News You Can Eat

New State Fair-themed restaurant tops this heap of Dallas food news

In this action-packed summary of restaurant news around Dallas-Fort Worth, there's a new State Fair-style restaurant, a new ballpark restaurant, and a new menu item boasting what is possibly one of the dumbest-sounding dishes ever to be devised. See if you can spot it!

Here's all your dining news:

The Stadium Club has opened at AT&T Stadium. The 19,000-square-foot restaurant seats up to 650 and is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, with exclusive availability to Stadium Club members on Cowboys home game days.The menu does a sophisticated spin on game day food, with shareable appetizers and sides, soups and salads, burgers and sandwiches, flatbreads, and entrées such as the "carne maximus" with three varieties of meat.

State Fair Treats, a fair-themed restaurant, has opened inside a Walmart at 425 Coit Rd. in Plano. The restaurant is from Isaac Rousso, a State Fair of Texas regular whose cookie fries won the 2016 award for most creative.

The retro-themed menu will feature 45 items, including nachos, chili fries, funnel cake fries, fried Oreos, fried Twinkies, sliders, chicken tenders, and Buffalo wings. The cookie fries won't show up until after the 2017 fair is done. In a release, Rousso says that Walmart "was looking for a creative new food concept to energize high-profile locations."

Mesa Grapevine, a second branch of the highly rated Oak Cliff authentic Mexican restaurant, will open November 7. At 6,000 square feet, it'll be three times bigger than the original. Chef-owner Raul Reyes, who is known for his handwork, did a lot of the building himself, from interior construction to fixtures to a welded metal art wall sculpture.

Dillas Quesadillas, a quesadilla-only restaurant in Plano, is expanding to Frisco, with a branch in the Stonebriar Shopping Center opening in early 2017.

Lovers Seafood and Market is the tentative name for a new seafood restaurant from Shinsei owners Lynae Fearing and Tracy Rathbun, with chef Aaron Staudenmaier, who is returning to Dallas from Boot Ranch in Fredericksburg. They plan to open in December in the former Rex's Seafood spot on West Lovers Lane.

ZaLat Pizza, the Fitzhugh pizzeria best known as the place you hit after a night of drinking, has opened a location at 1701 S. Lamar St., next to Mac's Southside, the bar that took over the former Absinthe Lounge space.

Abacus, the Knox District restaurant, has promoted Chris Patrick to executive chef, replacing founding chef Kent Rathbun, who left in June. Patrick has worked at the restaurant since 2012 and previously worked at Nobu, Yutaka Sushi Bistro, and Nana.

Small Brewpub, the very small brewpub in Oak Cliff, and its chef Misti Norris have parted ways. The owners say they're changing the direction of the menu to something more basic.

The Slow Bone, the Design District barbecue spot, was purchased by Eatzi’s co-founder Jerry Meyer and company CEO Adam Romo. Founder Jack Perkins is out, but pitmaster Jeffery Hobbs and catering director Anne Oliver Lewis will stay on.

Mot Hai Ba, the East Dallas Vietnamese restaurant, has changed ownership. Founders Jeana Johnson and Colleen O’Hare sold their stake in the restaurant to chef Peja Krstic.

Next Door, the Uptown bar-restaurant, has launched a Thursday-night special of small bites and desserts. Lemon arugula flatbread, tomato ricotta bruschetta, California roll cones, grilled prosciutto mozzarella, spicy tuna with crispy rice cake, and mac and cheese bites are all $8. Sweet bites include canilla panna cotta with blueberry compote and mint, chocolate ice cream sandwich with Mexican cocoa sauce, and bacon-pecan doughnuts with sea salt caramel sauce. There's also a menu of champagne cocktails for $3.

Oddfellows, the hipster coffee spot in Oak Cliff, has launched its new fall menu from chef Anastacia Quiñones. Selections include mussels and frites, seared salmon, pimiento cheese deviled eggs, crab sliders, black pepper fettuccini, truffled chicken pot pie, chicken farro risotto, and arabica crusted steak with refried lentils and kale salad. Desserts include spiced tres leches and coffee panna cotta. Nothing on the menu is over $20.

