Hot Joy Abruptly Shutters After Being Panned By Critics

After a little over three months in business, San Antonio export Hot Joy has officially called it quits in Uptown.

The restaurant quietly closed its doors over the weekend, posting a sign in the window announcing its departure, reports the Dallas Observer. “We have decided to close this location permanently as of Saturday, October 28,” the sign reads. “The original Hot Joy in San Antonio is still going strong.”

After making a splashy debut in July, the first reviews for Hot Joy came in over the last week, and they weren’t exactly favorable. The Observer’s Brian Reinhart described the Asian fusion eatery as a “clueless white dude fantasy,” and Dallas Morning News contributor Mark Vamos only awarded the eatery two stars. “Its vibe skirts the line of offensiveness, and for some, may cross it. It is flamboyantly kitschy Oriental, freighted with all the potential insult of that outdated term,” Vamos writes. “The menu nods toward China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea (along with Louisiana, Hawaii and Texas), and there's not a single "authentic" thing on it.”

The plan was always for Hot Joy to be a pop-up, at least in the Uptown location. As Vamos notes in his review of the restaurant, Hot Joy’s former home is set to be demolished in the next two years.

• Hot Joy Dallas Closes Permanently After Only Three Months in Business [Dallas Observer]
• Dallas Observer Critic Calls Hot Joy a ‘Clueless White-Dude Fantasy’ [EDFW]
• San Antonio’s Hot Joy Arrives Next Week With Tiki Drinks In Tow [EDFW]