Italian food pioneer

Romano's Macaroni Grill closes 2 key Dallas-area locations

Red sauce joints are down in Dallas.

Photo courtesy of Romano's Macaroni Grill

Two Dallas-area branches of Romano's Macaroni Grill have closed, including the flagship restaurant on Northwest Highway. A spokesperson confirmed that the Preston Center location had closed, as well as a location at 4535 Belt Line Rd. in Addison.

The reason cited: the rent was too high. "We shut down Northwest Highway over a week ago," the spokesperson said. "The lease was way too high."

However, other branches also recently closed, including Kansas City, Missouri, and Charlotte, North Carolina, both of which shut down in late April. Those followed early spring closures in Alabama and Lousiana, plus two locations in California.

At the time of the Kansas City closure, Romano's officials said in a statement that "the company regularly reviews its portfolio of restaurants as a normal course of business and made the tough decision to close this location."

Macaroni Grill was founded by namesake Phil Romano in 1988. It's easy to take chains for granted, but it was once one of the hottest concepts in the country, with good pizza, inexpensive pasta, really cheap wine, and music playing — a device Romano has used at Eatzi's, which broadcasts opera music, and at St. Rocco, where the soundtrack is all Frank.

It also had a revolutionary honor system with the wine, where a bottle was placed on the table and you told the server how much you'd drunk. Who among us could resist the urge to pour just a teensy bit extra once the server was out of our sight-lines? It was a true test of character.

The closures come just as Dallas is seeing a surge of Italian restaurant openings including Fox Restaurant Concepts' North Italia opening in Plano; Fachini, the Highland Park Village restaurant from chef Julian Barsotta; Americano at the Joule Dallas hotel; and its trendy new sibling Sassetta, the Tim Headington restaurant in Dallas' Design District.

These new eateries join a deluge of Neapolitan-style pizza concepts that have opened around Dallas, with the latest being Midici, a chain opening branches in West Village and Fort Worth.

But Macaroni Grill has been through a series of damaging ownership changes, from Brinker to Golden Gate to Ignite, which flipped it to Redrock Partners at a big loss. It's shrunk down from 210 branches to about 150.

According to an employee at the Plano location, the Northwest Highway store had the second-highest number of catering orders in the entire chain; all orders will now go through the Plano store.

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Opening News

7 new restaurants open in Dallas in a single week

Kayla Enright

Le Bistrot Bar Sardine

Dallas is brimming with an unexpected bounty of openings this week. Who would have thought? From sweet crepes and rolled ice cream to a unique dual-restaurant in Frisco, these are the absolute newest places to check out, all in time for the holidays. (And if you want more ideas on where to take your out-of-town guests, we have that list right here.)

Here are the hottest brand new restaurants around Dallas:

Cream & Crepes Cafe
Dessert shop with crepes and ice cream opens on December 20 in the Shops at Turtle Creek Village, at 3858 Oak Lawn Ave #405 (near the now-closed Jalisco Norte). They do creative crepes in flavors such as Biscoff cookie butter, berry cheesecake, dulce de leche, and mango banana. They also do the once-trendy rolled ice cream in 10 flavors, such as brownie melt and spicy mango, plus scoops and pints, vegan ice cream, and milkshakes.

Donatos Pizza
Ohio-based pizza chain opened in Flower Mound at 1400 Long Prairie Rd. #160 on December 17. Known for their edge-to-edge toppings that stretch to the crusts, their menu features more than a dozen varieties of pizza, including veggie, four cheese, and pepperoni with hot honey. Their signature crust is a thin-crust but they also offer thicker alternatives as well as a cauliflower crust. There are also oven-baked wings, meatball subs, Italian cold cut sandwiches, appetizers, and salads.

Elephant Indian Bar and Grill
Indian restaurant opens on December 20 in a legendary spot in the former Buzzbrews space at 4154 N. Central Expwy., which closed in 2023. It's another concept from chef Praveen Prasanan, who also owns of Shiva’s Bar and Grill. The menu includes Indian classics, Indo-Chinese fusion, and vegetarian dishes, including chicken tikka masala, butter masala, tandoori, and a variety of biryani. Prasanan says, “it seemed to be a great location, so I picked it up.”

Stuffed French toast at Keke's Breakfast CafeKeke's

Keke's Breakfast Cafe
Fast-growing chain that's a sibling to Denny's just made its big Texas debut on December 10 in the Lincoln Park center at 7700 W Northwest Hwy. #600, across from NorthPark Center. They're open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch with pancakes, waffles, omelets, and an assortment of stuffed French toasts, plus sandwiches, wraps, and salads for lunch. This is the first of five new Keke's cafes coming to DFW (A second location in Fort Worth at the Victory Shops at Heritage Trace, 9821 North Fwy. #120, opened on December 20.)

Le Bistrot Bar Sardine
Parisian bistro concept from Vandelay Hospitality opens on December 20 at 6805 Snider Plaza with a menu of small plates and dishes that showcase chef Elliot Azoulay's mastery of French cooking techniques: escargot, salmon tartare, and scallops with leeks and Osestra beurre blanc. Their goal: to transport diners to the cobblestone streets of Paris.

Mudbugs and Revel Grill
Frisco seafood boil restaurant Mudbugs closed in November, and now they reopen on December 20 as a dual-concept with Revel Grill at 9305 Preston Rd. On the Mudbugs side, they'll have Cajun seafood eats — gumbo, po'boys, snow crab boil, shrimp etouffe, oysters, crawfish. On the Revel Grill side, they'll have burgers, quesadillas, and wings. They'll also feature live music, sports, and bar bites.

Seager & Sons
Retro-leaning restaurant just opened at the Boardwalk at Granite Park, at 5864 SH-121 #106 in Plano with a nostalgic '70s theme including decorative elements like vintage records, guitars, and lo-fi stereos. The menu features pizza and fried chicken, plus fun specials like cacio e pepe fritters. A full bar includes cocktails and their own craft beer. Seager & Sons is from 33 Restaurant Group, who also own Union Bear, The Yard, and Suburban Yacht Club.

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