Before every person with a phone became an Instagram celebrity, Al Biernat was the general manager of The Palm Restaurant in Dallas’ West End. That is where Al kept his list of notables who longed to get their caricatures painted on the walls by artist Bill Lignante. Al learned to handle his customers carefully. “I decided who would be on the list and when it would happen,” Al texted me recently. “It was definitely a juggling act, and I had to use a lot of diplomacy with my selections.”
Al mastered the art of keeping his customers satisfied and used it to build two successful restaurants. He left The Palm and in 1998 opened his first steakhouse, Al Biernat’s, in Oak Lawn. In 2017, he opened a second location, in North Dallas. He became the celebrity host whose hand everyone wanted to shake.
I got to know Al as I watched him work the rooms at The Palm. He was a formidable figure, with squared shoulders and a full face. His dark brown hair was cut short. Al was always in a suit, and, despite his size, he darted effortlessly between tables. He greeted every customer with an unforgettable handshake, a hug, or both. He knew everyone’s name. The front room of The Palm was sunny, and the happy, famous, and familiar faces were backlit by the afternoon sun. This was the real Dallas. As Al chatted, he surveyed the tables, checking beverage levels, place settings, food presentation, and consumption. He had a runner ready to make it right if anything was off.
Those of us on staff at D Magazine benefited greatly when we moved into an office directly across Oak Lawn Avenue from Al Biernat’s. Our publisher and owner, Wick Allison, whose cartoon face graced the wall at The Palm, ate lunch at Al’s almost daily. Editors would head over after work for happy hour and grab one of the side booths in the bar. This was in the early 2000s. It was the perfect perch from which to watch customers come and go. Between greeting guests, Al would slide to a stop at our table and tell us who was dining in the back or who had reservations for the weekend. It was Al’s way of gossiping. He instructed his servers to give us the “D Magazine pour”—wine filled nearly to the top of the glass.
The editorial staff, not a well-dressed bunch, was taken with Al’s style. He was forever in a dark, perfectly tailored suit. I remember asking executive editor Tim Rogers if he thought he would recognize Al if he weren’t wearing a suit. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t. We fantasized about doing a two-page spread featuring Al as a paper doll wearing boxers and a t-shirt. Off to the side would be a tennis outfit, a Harley jacket and leather pants, a pair of Levi’s and a Nirvana shirt, and some stick-on tattoos that you could cut out and put on Al. We brought up the idea with him, and he blushed. In the end, we did manage to get him to pose with his legs exposed—scandalous!—for a feature on Bermuda shorts.
We loved him. Who couldn’t? Al was kind even after kindness went out of style. He was a perfect gentleman to every person he met. His dedication to service at every level was unfailing. His devoted staff listened and learned. Every time I ate at Al’s, the crowded dining room hummed without a hitch. That came from Al’s innate talent for making it a valuable experience to share a meal with friends, family, or foe.
It seems a cruel joke that Al Biernat was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The illness moves quickly to rob people of their ability to communicate. Al handled the diagnosis and the disease with grace. “Knowing I am going to die has given me the opportunity to reflect on how lucky I am,” Al told me last spring. “I have been blessed beyond words and I am so proud of my staff and Brad.”
Al Biernat, 69, died peacefully yesterday, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his beloved wife, Jeannie, and their three children, Angelica Saylor, Kaitlin Biernat Connell, and Jess Biernat. He was a doting grandfather and cheerleader for five grandsons and two granddaughters. His nephew Brad Fuller, who has worked with Al since the beginning, will continue to operate both locations of Al Biernat’s.
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