Dixie’s Authentic Texas BBQ Closing Doors to Focus on Delivery, Commissary Operations

Dixie’s owners Shoel Davidson and Christina Cottell during construction in 2015.

Sad news for BBQ lovers: Dixie’s Authentic Texas BBQ at 337 E. Hastings St. will be shutting down their front of house operations, effective July 21st, 2019.

Late last week I met with the owners of the Downtown Eastside restaurant, Christina Cottell and Shoel Davidson, who explained that the move doesn’t mean they’re closing. It only means that, in addition to concentrating more on growing their catering business, they’ll be better positioned to streamline and double down on their food delivery game, which already amounts to over 50% of their business on most nights (on some it’s up to 80%).

It also means that their other restaurant, the always bustling Gringo in Gastown’s Blood Alley, will have the requisite commissary space to allow for its expansion. Further, the change means that they can let others – culinary start-ups or restaurants in need of a little extra production space to meet delivery demands – rent their kitchen for similar purposes.

It would be an understatement to say Dixie’s address comes with challenges. Residents of the community might know the DTES to be as safe as any other, but to outsiders this particular stretch of the neighbourhood looks anything but pacific. As to how much this figured in their decision to stop serving sit-down guests, I’m not certain, but I highly doubt the move will make things harder for them, and I’d wager it’s being made with no small amount of relief.

Get in there before July 21st and enjoy some brisket and fried chicken with a cold beer or a jar of hard lemonade. It’ll be the last time you’ll be able to dig the restaurant’s unique interior – with its Ford truck rear end and corrugated metal walls blasted with bullet holes – for goodness knows how long.