News You Can Eat

This Dallas restaurant news roundup can barely contain all the openings

If you want pizza, doughnuts, and coffee, you've come to the right place. We bring you tidings of a new pizzeria, ice cream, and a Starbucks drink that you'd better try now if you want to try it at all.

Here's the latest Dallas restaurant news:

Taverna Rossa, the pizza and beer place that debuted in Plano in 2013, opens its Southlake branch in April. Taverna specializes in thin-crust pizzas, salads, pastas, and sandwiches. It'll have cocktails plus 30 beers and four wines on tap. Design by Plan B includes a year-round patio with outdoor fireplace and indoor stage for live music on Saturday nights.

Taverna Rossa is from 33 Restaurant Group, which owns and operate five restaurants, including Palio's Pizza Cafe and Cadillac Pizza Pub in McKinney.

Dos Jefes, the replacement for Nick & Sam's Grille in Uptown Dallas, is about to open. The new concept is a "high-end tequila and tapas restaurant."

Rock & Brews, the restaurant chain started by KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, opened a branch on March 14 in The Colony near the Nebraska Furniture Mart. The menu has wings, burgers, tacos, sandwiches, and pizzas. An outdoor area has games and live music.

Tre Wilcox Cooking Concepts opened on March 14 with seafood demonstrations, hands-on Asian cooking, and couples classes focused on Southwestern/Texas cuisine. The venue features four kitchens and chef's tables, and guests can BYOB. Classes start at $75 and run two and a half hours long. After each class, guests can take a seat and eat. Upcoming classes include Tiffany Derry and Jon Stevens.

Hash House A Go Go will open its first Texas outlet in Plano at 1900 Preston Rd. on March 25. The chain launched in San Diego in 2000; nearly a dozen have opened in Las Vegas, Reno, Chicago, Orlando, and Connecticut. The Southern menu includes chicken-fried steak, Benedict, fried green tomatoes, nachos, Bloody Marys in a variety of flavors, and cold-brewed coffee by Nitro Coffee.

A new branch of Dunkin' Donuts, partnered with Baskin-Robbins, opens at 14841 Coit Rd. on March 23.

Downtown bakery and coffee shop Hospitality Sweet opened its new location in Preston Center on March 16.

McKinney's Patina Green Home and Market now offers lunch service seven days a week, with sandwiches, salads, soups, and sides that change with the season.

Newly opened Matchbox at Preston Hollow Village is out of the gate with a brunch menu, served Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am-3 pm. Options include blueberry muffin French toast; burrito with short rib and scrambled eggs; and a burger with a fried egg, bacon, Bloody Mary mayo, cheddar and gouda cheeses, mixed greens, and mustard vinaigrette. This is the first Matchbox in Texas.

Hotel ZaZa restaurant Dragonfly has new items for spring, including scallop crudo, pork chop, and brioche toad in the hole French toast with pickled rhubarb, whipped basil-mint goat cheese butter, and sorghum molasses drizzle. Rhubarb!

Hard Rock Cafe has a new Guinness and Irish whiskey infused-burger, available through April 10. It features an Angus patty with Irish wWhiskey bacon jam, Guinness stout cheese sauce, tomatoes, and arugula.

Top Knot, the concept on top of Uchi, is serving a late-night menu from 10 pm-midnight. The menu features items not on the regular menu including poutine with short ribs, kim chi caramel, cheese curds, and a fried egg.

Central Market has a new house brand line of super-premium ice cream. Flavors include chile pepper pecan, whiskey honey, Tahitian vanilla, dark chocolate ganache, hazelnut latte, Saigon cinnamon, coconut ginger, Jamaican rum, and lemon creme with rosemary shortbread. The ice cream is $4.48 per pint.

CiboDivino Marketplace at Sylvan Thirty has partnered with Dallas-based Paciugo to open a gelato stand. "Eating Paciugo takes me right back to times with my grandfather in Sicily," says CiboDivino owner-chef Daniele Puleo in a release. CiboDivino Marketplace will offer more than 10 Paciugo seasonal and classic flavors available in cups or cones.

