Asian Market

Most splendid Asian market center in Dallas-Fort Worth set to debut

Great baked goods and more are coming soon.

Courtesy photo

Frisco will soon to be home to the most spectacular Asian market shopping center in all of Dallas-Fort Worth, with the debut of Frisco Ranch, a new complex at the northwest corner of Preston Road and Warren Parkway.

This is in the heart of Frisco's North Platinum Corridor, just 1.5 miles southeast of the Dallas Cowboys' world headquarters and training facility and the $1.5-billion Star entertainment district.

According to a release, the center will enjoy a parade of grand openings in fall 2018, with an upscale mix of Asian-influenced experiential dining and shopping opportunities — some that are brand new to DFW.

Doors will open this month for the following:

85° C Bakery & Café, the madly popular Taiwanese bakery chain, opening October 5
Daiso Japan, the madly popular hipster dollar store, opening mid- to late-October
Kung Fu Tea, the bubble tea chain, opening in early October
T-Swirl Crepe, the Japanese crepe concept, opening October 3

Education One, a tutoring chain from the East Coast, will open in early November. That will be followed by another round of openings in the first quarter of 2019, with ribbon-cuttings for 99 Ranch Market, the Taiwanese-American grocery chain which will anchor the center, and Gen Korean BBQ, a Korean BBQ concept with all-you-can eat.

Future openings on the horizon include Marufuka Ramen, the exciting West Coast concept that CultureMap broke wide open in August, and Cute Crush, which CultureMap has not written about at all.

They'll join Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, Rice Chicken, and Ace Periodontics & Implant Dentistry, all of which are already open.

And there's more on the way: NewQuest is finalizing leases with three brand new concepts: SomiSomi Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt, 7 Leaves, and Sul & Beans, a popular Korean shaved ice dessert.

"People are curious about Frisco Ranch, which is a dining and shopping destination artfully blending mainstream experiences with the Asian culture in a welcoming environment for all ethnicities," says Heather Nguyen, development partner for Houston-based NewQuest.

Leasing to date for the 99,747-sf Frisco Ranch has been so successful that the developer's team, which includes associate John Nguyen, is preleasing a 16,000-sf second phase. The 91%-leased Frisco Ranch is situated on nine acres.

An estimated half-million people are or will be working within the 10-mile trade area of Frisco Ranch. In Far North Dallas, 20% of the population is Asian.

"Frisco Ranch has brand names that are familiar to corporations with ties in California and Asia," Nguyen says. "Many of our tenants wanted to be open for the holiday season – and they will be."

Daiso will come on line during the third week of October, getting its innovative and unique household products into the Far North Dallas marketplace just as the holiday shopping season kicks into gear.

Anchor 99 Ranch Market is on track to open its 44,810-sf store in mid-January. The new store for the California-based Taiwanese American supermarket chain will boast a six-tenant food court, including Beard Papa's, a Japanese sweet shop that's selected Frisco Ranch for its second location in Texas. Billed as having the world's best cream puffs, Beard Papa is owned by California-headquartered Muginoho International Inc., which operates more than 400 stores worldwide.

"Texas is a great market for its ease of entry, good workforce and diversity," says Nguyen, the creator of a niche development strategy that she first introduced at NewQuest's Carrollton Town Center in North Dallas.

openings

Hottest Headlines of 2025

The top 10 stories that defined city life in Dallas in 2025

Southern Methodist University class of 2029

SMU/Facebook

Southern Methodist University is the 103rd best college nationwide, and it ranked No. 5 in Texas, Forbes says.

Editor's note: Stories about city life were some of our most-read headlines of the year in Dallas. Readers devoured stories about suburbs, schools, and transportation, curious to see what made the best-of cut for scores of rankings. And, of course, we all needed to check in with the world's richest people and see which ones live in Texas.

Here's a look back at the most-read Dallas city life stories of 2025:

1. 5 Dallas high schools rank among America's best in 2025, per U.S. News. Five prestigious Dallas-area high schools are living up to their reputations for top-tier education after being ranked among the best high schools in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings.

2. 27 Dallas billionaires land on new Forbes list of world's richest people. More billionaires have made it onto the 2025 World's Billionaires List than ever before, according to Forbes. This year, 27 Dallas billionaires are among the richest people in the world, including Elaine Marshall, Lyndal Stephens Greth, and Jerry Jones.

3. Techy Dallas suburb is No. 1 hot spot for remote workers in U.S. A SmartAsset survey of cities with the biggest remote workforces has revealed Frisco is the No. 1 city with the highest share of remote workers in the nation. The study found over 40,000 Frisco residents work from home, which is more than a third of all of the city's workers aged 16 and older (117,193 total workers).

Person working from home Working from home comes with its own challenges, like picking which part of the couch to work from. Photo by Jodie Cook on Unsplash

4. 3 affluent Dallas neighbors dominate new list of wealthiest U.S. suburbs. Three well-to-do Dallas-area communities — University Park, Southlake, and Colleyville — are among the wealthiest suburbs in America in 2025, a report confirmed. The three affluent Dallas neighbors were lauded in GoBankingRates ranking of the 50 wealthiest U.S. suburbs, based on 2022 and 2023 average household income data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau.

5. 4 Dallas-area universities make 2026 list of world’s best schools. The University of Texas at Dallas, University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University, and University of Texas at Arlington are among the top 1,200 schools included in the QS World University Rankings 2026. The Princeton Review agreed, also naming SMU, UTD, TCU, and University of Dallas to its best-in-the-U.S. list, while Forbes named six DFW universities to its list of America's top colleges.

6. 11 cities around Dallas make list of best places to live in the U.S. Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.

7. Dallas middle school ranks No. 1 in Texas for 2026, per U.S. News. More than a dozen Dallas-Fort Worth elementary and middle schools have excelled on U.S. News and World Report's just-released list of the best K-8 schools in Texas for 2026, with one that's first in class: The No. 1 best middle school in Texas is Dallas ISD's William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted.

8. North Dallas suburb lauded as 5th best U.S. city for working parents. Frisco already has a reputation as a great place for families and a top spot for remote workers, so it's no surprise that the city has clocked in as one of the best places in the country for working parents, too.

Frisco Frisco ranked No. 5 nationwide in a 2025 study. Visit Frisco/Facebook

9. City of Dallas to put a pause on curbside trash collection issue. In October, the city of Dallas put the curbside trash collection debate on hold. According to a release, the Sanitation Department temporarily paused implementation of an alley-to-curb program that was approved, in order to evaluate additional options for continuing alley service where residents strongly prefer it.

10. Dallas suburb proclaimed 8th best U.S. city to drive in, per report. Dallas roadways are no picnic, but in one neighboring town, it's easy street: A report by WalletHub puts none other than Plano on its list of the top 10 best U.S. cities to drive in for 2025.