A restaurant in Arlington that got the Guy Fieri bump is closing: A Taste of Europe, the long-running, European-inspired restaurant in Arlington that was featured on an episode of the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, will close in August.

According to chef and co-owner Daniel Tsalko, his family’s restaurant, located at 1901 W. Pioneer Pkwy., will close August 18.

UPDATE 8-1-2024: After receiving an outpouring of support from local diners, co-owner and chef Daniel Tsalko says they will work to keep the restaurant alive. It will still close August 18 so repairs can be made to the building, and they'll reopen in November.
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Usually a Triple-D appearance is enough to keep a restaurant afloat. But Tsalko says that while business has been steady, it hasn’t been enough to keep the restaurant going.

“One of the main reasons we’ve decided to not continue is inflation and how expensive everything has become over the past few years,” he says. “The economy is crazy right now. We’ve been steady but some days are better than others. It’s not as profitable as it once was.”

The restaurant was opened more than 20 years ago by Tsalko’s grandfather, Mikhail Frumkin, who emigrated from the eastern European country of Belarus to the North Texas area.

After opening a European-inspired gift shop and bakery at the Galleria mall in Dallas, he expanded the concept, opening A Taste of Europe in 2002 in west Arlington, where he offered an expansive menu of authentic European cuisine. Dishes include beef stroganoff, chicken kiev, red beet soup, potato pancakes, cabbage rolls, pirogues, and sweet and savory crepes.

Mirroring Frumkin’s original concept, the restaurant also contains a gift shop and small grocery area with items imported from various regions of Europe.

Over the years, A Taste of Europe found a foothold in the Arlington restaurant community but received a major boost in popularity in 2012 when it was featured on a season 14 episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

In the episode, Frumkin and his wife Irina showed host Guy Fieri how to make the restaurant’s signature dish, kolduny - thick, grilled pancakes stuffed with beef and chicken.

After Frumkin retired, he passed the restaurant onto his son Alex, who now runs it with his son Daniel.

Two years ago, at the start of the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the restaurant found itself in the news again as it began receiving threatening phone calls, social media messages and emails for its outdoor sign that promoted “Russian gifts.”

To help clarify the restaurant’s political stance, the family taped over the word “Russian” and hung a Ukrainian flag in a window. Daniel’s brother Val Tsalko, who was the restaurant’s spokesperson at the time, talked to several local media outlets, stressing the family does not support Russia or the war. He clarified his family hails from Belarus, a landlocked country on Ukraine’s northern border.

Tsalko says there’s a chance the restaurant could reopen in Rowlett, where the family is based.

“It’s a 50/50 chance,” he says. “The commute from Rowlett to Arlington is another factor in why we’re closing. But whether we decide to reopen in Rowlett is still a coin toss right now.”