Restaurant chain famed for rude waiters closes multiple locations

Typically, restaurants go to great lengths to ensure customers are comfortable. Someone greets you at the door and takes you to your table, and politeness is the order of the day.

However, this is not the case for all restaurants. A few chain stores base their business on treating customers badly.

Of course, this isn’t really bad treatment. No one spits in your food and this poor treatment should be viewed as fun, not mean.

That’s the calling card of a 40-year-old chain that has fallen on some challenging times.

“A reputation for poor customer service is enough to bankrupt most restaurants, but not Dick’s Last Resort. The brand is known for insulting customers in all kinds of creative ways to keep them coming back. The chain is so beloved that many people plan birthdays and bachelorette parties there,” Maheed reported.

Not everyone likes this. I had a bad experience at Dick’s Last Resort in Las Vegas because I had no idea how this chain operated. I wanted to have a simple meal myself and wasn’t too happy with this crude little ploy, but most customers know what to expect when they come in.

“Dick was known for making rude high hats and placing them on his guests’ heads while they dined,” according to the Daily Aztec. “The best part is, you don’t know what you’re going to get, and you feel a twinge of fear as you look at your dining companions while they’re reading what’s just been placed on you. Usually there’s an explosion of laughter and camera flashes.”

People seem to have different definitions of “the best part,” but Dick’s Last Resort has been a favorite with audiences for decades. However, those crowds have dwindled and the chain has closed multiple locations, including its first location in Dallas.

Dick’s Last Resort near the American Airlines Center closed on November 30, Culturemap Dallas reported.

The Dallas Observer reported: “The restaurant was known for its ‘saucy’ foul-mouthed waiters and a marketing story about a guy named Dick whose big plan failed and ended up opening a bar-restaurant with endless riffs and merchandise built around Dick jokes.”

Although the chain started in Dallas, it had 12 locations at its peak.

• Dallas, TX: Original location (2211 N. Lamar St., West End)
  Closing date: November 30, 2025 Note: The first-ever Dick’s, open since 1985, closed after 40 years. Source: Dallas News

• Boston, MA: Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market
  Closing: 2020 (Summer) NOTE: Permanently closed during COVID-19. Source: Boston.com

• Baltimore, MD: Power Plant/Inner Harbor
  Closure Date: 2020 (August/September) Note: Closure is related to pandemic-era downturn in tourism and business in the Inner Harbor. Source: WBAL Television

• Chicago, IL: Marina City (Marina City Tower)
  Closing: Late 2024 Note: The space is expected to be replaced by another restaurant. Source: Yahoo News

Dick had a reputation for being rude to customers.Shutterstock

The closures in Boston and Baltimore are apparently related to a lack of customers during the coronavirus pandemic. That period also made customer interactions more challenging and restrictive due to social distancing rules, which interfered with Dick’s concept.

The last day for the Dallas location is Nov. 30, according to a representative for the Nashville chain.

“Business at that location has been declining and they were facing rising rents, so they decided to close,” the representative told CultureMap.

More restaurants

The company also cited rising rents as a reason for closing its Dallas flagship store, the Dallas Business Journal reported.

Locations in Florida, Las Vegas and other tourist hotspots remain open.

Many large chains are in trouble in 2025. On The Border filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was acquired by Pappas Group. Successful chains including Subway and Domino’s have closed hundreds of stores around the world, with many also closing select locations.

A RestaurantDive survey of 5,000 restaurateurs reveals the reasons for the chain’s problems.

“Food and labor costs remain the biggest concerns,” the report said. “The vast majority of operators reported rising food costs, while 89% reported rising labor costs. Inflation has yet to cool down, and ongoing supply chain disruptions have made ingredient prices more volatile than ever.”

Restaurants are also facing rising labor costs, a problem some are trying to address through technology.

Kristen Sandhurst, chief financial officer of Edotto Brands and Taco John’s in Iowa, said: “We are testing voice AI in drive-thrus to handle hard-to-staff shifts, adding throughput staff to increase traffic, and re-evaluating management structures so that wage increases actually lead to better service.”

“Labor is going to be the No. 1 challenge in 2025,” California restaurateur Ross Pangilinan told the Los Angeles Times.

His biggest challenge is that larger restaurants can poach employees.

“Restaurants can pay higher wages. They’re paying chefs over $20 an hour, and smaller restaurants are trying to compete with that,” Pangilinan said. “We’re a small restaurant on the Terrace with about 70 seats. We don’t have the backing of a big company or a big investor.”

As consumers move away from cash, restaurants are also suffering.

“Card fees are one of the most expensive costs restaurant operators have to manage — second only to food and labor costs — and being able to accept credit cards is critical to running a restaurant,” said Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association.

RELATED: 59-year-old casual steakhouse chain closes all locations

This article was originally published by TheStreet on December 4, 2025, and first appeared in the Restaurant section. Click here to add TheStreet as your preferred source.