CiboDivino Marketplace, the Italian market at Sylvan Thirty, has a trio of new lasagna options. These chef-prepared options include traditional made with 44 Farms beef, a butternut squash, and a vegetarian lasagna. A tray costs $15.

Hopdoddy Burger, the Austin-based burger chain, has new seasonal items for October: Boss Hog Burger, a beef patty topped with pulled pork, bacon, cheddar, chipotle coleslaw, and mustard barbecue sauce for $12; and a pumpkin cheesecake shake with vanilla ice cream and pumpkin butter for $6.

Quill Kitchen & Cocktails, the Design District spot, has a new dinner menu with sesame-crusted tuna tostada, mascarpone pumpkin agnolotti with sage and vanilla, fish and chips, brown-bag shaken chicken, steak frites, and possibly one of the dumbest-sounding dishes ever to be devised — salted caramel chicken wings with chipotle blackberry sauce. Desserts include doughnuts, fried pies, s'mores, and butterscotch pudding.

Scardello Artisan Cheese has new to-go versions of their cheese and charcuterie plates for sale at the Oak Lawn location. Each plate is $15 and features an assortment of delicacies with accompaniments like olives, nuts and dried fruit, and crackers. If you want a cheese and charcuterie combo, it's $18.

Ragin’ Crab, sister concept to Hibashi Teppan Grill & Sushi Bar, will now be open for lunch on Greenville Avenue. There are new salads; a vegetarian black bean burger; entrées such as red snapper with dirty rice; and a whole menu of po'boys including lobster, catfish, crawfish shrimp, or oysters.

Super Chix, the nascent chicken sandwich chain, has released its menu of special custard flavors for October; each flavor lasts one week. In order, they begin with cherry chocolate chunk, then salted caramel and chocolate pretzel, coffee toffee, apple pie, and carrot cake. It's $3.95 for a regular custard or $9 for a custard flight with perennials vanilla and chocolate and flavor of the day.

Stonedeck Pizza Pub in Deep Ellum has a new menu for fall, featuring new pizzas and sandwiches. A sausage pizza has Andouille, hot link, and bratwurst with onion and Jack cheese. The "cheeburger" has beef, cheddar, provolone, lettuce, pickle, onion, tomato, and shoestring potatoes. There's a turkey, bacon, cheese, and avocado sandwich and another sandwich with sausage and pickled red cabbage.

Mimi's, the cafe chain with French-inspired American comfort food, is serving a dish created by a customer, the honey-lavender grilled pork chop, which will be featured in all Mimi’s cafes, including the two in Dallas-Fort Worth, on 5858 SW Loop 820 in Fort Worth, and 301 E. I-20 in Arlington.

Pizza Hut has a new pizza that's a twist on its original Stuffed Crust, called the grilled-cheese stuffed crust pizza. Wait, is that the dumbest-sounding dish ever devised? It's a contest. A large, one-topping pizza is $12.99 and features cheddar and mozzarella cheese stuffed in and baked onto the crust. It can be topped with any one of Pizza Hut's toppings.

Starbucks now has "almondmilk" in all stores, for hot or iced drinks. Almondmilk was one of the highest customer requests of all time. As for the one-word thing, Starbucks is following the latest industry approach by spelling non-dairy milk alternatives as one word, almondmilk, rather than two.

Roasted red pepper hummus from new menu at Quill Lounge.

Photo courtesy of Quill Lounge

Roasted red pepper hummus from new menu at Quill Lounge.

state-fair openings news-you-can-eat

Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 new restaurants for October

Photo courtesy of Sophia's

Red snapper ceviche at Sophia's Cantina

CultureMap's monthly Where to Eat column highlighting the best restaurants to try returns for October with a theme of new and diverse. Every restaurant on this list is a recent arrival, including at least one that has been open for only a day. If you want hot, fresh, and new, you've come to the right list.

