DALLAS — A Deep Ellum restaurant says it needs support from the community after the city of Dallas prohibited it from charging a cover fee.

The Free Man, a Cajun and Creole restaurant in Deep Ellum, said in a social media post that its business has struggled amid ongoing construction in Deep Ellum, but the city of Dallas delivered a "fatal blow" when it banned The Free Man from charging a cover for music.

"In a baffling decision, the City of Dallas recently arranged a meeting to inform us that we can no longer charge a cover fee," the post states. "The result of this new mandate is chaos. Our bands are now struggling, our margins are collapsing, and the pressure to pay musicians what they deserve—without that dedicated income stream—is becoming too much to bear."

The restaurant also

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