Spiral Diner and Bakery in Oak Cliff Is Shutting its Doors to Expand to New Spaces

Dallas’ home of vegan comfort food and desserts, Spiral Diner & Bakery, is closing the doors of its Oak Cliff location after 14 years. This is no portent of doom for Spiral, but the necessary beginning of a new phase for the business.

The building housing the Oak Cliff diner turns a century old this year, and with its age comes mounting maintenance costs that can no longer justify extending the lease.

“We’ve loved it to death,” the diner's founder and owner Amy McNutt said of the building. “People have met their spouses here.”

A massive outpouring of customers has come to send off the Oak Cliff location at the news of the closure. McNutt said Tuesday’s line of customers stretched outside and down the sidewalk, atypical for a weekday.
But with this closing comes three new openings, two of which are all new, original concepts to expand McNutt’s vision for vegan dining. By 2023, Arlington residents can look forward their own Spiral Diner with the same richly flavored menu that vegan foodies have to come to love in Dallas. McNutt looks forward to expanding Spiral’s monthly blue-plate specials and fan favorites like the ghost burger, nacho supremo and BBQ san’ich. McNutt says customers can count on consistency no matter which location they go to.

In another venture, Maiden: Fine Plants and Spirits and Dreamboat Donuts and Scoops is coming to Fort Worth. Maiden will offer a seasonally rotating tasting menu and cocktails designed for a slowed down, artistically presented fine-dining experience with the same purely vegan ingredients on which McNutt has built her businesses. Customers will also have the opportunity to sip a selection of fine wines and craft beers.

McNutt is most excited to be working as Maiden’s chef, getting back to what she really loves: cooking. As a detail-oriented person, she said she’s ready to “nerd out on all the dishes and get them absolutely perfect.”

For those looking to skip straight to the dessert menu, Dreamboat will specialize in fresh doughnuts and homemade ice cream without the counter space limitations of Spiral. Get ready to choose from “20 years of ice cream flavors,” said McNutt, including cookie butter, cherry amaretto, chai and peppermint. Dreamboat will open earlier in the morning to serve doughnuts at their best: hot and fresh.

In keeping with Spiral’s mission for environmentally conscious eating, all ingredients at the new locations will continue to be organic. McNutt said that’s easier to accomplish now than it was five years ago.

“I tell the youths I had to walk uphill 10 miles in the snow to get ingredients,” said McNutt, reminiscing the days when she and her staff had to make even their own powdered sugar from scratch to avoid the bone char present in most powdered sugar brands.

For anyone who might mourn their proximity to the Oak Cliff diner, McNutt wants to remind customers to show some love to the Denton location, which may be closer to some than the southern Dallas flagship diner. But make note that the Denton spot is closed this week for renovations; they'll reopen Aug. 15 with regular hours. Plus, there's the Fort Worth location at 1314 W. Magnolia St.

The Spiral Diner at Oak Cliff’s last day of service will be Aug. 14.