The list represents an exciting array, encompassing a one-of-its-kind test restaurant, a fashionable coffee shop, steakhouse, Mexican cantina, Italian speakeasy, and not one, not two, but three places to get dumplings.

Here's where to eat in Dallas for October 2026:

Coach Coffee Shop
Unique cafe just opened inside the Coach handbag store at Allen Outlet Malls, one of seven locations across the U.S., including Austin, which opened in 2025. The drink menu features coffee, espresso drinks including cappuccinos and lattes, cold brew, matcha lattes with rotating seasonal flavors, and lemonade. There are two signature items: Tabby Cake — an adorable chocolate treat shaped like Coach’s trademark Tabby bag and Lil Miss Jo Cookie — an edible version of the chain's coffee-cup animated mascot used in company ad campaigns. They also serve pastries such as salted chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins, vegan carrot cake muffins, cinnamon rolls, savory scones, ham and cheese croissant, and soft-serve in waffle cones.

Curry Tei & Bar
Hip Asian restaurant comes to downtown Plano courtesy of Michelle Vi Pepping, who also owns buzzy Okaeri Cafe in Richardson. Curry Tei gives her the opportunity to focus more deeply on favorite Japanese comfort foods, especially house-made curry and crispy katsu, along with a full bar featuring sake, Japanese whisky, and handcrafted cocktails. The curry can be ordered over rice or udon noodles, then topped with a choice from 10 proteins: tonkatsu fried pork cutlet, katsu fried chicken cutlet, tofu katsu fried tofu cutlet, shrimp katsu, karaage fried chicken, Japanese sausage, fried potato croquette, sliced beef, hamburger patty, or gyoza dumplings. Their bowls and noodles run the gamut from chicken teriyaki over rice to chilled green tea soba noodles with vegetable tempura. Popular starters include edamame, dumplings, and karaage fried chicken.

The chocolate bag is one of a few too-cute-to-eat treats at Coach Coffee Shop. Coach Coffee Shop/Instagram

Docent Steak
After two years in the making, the newest restaurant from Harwood Hospitality Group is open in the Harwood No. 14 development as a steakhouse with a menu centered on HWD Beef, Harwood’s exclusive beef product. Prime cuts include filet mignon, NY strip, ribeye, bone-in strip, Chateaubriand, and porterhouse. Docent also serves Kobe beef, including A5 Wagyu available by the ounce, and a rotating Kobe flight featuring five cuts. Non-steak options include crab cake, Kobe potstickers, steak tartare sliders, tempura lobster, oysters, spicy tuna tartare, and a seafood tower. As befits a steakhouse, there's a grand wine list, but also a big selection of sake. The main dining room has a white-tablecloth fine-dining ambience, while a lower level has a casual atmosphere with TVs. There's lots of art, a Harwood trademark.

L's Dumplings
Chef-owned Asian spot just opened on the Lewisville/Carrollton border, where it's doing dumplings and Hong Kong-style dim sum. There's an expansive menu with dim sum-style dishes, dumplings, and even Chinese-American staples like General Tso's Chicken. While the restaurant does not have room for the cart service that often goes with dim sum, it does have a dim sum menu with a dozen dishes you'd find at a traditional dim sum brunch: beef tripe, black pepper short ribs, siu mai topped with roe, Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce, steamed pork ribs with garlic, sticky rice chicken, wontons, and chicken feet in black bean sauce. Dumplings are offered in more than a dozen varieties including soft steamed dumplings, pan-fried dumplings with a crispy bottom, and soup dumplings, famous for containing broth inside the wrapper, creating an especially juicy filling.

