This edition of dining news around Dallas has a surprising number of openings and closings. In mid-March, one usually expects the early signs of spring menus, maybe a St. Patrick's Day flavor or two, but openings & closings are not exactly the norm. We're living in unpredictable times and that even extends to the restaurant news roundup published twice every month by CultureMap Dallas.

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

On the Border, the Mexican grill & cantina chain, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is closing (or has closed) 40 non-performing stores including: 2011 Copeland Rd. Arlington, 4855 Belt Line Rd. Addison, 3310 Knox St. Dallas, 1890 S. Stemmons Fwy. Lewisville, 500 SH-121 Plano, 1505 N. Central Expwy. Plano, 590 W. Parker Rd. #210 Plano, 213 N. Central Expwy. Allen, and 890 E. 114 Roanoke. At the time of the filing, there were 80 restaurants across the U.S. and South Korea, 60 in the U.S. across 18 individual states. Their Locations map shows there are still 19 locations open across DFW, including Rockwall, Garland, Mesquite, McKinney, Denton, Irving, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Burleson, Bedford, Fort Worth, and Weatherford.

HG Sply Co., the small chain founded on Greenville Avenue in 2013, is planning to open a location in Rockwall at 2651 Sunset Ridge Dr., near Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall by late 2026. Like the location in Fort Worth, this one is being crowd-funded, IE they are seeking investors to help finance the project. This new outpost will be built on land UNCO has owned since 2016, not far from another UNCO concept— Culpepper Cattle Co.

Mei Asian Cuisine is a new restaurant that opened at 7325 Gaston Ave., in the space formerly occupied by Jia Asian Bistro, which opened at that location in 2022 and became an instant neighborhood favorite. Original owner Fawn Zhao left Jia in order to open Feng Shui, her Asian restaurant in the McKinney & Olive building. Mei is from Yuemei You, who previously worked at Jia and took over the restaurant after Zhao left. She's keeping it mostly the same with the same menu and approach as Jia.

Jasper's in Richardson has closed. According to a note on their website, "After 9 wonderful years of sharing genuine hospitality and culinary flair in our 'backyard,' we are heartbroken to announce that Jasper's Richardson will cease operations on March 3, 2025." This was the final location of a chain first founded by chef Kent Rathbun, who was no longer with the concept.

Sfuzzi's, the revived Italian restaurant from the '90s which opened at 2401 Henderson Ave. in spring 2022, has closed. It will become an American restaurant called Hendy's owned by Brandon Hays, Phil Schanbaum, Peja Krstic, Cote Bona, and Chris Carpenter.

9NINE Kitchen & Lounge, the restaurant from football player Matthew Judon which opened in the former Hard Rock Cafe space at 2211 N. Houston St. in March 2024, has now closed. 9NINE Kitchen & Lounge hoped to guarantee a feel-good experience, tailored for young professionals and "those ingrained in the city's dynamic entertainment culture." They stopped doing social media posts in October and the restaurant interior is in disarray.

Pink Coffee, the dreamy coffee shop with pink drinks and treats, has closed its location in Garland at 2334 W. Buckingham Rd. #210 after five years. It first opened in 2019 and boasted a menu of boba drinks, frapps, smoothies, French soda, and more drinks. They also had a menu of bites including kolaches and breakfast sandwiches. In a post on their Facebook, they shared "Pink Coffee will be back, with plans for new locations."

Monarch, the modern Italian wood-fired restaurant, has a new winter chef’s tasting menu, a six-course dining experience available through March, featuring Hamachi, Winter Chicories with fennel & kumquat, Hokkaido scallops with osetra caviar & champagne sabayon, Doppio Ravioli with herb ricotta & chestnut, Rosewood Wagyu filet with oxtail ragout, celery root, gnocchi, potato cloud, and truffle jus, and Cannolo with ricotta, pistachio, and maraschino cherry. It's $175 plus $125 with wine pairing.

Mirador, the downtown Dallas restaurant at Forty Five Ten, has new springtime lunch and afternoon tea menus by chef Travis Wyatt. Lunch includes crudo, roasted beets with Stilton and pistachio vinaigrette, tuna conserva with leeks, fusilli pesto with green garlic & wild arugula, grilled chicken sandwich, and a Nicoise salad, with prices ranging from $18-$30. Afternoon tea, priced at $89, features three courses, offering a dim sum-inspired twist, starting with bubbly and scones. Dishes include Garden Tart with sunchoke, baby root vegetables, & black truffle, a Wagyu sando with spicy mayo and shiso on milk bread, and Pear Linzer Cookies.

