicatessen as well as Jaquval, a brewpub.
“Thankfully we have a few businesses in Bishop Arts, so we have a little bit of a support system in place to kind of help while we test this out,” Wallace Cowan said. “Long term … there is no way to come up with a quarter of a million dollars in revenue that is just completely gone from our bottom line.”
Several Oak Cliff residents have reached out to City Council member Chad West, who represents the district, in support of the business. His office sent along the following statement:
“Thank you to everyone who has contacted our office about the situation at Revelers – a spot that I personally love and regularly visit. The City Code does not currently allow restaurants to charge a music fee. However, we all know how much Revelers adds to our local culture. I’m pursuing an update to modernize our code and looking for interim ways to help Revelers continue to thrive. We will provide updates in our newsletter if residents are interested in supporting this effort.”
A second issue code enforcement noted is the noise. The venue routinely keeps its doors open, and the city would like the doors to stay shut to keep noise to a minimum.
Music drifting out onto the street is the venue’s best marketing, Wallace Cowan said.
“The sound of the trombone or the trumpet, it just beckons everyone to come and stare in the door and see what's happening over there. By being told that we have to close our door even though the performers are on our leased property, they're not, being vulgar or doing anything profane is a little bit devastating to our whole marketing strategy,” she said.
For Wallace Cowan, the situation points to a larger issue.
“The code doesn't fit what Dallas needs right now. It definitely doesn't fit what Reveler's needs and brings to the community,” she said. “So it seems to me that rather than try to conform and operate within the Dallas code, we should rewrite the code.”