Momo2Go
Well-regarded dumpling chain from Canada has opened a location in the Preston Lebanon Crossing shopping center, taking over a space previously occupied by Lalo's Cocina Mexicana, which closed in July. Momo2Go specializes in momos — the dumpling that's a foundation of Himalayan cuisine — and is a spinoff of a family-owned restaurant called Himalayan Kitchen, which debuted in Toronto in 2012. Their momos were so popular that they launched Momo2Go in 2016. They now have 10 including one in Irving, which franchisees Karma Gurung and Tashi Chetan opened in 2023. Frisco is their second location.

Veggie dumplings are a favorite at L's Dumplings.Photo courtesy of L's Dumplings

Ono Hawaiian BBQ
Fast-casual Hawaiian plate-lunch chain from California just opened a location in McKinney, specializing in island-style plate lunches that combine some form of meat plus white rice and macaroni salad. Meats include BBQ chicken, Kalua pork, kalbi short ribs, fried chicken katsu, and Spam musubi, consisting of a block of rice topped with a slice of Spam and wrapped in seaweed. A slightly healthier option combines the meats with rice and a side salad. McKinney is the second location in Texas, following Plano which opened in July. If all goes according to their plan, they will soon be ubiquitous, with 10 locations plotted for DFW.

Open House
New restaurant concept being tested by KFC has opened its very first location in McKinney, with a goal to put a modern twist on Colonel Sanders' fried chicken concept. The location has tableside service, touchscreen kiosks, breakfast, boba drinks, and more. New and unique menu items including sides such as Southwest corn, fried green beans, spicy pickles, and rainbow slaw, as well as the first breakfast lineup featuring chicken tenders sandwiches, hashbrown sticks, mini cronuts, brewed coffee, and iced lattes. The McKinney restaurant will serve as a testing ground for KFC, giving them a chance to try new food, drinks, service, and design ideas before rolling them out across the country.

Red: Italian
Unusual new restaurant in Denton is a subterranean spot in the basement of Ruby Rodeo, a bar and live music venue on Denton Square, where it's serving Italian food and speakeasy charm. The 58-seat underground space — which includes 10 seats at the bar — serves Italian classics, priced from $25 to $40, such as spicy sausage lasagna with arrabbiata sauce, cacio e pepe bucatini, chicken piccata, shrimp diablo, and espresso-crusted filet mignon with Italian seasoning. Appetizers include fried mozzarella, stuffed mushrooms, grilled artichokes, bruschetta, meatballs, flatbreads, and a classic Caesar. The concept comes from Victor García and Mike Church, who also own Ruby Rodeo, as well as the similarly-red-named Scarlett Lounge in Deep Ellum.

Sophia's Cocina & Cantina
Mexican restaurant in Farmers Branch is the new home of Hugo Miranda, the well-respected hospitality figure who previously helmed Hugo's Invitados, a Mexican concept that he opened in 2018 with entrepreneur Mark Hulme. Highlights from the menu (which has not yet been uploaded to the restaurant's website nor their Facebook page) include oysters, pork belly chicharron, sopa de Cebolla, mixed grill, ribeye black Angus tomahawk sliced tableside, whole Pacific snapper, crudos, and upscale tacos such as blue crab with spinach; and salads such as red beet carpaccio with arugula, goat cheese, avocado, and pumpkin seeds.

Yo-Chi
Aussie fro-yo chain known for self-serve bowls, bountiful topping bars, and lively vibe has made its U.S. debut in Dallas near Inwood Village, at 5710 Lovers Ln. #101, to be followed by a second location at NorthPark Center. Yay us. Founded in Melbourne in 2012, Yo-Chi first expanded outside Australia in 2025 with a location in Singapore, followed by London. They tout their use of "fresh milk" in their yogurt, with flavors such as vanilla, salted butterscotch, tart, acai, coconut, matcha, and cinnamon banana. Plus 40-plus toppings arranged in a communal, self-serve station, including mini mochi, pistachio spread, cookie dough, sauces, brownies, fruit, and more. In its Down Under home turf, Yo-Chi locations are said to have a club ambience, with people going there on dates and bouncers at the door on weekends.

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