Dallas Diner Closing After Years Of Service & Owner Has No Regrets

Mehmet Isik said he’s going out on top and has no regrets.

After several years of looking for a buyer, Isik, who lives in Fairless Hills, closed on the sale earlier this week of his beloved Dallas Diner on Route 13 near the intersection with Edgely Road in Bristol Township.

The diner with the unique name – at least for a place in Bucks County – will close at 5 p.m. Sunday after nearly 37 years in business.

“I have no regrets,” he said. “I’m going out on my terms. Nobody shoves me out.”

Isik kept the fact he was shopping the property quiet over the past few years. But when settlement was made Monday, he called all his staff the next day to inform them each individually.

He said he appreciates all the customers over the years and staff who have made his dream a reality.

Since announcing the closure, his longtime customers have received discounts on food, been able to cash in gift certificates likely to be unused, and is dedicating all profits this week to give his workers a financial cushion.

Isik said he may not have pleased all his customers over the years and urged anyone with a complaint to stop in and he will correct it.

“If I hurt your feelings, I am sorry,” he said.

Isik talked highly of the many customers and experiences, including a regular visitor, then-Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick.

Speaking fondly of his staff, Isik relayed that a longtime server of 29 years who retired in 2015 received a nice bonus – one that was a surprise to her – once settlement on the property was made earlier this week.

Despite the Route 13 reconstruction, the Great Recession, COVID-19, and shifts in trends in the restaurant business, Isik said Dallas Diner was able to adjust and keep up with the times.

“Thank God I am on this side of the dirt,” he said. “The rest of things can be handled.”

Throughout the years, the diner worked to be ahead of the curve. Dallas Diner was offering menu items other diners weren’t in the late 1980s and the eatery started delivering food to customers in the 1990s.

“I said, ‘if they can’t come get the food, we bring it to them,’” he told LevittownNow.com.

The diner Isik helped turn from a restaurant called the Covered Wagon in the summer of 1985 into the Dallas Diner will be torn down by the new property owners. Their goal is to build medical offices.

“They told me to take anything I can move out. They didn’t want the keys,” he said.

Recalling his years of serving the community with a tasty meal or warm cup of coffee, Isik spoke proudly of the youth sports teams he was able to help over the decades and customers he was able to befriend.

When the diner opened in 1985, Isik said he held a special preview event for neighbors, emergency responders, and others. He said the word got around and, with articles on Dallas Diner’s opening, lines wrapped around the building in the early days.

He pointed out positive newspaper reviews over the years. One review from 1985 features Bucks County Courier Times columnist Bill Melody calling Dallas Diner the best one to open in the area. He said it had a “family-oriented atmosphere, food portions are generous, sometimes huge in size, and the food is good.”

When asked how a diner on Route 13 earned the name of the city more than 1,300 miles away, Isik had a simple answer. The building has a western-looking design and “Dallas” was a popular TV prime time soap opera in the 1980s.

“When I heard there was a diner over in New Jersey that was named after the television show “Dynasty,” I decided right then to name the place for my favorite television show,” Isik told a reporter in 1985.

Isik opened the Bristol Township diner in his 20s after working in several New Jersey restaurants. He worked his way up from a dishwasher to a chef making Italian, diner, and high-end menu items.

Isik said he looks forward to seeing his customers and staff a few final times. After that, he’ll finalize things in the empty building and move on with his life.

“It was good,” he said of his career in food service.

Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies

---

---