Fool's Kava House — Restaurant in Arlington

This was such a nice little spot to meet people and hangout! I have met so many amazing people and really felt like it had fostered an amazing community. The people are great, the owners however are not so great.

The new owners took over in January and I was so excited that this nice couple had just bought this business that I love! With new leadership came needed social change that transformed a place that felt "fratty" into a safe space. It felt like that for a while but , looking with a new perspective, it feels more like people coming into a business and gentrifying it. I respect the owners as great business women but they have consistently disrespected their regular night customers. They have personally disrespected me and those closest to me, and I have now found out they like to talk trash behind my back. Abhorrent for a business that prides itself on fostering a healthy community.

New prices, new paint, new rules. New Paint: I personally like the new look of the place, yet it feels artificial compared to the homey feel of the place before. Just a completely different vibe, exacerbated by the owners always there. New prices: This needs no explanation, it simply got more expensive. They preach about having cheaper items to buy, but that doesn't matter when there's a FIVE DOLLAR MINIMUM per person to have a seat. New Rules: Okay sure, I understand there needs to be some price to have a seat, its a business and it needs some revenue. However, I cannot afford to spend more than $5-7 in this economy, on a daily basis, especially when you're expected to tip on top of that. Let's do some math. The average drink is around $6-$7 and I prefer to tip $2 on that because I like to support my server without me going bankrupt. On average I would be spending $8-$9 dollars consistently (nearly every night). I not only buy drinks for me, but for other people I bring with me which means I was consistently spending, on minimum, $14 each time I visited. To be clear, I would visit a lot. To prevent myself from going broke and still enjoying myself, I decided to buy $3 worth of drinks while tipping $2 which I thought would meet my $5 minimum but no, they asked me to buy more or to leave. So I decided to leave and I, hopefully, won't be coming back without some change.

I know y'all are reading this, I really thought we had a good thing going and now I'm feeling very disrespected and just... disappointed. I was so excited for the new leadership, just to find myself thrown to the streets. I am truly gutted by your actions. You had so much potential and I truly hope you realize soon that all of your day business will not cover the costs. Disrespecting the night crowd, especially the night regulars, will never work for you and your business.

A friendly tip of advice from someone who really cares about your business:

Some business is better than no business.

I wish you luck, as evidently, you're...

Genuinely, I don’t know how people were angry about this place a few reviews back. Personally I have never had a bad conversation with Ashley or Mary Elaine. They are the most down to earth people I’ve met and I hope to continue our friendship and connection as I grow as a professional and overall person.

But on to the review: I love this place. The moment I stepped in I knew I would love this place. As someone who has always hated the “big lights” in buildings being able to have lamps and string lights and other forms of lighting makes for a calm atmosphere. There are books, a game wall, near daily activities (come see me on Friday during Karaoke!!), differential seating (and if you have ADHD you know what I’m talking about when I say that is super important), a quiet corner away from the bar to study, everything.

I came in the first time on a date and haven’t stopped coming in. I’ve met wonderful people of all walks of life. To say the least, I’ve found my people. These are my people.

Compared to other kava bars around the DFW area they easily have the cheapest prices (a quad with mixers can be around $12ish while it would be $20 elsewhere with just a double).

The tonics are delicious in my opinion, I have a drink I’ve made that I like to call (inside joke incoming) “Hell Queen’s Brew” which is Strawberry, Raspberry, Cranberry juice and Lemonade and it tastes like a snow cone. Even the Kava is great and I’m not a huge fan of it but they mixed it with creamer and syrups and made it taste- less earthy- overall I love the kava too!

Being able to be around friends, study, laugh, game (board games or video games, bring those PS5s they have HDMI cables), or simply enjoy watching a TV show (Crunchyroll premium courtesy of me)

All in all, it’s a 100/10 place for me. Thank you Ashley and Mary Elaine for making such a safe and welcoming space. Don’t listen to the others, clearly they don’t know y’all well...

The fool’s kava house is an amazing place to make memories and relax! I have been a regular here for about a year and it is amazing to see how this place has changed! I have seen people come and go be it for good and bad reasons, from moving away to start new beginnings, and to making the environment too uncomfortable for others in which the owners had to step in.. nevertheless I find this place to be a rare place in which you can be yourself without the pressure of society looming over you everywhere you go! But hey they got good drinks and a great selection of music depending on who’s on shift!

This place closes at 2am, and it is a safe environment for sober people who still want to enjoy the good parts of the nightlife without worries of creeps and crudes messing with the vibe :) . With that said there were cases in which drunk people happen to stumble in late at night. But no problem for the night team of kava tenders!!! They make sure they’re alright and hydrated!

I, as a night life regular, love helping around with the community we made here till close so I can see why some see it as weird. But this place has done so much for my mental welfare that helping people close is the least I could do! And to those who say you should be treated properly at night! Why are you staying till close and not helping?!? It’s 2am what else do you have going on, might as well help and make the place clean so the employees can go home and sleep too!

TLDR: amazing place! The community is amazing! And though drama and gossip is common anywhere you would go tough skin is recommended but not required! 10/10 would start my life here again!!

The pictures are of people I’ve met so far since I’ve been here and some are not here anymore for personal reasons, but I would like to say thank you to them for existing in my life while you were at the fool’s and that I...