No Chicken 4 U

BonChon Chicken in Dallas shuts down temporarily under weight of hype

Newly opened BonChon Chicken has shut down temporarily to address what it perceives as problems in consistency and wait times. The Greenville Avenue spot issued a letter to its fans, announcing the shutdown with an apology.

"We have made the difficult decision to close for business over the next few days," it reads. "We will use this time to give some relief to our overworked staff and to add and train additional staff.

"In our enthusiasm to bring BonChon to Dallas, we failed to prepare for the sheer volume of orders that we have received," the letter continues. "Our staff is trying their best, but they are still new and have literally been overwhelmed. The result has been inconsistent quality in our food and long wait times for our customers."

With all due respect to BonChon, they've had plenty of time to plan for this day; you'd think they might've factored this in before opening?

The restaurant has been jammed with young hipster foodies who crave its crispy fried chicken and unusual sauce. The response has been mostly adulatory, but some comments on Facebook have complained about the quality.

"Hopefully it will improve, nothing like the BonChon I had in NY," said one commenter. "Not as crispy when I went, maybe they were slammed."

Another commenter posted a long diatribe about the service, dismissing the place as "nothing special except a fancy wing bar."

BonChon's letter ends with the owners' plan to post another update when they reopen, probably later in the week.

On Twitter, they told @TheeFatHipster that, beginning next week, they'd also close on Tuesdays until they hire more staff.

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Escargot News

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

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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.

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