Starbucks has outdone itself with its latest Frappuccino flavor: cherry blossom, which blends strawberries, cream, white chocolate sauce, and matcha drizzle. It's only available until March 20.

Cherry blossoms are Japan's national flower. Families gather under sakura trees and enjoy picnics and parties under the delicate pink blooms, a tradition that dates back at least a thousand years. This is the first time cherry blossom Frappuccino has been available in the United States, but stores in Japan have offered a version of the beverage since 2010.

Matchbox has opened in Dallas.

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Holiday News

UNT Dallas campus will host drive-thru with free Thanksgiving food

Thanksgiving dinner, turkey, holiday meal

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The North Texas Food Bank, in partnership with the University of North Texas at Dallas, Tom Thumb / Albertsons, and UNIQLO, will host a Thanksgiving food distribution for families in need on Saturday, November 22, 2025, from 9 am-12 pm (or while supplies last) on the UNT Dallas campus at 7300 University Hills Blvd.

The drive-through event, open to the public, will serve approximately 500 families, each receiving a turkey and about 60 pounds of food. Additionally, global clothing retailer UNIQLO will donate Heatch thermal clothing.

According to Feeding America, Texas has the highest number of food-insecure individuals in the U.S., and the Dallas-Fort Worth area ranks third among major U.S. metros. Within NTFB’s 12-county service area, nearly 744,000 people, including 250,000 children, face hunger, with more than 60 percent living in Dallas County.

UNT Dallas has partnered with NTFB since 2020, hosting monthly mobile food distributions on campus that have provided more than 140,000 pounds of food to 1,500 families so far this year. Students, faculty, and staff regularly volunteer to support these events. The university also operates the Trailblazers Care Pantry, offering groceries, hygiene products, and a Career Closet to help students prepare for internships and job interviews.

Albertsons and Tom Thumb have supported NTFB for more than 40 years through food donations, financial contributions, and volunteer efforts. Through their Recipe for Change initiative, they provide millions of pounds of food each year to local food banks, including nearly 2.5 million pounds donated to NTFB last year. In August, NTFB received a $3 million multi-year grant from the Albertsons and Tom Thumb Foundation to advance the food bank’s Fulfilling Futures strategic plan.

UNIQLO volunteers will distribute Heattech thermal clothing as part of the company’s Heart of LifeWear initiative. Through its partnership with Feeding America, UNIQLO will help provide 2 million meals nationwide and donate 50,000 Heattech units to individuals experiencing homelessness or food insecurity in the U.S.

How to participate
No registration is required to attend the UNT Dallas distribution, but participants must arrive in a vehicle. Food will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. While no ID is required, families will be asked to provide their household size and zip code.

In addition to this event, NTFB has purchased and distributed about 15,000 turkeys through its network of 500 partner food pantries and organizations this holiday season. Neighbors seeking food assistance find a food pantry nearby from this online list that provides food and often other services, or they can find mobile food distributions across North Texas. Neighbors can also contact the North Texas Food Bank to learn about Senior Programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Tom Thumb and Albertsons stores in North Texas are owned and operated by Albertsons Companies, which operates stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under multiple banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Market Street, and United Supermarkets. UNIQLO is a Tokyo-based apparel chain which debuted in Dallas in October 2024 with three locations at Galleria Dallas, The Parks Mall in Arlington, and Stonebriar Centre in Frisco.

“With the government shutdown affecting paychecks and benefits for many families, this Thanksgiving event comes at a crucial time,” says North Texas Food Bank president & CEO Trisha Cunningham in a statement. “Tom Thumb / Albertsons and UNT Dallas continue to be incredible partners in helping us make sure every neighbor has food on the table. Their ongoing support allows us to respond quickly when our community needs us most.”

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