FORT WORTH, Texas —
Large crowds poured into West Fort Worth’s Edelweiss German Restaurant the minute it opened on Tuesday.
After 56 years, it was the restaurant’s final day in business at its Benbrook Traffic Circle location. The entire restaurant, which seats 450 people, was fully booked on its last day.
Customers like Sarah Crouch and Melvin Morgan have frequented the restaurant for decades.
"Gosh, everybody knows this place,” Morgan said. “There’s just a lot of happiness that’s been developed here.”
Helga Bekman, the restaurant’s accordionist, performed there for 45 years.
"It was my home,” Bekman said.
Bekman, who immigrated to Fort Worth from Germany, told WFAA she found a sense of belonging in the cozy restaurant. This week, she rushed back to DFW from a Germany trip for her final performance in the restaurant.
“My heart is bleeding,” Bekman said. “It was a happy place, and I’m very sad that this has come to an end.”
The restaurant’s owner, Kenny Zeqiri, told WFAA the restaurant has struggled to stay afloat amid rising food costs, staff shortages and a decline in customers.
According to the Texas Restaurant Association’s January 2023 report, food costs have risen 15% year-over-year.
Over the last week, at least three longtime restaurants in DFW have announced they’re closing locations.
Dallas’s Blue Goose Cantina is closing its Lower Greenville location and Fort Worth Tex-Mex restaurant The Original announced it’s moving locations.
On Tuesday, Zeqiri told WFAA his restaurant hadn’t been full in more than three years. He said he only wishes the plethora of customers would’ve come sooner.
“As we close our doors for the final time at this location, we are grateful for the memories and the relationships we have built with our customers over the years,” Zeqiri said in a statement. “We will never forget the role that our restaurant has played in the lives of so many people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
For Bekman, performing in the longtime restaurant was the center of her universe.
“The hardest part is I know I’m not gonna practice anymore. I’m not gonna learn anymore songs that people requested,” Bekman said. “I have no more motivation ... that’s gone.”
Zeqiri told WFAA he’s hoping to open in a new location soon.
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