Dallas restaurateur Pat Snuffer salutes Texas with new State 28 Grill

UPDATE 2-5-2020: The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, at 11 am-10 pm weekdays and 11 pm on Friday-Saturday.

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One of Dallas' most veteran restaurateurs is back in the game with a new concept. Called State 28 Grill, it's a restaurant from Pat Snuffer, who founded the legendary Snuffer's chain, known for its burgers and cheddar fries, along with Mike Snuffer, his son.

State 28 will open at 2427 W. Mockingbird Ln., #130, part of the ongoing development that's happening just west of Dallas Love Field and bordering on the Medical District. They're planning on a mid-January opening.

The name honors the fact that Texas was the 28th state admitted to the Union in 1845, and they've hung many of the more than 50 flags under which Texas has flown on the restaurant's antique brick walls, to lend to the colorful atmosphere.

"Mike and I are native Texans, and spent many years near the cradle of Texas liberty, Washington-on-the-Brazos," Pat says. "Much of our menu recalls the culinary diversity of that region, from east Texas to New Orleans, with a mixed cuisine influenced by personal and family favorites.”

Highlights include:

• wild-caught Texas Gulf shrimp
• smoked prime rib
• chicken-fried rib eye steak
• po' boys

The menu will also feature what they call Pat's "iconic burgers and cheese fries," with prices as low as possible. "We're committed to offering the highest quality burger meat available," he says. "We've found a proprietary blend of Prime chuck and short rib that'll set State 28 well above the market in terms of unique quality."

But Pat cautions that this is not just a burger joint.

"We'll have burgers but it'll be part of a bigger menu focus," he says. "You won't believe that smoked prime rib, and there'll be a lot of shrimp. We're flying our bread for the po' boys in from New Orleans, because there's nothing like French bread from New Orleans."

Po'boy varieties include shrimp, smoked prime rib, fried chicken, smoked sausage, and "the hangover" with chopped prime rib, eggs, bacon, cheddar, onion strips, and horseradish.

Appetizers include nachos, zucchini chips, prime rib chili, and stuffed jalapeno peppers.

Snuffer parted ways with Snuffer's in 2014 when it was acquired by Firebird Restaurant Group, who acquired the chain after it filed for bankruptcy. He and Mike went on to open a restaurant in North Dallas called Pat & Mike's, but the location didn't pan out and they closed it in 2016.

"Location is really so important, and that's why we love this spot we got," he says. "We're excited to be a part of this growing area, with Love Field and the Medical District really taking off."

Atmosphere at State 28 will be upscale casual, including a large patio warmed by cozy fire pits. They'll stay open late at night, with a full premium bar that includes a focus on margaritas, along with 24 local and regional beers on tap.

"It's the stuff I like to eat, and what Mike grew up on," he says. "I go back to the days in Navasota where we'd dig a pit in the ground and throw a slab of beef on grates and come back two days later. I can still taste it. I don't know if we can recreate that — but we're sure going to try."