Beloved San Antonio ice house closes after fundraising push

Unfortunately, in San Antonio, not every story has a happy ending. Although neighbors rallied to save the Dakota East Side Ice House (433 S Hackberry St.) with a GoFundMe Hail Mary, the beloved neighborhood hangout is now permanently closed.

“As a wise pig once said…’A-buh-dee, a-buh-dee, a-buh-dee…th-that’s all, folks!’” wrote the bar on social media, posting a photo of a door sign that reads “shut happens.”

The saga began in June, when owner Kent Oliver announced he was not renewing his lease after eight years serving the Historic Gardens neighborhood. Immediately, two of his longtime patrons decided they wouldn’t let him go out without a fight.

In an intro to the crowdfunding campaign, organizer April Pantheress Winn explained that she and another neighbor, Ms. Phyllis, reached out to Oliver shortly after learning the bar was shuttering. They decided to launch on July 1, Oliver’s birthday.

“Kent is a great guy — he’s too proud to ask for help, but he agreed to let us move forward with this fundraiser,” explained Winn at the time. “Kent has poured his heart into Dakota, welcoming customers from every background, genre of music, religion, and walk of life.”

That campaign raised over $14,000. At the time, it seemed that the ice house would be offered a reprieve. In July, Oliver offered a frank assessment of his financial difficulties, but still seemed hopeful his passion project would carry on.

“During COVID, I took out a large SBA loan to keep Dakota alive,” Oliver explained in a Facebook post. “It did exactly what it was supposed to do—it kept us going. But when the payments came due, the debt became more than the business could carry. I fought it as long as I could, and eventually I thought I'd run out of options.”

Oliver, the former director of operations at Rio San Antonio Cruises, launched The Dakota in April 2018, placing a bet on an underserved neighborhood near the Alamodome. While many bars and restaurants use ice house in the name, it earned it by serving beer and bar snacks in a mostly residential area.

Although the offerings weren’t anything new, his approach to inclusivity felt radical. The walls were still plastered with photos honoring the East Side’s Black roots, and the calendar was stacked with everything from drag shows to Latina folk acts.

The photos, along with other bar memorabilia, were sold off in a late August estate sale. In his Julu post, Oliver assured donors that the GoFundMe money would be put to good use.

“This isn't about getting ahead. It's about getting back to zero with a genuine chance to keep the doors open,” he wrote. “That is still the goal. We wanna keep on keeping on! But, if we don't reach it, I want you to know that every dollar will still go toward helping me close Dakota responsibly, meet outstanding obligations, and move forward without leaving a bigger mess behind.”

Although the Dakota didn’t survive, Oliver kept beating the drum about the importance of community, posting appeals for other struggling local businesses like Flip Side Record Parlor.

“When I first opened, the dream was simple: a neighborhood place that felt like home,” Oliver wrote. “The [final] weekend reminded me that dream was real, because together we made it real. The Dakota belonged to everyone who stepped inside, whether it was once or every week…and so many of you felt it.”