Food Trucks for Richardson

New food truck park aims to serve Richardson 'hood from funky site

Richardson Food Truck Park will include favorites such as Ruthie's.

Photo courtesy of Ruthie's

The food truck trend is moving into the suburbs, and Richardson is the latest city to sign on. A concept called the Richardson Food Truck Park just received approval from the city's planning commission, with a targeted soft opening in late June.

Founder Michelle Chesney says that her concept differs from other food truck parks in the works because of the uniqueness of the site, which is an old house. The address is 522 Bishop Ave., just south of Arapaho Road off 75 and north of the city's Chinatown district.

"It's located in the Interurban district of Richardson, which was recently rezoned with the intention of modeling this area after the Design District in Dallas," Chesney says. "Interurban is light industrial, but it had two residential houses. One had been abandoned for years and was on the market as a teardown.

"The space reminded me of the food truck park in Fort Worth, which is also in an industrial area."

Her plan is to host five trucks such as Ruthie's, with two yard areas, including one for kids. "We'll have some play equipment. You have to have something for kids; it's a necessity here," she says. "And then a whole other yard area with more tables and maybe live music."

The park has potential both as a lunch spot for businesses nearby and as an entertainment destination.

"It's a five-minute walk from the Arapaho DART rail station," she says. "For locals, there's a lot of different angles. There's nowhere to get lunch around here. We're thinking of doing a bike-delivery service at lunch. And then we're near Four Bullets Brewery and Eiland Coffee.

"I can foresee a Saturday expedition where you take the train to Richardson, you go to the brewery and the food truck park."

The Richardson City Council will give its approval on April 27, and then Chesney anticipates a month or two for renovations, with an opening in early summer.

Food trucks have been around for a few years, but she says they're still a thing. "Every day there are new trucks, and you get visiting food trucks from other places," she says. "There's the one opening in Plano. I think it's time for it to get to the 'burbs."

unspecified

Escargot News

New all-day French bistro in downtown Rockwall is all from scratch

Facebook

Belle View Bistro Rockwall

An all-day French bistro has made its debut in Rockwall: Called Belle Vie Bistro, it’s a new mom-and-pop in the charming historic downtown district, at 112 E. Rusk St., the former home of The Fatted Calf restaurant, where it opened its doors on November 12.

Belle Vie is from Luis and Iliana Marquez, a hard-working couple who also own Los Marquez, a popular taco--themed food-truck-turned-restaurant in Rockwall they first debuted in 2019. In May, the couple took over the former Fat Chicken space to open a brick and mortar location of Los Marquez, where they serve well-made Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but also burgers & fries. They open for breakfast with breakfast tacos, and run a daily lunch special, often creative, always popular, such as birria ramen with choice of beef or lamb for $11.

But the couple had a bigger vision of creating a place where chef Luis could stretch and showcase his skills.

"Luis has a lot of culinary experience, and it’s something that he’s been putting aside,” Iliana says. “We were just waiting on the perfect time to bring this to life.”

"This is something exciting and new for us, it’s something that we always wanted to make,” Luis says.

Like Los Marquez, Belle Vie is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving classics like French onion soup, moules frites, escargot, and duck confit. There are also comforting and American dishes like spinach-artichoke dip, crab cakes, and fish & chips.

Lunch features Cobb salad, a French dip, and chicken & Brie panini, while an extended breakfast -- which runs from 7 am to 4 pm — includes pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, beignets French toast, and crepes, plus pastries and breads made from scratch.

Mural on the wall at Belle Vie Bistro RockwallFacebook

The bakery counter is a delight, with eclairs, croissants, scones, fruit tarts, and cake slices in flavors like carrot cake and white chocolate raspberry. There's also a serious coffee program with espresso drinks such as lattes.

"We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch," the duo says. "Our bread—whether for sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers or anything listed on our menu is made fresh just for us by our incredibly talented pastry chef and baker. The same care goes into our pastries and desserts ensuring every bite is special and crafted with love."

The dining room is warm and cozy with dark wood chairs and plush booths and a full-wall mural depicting a street in Paris. They also have a full bar, with cocktails and beer on tap. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $9 for a Belgian waffle during breakfast to $45 for prime ribeye at dinner.

For now, they're not taking reservations — it's first come, first serve.

openings