Co-owner and chef Michelle Carpenter is recuperating from surgery to remove a brain tumor. She told D, “I can’t do recovery and run Beatrice.”
It’s an immense loss for Dallas, as Carpenter had two important missions outside of the typical restaurant operation: She made strides to empower and educate women leaders in restaurants, and she worked to lower Beatrice’s carbon footprint.
The Dallas Morning News wondered if Beatrice’s sustainability efforts, including the “unglamorous work of dumping buckets of eggshells, coffee grounds and all manner of kitchen scraps into an industrial composter,” as writer Claire Ballor described, would make the restaurant a candidate for a Michelin Green Star, its honor for environmentalism.
Carpenter was passionate about uplifting women in restaurants because she worked kitchens dominated by men, our Imelda García reported in 2025. Carpenter faced “triple discrimination,” García said: “as a woman, Japanese American and member of the LGBTQ community.”
Carpenter’s Women in Restaurants Leadership Program was a tuition-free course designed to close the gender gap among leaders of restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth.
In addition to Beatrice, Carpenter owns Zen Sushi in Oak Cliff. (Zen will not close, D reported.)
The closure of Beatrice means Dallas loses a place to eat a plate of Viet-Cajun charbroiled oysters, catfish Atchafalaya, Mammaw’s fried chicken and vegan gumbo.
But it also means Dallas loses a place for a pioneering chef to make big moves to help her community.
Restaurant Beatrice is expected to close after brunch on Sunday, June 7, 2026, D reported.
Restaurant Beatrice is at 1111 N. Beckley Road, Dallas.