Starship Bagel is doing a special schmear flavor for March: Matcha, made from cream cheese combined with organic matcha powder, organic sugar, and vanilla. The small Dallas chain with three locations in Lewisville, downtown Dallas, and Arapaho, is famous for its schmears: At the 2024 edition of New York BagelFest, a national bagel competition that took place in New York, they won top prize for Schmear of the Year for their basil schmear, which they served on a garlic bagel with a balsamic tomato salad and a pine nut crisp.

Pizza Verde, the vegan pizzeria in Fort Worth, is now making its pizza available to Dallas-area residents in a more convenient manner: They're offering their pizzas in a frozen ready-to-take-home-and-bake format at Reverie Bakeshop in Richardson for $17 each.

Brio Italian Grille, the casually elegant Italian restaurant in Allen, has Lent specials for lunch and dinner including Lobster & Shrimp Fettucine, featuring lobster, shrimp, fettuccine, roasted grape tomatoes, and green onions in a light cream sauce; Grilled Salmon Fresca with grilled salmon, asparagus, sweet potatoes, spinach, red peppers, feta, Roma tomatoes, pesto vinaigrette, and balsamic reduction; and Lemon Garlic Orzo with Shrimp featuring orzo with Parmesan cheese, lemon, spinach, and shrimp. They'll be available March 11-April 20.

New spring menu from Grimaldi'sGrimaldi's

Eatzi’s Market & Bakery has three new chocolate treats: the Double Chocolate Cookie, a rich, chewy deep chocolate cookie made with butter, brown sugar, and unsweetened cocoa powder, $3 or a 5-pack for $6,49; Chocolate Oblivion Cake Balls, a flourless chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache coating; and the return of Mom’s Chocolate Cake, a moist sour cream chocolate cake layered with chocolate cream cheese icing, $6.79 by the slice. At stores in Grapevine and Fort Worth.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria has a new spring menu as follows: Italian Hero Pizza, a pizza version on the classic Italian Combo Sandwich with ham, salami, roma tomatoes, red onion, and pepperoncini; Spring Bridge Board with Italian meats, cheeses, walnuts, red peppers, pepperoncini, and sliced bread; Banana Cream Cheesecake with a Nilla Wafer crust and crushed Nilla Wafers; Caramel Coconut Cheesecake on an Oreo cookie crust; Limoncello Spritzer with limoncello, Riesling, and ginger beer. There's also a new vegetable pizza with permanent status: Tuscan Veggie Pizza topped with roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, spinach, garlic, and basil.

Golden Chick has brought back its panko-crusted Butterfly Shrimp, which they introduced in 2020, for a Lent season special, available through May 11. There's also a new Wicked Shrimp, the same panko-breaded shrimp but tossed in spicy Lotta Zing seasoning.

Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes has teamed up with entertainment sensation Dude Perfect to launch the Dude 'Burger Battle Box,' a limited-time offering with four cheeseburgers, fries, and two milkshakes for $40. The Burger Battle Box is packaged in a box that matches Dude Perfect's signature shade of blue, and comes with trick shot tutorials and family games.

Cotton Patch Cafe has a limited-time offering of herb-crusted pecan tilapia filets that are pan-seared and topped with a pecan and maple glaze, served with two sides such as black-eyed peas and fried okra for $16.29, or for $20.29 topped with four fried or grilled shrimp, available through April 20.

Yogurtland, the self-serve fro-yo chain, is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with fan-favorite flavors: Lucky Irish Mint, which is positioned next to Cookies & Cream so that you can have a Mint Classic Cookies & Cream swirl. Available "while supplies last."

Pepsi is acquiring Poppi, a "functional" prebiotic soda brand, for $1.95 billion. Poppi was founded in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2017. Prebiotic sodas, made by companies like Poppi and Olipop, supposedly have ingredients that help "gut health." Coca-Cola recently launched its own prebiotic soda brand, Simply Pop.